Point 2 – Homage/Pastiche

The Shining is considered to be a postmodern film, exhibiting various themes such as the paranormal, family, and isolation. Kubrick displays this with his disorienting use of claustrophobia throughout the Overlook Hotel’s layout, through the labyrinth of endless corridors and his use of colour to further develop the atmosphere. Another concept also present throughout his film is what is now known as a liminal space – a transitional area; such as an airport, shopping centre, and in this case, a hotel – a place that should be full of people, that is completely deserted. Audiences often find this imagery discomforting, placing more unease on them as they watch the narrative unfold. These two ideas manage to forge an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia that can be felt throughout the film, further increasing the tension as Jack Nicholson’s character falls victim to the supernatural forces eating away at his sanity before the film’s climax.

Eggers’ film gives pastiche to some of these themes in one way or another, recycling themes of isolation and the paranormal and implementing it into a tale full of ancient folklore and mythology. In an interview with /Film, Eggers specified that for a previous film, The VVitch, he took great influence from The Shining, which clearly still has an effect in The Lighthouse. This effect can be seen through Eggers’ use of sound and the consistent droning of the lighthouse, imitating Kubrick’s use of the typewriter’s constant clicking in different scenes across The Shining to stir anxiety in his audiences. Similarly, Eggers also uses a storm to keep his characters isolated from the rest of the world, following the theme of the supernatural, almost as if the island itself won’t let the men go, as the hotel did to Kubrick’s characters. The Lighthouse also captures a strong sense of claustrophobia through both its 1.19:1 aspect ratio and the use of a digitally added monochrome filter. These two elements cause an audience to experience similar emotions of entrapment that Eggers’ characters feel stuck on the island, leaving them further distressed by the grotesque imagery combined with the dark and brooding colour palette.

Eggers’ pays homage to classic film with his use of the 1.19:1 aspect ratio in The Lighthouse, which is strikingly close to the 4:3 aspect ratio that was most commonly used during the late 20th century – when The Shining was released. It should be noted that whilst Kubrick’s film was shot in a 1:1.85 ratio, it was displayed on screens with a 4:3 ratio at time of release.

https://www.slashfilm.com/542687/the-witch-influences-the-shining/

Point 1 – Genre

Christian Metz, a French film theorist, theorised that genres go through a cycle of four stages as they develop – the experimental stage – where the codes and conventions of a genre are founded – the classic stage – where these set conventions become iconic and staples of the genre – the parody stage – where the films become self-aware and begin to mock these tropes – and the deconstruction stage – where the rules of the genre are broken more carelessly, and sometimes where “hybrid genres” are formed as a result. (On screen quote) “The laws of genre are derived from earlier examples of that genre” Christian Metz, Film Language: A Semiotics of the Cinema [1974]).

Both The Shining and The Lighthouse could be considered to be within a ‘classic stage’ of psychological horror’s development, as they follow a very standard plotline of the genre – people go to an isolated space, someone slowly loses their sanity in this space due to external or internal factors, before attempting – sometimes succeeding – to kill one or more people.

Despite this basic breakdown of the two films, they are still vastly different when it comes to their visuals and approaches to cinematography, which completely revises the way in which the audience perceives and feels about each film as it plays out.

Psychological horror thrives on the human emotion of empathy, which it utilises to stir up feelings of anxiety and fear within a viewer as opposed to the regular use of jump scares, gore and disturbing visual imagery seen in classic horror. While a lot of psychological horror films make use of disturbing imagery, it’s often done in such a way that twists and focuses on the human form – such as Eggers’ grotesque use of nudity filming acts society declares as shameful, and the deranged mannerisms often used by Kubrick’s characters.

Summarise what Astruc meant by the term "Auteur" and give some examples of the films cited by the movement as being created by Auteur directors.

Alexandre Astruc, wanted to find directors that shared their own perspective through use of lighting, camerawork, staging, editing, and the story. He called this concept of individualism “auteurism,” deriving largely from Astruc’s explanation of the concept of caméra-stylo (“camera-pen”), where the director, is more to be considered the “author” of the movie.

Taxi Driver – 1976

Travis, an ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, works as a taxi driver in New York City. One day, he decides to save an underage prostitute from her pimp in an effort to clean the city of its corruption.

Breaking the Waves – 1996

In a small and religious coastal town, a simple, devoutly religious Scottish woman, Bess McNeill (Emily Watson), finds a partner in an oil rig worker from Norway, Jan Nyman (Stellan Skarsgard). However, the relationship grows strained when Nyman breaks his neck in a horrific work accident on the rig and becomes paralyzed. Unable to perform sexually and suffering mentally from the accident as well, Jan convinces Bess to have sex with other men, which she comes to believe is God’s work.

Submarine – 2010

Oliver (Craig Roberts) is a Welsh teen who has some things on his mind. First is losing his virginity before his 16th birthday. He sets out to woo his feisty classmate Jordana (Yasmin Paige). Then Oliver focuses on holding his family together. His father (Noah Taylor), a depressed marine biologist, seems unequal to the task of preventing Oliver’s mother (Sally Hawkins) from succumbing to the dubious charms of a spiritual guru (Paddy Considine) from down the road.

