How to Live: Film as Historical Representation
Anthony Margrave
World War Two is on the rise. The National Socialist (Nazi) party has established itself in Germany, under the authoritarian rule of Adolf Hitler. Known for reconstructing Germany in his own image, Hitler had an image for the whole world around him as well. To succeed he would need to take over and control the the rest of the world. This control was based on discrimination. If a person held a belief opposite his own, they were punished. To begin his control, Hitler put groups of people, predominantly Jewish people, in ghettos small compact neighborhoods isolated from the rest of society. Once these people were sufficiently isolated, Hitler had them move once again away from their terrible new homes, to concentration camps, where they could be treated worse than animals in complete isolation where no one could hear them.
The film Life is Beautiful , directed by and starring Roberto Benigni in 1998, features a Jewish man named Guido Orefice living in Italy in the aforementioned era of time. Initially, he is working as a waiter in Germany before the Jewish people were placed in concentration camps, or
even in the ghettos. Guido is not too serious a man, rather he enjoys to enjoy life, and try to make all those around him enjoy it as well. Because of this, a comedic motif becomes evident. To add to his character, it is a theme of his to jump out and surprise his (unwitting, at the beginning of the film) wife, played by lead actress Nicoletta Braschi, Dora. At the point of seeing this numerous times in the film, the audience is given great insight into Guido’s traits. He acts on impulse, seemingly oblivious of consequence except as a means of personal amusement. This is made more evident when his son Giosué, played by Giorgio Cantarini, is noticing discrimination, while Guido brushes it off as nothing more than natural society. Guido continues denying the holocaust even as he is in a concentration camp with his son, calling it a game to be won, making his own rules.
Such use of comedy and denial could be considered problematic as a form of art when discussing tragic and traumatic events. What form of art is appropriate for encompassing historical events, and what form of art is considered offensive? Critical review has been mixed on the ideals of art, and how far it can go. Some extremists wish to eliminate all forms of art on such events, as they can easily be taken as deeply offensive for evoking emotion of a sad time. Others suggest a limitation of art such that an audience may derive pleasure from an artform without necessarily being indulged in the artist’s approach.
Life is Beautiful is bold for stepping out of the natural genre of films about the Shoah, and into a more comedic approach. For this reason, Melanie J. Wright, in her article “‘Don’t Touch My Holocaust’: Responding to Life is Beautiful,” attempts to discuss each seemingly
problematic view of art, finally contextualizing it towards film and specifically Life is Beautiful . Wright begins thematically, asking an imperative question to address the film: “In what sense is it proper to evaluate the authenticity of witness accounts? Similarly, how do we determine the
appropriate form, content and context of monuments, or of educational resources dealing with the events?” (19). By introducing the essay with these establishing questions, Wright is trying to make the reader think of their answers whilst introducing the topic of the essay. This also sets the tone of analytic seriousness that is carried through the rest of the paper as Melanie Wright writes on a matter of split opinion.
Film is an inherently motivated piece that can be utilized to portray a certain perspective to the specific context of the film. It is easy to gain details from a film, based especially on what you see rather than assumed knowledge. Wright attributes films to being “the quintessential medium of modern mythology” (25). Because of this, critics of the film industry have described it as a fascist form of art (a word choice that is not relevant by accident). A film is able to show and audience whatever the director wants to show, and let them hear whatever the director wants them to hear. While one's interpretation may differ from another's, the information provided will be the same for everyone watching.
Film was used in the “Nazi Era” as a medium to provide only the information Hitler wanted provided, in the manner he wanted it to be provided, to the public. This was generally in a negative view of those Hitler deemed his enemy, or as a positive uplifting of himself.
The other problematic clause is the ideal of humour as a way to discuss tragedy. Film’s are generally used for entertainment already, so making one about the suffering of countless individuals would make some directors uneasy. In Life is Beautiful, while in the concentration camp, Guido is still attempting to comfort his son in a world against him, convincing him that the holocaust is all a game they’re trying to win. It is so difficult because you must earn points, and there can only be one winner. Wright explains this phenomena, and why it may be appropriate, by describing the actions of Guido as that of a rebellion: “Read against this background , Guido’s redefinition of the camp experience as game could be interpreted as a defiant parody, a refusal to accept the means and limitations imposed by the Nazi regime” (23).
An interpretation, then, is that Guido created an outrageous world for himself to counteract the already outrageous world presented to him in concentration camps. This is justifying the comedic aspect of the film as Guido makes reparations for the tragedies affecting his son by making them seem less violent and abnormal. Film is used as a façade of comfort. Film as an art is criticized by Wright for being too easily viewed without thought, with the lack of audience engagement: “... the film’s viewers are also presented with an inappropriately easy experience, aesthetically speaking” (28). As previously discussed, film is a one track lane, many lack any forks in the road to think otherwise. Films on their own merit are often credited as only fascist means.
