In order to understand and identify films which subvert Hollywood/mainstream film standards and techniques, it is important to define what dominant cinema standards are and how counter-cinema counteracts them.
Five 'key' areas are identifiable in 'mainstream' film, which counter-cinema avoids; 1. Genres 2. Stars. 3. Producers/Studios. 4. Directors. 5. Mass Audiences (filmtheoryandcriticism)
Peter Wollen in, “Godard and Counter-cinema: Vent d'Est.” outlines seven 'deadly sins' of dominant cinema against seven cardinal virtues of its counterpart.
- Narrative straightforwardness v Narrative intransitivity
- Identification v Estrangement/ailenation
- Transparency v Foregrounding of meaning production
- A Homogeneous world v Multiple diegesis
- Closure v Aperture
- Pleasure v Displeasure
- Fiction v Reality and the breakdown of representation
It should be noted that not all these 'sins' need to be present or absent to make or subvert a mainstream film. Similarly, with the five points outlined above, not all have to be absent in a counter-cinema film.
Two films which subvert these dominant film standards are Sliding Doors (1998) and the American remake version of the 1997 Austrian film, Funny Games (2007).
Sliding Doors is not, at first, an obvious example of counter-cinema. It does not follow the typical Hollywood techniques. The narrative is anything but 'straightforward'. The opening sequence of the film sees the main character split into two realities, which creates a 'what-if' scenario throughout the film.
The audience, therefore, is not guided through the story and is unaware which 'reality' is in fact better for the characters. The audience has to engage and remember which story is being told and where the last thread of the storyline left off. “Sliding Doors, alongside Groundhog Day, Pulp Fiction and The Usual Suspects, have challenged contemporary audiences in the way they have used various devices in 'film form' to subvert the mainstream model of 'story-telling', and most specifically, the way that classical narrative represents 'time' and 'space'.” (Nelmes, 2002, p.87.)
Funny Games is similar to Sliding Doors with its Hollywood cast and its subversion of the recognised mainstream cinema techniques. The first is the 'rewind scene'. The mother of the hostage family manages to shoot one captor. Instantly his accomplice seeks the remote control and proceeds to rewind the scene to before the shooting, changing the events. The hope felt by the audience is gone in a second. Techniques like this happen throughout the film. Hope is given and then it is dashed.
Another technique is when a captor directly addresses the audience. In the middle of 'making a bet' with the family he turns directly to the camera and says, “What do you think? Do you think they stand a chance? You're on their side, aren't you? Who you betting on, hmm?” By talking to the audience he breaks the narrative and allows and expects the audience to think about what is happening and why; a rare occurrence in a Hollywood Film.
The ending, unlike mainstream films, provides no closure at all. The captors arrive at a neighbours house as they did at the start of the film, asking to borrow eggs. Once successfully in the house the young man (who could quite easily be anyone you know) looks directly at the camera with a knowing look, almost a smirk. The games have begun again...
- An Introduction to Film Studies by Jill Nelmes. Third Edition. 2003, Routledge.
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