film
28 Glebe Report June 6, 2014
philosophy
Glebe Report June 6, 2014
Conference on Jacques Ellul 20 years on
Communicating Humanly in an Age of Technology and Spin
At the flicks with Lois and Paul
Jacques Ellul – “the man who predicted (almost) everything.” –Jean-Luc Porquet
Algonquin
Hitchcock
Directed by Sacha Gervasi (U.S.A./U.K., 2012) By Lois Siegel
Hitchcock explores the development, production and first screening of Hitchcock’s most famous film, Psycho. If you love movies, especially those by Hitchcock, this film should engage you. Anthony Hopkins plays Hitch, and Helen Mirren plays his wife, Alma, with their acting embodying the real characters. Hopkins has Hitchcock’s manner of speech down pat. And Mirren plays a strong but sensitive woman. They have an interesting, if confrontational, relationship, and we learn how much influence Alma had on Hitchcock’s films. It becomes evident that the “master of suspense” doesn’t always have an easy time convincing the moneymen to back his films. We see the difficulties he faces and how he cunningly gets his way, for example, with the head of the censor board. We, along with Hitch, experience the negative attitudes of the moneymen and realize how much effort goes into just getting the film off the ground financially, let alone actually shooting the film. The behind-the-scenes revelations make Hitchcock a fascinating picture. The film director’s peculiar fascination with Hitchcock’s leading ladies is hinted at but not explored. This is a more antiseptic approach to his filmmaking. But what really comes through is his love and dedication to making the best films he can. He raised fright to a new level of entertainment. His sense of horror is a lingering one – something you don’t forget. The best scene in Hitchcock is towards the end of the film when Hitchcock “conducts” the sound effects of the “shower scene” in Psycho, from the lobby of the theatre at the film’s premiere. DVD: Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1oK7T8o 98 minutes. Rated PG.
The Girl
Directed by Julian Jarrold (U.K./South Africa/U.S.A./Germany, 2012) The Girl makes other films about Hitchcock look like Mary Poppins. It focuses on the seamier side of the film director and his obsession with actress Tippi Hedren (played by Sienna Miller). Alfred Hitchcock is played by Toby Jones, who portrays a very creepy Hitchcock. We follow Hitchcock’s compulsive fascination and sexual pursuit of Hedren. Most of the film focuses on The Birds. There are scenes that resemble torture when live birds are let loose in close quarters, and Tippi Hedren is attacked. One scene was supposed to use controlled mechanical birds. That definitely did not happen. It becomes evident that Hitchcock will go to any extreme to get what he wants on screen. Hedren is trapped by gulls in a glass telephone booth at one point. “Here the human beings are in cages and the birds are on the outside,” Hitchcock explains. You definitely have the sense that he’s also a voyeur. He refers to actors as “cattle,” not unlike Fellini who called his actors “puppets.” Hitchcock once said, “Blondes make the best victims. They’re like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.” Hitchcock made films for six decades, worked on more than 60 films and has been called “the least understood figure in film history. ” For a more detailed and balanced view of the filmmaker, check out the book Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan, available from the Ottawa Public Library. HBO Shop Online: http://itsh.bo/1wlCIVl 91 minutes. Rated TV-14.
Photo: wikimedia
By Nadine Faulkner
Directed by Jonathan Hayes (Canada, 2013) By Paul Green
The title of this film conveys a great deal – a state of mind, a state of place. Jonathan Hayes’ film début, Algonquin, is a father-son story that deftly explores the geography of the human heart as well as that of the Canadian wilderness. The all-Canadian cast includes Mark Rendall as the young protagonist, Jake, veteran Sheila McCarthy (I Heard the Mermaids Singing and, perhaps more appropriately as it was also filmed in an idyllic setting in B.C.’s Gulf Islands, The Lotus Eaters) as Jake’s much-put-upon mother, and Nicholas Campbell of Da Vinci’s Inquest fame as his roguish, dissolute father, Leif, who has returned to North Bay after an absence of ... well, let us say after a rather long absence. The prodigal father is not exactly welcomed back in the bosom of his family. Just how unwelcome he is we learn the following morning as we observe Sheila McCarthy alone in the kitchen, just barely holding it all in as she attempts to slice an orange with tears running down her cheeks – a brief but highly memorable scene. Tossed out of the house, Leif sets out for the family cottage on the shores of pristine Trout Lake near North Bay with Jake in tow. We are given to understand that Leif’s sometime success as a travel writer has come at the expense of long years spent away from his wife and son. Hence the resentment that Jake feels towards his father and the sense he has of not really knowing his father at all. I’ll skip a couple of plot points to introduce another important secondary character, that of Carmen (Victoria Sanchez), who had met Leif in the course of his travels and with whom she had a child, a boy named Iggy. Iggy (newcomer Michael Levinson) and his attractive young mother turn up at the Trout Lake property, where Jake learns to his astonishment that Iggy is in fact his half-brother. Now I have said that Algonquin is a father-son story, but that is only partly true. While the arrival and subsequent departure of Leif set the narrative in motion, the film is really about Jake as he seeks to resolve issues from his past, while charting a course for his future. In the latter portion of the film, Jake and Iggy embark on a canoe trip of several days. It turns into a quest in which Jake hopes to track down a talisman linked to an episode in the family’s past. Of course, it is also an opportunity to showcase the magnificent mid-north Ontario landscape – we are really in Group of Seven territory – so beautifully captured by cinematographer Catherine Lutes. Along the way, a park ranger provides some comic relief – his eagle-bedecked uniform makes him look oddly American! I was privileged to attend the Ottawa première of Algonquin at the Mayfair Cinema on May 1st. Present in the audience, along with director Hayes, was Kevin Reeves, a stalwart on the Ottawa arts scene, and more recently known for his Seventeen Voyces choral productions. The two houses seen in the film are in fact adjoining properties in North Bay that have been in Reeves’ family for generations.