Wright describes points of high interest with great intellectual language. When dissecting the arguments, she is able to apply them to the cultural event of the holocaust and then contextualize the meaning to Life is Beautiful . The largest factor that would frustrate audiences of Wright would be her conclusion. She remains on a fence about the correctness of making Life is Beautiful . She discusses film as an artform to stand among others, but fails to make concrete her position on Life is Beautiful’s effects. She added that a comedic element of film can be used effectively for sadness to “create a world as twisted as the concentration camps they were forced into” (29). Comedy, however, tends to be created for general audiences, and thus broadening the film’s appeal, especially when the film is already subtitled and would be marked primarily as a period piece. While this leads to better marketing, it takes away from the approach of making a natively and inherently touching take on a familiar topic.
Another era similar in segregation but unlike in severity was the Civil Rights movement in America. Slavery has been declared unconstitutional and was thusly abolished. This did not mean, however, segregation was no longer a relevant detail to American society. One such ruling was made during the court case “Plessy vs. Ferguson.” Here, the all American idea of “separate but equal” was declared constitutional. This meant that as long a white folk and black folk had schools to attend to, those schools were not meant to be overlapping. This extended to public
utilities, churches, offices,living quarters, etc.
The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, is set in this time period. In a small town, white female journalist (protagonist, the list goes on) Skeeter, played by Emma Stone, is visiting home due to her mother’s health getting worse. This small town is run by lead white female antagonist
Hilly, whom has a clear cynical and conservative view of the world; Hilly hates African Americans and thinks they are less. The other main characters, and indeed the true heroes, are the black maids working for the white folk, specifically Aibileen and Minny. The film details
their struggles to live in a society that hates them. Skeeter is the only one to stand up for them. Because of this, she is made out to be a hero in a true case of white redemption by the African American struggles she wished to address.
Allison Graham discussed this film in detail in her article “We Ain’t Doing Civil Rights.” She analyzed the historical context, accuracy, and appeal in accordance to reality and sensibility. Generally, African Americans are celebrated for their work at obtaining equality. But, because Skeeter was white and cared about black folk, she was celebrated (through the aforementioned white redemption). She did not struggle through life as the African Americans did, but she was still the hero because she went against the tradition of white people being oppressive and stood with the black folks. Graham explains this notion: “Skeeter is positioned as the primary audience for the civil rights news not just within her family’s domain, but within the film itself” (54). The film glorified the white viewer of the television, in this case Skeeter, as she saw the civil rights movement in a fashion similar to African Americans. She did not, however, go through their troubles.
Television was important in the film as a means of context. The use of television has become an icon for establishing legitimacy in film since “before 1966.” Because of this it has almost become a poor trope utilized by countless films. The Help as a film uses television as an important element to express the time period. The problem is, television is never important to the story before then, and never again after: “Until this moment, we’ve just seen one television in the film, a small portable set tuned to a soap opera for its one viewer …, and the only broadcast of
any kind that has been heard by a black character… has been a radio sermon” (53). The use of historical representation in an unimportant element removed the impact of television near completely. This was also problematic, according to the former author Wright, because films that
create an air of legitimacy tend to be related to fascism as they attempt to make you believe the fabricated context. Was the television the best way to portray the time period? Was it made important because of its brevity? There was obvious segregation, mistreatment of differing races, the utilization of old cars and home styles and even a setting in a diner, black and white film was one of the least important and worst utilizations of establishment that could be used and proved to be problematic. Other more relevant details would have been much more appropriate as they were all seen before and again, while the television remains as a fleeting memory of false importance.
Just as television was used to create a false sense of authenticity, it is also used in The Help to allow audiences to understand Minny and Hilly’s mother’s tv dramas, which they call “stories.” The entire film is based on the idea of stories. Skeeter needs Abelline’s stories so she may write them down for white folk to understand the struggles of “the help. ” Graham explains: "When Aibileen walks away from the last job she will ever have at the end of The Help , she, too, has suffered the consequences of telling stories” (63). Graham is using a doubled edged blade here. One may interpret that Graham is looking at the face value of the film, and that telling stories has literally put Aibileen out of her job. Or, more appropriately, that Aibileen telling stories hurts her legitimacy. This becomes problematic as the word used to describe television
dramas and the real struggles is shared, both being considered “stories.” This reduced the struggles to being in the same context as tv dramas. The idea of stories was further trivialized with Minny’s tale of pie. She discussed how she made a pie out of her excrement and fed it to Hilly (the corrupted), and loved the reaction. This is called a story to her. So now, Abelline’s serious struggles are put in the same category as tv dramas and poopie, all under the tag of stories.
