surrealism in film

A detailed Summary of surrealism in film

The images of the subconscious, the images of dreams, all free of restraints implemented by reason or social convention. Senses that are not keeping with what is correct, with what is right. The opposite of reality ... surrealism.

This definition of surrealism is portrayed in three distinct and well-known films by three different directors; 8 1/2, directed by Federico Fellini, Brazil, directed by Terry Gilliam, and lastly, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, directed by Luis Bunuel.

Each film is filled with eye pleasing detail and surreal images. The directors captured and contained brilliant and stunning imagry while also attempting to express the workings of the subconscious.

Brazil, was my personal favorite film of the three. This film, showcased in the year 1985, was filled with crazy tonal contrasts. It displays images with a charge that; both surprise and delight the eyes. The substance of the film along with the imagery is just swarming with details. Sam Lowry, played by Jonathan Pryce, is a small time man, lost, and ignored, in a totalitarian and immense government. His only escape from his bleak world is through his small apartment and his dreams. Sam's dreams, which his sanit

y relies on, hold major themes to the movie.

Fellini, the director for 8 1/2, also used dreams as a surrealistic vehicle to make a statement to the audience. A great example of this, is simply the opening scene, an immense traffic jam going no where. It a fantastic dream sequence that feels and looks real, and the audience doesn't realize it's a dream until the character has woken up. In this dream, you see an array of amusing characters through the cameras journey, most looking annoyed or oblivious, to the scene going on in the next car. The car, smoking, has a frantic man inside desperately trying to get air- both the doors and windows being stuck. The victim of the car finally struggles out of the window and floats away into the clouds, a freed spirit. Then comes a series of absurd and confusing images. A strange man on horseback riding down a beach, a rickety tower in the sky and then the soaring figure who escaped the car, who now has a rope, attached to his ankle. A person on the beach far below, pulls t!

One great example of this is Sam's reoccurring dreams. His dreams are filled with both complex ideas and surreal images. In his dreams, Sam plays a winged super hero coming to the rescue of a ravishing blonde. In order to get this dream girl of his he must fight the samurai. He continually fails to defeat the samurai in many scenes of the film and his blonde is kept from him. When he eventually does kill the samurai and takes off his mask, he oddly finds his own face in place of the samurai's. I believe Gilliam wanted his audience to believe the samurai represented technology itself. Sam's struggle to beat the samurai represents our technology and how it can't be entirely controlled or forgotten because it's our way of life. I believe when Sam finds his own face behind the m

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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies