Piotr Dobrowolski: SF film in mainstream movie history (excerpts) From paper to digital decorating show
impossible to meet in everyday life with what is unusual, seen in the finite infinite
understand what is beyond the understanding, and on the surface to find what lies deep.
carrying out its bold scientific fantasies in a modest studio in Montreuil, near Paris, Georges Méliès probably could have guessed that his
Trip to the Moon (1902), consisting of 330 hand-colored scenes, striking suggestiveness vision and boldness of the project, a few decades will be a reality, breaking thus far invincible barrier of earth gravity. Méliésowska impression, however, was not only a personal desire to rise above mediocrity.
Looking
260 m video was a response to the human desire to know, to penetrate the mind, in fact, incomprehensible and mysterious. Reflected in the technical achievements, even exceeding the threshold of real opportunities presented at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. The turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century was greeted with enthusiasm, and in the cool of the new century felt was the announcement of transformation and upheaval. A new era of unlimited confidence in the wake of technical progress, the early age of radically changing the face of the economy and society. Belief in the salutary power of technology and invention, not only inspired the minds of scientists, alchemists, and various sorts of charlatans. Uncharted areas of science, futuristic feeling it was just fantastic to diagnose. (...)
Using the terminology of analysis, can be defined as literature fantastic as a starting product for the synthesis of this, as we shall see, non-uniform film. * Novels by Orson Welles and Jules Verne for the fast-growing industry has become a great director's inspiration. John Baxter believes is true SF film an intellectual impossibility of not finding between cinema and literature too many similarities, but also sees the roots of this phenomenon is not in a visionary literature of the nineteenth century, which is the primary inspiration for fiction, but in a more distant forms and ; views, in the medieval fantasy world, the era of masks, and Grand Guignolu morality play.
Despite the various complexities, which will be discussed further, the cinema not SF stroniło of adaptation, which is reflected even discussed Trip to the Moon based on the novels of Verne and Wells ** first men on the moon . Méliès success encouraged other artists to do likewise, and therefore realized films thematically similar, and although they were not original or innovative, it is sufficiently numerous to interesting science fiction recipients, thereby creating specific needs and expectations of the team (...).
argument for transparency will use a model of timing and distribution of SF for years, but refer to that is with a certain distance, because each is periodization a matter of convention, depending largely on the individual investigator position. SF history can thus be differentiated into four lead periods:
1) year from 1898 to 1945 (from the first attempts at SF World War II);
2) years from 1946 to 1967 (First post-war boom SF);
3) years from 1968 to 1976 (an artistic ennoblement of species);
4) years from 1977 to 1984 (the second big bang.)
SF
early years were filled with attempts to subjugate the workshop, when the author learned about the mechanisms and ways to move the script to the screen, so as to make it to the viewer the most likely. However, before this camera gain momentum, the cinema does not come out in the tissue outside the trials and tribulations of the average plot bread eater. Abstract worlds abound often grotesque battles, romances disputes, and not being able to abandon the Earth conventions of melodrama, playing, and even śmieszyły.
(...) until its original achievement is the work of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) - surprisingly huge swing, mature and advanced for its time technique.
For a long period of silent cinema SF was still in the hands of nineteenth-century optimism, cognitive trust in the powers of science, the forces of progress and transformation techniques. Breeding ground for fantasy films were primarily the then gains laboratories. In the implementation of even project the flight to the moon with the aid of specialists, so that the launching of the rocket scene seemed most likely. After the frustrations caused by the great war and the great crisis, slowly, the broad mass of western society, rising from many a fall, a growing optimism. SF and its interest in the proposals is understandable, was in fact a response to the rapid and hardly predictable changes. As far as making progress, however, also notes the negative aspects of the phenomenon later called stechnicyzowaniem society ( Holocaust from the east 1930, Maurice Elvey). For the first time resulted in the fantasy horror film from the border, using the topic and the mad scientist's monstrous animal, as a signal of the coming era of doubt and fear ( 1933 King Kong, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schodsacka). (...)
As he wrote Marek Haltof, SF has become a document of the era, a testimony to the moral doubt in a hidden order, restless waiting for the collapse, which did not really start the way predicted. The movie penetrate the political overtones, echoes reverberate taken at the highest levels of military decisions. But not so much fiction deals with the interpretation of human suffering as expressed general concern about the future and the consequences of the progress of scientific thought.
