Stylistic Choices exam question

‘ The stylistic choices made by the filmmakers define not just the look but also the meaning of a film.’ How far is this true of the films you have studied for this topic?

Stylistic choices made by filmmakers are an integral part of how they can convey their message to the audience and this is definitely true of La Haine and City of God.

            In La Haine the first stylistic choice made by the director is to shoot the entire film in black and white rather than in colour. He made this choice because it was a way to set the tones of the film immediately and allowed Kassouitz to convey meaning throughout the entire film. One example of where the black and white defines the meaning of the film is when Vinz, Hubert and Said go to Paris. In mainstream cinema Paris is depicted as a place of love and romance through bright colours and mise-en-scene such as the Eiffel Tower.  However by shooting in black and white, Kassouitz was able to strip away this perception of Paris and instead give it a more realistic and gritty representation.

           

In City of God it is the complete opposite. Rather than draining the colour in order to define the meaning like in La Haine, the director decided to use a contrast of colours to convey meaning throughout City of God. At the start of the film in the 1960’s the entire sequence is bathed in golden light and the city it clean and spacious. This shows the hope of the inhabitants of the city, as they believe they have a new ideal life and also reflects the attitude of the Brazilian government at the time who saw the city as a better way of life for those living in favelas. As the film continues and we reach the 1970’s, we still see the typical representation of Rio with the golden beaches and beautiful women, however it is not as idealistic as there is a blue tint in the colour, creating a cold and somewhat lifeless feel to the film during this period. This represents the struggle for power in the City at the time and how it is no longer the haven it was in the 1960’s and the tone of the film continues to darken until the war between Carrot and Lil Ze breaks out. Once the narrative becomes serious and more intense the majority of the film is shot at night and only shot in the City, taking away any hint of the ideal Rio we had seen previously in the film. It is no longer clean and spacious but is instead extremely tight and cramped which represents the government’s choice to leave the City to effectively govern itself. The lighting is used throughout the film to show the tone of the film and changes in accordance with the changes in the City, getting darker as the City becomes worse.

            

Another stylistic choice made to generate meaning in La Haine is the décor of Vinz and Hubert’s bedrooms. This shows the true feelings of the two characters and one distinct meaning can be taken from the two scenes, Hubert and Vinz are not part of the dominant ideology. In Vinz’s bedroom as the camera pans around his room we notice that he has numerous posters in his room, but the people on the posters are part of American culture. By having posters of Bret Hart and Marilyn Monroe in his room, Kassouitz is able to show how Vinz has been rejected by French culture and how he himself has rejected it also. He has adopted a surrogate culture because he is not apart of the dominant ideology of French culture because France itself has rejected him. Also the sunrise painting on Vinz’s wall is also used to convey meaning. The picture suggests that Vinz is dreaming of leaving France because he does not belong and wants to go to this paradise or utopia were he can be part of society. However by draining all of the colour out of it Kassouitz shows that this is unattainable for Vinz as he cannot get out of the projects because he is suppressed by French society.

           

 In Hubert’s room we can also take meaning from the stylistic choices made by Kassouitz. On Hubert’s wall there is a poster for Muhammad Ali. In a way this is a representation of Hubert aspires to be, someone who can challenge the dominant ideology and rise to the top out of the projects. Muhammad Ali became a Muslim and changed his name from Cassius Clay because he said it was his slave name given to him by his white oppressors. By having a picture of him in Hubert’s room, Kassouitz shows the audience how Hubert has no desire to be French and how he has rejected the dominant ideology just like Ali did in America. The other distinct poster in Hubert’s room is the Black Panther pose made at the 1968 Mexico Olympics by Tommie Smith and John Carlos. This reinforces the message of going against the dominant ideology like the Ali poster as the pose was made as a stand against racism in the 1960’s in America when it was most prevalent. These two posters also reinforce the message made in Vinz room of Hubert adopting a surrogate culture as he has rejected French culture because it has rejected him.