Hen Pauker
Dr. Manuel A. Pérez Tejada
English 1102 D2
02/05/09

Dror Shaul’s contrast

Dror Shaul is an Israeli film maker. He was born on 1971 in Kibbutz kisufim that is in the south of Israel. Kibbutz is a collective community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture; the kibbutz is a form of communal living that combines socialism and Zionism. Dror Shaul came to prominence with the release of his first film, the 50-minute Operation Grandma, a comedy with a focus on the kibbutz experience. It is considered a cult movie, especially among kibbutzniks (people who lives in the Kibbutz). He returned to the kibbutz with his second full-length feature, Sweet Mud, a drama following an unhappy childhood in the kibbutz. It won an Israeli Film Academy Best Picture Award and a Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Shaul has confirmed that both films are based on real-life events. In my essay I will first describe the plots of the movies and then I will present the differences between the movies. I will also show the similarity between them in respect to Shaul’s direction. I will show how Shaul has the same point of view in both movies but one is a comedy that most of the Israeli population liked and the other is a drama that had a lot of criticisms among the Israeli people as a whole and among the kibbutzniks in particular.

Operation Grandma is a comedy film about the Israeli military and kibbutz life. The story took place around Alon, an Israeli Army officer, Benni, a brilliant electrician, and Idan, a wimpy field trip guide. The film is told from Idan's point of view. Three brothers try to bury their grandmother in the kibbutz cemetery. Alon has a secret security operation set for the same day, so they have to work on a very tight schedule. Alon plans it like a military operation, and this is the reason for the film’s title. A series of mistakes and mishaps complicate things. The story takes place in Israel, in the fictional kibbutz "Asisim". Kibbutzim are flourishing as a social system in the 1970s in Israel. The kibbutzim were founded on principles of socialist equality -- each person giving as much as he or she was able, and taking only what he or she needed. The members of the kibbutz provided everything the kibbutz needed to survive as a whole, and in return the kibbutz as a whole took care of the individual needs of its members. (Definition) Kibbutzim were seen by many as social utopias, and many seekers, both Jewish and not, came to the various kibbutzim looking for models on which to found similar communal intentional communities. The humor in the film operation grandma is cultural, involving very specific aspects of Israeli life and culture: the kibbutz, foreign volunteers, army life, school-trips and Tel-Aviv (one of the biggest cities in Israel). In a very funny way, Shaul creates a critic’s film about the Kibbutz and the way things function.

Sweet Mud is an intense drama about a boy with a mentally ill mother. In the year 1974 Dvir, a twelve year old, lives in a Kibbutz in Israel with his mother and older brother. His father died some years earlier, but anyone from the members of the kibbutz will tell Dvir it was not an accident. Dvir's mother, Miri is mentally unstable, and Dvir is trying to do his best to take care of her during the limited time he is allowed to spend with her every day. Early in the film we learn that Miri never recovered from Dvir’s father death. The director manages to convey a child's outrage and perplexity at the way the adults around him abuse his mother and basically shows us the reason for his sadness and occasional fear. We can feel the child's loneliness and empathize with his intense and doomed wish that his troubled but loving mother would behave normally.

There are many different characters in the movie, but Shaul keeps the main sight of the story on the12-year-old Dvir and his mother, Miri. Although at the beginning of the film Dvir’s mom looks charming, young and beautiful, we found out really quickly that she has a history of psychosis and hospitalization. The kibbutz was her husband's home, so they kept her because the members of the Kibbutz felt it is their duty, but they were not happy about being among a woman like her. The kibbutz members of Sweet Mud are much more than a collection of cute eccentrics, as they've been portrayed in Operation Grandma. For example, Avram, who looks and sounds like the stereotypical easy-going kibbutznik, turns out to have an unusually close relationship with the cows he takes care of. A pretty young teacher gives a humorless, ideological sex education lecture that is the film's comic high point, then goes off to continue a loveless affair with a married man. While Shaul does have a sense of humor and, very occasionally, certain affection for the kibbutz residents, it becomes clearer and clearer that they are frustrated people who often treat each other with great cruelty. When that cruelty is turned against a creature as vulnerable as the boy's mother, the results can't be anything other than tragic.