The first was George Pal. He financed the production of Destinantion Moon ( Destination Moon 1950) by Irving Pichel, and commercial success that gained film aroused appetites of the other authors. Slowly fantasy travels outside the U.S., finding a favorable climate development in England, Italy, France and Japan. It is also worth reminding The Day the Earth Stood Still ( Day the Earth Stopped 1951) Robert Wise, where the subject is the visit of Foreign coming to Earth with a warning from total disaster, if the intellectual elite of our world are not stop the senseless arms race and to improve methods of killing. Theme indeed widespread. (...)
meetings with strangers in (...) there are also a mystical element. Scene contacting people who came to the place of landing space vehicle third degree relatives meetings (1977) Steven Spielberg reveals the human yearning for the miraculous survival need, something that is not within the empirical bounds. However, foreign visits are not always optimistic. Przerysowanymi also scared the cruelty of torture scenes, deactivation of the mind and the extermination of the body. Scenarios invent on the spot with ease hypnotist endowed with the ability insight into the human soul and its deepest recesses, urabiając operated subconscious like clay, incomprehensible shapes of merge, saying loudly human fear of annihilation and depersonalized. Films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers ( Body Snatchers 1956) or The Brain Eaters ( brain eaters 1958), discover the range of possibilities not only for the Jungian and Freudian psychologists. The context is much broader, and the accompanying climate of terror reveals the eternal archetypes, primordial fear of evil, or as they like other researchers, prior to disguise enemy, which in the western psychosis was the Soviet Union, red tide of communism wypruwająca man ruthlessly with any manifestation of free thought and individuality, destroys any prey belonging to a collectivity. If the purpose of invaders from outer space is not a mental mangle and perfectly controlled lobotomy, it's certainly a massive global assault and destruction of all forms of living, like unrestricted travel barbaric, in which the size of damages overwhelm the most frightening nightmares.
How vivid are still similar concerns and how a need to unite humanity in a common effort to push their snobbish prejudices, weaknesses, regional fanatyzmów and petty motives, we could find out by participating in a crazy pyrotechnic image of Roland Emmerich Indepedence Day ( Independence Day, 1996). The film, which broke all records of audience, surpassed all expectations, earning seven days a magic sum of one hundred million dollars. That does not even reach Spielberg and his Jurassic Park , who needed two days more to reach the summit kasowości. The U.S. market Independence Day in three weeks grossed $ 200 million (these are movies that even those three weeks they are unable to survive on the screens). No other European Director has not done (...), from now on all cash movies will be compared to the Independence Day .
incredible achievement Emmerich actually thrives on the skilful trawestowaniu borrowings and such reinterpretacjom conventions so that they can be revived in a new costume, updating again under changed realities. Awakening of cosmic monster, and to recall the beast is not a consequence of conflicting political currents, as it did forty years ago, but awareness is still the world's existing divisions and hostile military camps. Coincidence, Independence Day is especially clear in the United States, as it is not accidental that the initial best efforts repel the attack ruthless aggressors from the universe ends, the total defeat of ground forces. Only by joining forces, cunning, bravery and tenacity makes it a truly American style of invaders oppress blunt, ask a devastating blow, our peaceful motives ignorującym aliens. Many critics see the film, Emmerich fulfill the American dream of collectivity, the unification of efforts to repair the world. People in the face of threats from outside forces abandon their selfish goals to rescue the common good. This space can be a tyranny of the general public uświadomiłaby smallness and pettiness of private interests, although it is possible that both could be the driver of low behavior - treason, espionage and sabotage. There is another reason that the same way as in the fifties, opened a factory in aliens. Namely, the real faith of the people in extraterrestrial civilizations. (...)
saw apocalyptic twilight land of civilization, irreversibly disappearing cultural achievements, invading Martians. What still surprises us a fantastic movie? 50s This not only torn from the subconscious of a foreign topic. Nuclear Age marked by the stigma of Hiroshima is concerned, creates fear giving up nothing to alleviate. Makes us get up and look out the window every day, asking if all hell has already started. Do you fall asleep, because who knows, it might surprise us, even before the atomic blast have time to recover. Numerous images of total nuclear annihilation seems to carry a warning, teach, admonish, restores the human value Humanities, to snatch him from the torpor and vividly aware of the danger. Most outstanding achievements of the entire cycle of American films are the poetics of the atom: the Beach (1959) Stanley Kramer and Dr. Strangelowe (1964) Stanley Kubrick. The apparent despair and helplessness in the face of irrational forces hampered the originality and artistry of film, "atomic" heading towards the document or reportage (The War Game 1966, Peter Watkins). For outstanding work in this matter is considered Factory immortal (1961) Joseph Losey.
