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Perspectives | Why Is "The Truman Show" Postmodern

"The Truman Show" Poster

The Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical science fiction film directed by Peter Weir and written by Niccol. It contains the story of Truman a middle aged man who was born and brought up in a simulated utopian city/society. Truman soon becomes suspicious about his idealistic life and tries to find out the truth and eventually discovering that he has been held in a simulation merely for the entertainment of other people. But what post modernistic traits does this movie have exactly?

1. Mise-en-abyme - The audience does not realize that the life story of Truman is actually a TV show until the director behind the reality show is shown at his set and manipulating the environment around Truman. The viewer realizes that he/she is watching a show within a show.

2. Fourth Wall - The movie breaks the fourth wall by intelligent product placement and the introduction of commercials. When Truman seeks a private conversation with Marlon he gazes into the camera holding his beer up and says: “This is a beer!” revealing its brand making it an obvious commercial even Truman’s everyday life consumables  items and household sets are considered articles the viewer of the show can purchase from a catalogue.

3. Utopia - The world Truman is placed in is bright, happy and ideal, every person in the city is happy and the emotion of sadness never crosses the audiences mind while looking at the utopian city. Truman leads an ideal American life possessing a house, a car, a beautiful wife who is already planning for a future child symbolizing again this utopian image of the perfect American life.

4. Hyperrealism -  Throughout the movie Truman is troubled with the inability of distinguishing whether what he is experiencing is real or fake. Truman soon doubts the reality of his world and tries to escape it by attempting of leaving the island where he spent his whole life however, every actor tries to stop him by first trying to cause traffic jams or power plant accidents to block the road leading toward the outside world and eventually even catching him.

5. Simulation - Everything in Truman’s life up until his discovery of the exit into the real world has merely been a simulation of a perfect life with some limitations (no leaving the area). The nature can even be manipulated by machines set up in the studio which is located behind the fake moon. In addition his wife Meryl and his best friend Marlon are merely actors who do not even see him in a way they should; one scene shows his wedding day where his wife crossed her fingers while swearing eternal love meaning that she was lying about her statement.

Perspectives | Key Words #8

• Hyperrealism - in art hyperrealism is a style of painting that depicts objects or environments with ridiculously accurate details. As for the hyperreality in postmodernism, it describes the inability to consciously distinguish reality from a simulation of reality.  Especially in the modern society with an exceptional technological progress those two realities are seamlessly blended together that one cannot determine where the simulation ends and where the reality starts.
• Simulation - a virtual imitation of a certain event or act for example a flight simulation which simulates the pilot flying in the sky even though he is down on the earth. Simulations can also be used to imitate/test certain outcomes of certain events which are complex to execute in reality due to unmet conditions.
• Simulacra - a simulacrum is an object, an image or even an imaginary thing that represents a person or a certain object. This term has its origin in Greek which combines the two words “simulo” which means mirror image or illusion and “simul” which translates to similar or equal. As an example a photorealistic painting of a certain landscape can be considered as a simulacrum or even a statue of a god.
• "Fake news" - "fake news" is a form of propaganda commonly seen on the internet, especially on social networks and social media where the information can easily go viral. The main purpose of fake news is to spread wrong information about a certain topic, person or a certain agency, mostly fake news is practiced in politics to win elections etc., which leads to wrong accusations of certain groups, people, agencies etc. Fake news creates an alternate reality which is mostly attention-grabbing and therefore making it appealing to a large group of people. They cannot distinguish the fake news from the real news unless they practice detailed and accurate research; this is comparable to hyperrealism in postmodernism since the individuals cannot consciously distinguish the reality from a simulation of a reality.

Perspectives | Why Is "Dancer in the Dark" Postmodern

"Dancer in the Dark" Poster

Dancer in the Dark is a melodrama musical written and directed by the Danish director Lars von Trier in 2000. The movie narrates the story of a Slovakian woman named Selma Jezkova who suffers from poor eyesight and eventually becomes blind. Throughout the narration she experiences unfairness and cruelty of the reality which eventually even leads her to her death. But why is “Dancer in the Dark” postmodern?