In the film Operation Grandma, Dror Shaul shows the negative side of the kibbutz with all the funny motifs related to the kibbutz. The Israeli audience did not see the negative side of the movie because of the fact that it is a comedy movie. Even though it is obvious that through the comedy movie Shaul criticizes the kibbutz characters harshly, the fact that this is a comedy movie even flattered the kibbutzniks citizens. On the other hand, Sweet Mud groups all the evil dark life of the kibbutz in a drama movie. The entire film is shades and taupe, which increase the sense of gloom. The scenes engaged with an absurd gathering of members asking the community’s permission for banal things. The figures have lack of empathy, contempt reactions in particular acts and even violence against a child just to protect a friend from the Kibbutz. The only positive characters in the film are the result of intervention of an outside person that comes from another culture. Parents are supposed to have a suitable Kibbutz child, and if anyone dares to think otherwise, this is not plausible.

I am aware of the existence of these negative and sometimes terrifying things that exist in the kibbutzim. But this negative perspective that exists in the film, along with the general neglect gray shades, takes the viewer to a dark place. Perhaps that is the director’s sharing childhood days on the kibbutz, but not in an objective way that the film Operation Grandma does. In operation grandma Dror Shaul is making fun of the kibbutz, it feels like there is something bitter in the film but the comedy is taking control and “does not” let you feel that way. I think that on his first successful movie – operation grandma, Dror Shaul was afraid of the audience’s reaction to a harsh kibbutz film so he “examines us” by combining funny aspects of a film that worked. After his success he got more confidence from his audience’s fans and made a more critical movie and maybe allowed himself to expose his real feeling about the kibbutz from when he was a child. In my opinion, Dror Shaul made two great movies that both give the audience a bitter perspective about the kibbutz but in the same time gives us different moods and different levels of seriousness.



Work Cited
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969323.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=sweet+mud
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969323.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=sweet+mud
http://www.kibbutz.org.il/itonut/kibbutzim/061012_adama.htm?nojump (interview with Dror Shaul in one of the famous newspapers in Israel 02/27/2007).

More…
http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2008/08/sweet-mud.php
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/5/ART1/703/183.html
http://www.movingpicturesmagazine.com/reviews/movies/sweetmud

"Pan's Labyrinth vs. "The Devil's Backbone": Does Production Value Truly Matter?

While acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro has directed such cinematic blockbusters as “Hellboy” and “Blade II,” the two works that continue to define his career are “El Laberinto del Fauno” (Pan’s Labyrinth) and “El Espinazo del Diablo” (The Devil’s Backbone). These two films, while parallel in many aspects, contain several large differences which allow the two films to be weighed against one another in a critical manner. Due to the high level of similarity between the two motion pictures, “Pan’s Labyrinth” is sometimes viewed as a relative sequel to “The Devil’s Backbone.” In my argument, I will elaborate on this theory, along with the general corresponding aspects of the two films and how they affect how the movies are viewed as a pair versus how they are viewed individually. The large gap in production value between “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Devil’s Backbone” is a huge contributor to the differences in the two movies. This further pushes the films apart in terms of general cinematic potential and marketability, which creates an inconsistency between the two with respect to the global marketplace.
“The Devil’s Backbone” involves a young boy named Carlos whose father has died in the Spanish Civil War. A man named Ayala drives him to an orphanage, where he deserts Carlos due to his desire to go into dangerous territory to help the war effort. Dr. Casares, the assistant administrator of the orphanage, befriends Carlos due to his sympathizing with the boy’s situation. Once he becomes settled, Carlos begins to see the ghost of a young boy named Santi who once lived at the orphanage.