Another harbinger of repressed instincts and repressed fears are gigantic monsters, antediluvian reptiles, giant lizards and mutated forms of flora and fauna - the result of prohibited experiments and nuclear radiation. The procession that started by Japanese cinema, continued march towards a more and more new capital cities, laid waste every turn encountered building, becoming a thinly disguised symbol of anarchy, war and destruction. The whole machinery and apparatus polygons the world focused on one hated rat. Concrete form in his act of rebellion, in a stream of destruction poderwanego to fight the animal. By killing the beast collectively and publicly directing a film scene change was a magical ritual of burning effigies, the transfer of risk in inaccessible areas have consciousness. The enemy was driven, disposed of in the celebration of the melting uncomfortable and traumatic memories in the shape of the surreal vision of Boris Vian.
Patented several ways to induce latent Mesozoic time in the depths of the monster. Everything depended on the then prevailing trends in science and przeczuwanych hazards, which is fantastic on-screen was a great listener, reinforcing even small signals. The scenario is simple: to awake and upset creature rising from the ocean waves, volcanic basalts, moves in a trance in the city, crushing all powerful paws, tearing and ripping traction network of iron railways. Of course, after a while, everything returns to normal. Monster inactivates another reptile cited to support, massive attack troops, deceit, or find a weak point in the shell is viewed differently Basilisk. Rhône - Bird Death (1956) Inoshiro Honda Monster Invasion (1965) Honda duel monsters (1966), Ebirah - a monster from the deep (1966) Junya Fukuda, Son of Godzilla (1968) Fukuda, Godzilla vs. Hedora (1971) Yoshimitsu Banno are just a few of the titles of movies sygnujące dragons, pterodaktyli and the whole cosmic zoo, which landed on Earth in the bazaar. Significant feature of the cinema of that time is the lack of presentation of film utopia - Arcadia embedded into it man. In the 50s and 60 greatly increased social distrust of technical revelations of the twentieth century. Science, making ever larger discoveries, both raised concerns about the consequences of the use of its prey, which, as history shows, does not always serve the right purpose.
Scientific Revolutions, posed questions about the limits of our humanity. Have we machines? Can we explain the true nature of homo sapiens ? Could he have lost the relevant features in the unnatural selection of the strongest units, focused on the survival and success in a world of confusion and chaos, controlled by a few specialists in cybernetics and molecular biology, and carry the relevant characteristics of the old human nature and its propensity to love, what remained of the androids? Perfectly mimic the artificial creations of man, with similar mechanisms of emotional learning and modify their behavior depending on from the experience acquired and the real demands of the situation, endowed with the contractual freedom, which most often turns against the creator, or programmed operation after a specified period of self-destruction - raise the awareness of existence.
That is masterfully depicted in the vision of 2019 Los Angeles, where the landscape of the metropolis of lights sparkling skyscrapers shrouded Vangelis music evokes a vague feeling of nostalgia, longing for the old ziemskością. Blade Runner (1981) Ridley Scott, because of the question, belonging the few successful images, where the hero is a robot or replikant, moves way to provide artificial "being" emotionally responsive to the likeness of man. Oddly, it is they umiłowały force in a short time getting to know its meaning - a value in itself. Rebelling against the man to programs struggling to wrest the end of the mystery of life extension. Four years is far too little to meet any variety and flavor of the time, but long enough to appreciate its uniqueness.
