1. The Rules of The Game-Jean Renoir

The first French film I chose to watch this quarter was, The Rules of The Game. I chose it for the simple reason that it is a French classic (made in 1939) and I felt slightly obligated. The one thing I have to credit the film for is not for its witty comedy of manners (which was used often during this period in French filmmaking in order to make fun of class distinctions/the bourgeoisie) or the character types (which are, to be honest, sort of archetypal) but rather, the amazing fluidity of the camera the entirety of the second half of the film. I couldn't help but feel that this is what made the film
really great. It sweeps and circles from room to room and face to face as we witness the complete breakdown--comical as it may be--of various marriages and affairs that are being revealed to us at the party.
             It's not worth boring anyone with details of the film, or me trying to think of something profound to say after one viewing (because it usually takes three views to be able to pull much from it) but I will say that one scene I found interesting was the hunting scene. The guests all set out onto M. La Chesnaye's land to hunt rabbits and pheasants and we see probably about 3-5 minutes of rabbits and pheasants actually being shot and killed. I could hardly stand watching it; however, because I found it so hard to watch these poor little animals being shot it made me wonder, "why am I being shown this?". At the end (or maybe it was at the beginning) of the scene, one of the men asks a woman ( I think Madame La Chesnaye) if she enjoys hunting and she responds with something to the likes of "it's alright..". We get a sense that she is just doing it because people of her rank do it. Shot after shot of pointless and anticlimactic killing of rabbits and we start to feel the same way--that it is boring, pointless, a formality--all of which are perhaps social criticisms coming from Renoir.
             The French writers and poets I studied in French literature this fall all possessed a dislike for the bourgeoisie and the same can certainly be said for French filmmakers during this period (and following periods). I guess the only people that like the bourgeoisie are the bourgeoisie. A good film that I saw last year in class that reminds me of this sort of farcical display of class distinctions is Boudu Saved From Drowning (also by Renoir). Oh how I love it when filmmakers make sense. I read an interview of Renoir last year in which he stated something to the extent of, "Filmmakers really only have a desire to communicate one common theme and this same theme or idea takes different forms in different films--but still remains fundamentally the same.." or something like that. I'd have to agree with that, at least for he and his auteur contemporaries in France.

Favorite things

We danced to this song in my modern dance class this week. I can't wait to go again tomorrow. My little two credit hour class is like the best thing to happen to me my sophomore year here <3 All of my friends went to a Mansion dj party tonight but I'm so sick of all of that and I am home with tea and madeleine cookies so I can wake up at 8:30 for this :)

It's Snowing on March 30th

You're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding, you're kidding. It's not even flurries, it is actual snow.

I made a pro's and con's list today in between classes--the three categories being OSU, UT, and UNCW. It turns out, that these sorts of lists are much more complicated than their visual simplicity makes them out to be. The fact that 1 weightier pro can defeat 3 cons or visa versa makes it very difficult to make sense of anything. My paper is filled with categories linked or crossed out and ranked on an arbitrary scale of importance. Confusing? Yeah. Helpful? Not especially. How do people ultimately make decisions? In my case, when decision time is up and there is simply no time left for excessive consideration. I want all of the information-I want to know how it will probably turn out-I want to know exactly how much it will cost and what classes will transfer and how long it will take me to graduate and if I will make new friends-and etc. etc. and I have to decide without all of these things. It's difficult. I don't think college students get enough credit for all of the inputs we are having to process daily. How do you make decisions that you know will effect the rest of your life? Maybe another list will help.

My boo

I'll miss my boo when I go back to Columbus tomorrow (among other things). Looking forward to helping my sister move in to her new apartment tomorrow morning and getting Panera for all of us :) Not looking forward to potential snow once I get to Ohio State though..

Such an old picture! Love it.

plus francais, s'il vous plait!

I haven't been keeping up with my French films lately and that is simply not alright with me. As a result, I've decided to electronically commit myself to watching and reviewing five films I've chosen. I'll keep them a surprise (since I know that will really keep you on edge, lol). I don't expect them to be read, but as a courtesy (in case anyone does want to read them) I will keep them short and unpretentious. I'm hoping that my blog commitment will guilt me into sticking to this. It's not that I don't want to do this, in fact, I would love nothing more than to do this all the time, but chemistry and calculus are rather obligating..Alsoooo, by the end of this quarter I would like to have a summer film project organized and ready to pursue! Looks like I'll be busy! Au revoirrrr.

P.S. My title headings have decided to become red and not green. I cannot fix it. I'm so tech savvy it kills me sometimes,

Live Oaks

Seabrook Island is filled with them! They are really pretty and a nice touch of scenery to my jogs at the beach. Can I move these to Ohio?

                    

Internet Brats

Roommate: "I just googled Bing."

For those of you that missed the humor in that, she used a search engine to get to another search engine. Sometimes I feel like our lives are too infiltrated with technology. I am literally on my computer all day for all sorts of things. I wonder what it was like 20 years ago in college when people didn't have facebook or email. Was it more fun? Sometimes I feel like my computer is an evil trickster that makes me think I am actually living, when in fact, 6 hours a day I am staring at a box.