20 Camera Shot for 6 Seconds of Film
Remarks on cinema of the 90s. Excerpt from the book 'Movies of the 90s', by Jürgen Müller
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In other words, for particular genres, these films set standards that demand quality and originality. Anyone who emphasises the desire to quote in present-day cinema is really only saying that the history of film is not over, but has always represented a starting point and point of reference for filmmakers.
Film and personal reflection
Allusive cinema is a rather vague, general term for a highly creative association with originals, because quotes come in various forms: as remakes, as parodies or as homage. Usually they are allusions used by a director to express his admiration for a particular earlier film or film sequence. Such allusions can be clear, or less obvious. A master of the subtle allusion is the American director, Tim Burton. His film Edward Scissorhands (1990) begins with a young girl asking her grandmother where snow comes from. This paves the way for an allegorical trip through the history of film. When the camera leaves the room, we are led over the snow-covered houses of a suburb, until the view rises to a dark castle, in which a light burns. This is an allusion to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941): the castle with the lit window recalls Charles Foster Kane's huge mansion, Xanadu, and the snow that falls over the artificial-looking suburb harks back to the glass snow-scene that falls from the hand of the dying tycoon. Burton's film quotations attest to his admiration for Welles, who even appears as a character in his film Ed Wood (1994, p. 214). With his reference to the snow-scene, he is also using one of the best cinematic metaphors: expressing in equal measure both childlike innocence and astonishment at the magic of the miniature world. Beyond the glass globe, you look towards a world of your own, dappled with dancing snowflakes, which comes to life in your imagination.
Burton's allusions underline the quality of Orson Welles' classics and make it possible to experience film history visually. The quotes in Edward Scissorhands are difficult to recognise precisely because they fit the new context so well. The better a quote is adapted to the new context, the more likely that it will be recognised only by a devotee of the original film.
Danny Boyle is much more direct with his quotes in his film Trainspotting (1996, p. 388). At an important point in the action, he refers to a famous earlier film. At a weekend disco, two boys are talking about their girlfriends. The music is so loud that we cannot hear what they are saying, but have to read subtitles, as in a silent film. The camera approaches the two in a single movement and, in the style of Pop Art, we recognise words such as "Vellozet" or "Synthomon" written on the walls, words which refer back to drinks from the Korova milk bar in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).
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Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
In other words, for particular genres, these films set standards that demand quality and originality. Anyone who emphasises the desire to quote in present-day cinema is really only saying that the history of film is not over, but has always represented a starting point and point of reference for filmmakers.
Film and personal reflection
Allusive cinema is a rather vague, general term for a highly creative association with originals, because quotes come in various forms: as remakes, as parodies or as homage. Usually they are allusions used by a director to express his admiration for a particular earlier film or film sequence. Such allusions can be clear, or less obvious. A master of the subtle allusion is the American director, Tim Burton. His film Edward Scissorhands (1990) begins with a young girl asking her grandmother where snow comes from. This paves the way for an allegorical trip through the history of film. When the camera leaves the room, we are led over the snow-covered houses of a suburb, until the view rises to a dark castle, in which a light burns. This is an allusion to Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941): the castle with the lit window recalls Charles Foster Kane's huge mansion, Xanadu, and the snow that falls over the artificial-looking suburb harks back to the glass snow-scene that falls from the hand of the dying tycoon. Burton's film quotations attest to his admiration for Welles, who even appears as a character in his film Ed Wood (1994, p. 214). With his reference to the snow-scene, he is also using one of the best cinematic metaphors: expressing in equal measure both childlike innocence and astonishment at the magic of the miniature world. Beyond the glass globe, you look towards a world of your own, dappled with dancing snowflakes, which comes to life in your imagination.
Burton's allusions underline the quality of Orson Welles' classics and make it possible to experience film history visually. The quotes in Edward Scissorhands are difficult to recognise precisely because they fit the new context so well. The better a quote is adapted to the new context, the more likely that it will be recognised only by a devotee of the original film.
Danny Boyle is much more direct with his quotes in his film Trainspotting (1996, p. 388). At an important point in the action, he refers to a famous earlier film. At a weekend disco, two boys are talking about their girlfriends. The music is so loud that we cannot hear what they are saying, but have to read subtitles, as in a silent film. The camera approaches the two in a single movement and, in the style of Pop Art, we recognise words such as "Vellozet" or "Synthomon" written on the walls, words which refer back to drinks from the Korova milk bar in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).
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