Ridley Scott originally compromises the human hero, drawing a curve and line it with black. Unable to maintain a healthy reflex, włóczącego the streets, bars and markets filled with the faces of all the continents. Blade Runner The title character is an unscrupulous, police machinery of extermination aimed at capturing the rebel survivors of a planet - some of androids who have arrived on Earth after a prescription for longer life and inhibition of apoptosis. Rehabilitates the human love, but the final of his ennoblement is set using the Replicants. The first of these will be a woman, which falls in love with Hunter, the second leader of the rebels. He is the last sequence of the film will save lives his niedoszłemu wiszącemu killer on one hand on the edge of the abyss to him realizing what is really a survival instinct and the thirst for life. White dove released from the infected hand lethal android shrinkage is the perfect symbol - the intellectual reflection on the freedom of being and autocreation.
duplicates of human organisms Invasion of the Body Snatchers Peter Kaufmann presents the philosophy of emptiness, happiness, apparent in the non-existence and nieodczuwaniu. Strange egg-shaped creations extracted from the overgrown night, enveloped in a sticky swamp mist and put on military vehicles to reach the hospital, where in the process of transformation, sterilizing the interior of the victims at an alarming rate create identical copies. After being worn empty human shell crumbles to dust, and the revitalized replica moves in pursuit of the survivors even real people. This shall be a peculiar exchange of species, a less perfect form of denial by better adapted. Someone from the outside in a similar scenario would be very hard to believe. Significantly for Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Blade Runner - the action and tension on the substrate is born of emotion. Reaction tests reveal who is a copy, and who pretends to be human. The Invasion ... survivors must learn one thing - control of emotions (cosmic intruders are morally depleted). This significant fear of losing the one true distinguishing feature of humanity, the feelings - warns it seems that the very important and dire consequences result. If we do not his actual face, their unique human condition, cease to be the ones who we are or what to serve. But it will not have the last word cinema of anxiety. (...)
In Fahrenheit 451 Francois Truffaut creates a reality of mass culture, in which the blurred contours of the human personality in the overwhelming television programs. A constant stream of images flowing from niegasnących TVs endless contests, games, Glass family is bringing everything to the generally accepted scheme, bursts into the deepest recesses of human intimacy couples without giving respite. TV creates a unified, one-dimensional characters, devoid of character and personality. This fear seems to be not only characteristic of the era of microprocessors - is inscribed on the permanent basis in our mental landscape, constantly disturbing and provoking reflection.
undoubtedly the greatest achievement in the field of fantastic film is unprecedented in the message Stanley Kubrick - 2001 Space Odyssey (1968), the work artistically SF ennobling, elevating the genre to the level of expression and the original material. To the creation of the Odyssey contributed and technical achievements of cinema, and the progressive knowledge of the cosmos, and it provided a much needed freedom to operate the film means, unfettered vision of extending far into the cosmic space, express strong emotions through the technical workshop. Not coincidentally the title of the image associated with Kubrick Odyssey of Homer, and mythological wanderings of Odysseus, the main character. Huge infinite immensity of space fanning its probably hides many secrets. At the same time a man realizes how miserable it is infinite specks of interstellar dust. (...)
mystical space is not in itself, however, nothing of magic, and only superficially in the starry sky brings the aesthetic emotion of the degree of security. Humanity as if they feared the vengeance of the universe for him to wrest his secrets for encroachment on the stars and moon. Still SF anxiously watching the hero in the blue vault. A new wave of SF grows on the ground for real social unrest. What happens if you run out of air, what happens if people multiply uncontrolled masses, if you completely destroy the natural environment, cultural elite, feeling, when everything we eat, and depleted natural resources of fossil fuels? There will be a big fuel crisis, as it presents a series of Mad Maxie G. Miller? Or is it total anarchy and the destruction of enemy tactics Neolithic, which really does not owe anything - appropriated only a piece of food? And can we get back in the form of regressive evolution of cave-dwelling form and we will return to the apes? SF film was probably the best expert ills of civilization and the X-ray machine with the skill of an outbreak of disease prześwietlał social tissue.
theme of irrational aggression and terrible ways of discharge also appears in the film Rollerball (1975) Norman Jewison. However, while most interesting work is the loudest Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick made into a novel by A. Burgess. The terrifying future of juvenile gangs, destructive, and violate rabujących. Here is a unit of the title A Clockwork Orange, subject to manipulation, humiliation, odzierania of humanity, a theatrical puppet pulling the strings behind the curtain concealed by a mysterious master of puppets.