1. Meta fiction - “Dancer in the Dark” deals with the conflict between fantasy and reality. Most obviously, this is highlighted by Selma’s musical daydreams, whenever they kick in the colors would appear very bright and exaggerated symbolizing her fantasy as opposed to the reality which is painted in brown and grey colors. According to Selma she loves musicals because there are no dramatic events in contrary to the real world. With this she highlights the fiction within the movie making it clear to the audience that the film is pure fiction.

2. Fragmented - Throughout the whole movie scenes are cut out or skipped. For example when she was practicing dancing in her house and suddenly the audience is presented Kathy her neighbor coming through the door asking how the dance went.

3. Hyper-reality - During Selma’s daydreaming unrealistic things happen as we can see in the scene when she killed Bill. Bill was shot several times in his body and his face was brutally damaged, but when the musical part started he stood up and danced with Selma. In addition in that scene the audience knew that Kathy, Bill’s wife, was gone to call for help she appeared in Selma’s dance.

4. Pastiche - Some music used in “Dancer in the Dark” comes from the movie “The Sound of Music (1965)” such as “My Favourite Things”, “So Long, Farewell” and “Climb Every Mountain” all three written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

5. Deconstruction - Unlike the typical Hollywood musicals “Dancer in the Dark” has a dark ending. It breaks the expectations of the audience. Usually in musicals the choreography are built in smoothly and without any major “trigger”. In “Dancer in the Dark”  the musical part would kick in whenever Selma would experience a dramatic event such as: going to court, the 107 steps or the murder of Bill.

Perspectives | Key Words #7

• Metafiction - form of fiction wherein the work constantly highlights the fact that it is imaginary. The application of irony and self-reflection is usually used to pose the critical question of the relation between fiction and reality. 
• Intertextuality - mostly related to literature “Intertextuality” is a technique that is used to reshape the meaning of a text by another (mostly popular) one. Intertextuality can be seen as a form of pastiche or plagiarism since an already existing and well known text is used as a “reference” to the new text.
• Mise-en-abyme - is a French term derived from heraldry which means “placed into abyss”. Commonly a picture which contains itself in it is imagined for example a pair of mirrors reflecting each other’s images into infinity/abyss (the image becomes infinitesimal small symbolizing the great distance as if the image is far away for example in the abyss). 
• The 4th Wall - next to the three room dimensions in a movie there is this so called “Fourth Wall” which refers to the wall between the act/play and the audience. Usually fictional characters within a play do not refer to the audience, but when they do for example asking it questions (“Funny Games”) people call it “Breaking the 4th Wall”.

Perspectives | Why Is "Funny Games" Postmodern

"Funny Games" Poster

Funny Games is a 2007 psychological thriller film written and directed by Michael Haneke, and a remake of his own 1997 Austrian film of the same name. It contains the story of a three-headed family which experiences pain and torture through two seemingly innocent guys dressed in white. But why is this film postmodern?

1. Stereotype of a Killer -  “Funny Games“ challenges the stereotype of a “killer”. Usually a “classic horror” creates a monster-type character with scary appearance and cruel intentions as an antagonist for example Freddie Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm St.”. Obviously the outer appearance of such “classic killer” is rather dull, dark and aggressive. Haneke breaks this stereotype by introducing the villains/killers with the appearance of a classic American “good guy”: dressed in white with white gloves symbolizing gentleness.  

2. Horror Music - Not only is the stereotype of the “classic killer” reformed, but also the usage of “traditional” music for horror movies. While it is typical to use creepy music to build up the tension for murder scenes Haneke utilizes classic music for these instead. However, the “happy” classic music continues throughout the movie even outside of murder scenes which gives the audience the impression that it is living in the mind of the villains since nobody else (the family) in the movie seem to be “happy”.

3. Fourth Wall - Michael Haneke utilizes the break of the fourth wall in the movie “Funny Games” by letting the antagonist glare, wink and throw questions at the audience. The use of this technique especially in this film makes the audience uncomfortable since it is not the protagonist (the good), but the antagonist (the evil) asking what next bad thing will happen to the family.

4. Real or Fiction - The setting, dialogue and characters are very plausible and believable. The lack of “spectacular” scenes such as chasings, explosions or unrealistic fighting sequences and instead having the events revolve around everyday matters such as cleaning, cooking, etc. makes the movie very realistic and believable. Haneke intentionally uses the majority of the time for detailed description of for example how the character cleans the phone after it fell into the sink to highlight/enhance the realism of the movie. At the same time “Funny Games” is supposed to be a fictional horror movie and therefore the audience might be confused and questions whether it is real or fiction after all.