The historical inaccuracy of The Help removes the audience from the film. The film is advertised as a celebration of black folks stepping up and fighting for their rights, but the story instead focuses heavily on white redemption for Skeeter. Even then, it is only evident to the audience, as Graham points out: “Whatever social significance resides in the pages of Skeeter’s book, it appears to go unnoticed by the people who run the shops on Capitol Street, or the city of Jackson, the White Citizens’ Council, the Sovereignty Commission, and the state of Mississippi, for that matter” (62). The use of television actually removed contextualization. Not because the events portrayed on the television were fake, but because it created a false reality. The author of the article details people going to the locations of the film to marvel at the places the (film)
events took place, rather than going to the actual places and celebrating those. The film's constant confusion of the importance of “stories” left the audience without and real, meaningful story to take away from the film for them to understand the historical relevance. The audience couldn’t care as much about the context of the struggles, and consequently the characters themselves.
Allison Graham appears to be arguing for complete authenticity rather than obsolete falsification for the sake of emotion (even for humor) in films. This can become a problematic viewpoint, as making a documentary will not always be for the benefit of a broader audience, and thus the director. The trope of “television = authentic” is a real epidemic, happily dying down, that this film is unfortunately afflicted with and guilty of using. This removes the film from any historically accurate context with a false reality, and Graham agrees by pressing the matter and stating that the usage of the television was as brief and unimportant as the ideas of stories in the film.
But before segregation was trying to be solved, and after World War Two, there was Japan. Hapless and nearly homeless after the war, Japan was taking strides at cutting old ties and becoming a democratic nation, for its citizens and for its global appeal. Because of this, it's true identity had not yet come to fruition, caught between culture and adaptation. Ikiru , directed by Akira Kurosawa, addresses such an identity crisis in Japan. It was released in 1952, the only film addressed here released on the edge of the event. Featuring Takashi Shimura as Watanabe, an old everyday man who has worked in an office for the past thirty years. All he does is stamp pages to show he has read them, and throw them into a to do pile. He feels unaccomplished, and after learning he has stomach cancer (with only a few months left to live), he realizes he has been acting dead the whole time, looking to help create a new world for Japan rather than a decent one.
This film provides the ideal of individualism rather than nationalism. In a time where democracy in Japan meant living for the country, Kurosawa noticed people stopped living for the betterment of themselves. He felt this was problematic and Ikiru reflects these views dominantly. Aryeh Kaufman wrote about Ikiru in their article “What it Means to Live” to express how integral the film is in illustrating Kurosawa's ideals. Kaufman writes: “How should one live in a meaningless world, where death is certain, individuals are selfish and selfserving, and God does not exist” (3)? This is an imperative question and a powerful thesis for the article to answer. This is the whole purpose of the film as well, and a question philosophy has tried answering for ages. How can one find meaning in a seemingly meaningless world? After learning of his impending demise, Watanabe seeks to find meaning.
This is not, however, before trying to end himself first. He tells a young author that he wishes to drink himself to death but he “ can’t die.” This is not because he is immune to alcohol, contrarily his cancer makes him vulnerable. He is unable to allow himself to die because he feels like has never lived. Kaufman explains this idea further: “Watanabe never seriously considers total surrender. Ironically, his completely passive prior existence may have not only set the stage for his later rebirth but also precluded his surrender to death by making the need to truly live
paramount” (6).
At this point, the film is balancing the ideas of life and death less than lightly, with death weighing harder as a means of solution than living a little longer with the problem. Death is a common theme in a film whose title translates to “To Live.” Kurosawa allows death to be a presumption, a mere guess for the viewer. While the film lets the audience know it is inevitable, it does not define when or what next. By alluding to none the traditional God, afterlife, or conscience, with death, Ikiru maintains the ability to garner a broader audience who may put their own interpretation on dying. Kaufman agrees, stating “[Kurosawa] neither promotes nor discounts a particular interpretation of death, further broadening the film’s accessibility” (5).
The previous two films discussed, The Help and Life is Beautiful are very set in the ideas they wish to portray; The Help in that black lives matter and some white Americans cared then as they do now, and Life is Beautiful in that the Holocaust affected more than just individual stature, but it hurt family ties (and consequently strengthened them later). These films are forced to use comedic entertainment for appeal, which makes the films feel less authentic. But Ikiru is not set on such factors. It does not detail Japan’s involvement in World War II, or
America’s direct involvement in Japan afterward. The focal is defined best by Aryeh Kaufman: “Ikiru’ s focus on the great loneliness of the individual and the struggle to achieve meaningful encounters with others also proves relevant to all” (5). The great debate of how one should live, and what one should feel, is omnipresent in every society.