Carlos, frightened, continually runs away from the ghost.
Meanwhile, Jacinto, a former orphan who now works at the orphanage, continually plots to steal gold that is thought to be contained in a safe in the kitchen of the orphanage. As the war escalates and tensions run high, Jacinto lights gasoline on fire in an attempt to clear the orphanage out and obtain entry into the safe to acquire the gold. Dr. Casares is heavily injured and several children are killed in the blast, but the remaining orphans realize that the only way to stop Jacinto is to fight. During this time, Carlos speaks to Santi rather than running away from him, and a revelation occurs. Jacinto is shown to have murdered Santi due to Santi witnessing him attempting to break into the safe. Santi expresses a desire to kill Jacinto to Carlos. Dr. Casares eventually dies from his wounds, but when Jacinto returns to the orphanage, the remaining orphans repeatedly stab him with blunt sticks and he is thrown into the pool where he disposed of Santi’s body, and the ghost of Santi drags him to the bottom, where he dies.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” begins by showing a young girl named Ofelia lying on the ground, injured. It is then explained that Princess Moanna of the Underground Realm (believed to be Ofelia) once ventured to the outside world and eventually died. The story then cuts to the present, and Ofelia is at a Spanish military post during the period right after the Spanish Civil War. Her father is deceased, and her mother has since remarried. Her new husband, Captain Vidal, is a tyrannical leader who is seeking out rebels and exterminating them for the new fascist regime.

A small fairy appears to Ofelia and leads her into a strange labyrinth near the post, where she encounters a faun who claims that she is Princess Moanna. The faun then gives Ofelia three missions to accomplish before she can return to the Underground Realm. These tasks vary widely, from retrieving a key from the belly of a giant toad to obtaining a dagger from a baby-eating monster.

Meanwhile, Ofelia’s mother, Captain Vidal’s wife, is pregnant and becoming very ill.
Captain Vidal’s housekeeper, Mercedes, and the local doctor are shown to be aiding the rebels with food and medicine. Vidal eventually discovers that Mercedes and the doctor are conspiring against him and he kills the doctor and captures Mercedes as she attempts to escape. Ofelia’s mother dies during childbirth but gives birth to a son. Ofelia kidnaps her brother from Captain Vidal and ventures into the labyrinth, as Captain Vidal gives chase. The faun then appears and informs Ofelia that she can only gain entry into the Underground Realm by spilling the blood of an innocent, in this case her brother. Despite this warning, she refuses to allow her brother to be harmed and is fatally shot by Captain Vidal. Captain Vidal then exits the labyrinth, baby in hand, and is promptly killed by the rebels. It is then revealed that the true final task that Ofelia had to complete was refusing to allow her brother to be harmed, which gave her entry into the Underground Realm and allowed her to once again take her proper place as Princess.
The similarities between “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” are inherent. The setting for both is in the early-to-mid 1940s, during the time of the Spanish Civil War and subsequent dictatorship that exists in the country. In each film, the protagonist is a young child who either starts with or eventually has no living parents over the course of the story. The totalitarian rule in Spain during the time period also plays a major role throughout both films, as does the underlying factor of the ongoing war. There are consistent themes of child abuse and oppression throughout both films. In both films, a group of innocents are driven to rise up against some sort of ruthless authority figure and to overcome a series of obstacles in order to accomplish the goal of total freedom.
While “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” follow a parallel path in many aspects, there are also large factors surrounding the films which cause them to deviate greatly. The budget for “The Devil’s Backbone” was a relatively paltry 4.5 million dollars, and it only grossed a total of just over $750,000. Thus, the film was never given a wide release, and was only released on a limited basis in selected cities around the world. The marketing of the film was also very slight due to the inadequate nature of the budget, and caused the film to make significantly less money than would have been possible given greater funding.