5. Non linear - In some scenes of the movie one can detect non-linearism. The most obvious one is when the mother Ann shoots Peter/Toby/Tom and afterwards Paul picking up the remote control for the TV rewinding the scene to the point before she grabs the gun, but this time knowing how to react to the situation “correctly” and saving Peter/Toby/Tom.

Perspectives | Key Words #6

• Normativity - creating or relating to a certain standard or norm. Doing something based on a norm. For example a normative production is when the process follows the standards set by a company.
• Binary Opposition - also known as the binary system which consists of two concepts that are opposite in meaning for example modern computers are using this system having “1s” (true) and “0s” (false) as a communication/command tool.
• Deconstruction - the act of breaking something down into its individual parts in hope of understanding its structure, meaning or mechanism. Mostly it is understood as a philosophical method of critically studying and questioning of the meaning of words in literature. In short: analyzing the relationship between text and meaning.
• Différance - a term used by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his theory of deconstruction. It has the general idea/meaning that since every person has different moods, background and way of perceiving things therefore a word will not have the same meaning for every person. In his concept he claims that each single word cannot give complete description. In fact words need other words to give it context/meaning.
• Reinscribe - it may mean to rename or redefine something in a new context or simply re-write or carve words into something.
• Cognitive dissonance - mental discomfort caused by simultaneously having two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas or values for example when a person with Christianity discusses the origin of the earth with a scientist. Both people may feel mental discomfort since their beliefs are critically questioned.

 

• Judith Butler -  is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of third-wave feminist, queer and literary theory. As a philosopher she mainly focuses on discussing the topic of the sex and how it affects the gender and the desire of a person. She claims that gender is merely a performance which you do at certain times that defines your gender rather than a universal "who you are". 
•  During her studies at the Yale University she was very engaged with continental philosophy and therefore read various books and works of Karl Marx, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty which influenced her a lot until today. She published her first essays about feministic theories in the late 90s and her book "Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity" published in 1990 got international attention and inspired many.

Perspectives | Why Is "Moulin Rouge!" Postmodern

"Moulin Rouge!" Poster

Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 Australian–American jukebox musical, romantic, comedy film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It tells the story of a young English poet/writer, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and courtesan Satine. However, why this film is postmodern?

1. Pastiche - The pastiche consists of several sceneries copied/referenced from several famous movies. The scene with Christian standing in front of the Moulin Rouge yelling: “SATINE!!!” is a direct reference from the “STELLA!!!” scene from the movie “Streetcar Named Desire” (1951) or when Christian came up with the lyrics at the start of the movie: “the hills are alive with the sound of music” comes directly from the film “The Sound of Music” (1965) and several others. Only to mention a few reference movies: “Aladdin”, “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing”, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, “Romeo and Juliet”, “Peter Pan” etc.

2. Mash-up - Director of the drama-musical “Moulin Rouge!”, Baz Luhrmann, utilizes various well-known songs breaks them down and mixes them together. All the songs in the movie are basically mash ups of different songs and therefore allow the movie of not getting into trouble using copyrighted music.

3. Hyper-reality - The world that “Moulin Rouge” endeavors to create strains its credibility that under normal circumstances it would seem to be too phony. Not only the scene with the little fairy (“Tinker Bell”) appearing and Zidler flying around the Moulin Rouge singing with joy, but also when Christian and Satine start dancing in the clouds makes the audience question the story’s reality. However, Baz Luhrmann’s very inventive way of beginning the story makes the audience right from the start that this movie is hyper reality.

4. Non-linear narrative - The way this story is told is similar to a more modern title “The Great Gatsby”: A person who was involved in the past events is telling the audience the story he/she witnessed. Therefore the protagonist Christian who fell in love with Satine and whom the story is evolved around is retelling his past. The movie starts off with Christian in the future who is about to write and retell the story. Throughout the film the scene is constantly changing between the future Christian and the past Christian which indicates with the addition of the flashbacks in his narrating a narrative without chronological order.

