Gerry said a very interesting thing in the last class. He said for us to be careful not to incorporate the multimedia messages on the video because they tend to sway the viewer's idea of the piece. What struck me was this whole idea of eliminating parts to analyze rather than the whole. People have been talking alot about of a "universal truth" and whether or not it is our jobs as theatre artists to provide it, search for it, represent it, or not bother. When Gerry told us to disregard the media, I thought, "Why watch this video then? If we disregard these two people's interpretation (which are the people who made the video) then we are analyzing the wrong thing."
We are theatre artists. We do not put on a show and then tell people to disregard the third scene in the second act. We represent a whole entity. We ask people to judge this entire entity. The media in the film was deliberately put in there to elicit some type of response from the viewer. Therefore, we, as actors, make choices on a stage and then people interpret them. We must be self-limiting in our choices. So, when we talk about truth and whether to put it on a stage, we need to remember that theatre is a stage. Whether it be in a museum parking lot or in the Ford Theatre, it is still a stage where a performance is being held. Immorality has nothing to do with theatrical interpretation. It is a representation allowed to be interpretted.
It struck me as odd that we had to limit our viewing in order to see their true meaning on the film. Doesn't the media section add to their true meaning?? Was every choice that Peter Brook did analyzed? Yes. So therefore, I think that when watching/performing in a piece, whether it be "Couple in a Cage" it is important for actors to not judge the delivery, but simply tell this story. Interpretation is on the spectator not the actor.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
The Questions
I reviewed the questions we raised at the beginning of class that Amy posted on the blog very early in the semester. After considering all of the questions, I think the hardest one to think about was:
"How are our skills/techniques/goals as actors and theatre artists enhanced or challenged by contact with artists from other cultures and vice versa?"
This question is very hard to answer, and I think we could spend an entire semester doing so. However, here are the most pertinent things I came up with.
As Americans, I don't think we think of our own country as a very culturally diverse place. Japan is about 146,000 square miles, Mexico is about 762,000 square miles, the US takes up almost 4 million square miles. On a very elementary level I don't think we consider how very culturally different our own country is region to region....and that's not considering Alaska or Hawaii.
So to engage the idea of 'contact with other artists from other cultures,' I considered my daily life. ow many different walks of life do you see on a University campus? at the store?...I think I do every day. It's apparent to me that Americans in general are able to select many different methods of training from many different cultures - a privilege that is not afforded in other cultures. I think we constantly discuss the idea in class that America as a nation is still trying to define its own cultural image. Perhaps America represents the first of a cultural anomaly in anthropological history.
Despite the inability to distinguish my country's own cultural identity, I think it is the personal connections that define my own process, and its value. I think my interactions with other artists also challenges my own process by illustrating the differences in process and results...sort of like a deconstructive way of looking at my own process.
I also think that we should consider the field of theatre which we represent - there is also commercial theatre, not for profit, community, regional. I think if one's ultimate goal is to work than one would eventually allow the trends of that work environment to influence them (like wearing a suit and tie in an office). Regardless of the genre, I sometimes think trying to itemize my own techniques is dangerous. The world is constantly moving and changing, so committing an idea to paper prevents it from growing and changing. In terms of cultural experience, I don't think we have to look much further than our own front yard.
"How are our skills/techniques/goals as actors and theatre artists enhanced or challenged by contact with artists from other cultures and vice versa?"
This question is very hard to answer, and I think we could spend an entire semester doing so. However, here are the most pertinent things I came up with.
As Americans, I don't think we think of our own country as a very culturally diverse place. Japan is about 146,000 square miles, Mexico is about 762,000 square miles, the US takes up almost 4 million square miles. On a very elementary level I don't think we consider how very culturally different our own country is region to region....and that's not considering Alaska or Hawaii.
So to engage the idea of 'contact with other artists from other cultures,' I considered my daily life. ow many different walks of life do you see on a University campus? at the store?...I think I do every day. It's apparent to me that Americans in general are able to select many different methods of training from many different cultures - a privilege that is not afforded in other cultures. I think we constantly discuss the idea in class that America as a nation is still trying to define its own cultural image. Perhaps America represents the first of a cultural anomaly in anthropological history.
Despite the inability to distinguish my country's own cultural identity, I think it is the personal connections that define my own process, and its value. I think my interactions with other artists also challenges my own process by illustrating the differences in process and results...sort of like a deconstructive way of looking at my own process.