Though, it is evident Watanabe realizes the alcohol (an easy death) is a negative force ashe explains his reason for drinking it: “Drinking this expensive sake is like paying myself back with poison for the way I lived all these years.” All the years he spent stacking pages, doing
nothing to help himself or those around him. He was given the name “The Mummy” by an employee of his department, because he was always more dead than alive as he walked. As he is talking to the young author, he remembers a joke that same employee had read aloud: “You've
never missed a day of work, not because you think you are needed, but because you fear we will realize how much you are not needed if you left.” Ironically, Watanabe is taking off work at this time, and nothing in his department is getting done without his go ahead. The young author, then, invites him for a night out. The nightlife of material pleasures that make you feel alive. This is important for the appeal of a younger audience; generally younger folks live such material lives as a veil to show they are alive and happy. Watanabe enjoys the experience for a short bit of the night, and the audience is even able to see him smile for the first time in this scene. But the mood does not last long. Watanabe finds comedy to be a fleeting relief. As the night ended, he threw up, symbolizing that despite feeling better for a time, the problem still awaited him after the affairs.
The night was a disaster, a feeble attempt at living through the same values as comedy in film. It is a fleeting attempt at surviving sanity through tragedy, but the tragedy always prevails over the temporary. Kurosawa agreed with this notion, placing any comedy found in the film
only in this scene. The way of laughter and lightheartedness is not the best for achieving satisfaction and answer to one’s problems. As Watanabe ended that night, however, he did not regret the time spent there. He instead regretted the time spent there. As he danced with other people, he looked almost like a child, feeling the unfamiliar closeness of people that was lost on him before. All of the closeness of that night was accidentally transferred the following day to a single person. The employee whom called him a mummy. She wished to quit her job at
Watanabe’s department, but required his signature to do so. Seeing as he had not been in office for a few days, absolutely no work was being done and no one cared enough to attempt to take his place. So the employee was forced to take matters into her own hands as she found his home to personally seek him out to force his signature for her resignation. He was surprised to see her, but not unhappy. She revealed the job gave her no motivation and was taking her no where she wanted to be in life, to which he heartily agreed in terms with himself as well. She was all smiles talking about the dead end job, however. To Watanabe, she had something to live for, a reason to be happy. And that is all he desired in his short time before death. He agreed to sign the papers on the condition she would spend some time with him. His goal was to learn of her youthful cheerfulness and try to bring the understanding of it to his own life. “You are so much more alive..”
This is when the film switched into another important element of everyday life: living. Watanabe forces himself to live vicariously through this female employee to try and understand how to be as happy and youthful as her. This part of the film feels extremely authentic and real.
Not only is Shimura able to penetrate the hearts of viewers with his everyday unimportant man’s gaze, filled with more sorrow than ever, but he does not act like anything but human. His actions are not overemphasized to convey emotion, nor does he speak in a different, unrealistic voice for the audience to stay interested. The film remains interesting because the viewers are not enraptured in the life of another person so much that it is reflective of their own thoughts. His deep sorrow is felt, and his lack of happiness seems imminent as he is trying to search for reason in this unreasonable employee.
There is no gimmick. There is no outright national tragedy claimed by the film, except that of non acceptance for oneself. Though it is defining of Japan’s transition, Ikiru even defines modern society and remains relevant as a search for answer. Comedy is not necessary for an audience to find entertainment in a film about tragedy, but emotion is. Ikiru is a masterpiece created by Akira Kurosawa, one that stands the test of time by posing a lifestyle many have admittedly followed. Esteemed critic Roger Ebert defined the film as one of true inspiration, “one of the few films that may actually inspire the audience to change the way they live.” Finding meaning in life is difficult for everyone, especially the older one gets. This film addresses that topic and dissects the journey of one mummy finding life after dying as he walked. Between elements of life and death, people are too often walking. When considering how a film addresses a tragic idea, Ikiru is the only one to do so with such meaning
and emotion that its ripples are still felt today.
Works Cited
Life Is Beautiful . Dir. Roberto Benigni. Perf. Roberto Benigni,Nicoletta Braschi. Miramax Film, 1997. DVD.
"Ikiru Movie Review & Film Summary (1952) | Roger Ebert." Rober Ebert. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Graham, Allison. ""We Ain't Doin' Civil Rights" The Life and Times of a Genre, as Told in The
Help." Southern Cultures Spring 2014 20.1 (2014): 5164. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Kaufman, Aryeh. "A Study of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Part 1." – Offscreen . Published April 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
The Help . Dir. Tate Taylor. Perf. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard. Walt Disney Studios, 2011. Film.
Wright, Melanie J. "‘Don’t Touch My Holocaust’ ; Responding to Life Is Beautiful." (n.d.): 2130. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.