5. Mix of Style - The play “Spectacular, spectacular” is supposedly set in the distant past in India, but the costumes are a cross over between ancient India and an elaborate Bollywood performance. To top it off the song they are performing is a mix between Bollywood pop also known as “Indian-pop” and the famous song “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”, sung by Marilyn Monroe in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.  Not only this scene but also various other performance scenes are consciously and openly draws on a number of different cultural references and mixing them creating an entirely separate piece. This postmodernist style is further represented by the fact that the performance occurs on a stage. Traditionally a theatre performance is a form of high art, but in this case a mix of several styles, genres and cultures occur.

Perspectives | Key Words #5

• The Canon - a general law or principle, by which something is judged, created mostly by a council or any other competent authority, for example: a Church law. 
• DWEM - “Dead white European male” refers to the political correctness issue which caused a big discussion in the 1970s. Mostly represents male historical figures in art and culture whose talent and importance may have been exaggerated.
• Phallocentricism - expresses male superiority, based on the phallus.
• Eurocentrism - a worldview centered on and biased toward the western civilization. 
• Postcolonialism - the historical period of time that represents the end of Western colonialism. The influence of the colonialism is still present.
• Multiculturalism - a society consisting of two or more different cultural or ethnic groups.
• Feminism - a movement that advocates the idea of gender equality. The group mostly consists of female supporters fighting for their rights.

Perspectives | Why Is "Scream" Postmodern

"Scream" Poster

Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film shows Sidney Prescott, a high school student, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer known as Ghostface. The film combined black comedy and with the violence of the slasher genre to make fun out of the clichés from previous popular horror films. But why this film is postmodern?

1. Pastiche - The film borrows the violence of the slasher genre from horror films popularized in early to mid 80's, such as: "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th".

2. Irony - The irony in this film consists of the director of the movie “Scream” Wes Craven who is shown in one scene as Freddy Krueger from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” even though he is not a killer as Freddy was.

3. Parody - The film was unique at the time of its release for featuring characters who were aware of real world horror films and openly discussed the clichés that "Scream" attempted to subvert.

4. Avant-garde - This film is a postmodern avant-garde. Not only it refreshed the slasher genre, but it also lead to brand new disscussions around the horror film ideology.

5. Meta-fiction - Even though the characters in this movie have a precise insight of the cliché course of events of former horror movies, they only joke about it instead of trying to avoid it. It seems to the audience that the movie is a meta narrative since the characters know the sequences in detail themselves and therefore know everything already.

Perspectives | Key Words #4

• Avant-garde - original, experimental ,radical, innovatory, introducing or exploring new forms or subject matter.
• Nostalgia - the desire of returning back to a former time in one’s life or a sentimental longing for a period in the past.
  
• Appropriation - to appropriate something for example censorship in media.
• Pastiche - is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. (reusing an existing concept or idea)
• Parody - humorous imitation of an existing serious piece of artwork.
  
• Irony - expressing one’s meaning by saying the opposite for (mostly) comedy effect.
• Idealogy - a set of opinions or beliefs of a group that they are living after.
  
• Genre - a category in which the artwork is produced according to a particular model or style.

•  Sherrie Levine -  is an American photographer, painter, and conceptual artist. She is best known for her reproductions of notable male artists' works through photography. Most of all, Levine's reproductions focus upon idolized male artists, such as: Walker Evans, Constantin Brancusi, Vincent van Gogh, and Edgar Degas, ect. In order to critique limiting ideas of talented male artists in which Art History has traditionally undervalued the role of female artists. The artist has said: “Every word, every image, is leased and mortgaged. We know what a picture is but a space in which a variety of images, none of them original, blend and clash.” While Levine sees her work as more of a collaboration with previous artists, in copying and replicating the work of male artists Levine also levels a feminist critique in art history and society. Movements which influenced artist: conceptual art, pop art, surrealism, moden photography, feminist art.

Perspectives | Why Is "Mulholland Drive" Postmodern

"Mulholland Drive" Poster

Mulholland Drive is a 2001 neo-noir mystery film written and directed by David Lynch. The film starrs Naomi Watts as a Betty Elms. Betty newly arrived in Los Angeles, who meets and befriends an amnesiac woman hiding in an apartment which belongs to Betty's aunt. The story includes several other seemingly unrelated vignettes that eventually interlock, as well as some surreal and darkly comic scenes and images that relate to the cryptic narrative. However, why this film is postmodern?