I also think that we should consider the field of theatre which we represent - there is also commercial theatre, not for profit, community, regional. I think if one's ultimate goal is to work than one would eventually allow the trends of that work environment to influence them (like wearing a suit and tie in an office). Regardless of the genre, I sometimes think trying to itemize my own techniques is dangerous. The world is constantly moving and changing, so committing an idea to paper prevents it from growing and changing. In terms of cultural experience, I don't think we have to look much further than our own front yard.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Apocalypto: A Catharsis?
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."W. Durant
I watched Apocalypto last night for the first time. I'm really glad I waited until after I had done all that research on Mexican Religion, Ritual and Myth because I connected with some interesting stuff that I had found during my research.
One of the things that stood out to me the most was the idea of Teotl (in Aztec). But, it's the balance in the universe. It is akin to the Yin and Yang in Buddism. Basically, the belief is that you stay in the middle of the path during life. You never venture to extremes because that's when you falter and fail.
Fear, especially, pushes us to the extreme and that's what Apocalypto is about. Jaguar Paw is afraid and his fear paralyzes him and puts him and has family and friends in danger. Most of them die, but Jaguar Paw finally, upon escaping the Mayan captors and returning to his forest, stops running and faces them. One by one he uses the tricks and knowledge he has obtained from his father to outwit and outmaneuver his pursuers. He's driven by the need to rescue his pregnant wife and son from the pit he hid them in before it fills with water from the rains.
In ancient Mexican cultures, fear was abhorred because it threw off the balance of the individual, the community and, ultimately, the binding force of the universe, Teotl. It paved the way for destruction from within. And, you can find a similar reference in Aristole's Poetics. He says, in regards to Catharsis, that Catharsis is the removal of fear (in a nutshell). So, how do we remove fear? We face it, then we're no longer afraid and we can move freely and logically through life. That's Teotl and that's what Jaguar Paw finally realized. And, that too is the turning point in the movie. Removing the fear empowered him to save his family. He finally found his true identity.
I wonder if Sabina Berman looks at it this way? She places these scripts in front of us and presents all kinds of fears. Is this a Catharsis? In "Yankee" Bill is afraid of his identity so he fabricates numerous ones. But, in the end, while he is gently slapping Alberto's limp body, he seems to be gentle, at peace. He no longer seems afraid. Is it because he has faced his fears and accepted who he is? Is Berman suggesting that he has finally found his identity?
I watched Apocalypto last night for the first time. I'm really glad I waited until after I had done all that research on Mexican Religion, Ritual and Myth because I connected with some interesting stuff that I had found during my research.
One of the things that stood out to me the most was the idea of Teotl (in Aztec). But, it's the balance in the universe. It is akin to the Yin and Yang in Buddism. Basically, the belief is that you stay in the middle of the path during life. You never venture to extremes because that's when you falter and fail.
Fear, especially, pushes us to the extreme and that's what Apocalypto is about. Jaguar Paw is afraid and his fear paralyzes him and puts him and has family and friends in danger. Most of them die, but Jaguar Paw finally, upon escaping the Mayan captors and returning to his forest, stops running and faces them. One by one he uses the tricks and knowledge he has obtained from his father to outwit and outmaneuver his pursuers. He's driven by the need to rescue his pregnant wife and son from the pit he hid them in before it fills with water from the rains.
In ancient Mexican cultures, fear was abhorred because it threw off the balance of the individual, the community and, ultimately, the binding force of the universe, Teotl. It paved the way for destruction from within. And, you can find a similar reference in Aristole's Poetics. He says, in regards to Catharsis, that Catharsis is the removal of fear (in a nutshell). So, how do we remove fear? We face it, then we're no longer afraid and we can move freely and logically through life. That's Teotl and that's what Jaguar Paw finally realized. And, that too is the turning point in the movie. Removing the fear empowered him to save his family. He finally found his true identity.
I wonder if Sabina Berman looks at it this way? She places these scripts in front of us and presents all kinds of fears. Is this a Catharsis? In "Yankee" Bill is afraid of his identity so he fabricates numerous ones. But, in the end, while he is gently slapping Alberto's limp body, he seems to be gentle, at peace. He no longer seems afraid. Is it because he has faced his fears and accepted who he is? Is Berman suggesting that he has finally found his identity?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Japan Interview
I interviewed Yuriko Saitou, a twenty-year old student at Bellarmine University. We met a Starbuck's for the interview, and over a couple of Frappuccinos we talked about the difference between living in the United States and Japan. I asked her about her homeland. Yuriko is from Yokohama, which she describes as a "really cool, fun place." Yuriko and her friends enjoy shopping and hanging out, just like American youth. I asked her why she wanted to go to college in America. She said she always wanted to go to school in the United States, " A girl from my school came here to study and she said it was great fun, I applied and got it, I was real happy." Yuriko is a business major and looks forward to finding a job when she is finish with school, " I want to work to make money to do the fun things I want." When I told her I was doing a presentation on Japan religions and Japanese geisha, she responded with girlish giggles and said that although her family is not very religious, she and her friends like to visits Christian churches to celebrate Christmas:
Me and many friends had dinner together at restaurant to celebrate the Christmas Eve. We had a very good time. I went to the church on Christmas Eve. It's the first time I have ever been there. I saw a lot of people, but many of them are not Christianity, they went there for curiosity just like me. People sing songs and a little dance. It's really different, but I don't think it's the one I have expected. I hope to see how western people do in the church.
