Theme: Realism
This film follows the daily life of an Algerian man named Omar Gatlato, who lives in the Bab el-Oued quarter of Algiers. While it is not a documentary, it is based on reality, as is say in the opening credits. The cameras follow him on his way to work, when he is out for a drink with his friends, and when he attends a Hindu movie. It shows his living conditions-a crowded house full of children and relatives-and his workplace-a jewelry appraising business. The main point of the film is his desire to meet the woman with the beautiful voice he hears in a cassette his friend gives him. It is set in the seventies, so it was after the Algerian War of Independence.
In one review, the film is described as "the film examines with shrewd humor the gang values of urban youth; their passion for popular culture (soccer, "Hindoo" movies, Rai concerts), their hidden fear of women, and their social insecurity in an environment where they are marginalized."
I personally saw very little of any of that-perhaps I am blind to the subtle twists and turns of the film, or perhaps there simply were no twists and turns. I don't know. To me, there was very little plot or rising action, but the camera strategies and frank dialogue painted a very clear picture in regards to one mans' life.
6 comments:
The film, Omar Gatlato showed realism when it had the camera follow Omar around doing his thing in everyday life. Although it is not a documentary, its filmic approach was mocking one making it seem similar to one. But the movie depicts realism through a regular mans everyday life through going out with his friends to work and his infacuation of the women's voice from the cassette that he got from his friend. I think the realism was shown in this where it shows a mans daily life.
I agree with you that realism dominates this movie. It is definitive of the points that this film tries to make. by showing large crowd scenes and other things that are similar to the Battle of Algiers, the viewer gets a look at the common man in his everyday life. this is also true for the film we watched in class where the camera followed the man throughout his daily activities, no matter how rudimentary they may have seemed. I believe that this is the "plot" that you may have been missing. Albeit menial and sluggish, the filmmaker gives you a "privileged" look at the life of one man and,in a sense,mocks reality.
In response to the review you previous talked about, I don't find this film humorous, or offensive. I found this movie to be very interesting in the sense that it was not a documentary. As I was watching, I forgot this film wasn't reality until the underground gang scene appeared. I did like how the film was made for the audience to figure out the plot for themselves rather than make it so explicit. The plot became for clear when Omar started listening to Selma's voice every night. I just think realism was not strongly displayed during the last scene of the film when Oman is about to meet up with Selma. The fact that Omar's friends came out of nowhere to prevent him from crossing the street, or when the driver kept calling him a coward, are perfect examples of the lack of realism in this film.
It’s interesting that the reviewer picked up on the subtlety of the men’s hidden fear of women. I went into the film with gender in mind because of the questions we were supposed to think about, and I noticed the destructive nature of women on Omar. Before he even met her he had a huge breakdown out of nervous anticipation and fear, and when he finally has his chance to meet her, the film ends without resolving the conflict. Perhaps this fear of women was a common yet overlooked aspect in Algiers during that time among that group of people. Perhaps this destructive fear of women was a statement on the directors part that colonialism created this fear among Algerian men. Their masculinity had been stripped and they were afraid of those who they had once dominated.
As for realism in the film, I found the long takes and the long shots of the people to evoke realistic/documentary like feelings. The timing and flow of the conversations during these long takes were realistic, if somewhat boring at times.
I think that although there may have been little to no rising action within the plot of the movie itself, it still showed Omar in a "real" light. Most normal days don't have too much of a climax, but the movie does a good job of keeping you in touch with Omar but still somewhat detached in that you're really just watching him go about his day.
On Realism
yes i argee this film does portray a character through the sytlitic genre of realism. i often have a problem when talk about documentary versus narrative film when it comes to realism. the problem is due to the fact that a documentary is real and a fiction film is not automatically a documentary can portray realism better. but i think that realsim and the practices that go along with it do not apply to a documentary film, just because a documentary is is either argument based or story based.
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