1. Hyper-reality - The film sets itself directed to reality, but the longer the film goes, the further away it strives away from reality.  The start of the film is seen as cheesy, romantic comedy, where Betty arrives to Hollywood, to become an popular actress. But accidently meets the amnesiac woman (Diane) in her aunts house. The story itself developes into romance but as it unreveals the shadowy mist around it, audience is struck by Bettys mental state. The surrealist hallucinations accure, nevertheless, the film's reality is broken and its shown that the film the audience has watched is not a film, just backward memory flashes which aren't revelant to reality.

2. Unreliable Narrator -  During the entire film an unreliable narrator is telling the story not truthfully and the audience is forced to question the shown scenes. In the final scenes of the film, it cannot be followed as reality  nor dreams/flash back .

3. Non-linear story telling - Through out the movie, the audience follows Bettys story line, but as Betty wakes up from her dream, she is Diane. The story which was once followed is discontinued in another one. It stops following chonological time line and ends up in mystery story.

4. Fragmented - The film "Mulholland Drive" is splint into 3 fragments which follows different story lines with different characters in them. This postmodernistic tactic is used in films to provide the audience an insight to an internal reality through the eyes of a certain individual whose point of view is altered by mental illness or substances (drugs, alcohol, etc.). 

5. Pastiche - The postmodern movie Mulholland Drive uses pastiche, referencing different aspects of Hollywood culture and its history. For example Rita, also known as Camilla, references the actress Rita Hayworth a successful movie star in the 1940s. Another reference used by Lynch is a film of the 1950s, Sunset Boulevard, one of Lynch’s favorites.

Perspectives | Why Is "Inception" Postmodern

"Inception" Poster

Inception is a 2010 science fiction film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, and co-produced by Emma Thomas. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious, and is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased as payment for a seemingly impossible task: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious. But how come this film is postmodern?

1. Hyper-reality - During the movie „Inception” the mind is opened into another reality which could be seen as more desirable than the actual real-life reality. This aspect of the film convinces the audience that it is an authentic world, a world which is presented as a new, better and a more sought-after one.

2. Intertextuality - One of the most famous paradox “The Penrose staircases” is referenced during the film “Inception”. In order to demonstrate to Ariadne, the new dream architect, the importance of mazes and paradoxical architecture to create a convincing dream space Arthur created the Penrose stairs. Furthermore, the stairs indicate that anything is possible with the architect’s creativity.

3. Non-linear story telling -  The story telling style of the film “Inception” is “non-linear” which means that the story is not told in the chronological order. For example, at the start of the movie the main character Cobb is stranded at the beach and is carried to an old man sitting at a table. This scene is shown once more at the ending of the movie explaining how he got there.

4. Unreliable Narrator - During the entire movie an unreliable narrator accompanies the audience. He is, by definition, telling the story not truthfully and the audience is forced to question the shown scene or the conclusions he made. The viewer is left with only parts of the whole true story. The final scene of the movie makes the audience question whether the protagonist is still in the “hyper-reality” world or in the real world.

5. Time bending -  The movie “Inception” has an interesting “what if” style which makes the audience question what the world would be like if we could alter/manipulate someone else’s mental state. Additionally, it asks the audience whether it is right to invade a person’s thoughts. As stated before the film lets the viewer to decide if he/she prefers the “hyper-real” world or the reality.

 

Perspectives | Key Words #3

• Metanarrative - Also known as the grand narrative is a narrative that claims to have the answer to everything. As for example Christianity claims to be able to explain how the world works in its entirety: The world and everything with it is created by a God.
• Essentialism - Referring to the “essence”. It is said that every entity has this certain essence which makes it what it is. As of each culture will teach their students different skills and ideals since those are mandatory for identifying themselves as part of their specific culture. 
• Utopian - A goal or state where everything seems perfect/ideal (depending on the culture).
• Axiomatic - Something that is self-explanatory or unquestionably true (for example Newton’s axioms)
• Dystopian - The counterpart to utopian, a state where everything seems terrible or simply unpleasant.
• Scepticism - An attitude of doubt towards the truth of a particular topic or doubt in general.
• Relativism - It supports the idea that nothing is absolute. If an action is right or wrong, it can only be judged in relation to the existing circumstances since an action which may be the correct move for one problem cannot be for another. 
• Pluralism - When for example in a country two or more cultures coexist. It is basically a system where two or more groups (of people with different religion for example), states, authorities, etc. coexist.

