Notes on International Cinema

'The Lady In The Lake' is a film Noir made in 1946, its based on one of the classic and popular Marlowe crime novels.
It was film maker - Mick Garris's - 1st feature film and he used a very peculiar and brave method of capturing the point of view of the main character. He films the entire picture in 1st person, the other actors in the film talk directly to the audience (Marlowe) which must be really peculiar to watch.



Double Indemnity is another film Noir co wrote by the writer of the Marlowe crime novels, Chandler. This really hit big with the audiences and critics at the time. Its helped define the genre of film Noir but most importantly it managed to get across a point of view that wasn't gimmicky like the film above, this was achieved by having the writer of the novels on the production team.



Italian Neo-Realsim was a national film movement characterized by stories of the poor and the working class (similar to Britain's Kitchen Sink Drama?). It was filmed on location usually with unprofessional actors in post war Italy. This movement laid down the foundations that helped shape Hollywood, Novelle Vague and much latter on; todays Modern Cinema.

Godard's first feature film 'Breathless" was one of the most influential films of the Novelle Vague. The story featured a very existential lead character, unlike any hero of the screen at the time. The film also introduced the jump cut to cinema, a stylistic approach to editing that has flourished ever since.



Interestingly enough, on the 3rd episode of Ghost In The Shell The Stand Alone Complex there are lost of Godard references in a particular scene and most of the dialogue is inspired or replicates this film in some way. I'll have to check it out.