World War Two is on the rise. The National Socialist (Nazi) party has established itself in Germany, under the authoritarian rule of Adolf Hitler. Known for reconstructing Germany in his own image, Hitler had an image for the whole world around him as well. To succeed he would need to take over and control the the rest of the world. This control was based on discrimination. If a person held a belief opposite his own, they were punished. To begin his control, Hitler put groups of people, predominantly Jewish people, in ghettos small compact neighborhoods isolated from the rest of society. Once these people were sufficiently isolated, Hitler had them move once again away from their terrible new homes, to concentration camps, where they could be treated worse than animals in complete isolation where no one could hear them.
The film Life is Beautiful , directed by and starring Roberto Benigni in 1998, features a Jewish man named Guido Orefice living in Italy in the aforementioned era of time. Initially, he is working as a waiter in Germany before the Jewish people were placed in concentration camps, or
even in the ghettos. Guido is not too serious a man, rather he enjoys to enjoy life, and try to make all those around him enjoy it as well. Because of this, a comedic motif becomes evident. To add to his character, it is a theme of his to jump out and surprise his (unwitting, at the beginning of the film) wife, played by lead actress Nicoletta Braschi, Dora. At the point of seeing this numerous times in the film, the audience is given great insight into Guido’s traits. He acts on impulse, seemingly oblivious of consequence except as a means of personal amusement. This is made more evident when his son Giosué, played by Giorgio Cantarini, is noticing discrimination, while Guido brushes it off as nothing more than natural society. Guido continues denying the holocaust even as he is in a concentration camp with his son, calling it a game to be won, making his own rules.
Such use of comedy and denial could be considered problematic as a form of art when discussing tragic and traumatic events. What form of art is appropriate for encompassing historical events, and what form of art is considered offensive? Critical review has been mixed on the ideals of art, and how far it can go. Some extremists wish to eliminate all forms of art on such events, as they can easily be taken as deeply offensive for evoking emotion of a sad time. Others suggest a limitation of art such that an audience may derive pleasure from an artform without necessarily being indulged in the artist’s approach.
Life is Beautiful is bold for stepping out of the natural genre of films about the Shoah, and into a more comedic approach. For this reason, Melanie J. Wright, in her article “‘Don’t Touch My Holocaust’: Responding to Life is Beautiful,” attempts to discuss each seemingly
problematic view of art, finally contextualizing it towards film and specifically Life is Beautiful . Wright begins thematically, asking an imperative question to address the film: “In what sense is it proper to evaluate the authenticity of witness accounts? Similarly, how do we determine the
appropriate form, content and context of monuments, or of educational resources dealing with the events?” (19). By introducing the essay with these establishing questions, Wright is trying to make the reader think of their answers whilst introducing the topic of the essay. This also sets the tone of analytic seriousness that is carried through the rest of the paper as Melanie Wright writes on a matter of split opinion.
Film is an inherently motivated piece that can be utilized to portray a certain perspective to the specific context of the film. It is easy to gain details from a film, based especially on what you see rather than assumed knowledge. Wright attributes films to being “the quintessential medium of modern mythology” (25). Because of this, critics of the film industry have described it as a fascist form of art (a word choice that is not relevant by accident). A film is able to show and audience whatever the director wants to show, and let them hear whatever the director wants them to hear. While one's interpretation may differ from another's, the information provided will be the same for everyone watching.
Film was used in the “Nazi Era” as a medium to provide only the information Hitler wanted provided, in the manner he wanted it to be provided, to the public. This was generally in a negative view of those Hitler deemed his enemy, or as a positive uplifting of himself.
The other problematic clause is the ideal of humour as a way to discuss tragedy. Film’s are generally used for entertainment already, so making one about the suffering of countless individuals would make some directors uneasy. In Life is Beautiful, while in the concentration camp, Guido is still attempting to comfort his son in a world against him, convincing him that the holocaust is all a game they’re trying to win. It is so difficult because you must earn points, and there can only be one winner. Wright explains this phenomena, and why it may be appropriate, by describing the actions of Guido as that of a rebellion: “Read against this background , Guido’s redefinition of the camp experience as game could be interpreted as a defiant parody, a refusal to accept the means and limitations imposed by the Nazi regime” (23).
An interpretation, then, is that Guido created an outrageous world for himself to counteract the already outrageous world presented to him in concentration camps. This is justifying the comedic aspect of the film as Guido makes reparations for the tragedies affecting his son by making them seem less violent and abnormal. Film is used as a façade of comfort. Film as an art is criticized by Wright for being too easily viewed without thought, with the lack of audience engagement: “... the film’s viewers are also presented with an inappropriately easy experience, aesthetically speaking” (28). As previously discussed, film is a one track lane, many lack any forks in the road to think otherwise. Films on their own merit are often credited as only fascist means.