Perspectives | Key Words #2

• Enlightened - learning the truth behind a once believed falsehood, showing understanding about things.
  
• Ahistorical - not concerned with/or related to history, historical development, or tradition.
• Irreducible - not able to reduce or to make smaller or simpler.
• Objective - having one's opinion not influenced by emotions, but by hard facts.
• Transparent - understandable, reliable.
• Universal - holds true for everyone despite their race, sex and religion.
  
• Definitive - final version of something that cannot be changed or improved.
• Fixed - arranged or decided already and not able to be changed.
• Structuralism - is about breaking something down to its components, examine what it is made of, how those things fit together and thereby understand how all the other things are assambled. In other words, get at the deep structure of that object:what is that essential thing that makes the object what it is and not something else. (One size fits all)
• Modernism - seeks to find new forms of expression and rejects traditional or accepted ideas.
• The Enlightenment Project -  is an attempt to explain and define the human being through science and trying to master it through usage of technology.
  
• Poststructuralism - different to Sturcuralism, Poststructuralism believes in plurality of meaning, for example the meaning of a sentence is not absolute there are indefinite interpretations to it. In other words, Poststructuralism can be seen as a critique to Structuralism, emphasizing plurality of meaning and instability of concepts Structuralism uses to define society, language etc.
• "The Unreliable Narrator" - a character who is telling the story not in complete accuracy due to problems with the character's mental state or maturity.
  

Perspectives | Key Words

• High Modernism - is a form of modernity, characterized by an unfaltering confidence in science and technology as means to reorder the social and natural world.
• Capitalism - is an economic system and an ideology based on private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.
• Superabundance - an excessive amount of something that is beyond the required amount, possibly with negative effect. 
• Disconnected -  to undo or break the connection of or between something.
• Schizoid - characterized by a lack of interest in social relationships, a tendency towards a solitary or sheltered lifestyle, secretiveness, emotional coldness, detachment, and apathy.
• Pop - popular culture of the time; including art, music, fashion.
• Fragmentary - consisting of/or reduced to fragments; broken; disconnected; incomplete.
• Eclectic nostalgia -  false sense of nostalgia and pleasant feeling resulting from a number elements that imitate the past.
• Superficiality - displaying a lack of thoroughness or care, lack of depth in character or thought.
• Simulacra - is a representation or imitation of a person or thing.
• Flippant - lacking proper respect or seriousness.
• Fabulation - to tell invented stories; create fables or stories filled with fantasy. (to relate an event as a fable.)
• Pastiche - is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, or music that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists.
• Bricolage - is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work created by mixed media.
• Aleatory - of or relating to accidental causes; of luck or chance; unpredictable.
• Depthless - beyond one's knowledge or capability.
• Skeptical - doubtful about a particular thing.
• Ambiguous -  lacking clearness or definiteness.
• Innovative - tending to create, or introduce something new or different.
• Obfuscation - to confuse, make something unclear.
  

Perspectives | Why Is "Kill Bill" Postmodern

"Kill Bill" Poster

Kill Bill: Volume 1  is a 2003 American martial arts film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Is a well known film in postmodern society. However, why is this film postmodern?

1. Split Into Fragments - "Kill Bill" consists of many different shots and scenes from many other films.

2. Realism disappears - At first the movie takes place in a western country where the main character is involved in realistic fighting scenes. The longer the film continues the further away the in-film characters striveing away from reality. When they fight, they fly across the screen, and jump up without any gravity affection.

3. Changes film styles - Another technique used in "Kill Bill" is Anime scenes. This is a "High Art" Style and makes the audience aware that the world they are watching is artificial.

4. Non-Linear Nerrative - Nonlinear narratives often use flashbacks or flash forwards in which past or future events are revealed through memory or other methods during exposition of a current event. However, there are other ways to use nonlinear narrative in which the narrative flow doubles back on itself while appearing to move forward. 

5. Contrapuntal Music -  The soundtrack in "Kill Bill"  uses Spaghetti Western music and this is a part of the film that references the different films that Tarantino uses for inspiration. Some of the scenes have not maching music, as some of the sound efects are cartoonish, spanish or western type, it keeps transmuting though out the film.