Keep in mind the qualifications/characteristics of realism
Ex. : "American Splendor" is about a boring, average guy from the middle class. The story is told from his point of view and his perspectives of daily life.
Ex. : "American Splendor" is about a boring, average guy from the middle class. The story is told from his point of view and his perspectives of daily life.
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ReplyDeleteThe King's Speech is a movie that qualifies as a realist movie. it is realist because it stays grounded and it is told from a particular perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe only kind of movie I can think of that's realist would be an incredibly boring documentary or someone who leaves their webcam on 24/7 and puts it on YouTube. Realism doesn't work well in film because people don't want to watch something dull and boring. I'm sure that there are some low-budget independent films that are realist, but because realism doesn't typically succeed commercially, I've never heard of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jessica. The changing perspectives in movies do not promote Realism. Keeping the focus of a movie completely on the narrator at all times would decrease the excitement of a film, but at the same time it would seem unrealistic for the main character to live with constant exhilaration. I recently watched The Fighter, which has some aspects of Realism such as the middle/low class protagonist, who pays attention to every detail in his training. However, it has aspects that goes against Realism like the enormous hype towards boxing and less attention to everyday life.
ReplyDeleteActually, a movie I saw recently was very realist (and yes, very boring). It's called "How to Rob a Bank" and is about a bank robbery. But the main character (also narrator of film) is neither a hero nor a villain, but a customer who got locked in vault with one of the robbers and takes the robber hostage. Almost the entire movie takes place in this vault, as he negotiates with both the main robber (on phone outside of the vault) and with the police. Its actually also very naturalist, as he is only looking for his safety. In the end, the police raid the bank, kill the main robber, and the main character and the woman robber leave. But they've set up a scheme in the vault where they set up an account and PIN and steal pennies at a time from the bank, amounting in millions total (actually pretty realistic scheme if you watch). So, obviously the idea of a bank robbery is not a realist plot, but overall the movie is pretty realist and very naturalist.
ReplyDeleteBut how is the narrator not a villain if he ends up robbing the bank in the end? And I don't think it represents Realism if the film changes views from the narrator to the other characters because it would give viewers too much insight on the overall perspective of the movie instead of the details.
ReplyDeleteI am struggling to think of any movies that can be defined as realistic. Although I can think of some movies that have realistic aspects such, as Whale Rider, a story of a girl who is the only living child in the line of a tribe's chiefly succession following the death of her twin brother and mother when she was born. The grandfather of the main character resents her for the tribes struggles. Although this sort of relationship is realistic, the other part of this movie, actually riding a whale, is not. Realism simply doesn't make for a good movie. Movies such as Inception and Fight Club, are very entertaining, but extremely unrealistic. Realistic movies, like the literature, are not entertaining, which is why there are so few realistic movies.
ReplyDeleteI have a question for Teddy and the group that posted this topic. Do you mean the High Realism of a Henry James or a more modern adaptation of the Realist movement? High Realism is rarely seen in movies today because it does not have a large fan base anymore like it used to at the height of the Realist movement. On the other hand the more modern application of realism, where realism is present in parts but is covered typically by comedy. There are movies today that use this realism in disguise but i can not think of many movies that use the High Realism of Henry James.
ReplyDeleteI think that The Motorcycle Diaries has many realist aspects such as its focus on the relationships in Che Guevara's life, the pace is slow, and time only moves forward. The movie is a biopic so the goal is to be as true to Che's real life experiences as possible. However, I do not think it would be considered an example of High Realism which, as Andrew pointed out, is rarely found in movies.
ReplyDeleteI think Dylan is on to something with The King's Speech. Though I have yet to see that particular movie, a lot of historical dramas are definitely shot in the realist style, and aim for VERSIMILITUDE (look it up if you don't remember what it means). You are all right, however, that the realistic novel is hard to translate onto the screen. Perhaps we will watch Age of Innocence once we finish the novel and discuss why this might be.
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