Wright describes points of high interest with great intellectual language. When dissecting the arguments, she is able to apply them to the cultural event of the holocaust and then contextualize the meaning to Life is Beautiful . The largest factor that would frustrate audiences of Wright would be her conclusion. She remains on a fence about the correctness of making Life is Beautiful . She discusses film as an artform to stand among others, but fails to make concrete her position on Life is Beautiful’s effects. She added that a comedic element of film can be used effectively for sadness to “create a world as twisted as the concentration camps they were forced into” (29). Comedy, however, tends to be created for general audiences, and thus broadening the film’s appeal, especially when the film is already subtitled and would be marked primarily as a period piece. While this leads to better marketing, it takes away from the approach of making a natively and inherently touching take on a familiar topic.
Another era similar in segregation but unlike in severity was the Civil Rights movement in America. Slavery has been declared unconstitutional and was thusly abolished. This did not mean, however, segregation was no longer a relevant detail to American society. One such ruling was made during the court case “Plessy vs. Ferguson.” Here, the all American idea of “separate but equal” was declared constitutional. This meant that as long a white folk and black folk had schools to attend to, those schools were not meant to be overlapping. This extended to public
utilities, churches, offices,living quarters, etc.
The Help, directed by Tate Taylor, is set in this time period. In a small town, white female journalist (protagonist, the list goes on) Skeeter, played by Emma Stone, is visiting home due to her mother’s health getting worse. This small town is run by lead white female antagonist
Hilly, whom has a clear cynical and conservative view of the world; Hilly hates African Americans and thinks they are less. The other main characters, and indeed the true heroes, are the black maids working for the white folk, specifically Aibileen and Minny. The film details
their struggles to live in a society that hates them. Skeeter is the only one to stand up for them. Because of this, she is made out to be a hero in a true case of white redemption by the African American struggles she wished to address.
Allison Graham discussed this film in detail in her article “We Ain’t Doing Civil Rights.” She analyzed the historical context, accuracy, and appeal in accordance to reality and sensibility. Generally, African Americans are celebrated for their work at obtaining equality. But, because Skeeter was white and cared about black folk, she was celebrated (through the aforementioned white redemption). She did not struggle through life as the African Americans did, but she was still the hero because she went against the tradition of white people being oppressive and stood with the black folks. Graham explains this notion: “Skeeter is positioned as the primary audience for the civil rights news not just within her family’s domain, but within the film itself” (54). The film glorified the white viewer of the television, in this case Skeeter, as she saw the civil rights movement in a fashion similar to African Americans. She did not, however, go through their troubles.
Television was important in the film as a means of context. The use of television has become an icon for establishing legitimacy in film since “before 1966.” Because of this it has almost become a poor trope utilized by countless films. The Help as a film uses television as an important element to express the time period. The problem is, television is never important to the story before then, and never again after: “Until this moment, we’ve just seen one television in the film, a small portable set tuned to a soap opera for its one viewer …, and the only broadcast of
any kind that has been heard by a black character… has been a radio sermon” (53). The use of historical representation in an unimportant element removed the impact of television near completely. This was also problematic, according to the former author Wright, because films that
create an air of legitimacy tend to be related to fascism as they attempt to make you believe the fabricated context. Was the television the best way to portray the time period? Was it made important because of its brevity? There was obvious segregation, mistreatment of differing races, the utilization of old cars and home styles and even a setting in a diner, black and white film was one of the least important and worst utilizations of establishment that could be used and proved to be problematic. Other more relevant details would have been much more appropriate as they were all seen before and again, while the television remains as a fleeting memory of false importance.
Just as television was used to create a false sense of authenticity, it is also used in The Help to allow audiences to understand Minny and Hilly’s mother’s tv dramas, which they call “stories.” The entire film is based on the idea of stories. Skeeter needs Abelline’s stories so she may write them down for white folk to understand the struggles of “the help. ” Graham explains: "When Aibileen walks away from the last job she will ever have at the end of The Help , she, too, has suffered the consequences of telling stories” (63). Graham is using a doubled edged blade here. One may interpret that Graham is looking at the face value of the film, and that telling stories has literally put Aibileen out of her job. Or, more appropriately, that Aibileen telling stories hurts her legitimacy. This becomes problematic as the word used to describe television
dramas and the real struggles is shared, both being considered “stories.” This reduced the struggles to being in the same context as tv dramas. The idea of stories was further trivialized with Minny’s tale of pie. She discussed how she made a pie out of her excrement and fed it to Hilly (the corrupted), and loved the reaction. This is called a story to her. So now, Abelline’s serious struggles are put in the same category as tv dramas and poopie, all under the tag of stories.
