Film Strategy

Many years ago, two great films opened today, Berlin Symphony of the City (1927) and The Silence (1963).  What makes the two films equally memorable are how the directors expanded the language of cinema by focusing on a little-considered aspect of a subject (Ruttman) or doing something different from their past work (Bergman).  These works have became a source of inspiration and style for many filmmakers ever since. " Walther Ruttman’s unfurled Berlin: Symphony of a Great City on 23 September 1927 in the city for which it is named. Having entered film from the fields of architecture and design, Ruttmann saw form and shape where so many others perceived character and story. And while the film employed documentary strategies, it’s aim was more aesthetic than journalistic, trying to capture––as the musical title suggests––the rhythm of the city and the masses who inhabit it. Influenced by Soviet theories of montage, Ruttman divided his piece into five acts, a nod to s

Captain's Log. Star Date:9.18.13 62 years ago today A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE opens When Elia Kazan’s film  A Streetcar Named Desire  opened in September of 1951, those who’d read the play or seen the Broadway production, knew this was something very different. The 1947 drama, for which playwright Tennessee Williams received a Pulitzer Prize, was for the most part intact. The haughty Blanche DuBois (Vivien Leigh) comes to live with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter), and her sister’s earthy husband Stanley Kowalski (Marlon Brando). But the nuances that defined William’s dramatic style were quietly erased. The Production Code Administration, led by Joseph Breen, demanded up front 68 changes (some rather major). Blanche’s dead gay husband is now simply referred to as sensitive; the rape is covered in darkness; Blanche’s sexuality is quieted down. But even this was not enough, as Warner Brothers worked out a 11th hour deal with the Catholic League (unbeknownst to either Kazan or