I invited her to attend church with me and she responded again with her girlish giggles. She said that she and her friends are more modern and that she is not really interested in the Geisha culture, "My [American] friends are more interested in that." I asked her if she saw Memoirs of a Geisha, and she giggled and said she likes Japanese and American horror movies, like The Ring and The Grudge. We closed the interview with both of us feeling the caffeinated effects of our Frappuccinos. Yuriko seems to seems to me like any other American twenty-year old, and I think she wants it that way.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Cantinflas in Aguila o Sol
I was going to show this clip of an early film of Mario Moreno's in class today, but, of course, we ran out of time. The paragraph below is a translation (done mostly by Google and then doctored by me) of the description posted on YouTube.
For many reasons, this film is a gem of national filmmaking. Eagle or Sun is the third Cantinflas movie and takes place two years before that character's jump to fame with "That is the Detail." Eagle or Sun reproduces the atmosphere of the carpas, which were the most important entertainment in Mexico during the first part of the twentieth century. That's where the character was forged by Cantinflas and this is an emulation of that glorious era. The comic routines between Cantinflas and Medel are really typical of the Mexican tent. And if that were not enough, Eagle or Sun is also a film of the Russian Boytler Arcady, a great filmmaker who was nothing less than a ward of the legend of world cinema Sergei Eisenstein, who, incidentally, also shot in Mexico. The character who is smiling is owner of the tent, and is embodied by none other than the incredible actor Luis. G. Barreiro, who began his career in silent movies and made dozens of movies in Mexico and the United States, in addition to having been in at least four movies with Cantinflas: This is my Earth (1937), Eagle or Sun (1938), The Gendarme Unknown (1941) and Grand Hotel (1944).
For many reasons, this film is a gem of national filmmaking. Eagle or Sun is the third Cantinflas movie and takes place two years before that character's jump to fame with "That is the Detail." Eagle or Sun reproduces the atmosphere of the carpas, which were the most important entertainment in Mexico during the first part of the twentieth century. That's where the character was forged by Cantinflas and this is an emulation of that glorious era. The comic routines between Cantinflas and Medel are really typical of the Mexican tent. And if that were not enough, Eagle or Sun is also a film of the Russian Boytler Arcady, a great filmmaker who was nothing less than a ward of the legend of world cinema Sergei Eisenstein, who, incidentally, also shot in Mexico. The character who is smiling is owner of the tent, and is embodied by none other than the incredible actor Luis. G. Barreiro, who began his career in silent movies and made dozens of movies in Mexico and the United States, in addition to having been in at least four movies with Cantinflas: This is my Earth (1937), Eagle or Sun (1938), The Gendarme Unknown (1941) and Grand Hotel (1944).
Japanese Film
I also watched a Japanese film over the weekend...the name of it was "Kiki's Delivery Service." It's by Hayao Miyazaki, who is famous for his other films like Howl's Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke. (Kiki's delivery service was ok, but I enjoyed Miyazaki's previous films more, because they weren't based in the time period in which I live.) After our in-depth study of Japan I was really curious about Miyazaki. I only knew that he had his own company, that was kind of like the PIXAR of Japan.
After reading a little about him on the internet I discovered that his career has a rich history in Japanese culture. Miyazaki was born in 1941 so he is a post-war child of Japan. The themes of his work often reflect that: good vs. evil, anti-technology, environmentalism. His father also directed construction in an airplane factory which influenced Miyazaki at a young age. His films often contain images of flying, especially humans. Miyazaki himself said that flying was a way to forget about the harsh reality of gravity.
In college Miyazaki earned degrees in political science and animation - his studies had nothing to do with art, film, or animation. I read that one of his literary influences was Lewis Carroll, which makes sense considering Miyazaki's outlandish stories.
I looked for pictures online that would represent some of Miyazaki's work. If you are not familiar with it, I would highly recommend it. It gives insight into the post-war generation of entertainment in Japan.
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