Claiming the Real in Contemporary Fiction Cinema
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The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Make-believe: claiming the real in contemporary fiction cinema Emma van der Vliet Town Cape of Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Universityin the Centre for Film and Media Studies UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN May 2009 1 Table of Contents Make-believe: claiming the real in contemporary fiction cinema .......... 1 Table of Contents ......................................................................................... 2 Clip compilation on DVD ............................................................................. 3 List of figures ................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgements ..................................................................................... 5 Abstract .......................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ................................................................................................... 8 Realism in film: the first century ............................................................... 9 A brief historical overview of realist film “movements” ..................... 16 Realism in film: the second century. .................................................... 21 Realist form, techniques and aesthetics ............................................. 29 Realism and the aesthetics of presence ............................................. 32 Text selection ........................................................................................... 48 Chapter outlines ...................................................................................... 51 The Naked Stare: stripping with The Idiots............................................... 53 “That white-hot moment”: improvisation, authenticity and the work of Mike Leigh ....................................................................................................Town 78 Space, place and the everyday in La Haine ....................................... 121 “This Little Space In Between…”: Romance Gets Real ....................... 155 Shooting Bokkie and the ethics of faking it. ......................................... 187 Realism today: “a nostalgia for presence” .......................................... 203 List of works cited ......................................................................................Cape 212 Filmography ...............................................................................................of 223 University 2 Clip compilation on DVD 1. The opening sequence of The Idiots (1998) 2. Karen “spasses” at the end of The Idiots 3. The tearoom scene in Secrets and Lies (1996) 4. The barbecue scene in Secrets and Lies 5. The burnt-out gym scene in La Haine (1995) 6. Vinz’s avenging angel fantasy sequence in La Haine 7. The lone breakdancer in La Haine 8. The aerial shot in La Haine 9. Confrontation with the TV journalists in La Haine 10. The Steadicam follow-shot in La Haine 11. The listening booth sequence in Before Sunrise (1995) 12. The ending of Before Sunrise Town 13. Peripatetic conversations in Before Sunset (2004) 14. The first kill in Shooting Bokkie (2003) 15. Extract from the briefing session in CapeShooting Bokkie of University The DVD clip compilation is intended to provide the examiner with easy access to some of the material under discussion. It is not intended for any other purposes, and will not be included in the library copies for copyright reasons. 3 List of figures Figure 1: Karen and Susanne in the hard-won alcove scene. Figure 2: Karen looks on appalled as Stoffer laughs and stops “spassing”. Figure 3: Karen goes into “spass” in the final scene. Figure 4: A camera in shot in the house-buying scene. Figure 5: Cynthia’s traumatic realisation in the tearoom scene. Figure 6: Our introduction to Roxanne, who blends into her workaday background Figure 7: Vinz’s nightmare outside the club. Figure 8: Hubert smokes a joint and watches the breakdancing. Figure 9: The lone breakdancer continues to spin. Figure 10: Vinz’s “avenging angel” fantasy, completeTown with halo. Figure 11: Imaginary phone-calls in Before Sunrise. Figure 12: Linklater keeps the focus on Jesse and Céline Figure 13: Awkward smiles in the listeningCape booth. Figure 14: Céline (or is it Julie?) losesof at pinball. Figure 15: Jesse’s look of disappointment when Céline lets her hair down. Figure 16: Linklater keeps the focus on the conversation in Before Sunset. Figure 17: LookingUniversity on death in Shooting Bokkie. Figure 18: Josi Minty looks sceptical in the briefing session. Figure 19: The camera distracts the barber as Christo goes in for the kill. Figure 20: Aftermath of the shoot-out in Papa Joe’s café. The relevant figures can be found at the end of each chapter. These figures are intended to provide the examiner with easily accessible visual references and not for any other purposes. 4 Acknowledgements My heartfelt thanks… to Lesley Marx, a most wonderful supervisor, teacher, colleague and friend. I can’t imagine having taken on a project like this without her dedicated, meticulous and above all warmly encouraging support. To work with Lesley has been a joy and an immense privilege, for which I am enormously grateful. to Will, for whom realism is “like a heavy venison stew on a bright summer’s day,” for his loving perseverance, and for making me more (non-venison) meals than I could possibly count. to Oscar and Leo, who’ve far too often had to make do with theTown “left-overs” of their mother at the end of a working day: I eagerly anticipate making reparations! to my mother, Virginia, and to Welshie, who let me get on with it in my garret, boldly participated in discussions about “real sex” over Capelunch, commiserated with me during my apparently endless lucubrations, and frequentlyof looked after my children… to Mary, Meg and Karina who showed me the way, and who generously shared their survival secrets. to Jane Stadler, my highly over-qualified “Beautiful Assistant” for advice and encouragement andUniversity for keeping me posted. to Jeremy Stigter and Geneviève Anhoury, Josee van Reijn and Helle Thorsen Wegerberg, who found me unfindable documents and films across the seas. to Jane and Lauren, for much-appreciated TLC on the home-front. 5 to Ian Glenn for fiercely supporting my application for teaching relief, to the UCT humanities faculty for granting it, and to my wonderful colleagues who no doubt had to catch some flak in my absence. to Lyn Holness and everybody at UCT’s emerging researcher fund, for financial assistance and for their friendly and very helpful advice. to Ingrid Thompson and Amina Adams, who have led me on many fruitful searches and brought me the spoils from their own solo searching missions. to the staff at interlibrary loans, who have pulled numerous rabbits out of the hat for me. to Max Milne for teaching me to make DVDs and for putting my clip compilation together so expertly. Town to Cath, for the extra information on Le Corbusier and his dreaded curtains. to all my family and friends, for their tolerance, supportCape and offers of help. of …and to Maya, for keeping me company on the home stretch. University 6 Abstract This thesis examines the ways in which certain contemporary fiction cinema posits its narratives as real. Looking at a broad overview of realist movements through the history of cinema, it draws out the codes and conventions which filmmakers have employed and suggests that realist cinema is typically characterised by its focus on creating a sense of presence and immediacy. It describes how a strand of self- reflexivity can be traced throughout the history of realist cinema and asserts that this tendency has become increasingly predominant in a more sceptical postmodern climate. The study focuses on the interplay between the cinematography and the setting (to create a sense of locatedness and contextual specificity) in Matthieu Kassovitz’s La Haine (1995), on Lars Von Trier’s quest for a “naked” film stripped of its cosmetic trappings, and his pursuit of the “genuine” moment within that (in The Idiots, 1998), on Mike Leigh’s use of improvisation and byplay to encourage a sense of authenticity in performance in Secrets and Lies (1996), and oTownn Richard Linklater’s reworking of the romance genre for a postmodern audience in Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004). Further, it investigates how Rob De Mezieres uses typical realist codes and conventions from the realist repertoireCape in Shooting Bokkie (2003) to convince his audience that the fiction they ofare watching is factual, and discusses the ethics of making that claim fraudulently. Finally, the study concludes that realism continues to endure and even to flourish in the current disbelieving era because of its ability to adapt and mutate, and because it satisfies a fundamental human need for a sense of presence. University 7 Introduction The word realism must surely be one of the most complex, ambiguous and generally slippery terms in critical currency. This becomes even more the case when one tries to apply it to the task of film analysis, where the concept of realism