This was all due to the film being financed independently, as a major film studio could’ve provided enough cash to propel the movie to the outer limits of what could have been achieved on a financial level. The general lack of money also caused the film’s sets to be unable to achieve the grandiose of those in “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which caused the movie to develop a more amateur sort of tone. This further contributed to the film’s lack of success at the box office.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” had a comparatively large budget of 19 million dollars and managed to gross a staggering $83 million at the worldwide box office. This was highly due to the marketing of the film, which was only possible through the larger budget it was given. This budget was attained through the funding of a film company, Esperanto Films, which operates out of Mexico. The wide release the film was given also caused a jump in the film’s gross, as it ran in more theatres for a longer period of time than “The Devil’s Backbone” was able to. “Pan’s Labyrinth” also has substantially superior sets and lighting due to the increased budget of the film. All of these things allowed the movie to far exceed both “The Devil’s Backbone” and the relatively modest expectations that any non-English movie is given upon release.
The general monetary difference between the two films causes them to be viewed in different lights by any avid movie-goer. “Pan’s Labyrinth” is the quintessential globalized national film, with the more viewer-accepted fantasy theme attached to the Spanish Civil War setting rather than the horror aspect that “The Devil’s Backbone” utilizes. This probably contributed to the ability of the film to gain funding from a production studio, as they knew that the fantasy portion of the film would cause more people to see the movie than would see a horror movie. As stated on NYTimes.com, “Pan’s Labyrinth is swift and accessible entertainment” (Scott 1). The increased budget also lends to the globalized makeup of the film.
On the other hand, “The Devil’s Backbone” is definitely a strictly national film, as it was independently funded and was never given a wide release. However, the film gained critical acclaim and many awards around the world through film festival appearances. This gives a level of glory to Mexican film that isn’t as easily attained through a film that is released commercially and pushed hard from a marketing standpoint. This lends itself to the nationality of the movie, as Mexican viewers can take pride in the movie as strictly their own.
Though “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth” share a common director and theme, the differences between the movies are vast.

The two films are inherently parallel in some aspects, but the massive difference in production value between the films causes them to deviate in many ways. Through this budget difference, “Pan’s Labyrinth” was able to outgross “The Devil’s Backbone” by over $82 million. This difference, despite the similar nature of the acting and directing in the movies, shows just how important commercialization is in cinema today. The truth is, with movies, it really is all about the money.

No Man's Land

Set in the war between Bosnia and Herzegovina during 1993, "No Man's Land" is the story of the interactions between three soldiers and the highly unfortunate situation that they are involved in. The soldiers include a Bosnian Serb and a Bosniak Muslim caught in the dead zone between the two warring sides find themselves trapped together with another Bosniak Muslim who comes to consciousness trapped laying on a land mine. The general concept of the film is a generally ridiculous yet interestingly frightening possibility in times of war. While conventional wisdom would lead one to believe the soldiers to be entirely malicious in their intentions, that does not turn out to be the case. In order to dispel the expected stereotype of Eastern European savagery, Danis Tanovic shows the soldiers interacting humanely despite their perilous circumstances. Yet, when the trapped Bosniak Muslim is introduced to the situation, the focus of the movie seems to shift completely to the disregard that the United Nations shows for the dire nature of these individuals' situation. In addition, the comparing and contrasting of these two enemies in this absurd situation stresses the shared humanity despite different beliefs. Using humor, Tanovic employs it as a means to exaggerate the ridiculousness of the situation they are trapped in as well as the dialogue being exchanged. While this has some effect on the tone of the film, the general horridity of the plight of the soldiers takes a sort of precedence over that throughout the majority of the movie. This causes for a slightly comedic tone, yet the knowledge of the impending doom of the soldiers provides for a mixing of genres. This melting pot is successful at points and inadequate at others, but ultimately provides enough punch to get the general point across.