Identify at least two other classic French New Wave films

Hiroshima, mon Amour – 1959

The deep conversation between a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) and a French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple — lovers turned friends — recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.

The 400 Blows – 1959

For young Parisian boy Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), life is one difficult situation after another. Surrounded by inconsiderate adults, including his neglectful parents (Claire Maurier, Albert Remy), Antoine spends his days with his best friend, Rene (Patrick Auffray), trying to plan for a better life. When one of their schemes goes awry, Antoine ends up in trouble with the law, leading to even more conflicts with unsympathetic authority figures.

Named after S. A. Gerasimov, the film school began in 1919 and is the first and oldest film school in the world. During the period of the Soviet Union, it was a requirement of the state to attend VGIK in order to be allowed to direct a film. The institute has an impressive alumni, with renowned filmmakers such as Sergei Eisenstein, Andrei Tarkovsky and Alexander Sokurov all studying there.

Its work in the early years was restrained by the shortage of film stock, forcing classes to be taught around the art of montage; the institute would import random film rolls for the students of the school to cut and edit back together, forming new meanings through montage. Nowadays, the campus is still functioning, teaching classes in directing, screenwriting and cinematography. However, its renowned reputation has kept up with itself, with an acceptance rate of below 10%.

How has the psychological horror genre evolved in recent times? With reference the films The Shining (1980) and The Lighthouse (2019) using social, cultural and historical contexts.

Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film The Shining and Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019) are both distinctive and iconic psychological horror films. They both explore concepts of isolation and paranoia as their central characters descend into madness. From the menacing use of liminal space in The Shining, to the overwhelming atmosphere of claustrophobia and doubt in The Lighthouse, these two films were selected for comparison due to their plot similarities and the fact that they were produced in contrasting eras of filmmaking. Kubrick’s film follows a family of three as their patriarch, played by Jack Nicholson, works as a caretaker for a grandiose hotel with an ominous history, slowly losing his sanity and breaking into a murderous rage by the end of the film. In The Lighthouse has a similar plotline, following two men working as lighthouse keepers, completely cut off from the rest of the world – and it takes its toll as they begin to hallucinate, drink, and fight, ending with one man killing the other.

Billy Wilder’s 1950 film Sunset Boulevard and Dan Gilroy’s 2014 film Nightcrawler distinctively utilise the film noir subgenre’s stylistic and narrative conventions. Both are incredibly cynical and gritty in tone, with Nightcrawler exploring the violent underbelly of urban America, whereas Sunset Boulevard delves into the destructive nature of fame and Hollywood. These films have been chosen for comparison due to the contrasting contexts in which they were made, Sunset Boulevard being a classic 1950s Hollywood noir film and Nightcrawler being a modern-day neo-noir, both emphasising differing social issues of the time. Wilder’s film follows an aging silent film queen that refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a young screenwriter to help set up her movie comeback, however his ambivalence about their relationship and her unwillingness to let go leads to a situation of violence, madness, and death. Nightcrawler follows low life thief, Louis Bloom, as he discovers a new way to earn money, by capturing photographs of crime scenes. Resorting to extreme measures to get them that results in violence and destruction. 

Truffaut’s 1959 film The 400 Blows and Gerwig’s 2017 film Ladybird are distinctive coming of age films, with both narratives centring around a singular protagonist as they navigate growing up and authentically “come of age”.  Despite sharing similarities within the narrative storyline, such as rebellious teens longing to break free from the confinements and rules of society, the context of production, and evolution in the genre cycle, creates an interesting element of difference. The 400 Blows takes place during post WW2 era of Paris, depicting the realistic story of a troubled teen, Antoine Doinel, who’s unhappy at home and resistant to the rules of society, evident through his acts of rebellion leading to his incarceration before ultimately escaping during the movies closing sequence. Gerwig’s solo, 2017, directorial debut Ladybird, however, is set in Sacramento, California in the early 2000’s, following a teenage girl Christine or Ladybird, navigating her senior year of high school with the clear goal of going to out-of-state colleges into cities with “culture”. However, Ladybirds dilemmas are clearly portrayed through her disillusionment with California, struggle with her social class and relationship with her mother. 

Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon and Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz are two distinct takes on the buddy cop subgenre of the crime film. Both feature two police officers with contrasting personalities who are forced to work together, including dramatic action sequences such as gun fights and chase scenes. The films were chosen due to their highly contrasting contexts, so the differences caused by the change in context can be clearly seen. Lethal Weapon being an American studio film, produced in 1987, and Hot Fuzz, a British film produced by Edgar Wright, an auteur, in 2007.  While Hot Fuzz is a parody of the genre, Lethal Weapon is considered a classic example of the buddy cop film. Hot Fuzz features Nicholas Angel, an efficient by-the-book police officer, and inexperienced and enthusiastic Danny Butterman as they work together to solve a series of murders in a small town, using comedy to comment on the cliches of the genre. Lethal Weapon has a more serious tone, following reckless and unpredictable Martin Riggs and family-man Roger Murtaugh, both veterans, attempting to stop a drug cartel.