The historical inaccuracy of The Help removes the audience from the film. The film is advertised as a celebration of black folks stepping up and fighting for their rights, but the story instead focuses heavily on white redemption for Skeeter. Even then, it is only evident to the audience, as Graham points out: “Whatever social significance resides in the pages of Skeeter’s book, it appears to go unnoticed by the people who run the shops on Capitol Street, or the city of Jackson, the White Citizens’ Council, the Sovereignty Commission, and the state of Mississippi, for that matter” (62). The use of television actually removed contextualization. Not because the events portrayed on the television were fake, but because it created a false reality. The author of the article details people going to the locations of the film to marvel at the places the (film)
events took place, rather than going to the actual places and celebrating those. The film's constant confusion of the importance of “stories” left the audience without and real, meaningful story to take away from the film for them to understand the historical relevance. The audience couldn’t care as much about the context of the struggles, and consequently the characters themselves.
Allison Graham appears to be arguing for complete authenticity rather than obsolete falsification for the sake of emotion (even for humor) in films. This can become a problematic viewpoint, as making a documentary will not always be for the benefit of a broader audience, and thus the director. The trope of “television = authentic” is a real epidemic, happily dying down, that this film is unfortunately afflicted with and guilty of using. This removes the film from any historically accurate context with a false reality, and Graham agrees by pressing the matter and stating that the usage of the television was as brief and unimportant as the ideas of stories in the film.
But before segregation was trying to be solved, and after World War Two, there was Japan. Hapless and nearly homeless after the war, Japan was taking strides at cutting old ties and becoming a democratic nation, for its citizens and for its global appeal. Because of this, it's true identity had not yet come to fruition, caught between culture and adaptation. Ikiru , directed by Akira Kurosawa, addresses such an identity crisis in Japan. It was released in 1952, the only film addressed here released on the edge of the event. Featuring Takashi Shimura as Watanabe, an old everyday man who has worked in an office for the past thirty years. All he does is stamp pages to show he has read them, and throw them into a to do pile. He feels unaccomplished, and after learning he has stomach cancer (with only a few months left to live), he realizes he has been acting dead the whole time, looking to help create a new world for Japan rather than a decent one.
This film provides the ideal of individualism rather than nationalism. In a time where democracy in Japan meant living for the country, Kurosawa noticed people stopped living for the betterment of themselves. He felt this was problematic and Ikiru reflects these views dominantly. Aryeh Kaufman wrote about Ikiru in their article “What it Means to Live” to express how integral the film is in illustrating Kurosawa's ideals. Kaufman writes: “How should one live in a meaningless world, where death is certain, individuals are selfish and selfserving, and God does not exist” (3)? This is an imperative question and a powerful thesis for the article to answer. This is the whole purpose of the film as well, and a question philosophy has tried answering for ages. How can one find meaning in a seemingly meaningless world? After learning of his impending demise, Watanabe seeks to find meaning.
This is not, however, before trying to end himself first. He tells a young author that he wishes to drink himself to death but he “ can’t die.” This is not because he is immune to alcohol, contrarily his cancer makes him vulnerable. He is unable to allow himself to die because he feels like has never lived. Kaufman explains this idea further: “Watanabe never seriously considers total surrender. Ironically, his completely passive prior existence may have not only set the stage for his later rebirth but also precluded his surrender to death by making the need to truly live
paramount” (6).
At this point, the film is balancing the ideas of life and death less than lightly, with death weighing harder as a means of solution than living a little longer with the problem. Death is a common theme in a film whose title translates to “To Live.” Kurosawa allows death to be a presumption, a mere guess for the viewer. While the film lets the audience know it is inevitable, it does not define when or what next. By alluding to none the traditional God, afterlife, or conscience, with death, Ikiru maintains the ability to garner a broader audience who may put their own interpretation on dying. Kaufman agrees, stating “[Kurosawa] neither promotes nor discounts a particular interpretation of death, further broadening the film’s accessibility” (5).
The previous two films discussed, The Help and Life is Beautiful are very set in the ideas they wish to portray; The Help in that black lives matter and some white Americans cared then as they do now, and Life is Beautiful in that the Holocaust affected more than just individual stature, but it hurt family ties (and consequently strengthened them later). These films are forced to use comedic entertainment for appeal, which makes the films feel less authentic. But Ikiru is not set on such factors. It does not detail Japan’s involvement in World War II, or
America’s direct involvement in Japan afterward. The focal is defined best by Aryeh Kaufman: “Ikiru’ s focus on the great loneliness of the individual and the struggle to achieve meaningful encounters with others also proves relevant to all” (5). The great debate of how one should live, and what one should feel, is omnipresent in every society.
