Czech Cinema.

The movement that influenced ‘Alice’ and defining the genre. 

 The Czech New Wave movement took place between the years of 1963 to 1968 and was led by students of the Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The arrival of this new wave saw a sort of golden age in Czech cinema and was one of the most radical and remarkable bursts of creativity in film history with its alternative approach. Many defining films were birthed during this time, for example, The Sun in a Net (1962, Štefan Uher), Something Different (1963, Věra Chytilová) and Black Peter (1963, Miloš Forman). 

A couple decades later, with influence of the New Wave’s enigma, Jan Švankmajer returned to filmmaking but under the assumption that they were an adaptation of literary. His avant-garde adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s adventures in Wonderland in 1988, ‘Alice’ (original title of ‘Neco z Alenky’ that translates to ‘Something from Alice’), was very different compared to the Disney version, Alice in Wonderland (1951) that was completely animation and aimed at children with its innocent fantasy qualities. Švankmajer’s style achieved the strangeness, not through otherworldly images, but by placing the familiar in unfamiliar ways. The film still incorporated all the characters and literary ideologies but in a way that reflected the parallels of the real world in Czechoslovakia. 

 In terms of defining the genre, by looking as what its classed as it comes under a variety of genres due to it having live-action, puppetry and animation and a different approach to the storyline. 

By literally going off what the book is classed as, the assumption would be fantasy. Although the film takes it into consideration, and we see elements of magic, myth and wonder, there is still a huge twist on the idea of fantasy that is taken to another level. The dream-like aspects of childhood reminisce takes more of a nightmarish turn and a more honest portrait is painted of them. Instead of the excitement of what might happen next, the viewer feels more fearful. For example, towards the end of the film when Alice is in court the debate is to behead her. In a normal fantasy film, the expectation is that they rule to not but in the way this film is presented, the viewer simply doesn’t know, and they become afraid. 

The idea of the genre of Alice being defined as fantasy seems imprecise and taking the features beforehand into account, it then comes to question of is the film a horror/thriller? The nightmarish take on it and the impending bad feeling would technically class it as a horror and that seems most appropriate in defining it. 

The science fiction side of the fantasy the film falls under would definitely define it in terms of the alternative timeline, and in the sense of animation, that is definitely used within the film. 

Overall, the film cannot be defined as just one singular genre, with all factors taken into consideration and the conventions it includes, it is defined as every one of its given genres.

British Horror Cinema.

Hammer Studios influence on the British Horror Genre.

Hammer Studios is said to have defined the horror genre. The studio was founded back in 1934 by actor and theatre entrepreneur William Hinds and owner of film distribution company Exclusive Films, Enrique Carreras. The company didn’t thrive through the 30’s and 40’s until after World War II in 1947 when the sons of the founders, James Carreras and Anthony Hinds, had taken over and there was a growing demand for British-produced supporting movies. The big hits of the studios didn’t come until the mid-1950’s when the company produced The Quatermass Xperiment (1955, Val Guest) and with the success of it the studio switched focus from struggling crime thriller pictures of the early fifties to horror.

The genre truly flourished in Britain with the rest of the Quatermass triliogy, X the Unknown (1956) and Quatermass 2 (1957), and other marking films like, Terence Fisher’s The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and Dracula (1958). The films both stared the same person, Christopher Lee, who played the ‘Creature’ in The Curse of Frankenstein and ‘Count Dracula’ the following year in Dracula and went on to play the well-known character six more times for the studio and appeared in numerous other productions. Peter Cushing played Baron Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein, a role he would play five times for Hammer Studios. The two actors became synonymous names for the company. 

One of these films was, of course, one of the many defining and previously mentioned Dracula (1958, Terence Fisher). This was a story many had made in the past, but Hammer Studios thrived off with its lurid colour, charismatic performances and was just different from the others. It displayed many conventions expected to be seen in a horror film like one of the most common ones of sound/music, fear of the unknown and death. The film was the first ‘vampire’ movie to be in colour and show many of the now very well-known features to vampires like fangs and oozing blood from a bite.  

The film broke the mould of the ‘typical’ Dracula and Van Helsing that was set by its ancestors. Dracula was now young, charming and well-spoken rather than a hypnotic stare, stylised movements and thick accent. Van Hesing wasn’t the elderly savant typified Edward van Sloan in 1931, he was younger and more dynamic, fiercely intelligent and physically capable. The new and reinvented characters were best shown through the ‘final fight’ scene. 

Hammer Studios had influenced the British Horror Genre by giving it a new meaning and updating it. They brought in actors that became the faces of well-known characters and directors that made such successful films. Although their ‘gothic horror’ reign lasted until the 1970’s they still left a mark in history and influenced other British Horror films in the modern day and even produced them. They made their return to features alongside Hollywood with Let Me In (2012, Matt Reeves) which was a literary adaptation and they went on to make another adaptation, The Woman in Black (2012, James Watkins) and in 2014 made The Quiet Ones.

German Expressionism.

The movement behind the relationship between art and society in film and the influence on modern cinema.

German expressionism has a long running title of being one of the most influential movements, it was an art movement in the early 20^th century that originated in Europe and expressed the artist’s inner feelings or ideas over replicating reality. It was characterised by gestural marks or brush strokes, bright colours and simplistic shapes.

Expressionist films at first were born out of Germany’s isolation during the first few years of the 1900’s but soon became high demand due to the government’s ban on foreign films. Between the years of 1918 and 1930 it was a classic period of German Expressionism and the agenda was to, as an art, distinguish from other film types globally. During this time the appeal reached an international audience and European filmmakers started experimenting with the concept.

The first film to be born from the movement was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, Robert Wiene) and this film along with Metropolis (1927, Friz Lang), were two of the most influential films of the era. The both of these expressed the art of the movement with the concept of it being brought to life.

However, the movement is not classed as a genre or belong to filmmaking, as it existed prior to cinema as a form of art but the concept of it is used in modern cinema. Dark City (1998, Alex Proyas) uses thematic and stylistic elements from the movement.  The story of Dark City unfolds with John Murdoch who wakes up amnesic in a world that has no day and aliens, known as the Strangers, that have taken over the humans and are using them as lab rats in their experiment. Murdoch then seeks on a journey to unravel his twisted identity.

The setting of this films takes the idealistic themes of German expressionism with its dream-like/nightmarish world and its reminiscence of Lang’s Metropolis questioning of what makes a human human and why it cannot be changed by decree.  

An example within the film is when Murdoch first encounters the strangers after discovering the murders he has apparently committed. There are many conventions displayed in this particular scene, one being the dream-like aspects. Murdoch discovers the ability to ‘tune’ and essentially change things in the world to his will. So, in the scene the viewer can see him adjust the floor and the Strangers fall through it.

More conventions displayed include, crime, evil/obsessive characters and the external representation of inner emotion. For instance, the ‘final fight’ scene Murdoch participates in against the Strangers after they capture and trap him. In this the exterior shows the inner feelings of the character, he’s angry and fighting back, within this scene the visuals become distorting as the viewer sees him ‘tuning’ with the dream world and manipulating it for his own advantage.

The German expressionism movement radically challenged conventional filmmaking in its time and has provided food for thought for the industry ever since. Today, the enduring influence can be seen throughout the medium through the work of critically acclaimed directors like Ridley Scott and Tim Burton.