Turtles Can Fly

Known as the first movie to be filmed in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Turtles Can Fly , is an exceptional film that focuses on the lives of children and civilians in a Kurdish refugee camp located at the border of Iraq and Turkey. Forbidden to purchase satellites from their area, the civilians try to create their own satellites to be able to pick up signals from news chanels about the war. This film is a story revolved a boy known as Satellite and the children who work for him. Satellite is known as the leader of the pack, taking care of all the kids, providing jobs for them to provide for themselves. With the slight ability to speak English, Satellite takes care of his unit and is looked up upon greatly from the elderly and infant. Carefully scanning the minefields for American mines in the minefield, Satellite uses his connections to trade or sell the mines for things such as weapons or money.
This movie shows a very biased views of the support for the United States invasion of Iraq. This may seen with skepticism, but it shows the views and faith of the producer in coming into production. Turtles Can Fly shows a side of the people themselves and their opposition towards Saddam as well. As an American, this makes viewers like myself come to understand the Kurdish people and the suffering they have been going through as well and see things from a different perspective. Director, Ghabodi, depicts the crucial and harsh environment of the Kurdish Iraqi people by succinctly executing his shots. With his proper positioning and zoom of the camera lens and the use of flashbacks, Ghabodi Turtles Can Fly has won an immense amount of awards (which i support). What I find the most impressive is his casting and his view to put the film in the lives of the children. Dominated by the acting of infants, this was a great movie with a great cast and plot.

Review of The Death of Mr.Lazarscu

The Death of Mr.Lazarescu is a bitter social satire on widower pensioner (Mr.Lazarscu) that in one night felt bad and order an emergency medical service. The movie start with a phone call that Mr.Lazarscu made and inform that he feels unwell. In this phone call, the director decided to give us information about Mr.Lazarscu when questions start being asked from the other side of the telephone. From this conversation we know how he feel, why he might feel like that (drinking), his age and details about his apartment. The old telephone and the alcohol bottle next to it, invite us to get in Mr.Lazarscu character and actually feel Mr.Lazarscu life. After a long waiting, the ambulance arrived and the paramedic of this ambulance became an ally of the old man. Together they moved from one hospital to another, trying to find a hospital that will give Mr.Lazarscu the treatment that he need. The doctors and the nurses treated their patients and Mr.Lazarscu like they were burden for the hospital. They look bored, asking over and over again why she (the paramedic) did not take him to another hospital and they simply do not feel like taking care of an old drunkard. The disrespectful doctors, the boring nurses and the slow process for a patient to get a treatment give Romania a really bad image. For the ones who like a black comedy, “The death of Mr.Lazarscu” beyond just a comedy film, gives the audience feeling of realty, mercy and evilness.

Review of JSA
By: Eric Martin

Park Chan-wook’s latest piece Joint Security Area is an entertaining film that pairs fear with bravery, division with unity, hatred with friendship, and tragedy with hope. The plot centers on the investigation of a recent military confrontation between South and North Korean troops along the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) in which two North Korean soldiers were killed at a border house. Naturally, the two sides have differing and biased views of the event, and the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission must launch an investigation to uncover the truth and avert a civil war between the two nations. Major Sophie E. Jean (Lee Young Ae), a Swiss born Korean, conducts the investigation and discovers not only truth, but also the brotherhood the once existed between the two Koreas. The strength of this movie does not lie in the action scenes, but in its ability to remain neutral and present the truth in a forceful manner.

Even though this film is entertaining and can reach audience of different nations, I believe it would be a mistake to categorize this film as a national cinema. For example, the movie persistently downplays the roles of non-Korean actors. The investigation is being led a Swiss who happens to be of Korean descent. Her Swedish partner, supposedly her equal, never contributes anything meaningful to the case. Her superior officer informs her that she must remain perfectly neutral and not upset the two opposing Koreas, which is an order that she derides as being impossible. Even though the presence of foreign nations in diplomatic issues cannot entirely be overlooked, the movie suggests that foreign powers tend to destabilize. For example, there is a constant fear that the U.S. when blow up Korea, or that the Korean War was just a playground for the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. The main message of the movie is that the DMZ is Korea’s problem and that the North and the South are still brothers. This message is given palpable meaning in one of the first images of the movie in the Joint Security Area where two apparently identical men can be seen facing off with only a small intangible line between them. This film is meant to educate foreigners while emotionally affect Korean audience.