Though, it is evident Watanabe realizes the alcohol (an easy death) is a negative force ashe explains his reason for drinking it: “Drinking this expensive sake is like paying myself back with poison for the way I lived all these years.” All the years he spent stacking pages, doing
nothing to help himself or those around him. He was given the name “The Mummy” by an employee of his department, because he was always more dead than alive as he walked. As he is talking to the young author, he remembers a joke that same employee had read aloud: “You've
never missed a day of work, not because you think you are needed, but because you fear we will realize how much you are not needed if you left.” Ironically, Watanabe is taking off work at this time, and nothing in his department is getting done without his go ahead. The young author, then, invites him for a night out. The nightlife of material pleasures that make you feel alive. This is important for the appeal of a younger audience; generally younger folks live such material lives as a veil to show they are alive and happy. Watanabe enjoys the experience for a short bit of the night, and the audience is even able to see him smile for the first time in this scene. But the mood does not last long. Watanabe finds comedy to be a fleeting relief. As the night ended, he threw up, symbolizing that despite feeling better for a time, the problem still awaited him after the affairs.
The night was a disaster, a feeble attempt at living through the same values as comedy in film. It is a fleeting attempt at surviving sanity through tragedy, but the tragedy always prevails over the temporary. Kurosawa agreed with this notion, placing any comedy found in the film
only in this scene. The way of laughter and lightheartedness is not the best for achieving satisfaction and answer to one’s problems. As Watanabe ended that night, however, he did not regret the time spent there. He instead regretted the time spent there. As he danced with other people, he looked almost like a child, feeling the unfamiliar closeness of people that was lost on him before. All of the closeness of that night was accidentally transferred the following day to a single person. The employee whom called him a mummy. She wished to quit her job at
Watanabe’s department, but required his signature to do so. Seeing as he had not been in office for a few days, absolutely no work was being done and no one cared enough to attempt to take his place. So the employee was forced to take matters into her own hands as she found his home to personally seek him out to force his signature for her resignation. He was surprised to see her, but not unhappy. She revealed the job gave her no motivation and was taking her no where she wanted to be in life, to which he heartily agreed in terms with himself as well. She was all smiles talking about the dead end job, however. To Watanabe, she had something to live for, a reason to be happy. And that is all he desired in his short time before death. He agreed to sign the papers on the condition she would spend some time with him. His goal was to learn of her youthful cheerfulness and try to bring the understanding of it to his own life. “You are so much more alive..”
This is when the film switched into another important element of everyday life: living. Watanabe forces himself to live vicariously through this female employee to try and understand how to be as happy and youthful as her. This part of the film feels extremely authentic and real.
Not only is Shimura able to penetrate the hearts of viewers with his everyday unimportant man’s gaze, filled with more sorrow than ever, but he does not act like anything but human. His actions are not overemphasized to convey emotion, nor does he speak in a different, unrealistic voice for the audience to stay interested. The film remains interesting because the viewers are not enraptured in the life of another person so much that it is reflective of their own thoughts. His deep sorrow is felt, and his lack of happiness seems imminent as he is trying to search for reason in this unreasonable employee.
There is no gimmick. There is no outright national tragedy claimed by the film, except that of non acceptance for oneself. Though it is defining of Japan’s transition, Ikiru even defines modern society and remains relevant as a search for answer. Comedy is not necessary for an audience to find entertainment in a film about tragedy, but emotion is. Ikiru is a masterpiece created by Akira Kurosawa, one that stands the test of time by posing a lifestyle many have admittedly followed. Esteemed critic Roger Ebert defined the film as one of true inspiration, “one of the few films that may actually inspire the audience to change the way they live.” Finding meaning in life is difficult for everyone, especially the older one gets. This film addresses that topic and dissects the journey of one mummy finding life after dying as he walked. Between elements of life and death, people are too often walking. When considering how a film addresses a tragic idea, Ikiru is the only one to do so with such meaning
and emotion that its ripples are still felt today.
Works Cited
Life Is Beautiful . Dir. Roberto Benigni. Perf. Roberto Benigni,Nicoletta Braschi. Miramax Film, 1997. DVD.
"Ikiru Movie Review & Film Summary (1952) | Roger Ebert." Rober Ebert. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
Graham, Allison. ""We Ain't Doin' Civil Rights" The Life and Times of a Genre, as Told in The
Help." Southern Cultures Spring 2014 20.1 (2014): 5164. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
Kaufman, Aryeh. "A Study of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Part 1." – Offscreen . Published April 2009. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
The Help . Dir. Tate Taylor. Perf. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard. Walt Disney Studios, 2011. Film.
Wright, Melanie J. "‘Don’t Touch My Holocaust’ ; Responding to Life Is Beautiful." (n.d.): 2130. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.