Perhaps lawful society and the justice system with the problem of aggression, rape, assault and violations of Human rights can not handle ever, at least in a satisfactory and definitive manner. In this field also looked for solutions - such as refrigeration units as particularly dangerous, subjecting their operations by cutting the brain areas responsible for the hatred and the desire to fight, in more recent times, creating a holographic prison or provided somewhere in the distant, cold cosmic space penal centers. School outcasts, resocjalizujące colonies, superhuman work in the quarries of Mars, mandatory participation in the intergalactic, particularly dangerous missions - are examples of scenarios.
Lem report, however, a vote of no confidence against the laboratory practice of producing copies of happy, devoid of ills, infirmities and evil. It is still artificial systems, and ethically questionable manipulation of the human mind. Here's not quite naturally, is not the result of the process of coming to the principles of social coexistence, tolerance and respect for private philosophy. Although the U.S. attempted to restore public habitual violators performing the castration surgery dewiantach and with the help of surgical instruments to replace the pathology of questionable standard, but quickly abandoned the practice.
the pessimistic vision of the future even mention Neither grass (1970) Cornel Wilde - picture of rampant population explosion, a crowd and fighting to the death of the smallest piece of land suitable for cultivation. Nightmare plan to reduce the population shows a reduction Action (1973) David Miller, medium Green (1973) Richard Fleischer talks about the horror of practices budzących processing human remains - the lack of sufficient quantities of food - the food substitutes.
So far weekdays hot climates will change the atomic temperature of the globe after signing 1 VII 1968, the NPT nuclear weapons and Salt talks, launched in 1969. This slow speed for a moment of apocalyptic machinery. On Earth and in space there will be relaxation, relaxing in the eye of the storm.
so far talked mainly about fantasy cinema West and its achievements. Scenarios SF socialist blocks implemented slightly differently, not only because of smaller budgets, resources or facilities. Was affected, which is rather obvious, the prevailing ideology and the pressures of leading filmmakers picking communist realism, and not contaminated by delusions Americanism. Hence, few but ambitious in the mainstream of philosophical and reflective, the illusion of dreamlike impressions. This group should be even Solaris Andrzej Tarkowski (1972), based on a novel by Lem with the same title. In these types of films adventures in outer space and encounter with the mysteries are not a pretext to carry out "performance technology", but an opportunity to conduct in-depth analysis of the motives of human action and to assess its ethical and moral attitudes. (...) Tarkowski in typical fashion treat space travel as an excuse to reflect on the attitudes of moral and human responsibility.
unfinished is a fantastic image of the Polish Andrzej Zulawski On the Silver Globe. Based on the novel by Jules *** Zulawski could become a very interesting film, but - although the lack of attention from the authorities Zulawski just could not complain - supervising minister was so close that it stopped shooting photographs and destroyed the scenery and costumes.
Years 1977-1984 and modern times is indeed an unprecedented expansion of fantasy. It will become a dream debut for young directors start climbing the steep stairs in Hollywood. But is this unprecedented eruption of flood cinemas and video rentals something new? Is not this blatant tracing of the comic, treatment of known motifs and a repeat of history? Do you have anxiety disappears, and if not, what fears come up again and who will come to the rescue?
Further transformations of the fantastic cinema will resemble known motifs. Established earlier in the relatively stable patterns will be for the film score, SF support and closer than the hues of the original compositions. This will be a reinterpretation of memories of space hostile to, the dangers domination of man by a far-reaching technological advances. Objectification emotional spheres. Revived the fear of nuclear annihilation, falling comet, aggression, dehumanization, loss of individuality, robots, cloning, dangerous, law breakers genetic experiments of nature. (...)
Perhaps he was right John Baxter, said: "For a long time, we believe that horror movies are encrypted representation of national psychosis, from which you can learn many interesting things about the cultural motivations, including However, the true meaning of the film SF is still waiting for a thorough diagnosis. " It is difficult to rule on the basis of dozens of spools of commercial products overall failure of science fiction film and its bias in all areas of penetrating reality. As we shall see later, sometimes things are deeply hidden and visible on the surface, and what is funny, it might be a serious and significant not only for the fairy child's imagination and mysterious world of magic and read with understanding by the shaman, but for everyone Who wants to see.
* Most probably it comes to Herbert George Wells (1915-1985), writer; not about Orson Welles (1866-1946), director (Prov. UD).
** Wells (Prov UD).
*** The author was George Moon trilogy - not Julius - Zulawski (Prov. UD).
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