Ottawans will be in for a rare treat from Sunday, July 13 to Tuesday, July 15 as the city hosts its first-ever Jacques Ellul conference to commemorate his work and influence 20 years after his death. In the spirit of Ellul, the three-day conference is meant to bring people closer together, to think, talk and most importantly, pose questions. With something for everyone, novice to expert, the event begins Sunday night at the Mayfair Theatre with a screening of Godfrey Reggio and Philip Glass’ latest work, Visitors, a film that received rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival last September. Reggio and Glass are very well-known for their Ellul-inspired films, in particular Koyaanisqatsi, which means “unbalanced life” in the Hopi language. That film looked at the varied aspects of the relationship between humans, nature, and technology, but solely through images and music composed by Reggio and Glass, and stunning cinematography by Ron Fricke. Director Reggio explains the absence of dialogue as a comment on language itself, and how it no longer describes our reality – we speak in myths. The new film Visitors is just as unique and intriguing, but also markedly different, “revealing humanity’s trance-like relationship with technology, which, when commandeered by extreme emotional states, produces massive effects far beyond the human species.” But who is Ellul, that he inspires not just academics but filmmakers? A man of many titles – philosopher, sociologist, theologian, activist, even a former leader of the French Resistance – Ellul is best known for his
Jacques Elleul
groundbreaking work in questioning and critiquing propaganda, the role of technology in our lives, and the myth of progress. Ellul wrote no fewer than 58 books in his lifetime, the most influential of which are The Technological Society and Propaganda: the Formation of Men’s Attitudes. As technology pervades and shapes our lives more than ever, Ellul’s ideas remain not only relevant, but arguably of the utmost importance. Ellul’s allure has never been restricted to academics – pub owners, activists and, as we’ve seen, filmmakers, feel his relevance. The owners of Irene’s Pub on Bank Street in the Glebe, for example, enjoy this work so much they donated to the conference. And Ursula Franklin, lauded Canadian physicist and recipient of the Pearson Medal of Peace, credits Ellul with influencing her views on the political and social effects of technology. While critical of technology and its uses, Ellul was not a simple-headed luddite. What he called for was ongoing scrutiny of technology and society rather than unthinking acceptance. Has technology empowered or disempowered us? It may be hard to see the ills of technology in a world where we see so many benefits. The technologies of this century and their applications have not just changed the way we receive and process information, but augmented our access to it. The Internet, Facebook, Twitter, iPhones – few can argue that we now have more information
Come Blow Your Horn
Tentatively scheduled for DVD release July 1. Look for a possible return engagement at the Mayfair in September. 90 minutes. Rated PG.
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with which to participate in this democracy. But as Ellul drives home, information is useless if not harmful without a critical faculty of mind to assess it. Individuals are not the only ones using technology; propaganda is rampant but often invisible. It is just this point Isabelle Gusse from the University of Quebec in Montreal lays bare in her presentation on the use of propaganda by National Defence, in particular in videos, to recruit young men and women into the military. And what about parents who are trying to prepare their children to compete in a “knowledge-based economy”? We have seen modern education favour acquiring knowledge and computers, while de-emphasising the humanities, including the classics and history. Speed and efficiency are valued, but where did this come from? David Gill, another conference organizer, will tackle this interesting topic and look at the trade-offs between technology and education in his presentation, “Educating and Being Educated.” Two special guests will be introduced at the screening and will attend the conference: Gill, president of the International Jacques Ellul Society in the U.S.A., and Patrick Troude-Chastenet, president of the sister society in France. The two days following will be packed with presentations by prominent writers and academics from many fields. Organizers Eduardo Andújar (Dominican University College), John Buschek (Carleton, technology, society, environment studies) and Randal Marlin (Carleton, philosophy) have grouped the talks thematically in both French and English. With its relaxed Q & A session, the new film Visitors and the talks are a great way to inspire your mind and to meet new people. Don’t forget to visit the complementary book and art display at MacOdrum Library at Carleton University where you will see “Techead” by Merrickville artist Denis St. Louis. More information is available online at ellul.org. Among the many hats that Nadine Faulkner is known to wear, one of her favourites is as scribe for the magnificent Zeus, the opinionated Glebe guinea pig. Rumours are swirling that the philosophical pig, a former friend of Ellul’s in another life, may even attend the July event in propria persona.