week 6.

1. Carroll writes "The number of recent films in the style-as-symbol category that revive film noir as a means of commenting on their dramatic material is legion: Night Moves (75), Elephant Man (80), All The Presidents Men (76), Taxi Driver, Harcore and Body Heat. How might this also relate to the stylistic choices in The Godfather Part II?

The Godfather Part II uses dark images and a slow pace to relate it both to the 30s' Gangster Film genre and to the dark, hidden-from-the-public underworld of the mob in which the Godfather is part of the ruling class.

2. What does Sawhill suggest are the functions of the recurring "wires, phones, intercoms, cameras, mics, speakers" throughout the film?

Sawhill suggests that it gives the film an almost reality show-esque air. It is percieved as "a city recording itself, playing itself back". He says it insinuates that our culture is obsessed with self image; the image is manufactured and marketed within same culture that created it. We love hearing things in our lives played back to us. I think this is true, my best friend has 18 voice mails saved on her phone that she goes back and listens to on a fairly regular basis! Crazy much?

3. What does Sawhill mean when he suggests that Altman "was making non-linear multimedia before the form existed" and that Nashville "doesn't suffer from the fragmenting effects of stop-and-start, at-home viewing"?

Sawhill suggests that Altman pioneered the from of story telling that is most prevelant in popular movies and TV shows today: that of following multiple characters whose lives intertwine both through the plot and through the use of cross cutting to create connections. He took this style of editing from non-existence to become the common-est (is that a word? it is now.) form of editing. He forces your attention to jump around all over the place with the film, this forces the viewer to pay closer attention to what is going on in order to follow it all.