"Somebody was explaining the difference between European and American movies to me the other day: European movies are about people, but American movies are about stories."
Ebert went on to explain why, for this reason, he felt that Eyewitness, to him, felt more like a European movie that an American movie. To this day I can't watch a European film without considering whether or not the film is 'about the characters' or 'about the story.' And there are plenty of American movies I watch that, to me, feel as though they have a European aesthetic.
Questions:
- What do you think the quotation means?
- Forget that Run Lola Run is a literally a German film. Does it fit the above definition of 'European movie'?
- Can you think of any American movies that, to you, feel European - for what ever reason?
1. 2001: a space Odessy was all about the story. Nobody cared about the characters. Run Lola, Run is about Lola, Manni and their relationship with eachother and others. There's not much of a story.
ReplyDelete2. Yes
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Nobody cared about the characters, just about the story.
1. I think the quote means that European films focus more on the development of characters and their backgrounds. While American films focus on what the characters are doing and how they are interacting with eachother (storyline).
ReplyDelete2. I think that Run, Lola, Run focuses more on the story (not like European films) because we don't learn a lot about Lola's past or her personality. The whole movie is about Lola trying to get $100,000 for her boyfriend.
3. A movie that is American that I feel is European style is Drop Dead Gorgeous. Each scene in the movie focuses on a specific character in the movie and their background and the audience gets to know their personalities as well.
1. The quotation is saying that in America, we focus on our plot line most of the time. That is definitely true as we spend less time evolving and focusing on character development that we spend on the storylines and plots. On the other hand we see that european films don't necessarily show the greatest plot line but more focus on the character. if you look at RLR you seem the same story 3 times, sounds like the director couldn't pick where to take the movie, but you look at the characters, and by the end of the movie, you are rooting for the bad guy to win. so it is incredibly clear that their characters come before their stories.
ReplyDelete2. As i just mentioned, yes it definitely fits the genre.
3. (margaret, if you log on again you did it backwords) I feel like this may be a bad example, but when i look back at Dark Knight, for the life of me i cannot remember the storyline all that well. what I can remember is the incredible characters, and the amount of focus and development on Harvey, Batman, and The Joker. While it may not be the best example i feel like that movie definitely had more character development than an incredible plot, which honestly was just a typical action movie sequence.
1. The quotation written by Roger Ebert is trying to say that European films focus more on creating an emotional and realistic connection between the characters in the movie and the audience watching the movie. In other words, European films generally focus on the development of the characters. Whereas American films focus more on developing an interesting story to hold up the movie instead of the characters.
ReplyDelete2. Run, Lola, Run does fit the description of European films because it focuses a lot on the emotional relationship and background of the characters in the movie.
3. An American film that feels very European would be the movie, The Notebook, because I feel like it focuses a lot on the emotional relationship between all of the characters instead of the general storyline.
1. I think what Ebert is trying to say is that in American movies, the characters develop around the story whereas in European movies, the story revolves around the characters. as Ebert would agree, American films usually draw the audience in through the plot while Europen films draw the audience in through realistic character emotions and relationships.
ReplyDelete2. I think it does and does not fit within the definition of a 'European' movie. While the characters definitely play a pivotal role, the plot of the film takes on an equally important role in the make-up of this film. Lola is portrayed as a tough, crazy, yet sentimental tomgirl who tries to save her boyfriend. Yet, though her appearance is carefully crafted and is the main focus of the film, the whole motives behind Lola's actions is the plot. The plot is what is driving these unique characters.
3. One movie that I think feels European was the film 'I Am Sam.' Not much happens in the plot of the film. Instead, the movie was all about the characters and getting the audience to connect with them at an emotional level. Like other European movies, 'I Am Sam' had a realistic style and realistic characters that didn't need a strong plot to make it a great film.
1. To me, the quote means that in America, we focus more on the story/plot. Rather than building characters, American films focus more on building a story. European films however seem to focus more on the development of characters. The main goal of many American films is to create an interesting story, so the set up of the story overshadows that of the characters. As seen in Run Lola Run, the movie only revolves around the characters. It feels like you get to know them personally while watching it.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, Run Lola Run definitely fits the definition of a European film.
3. Now I realize that there is a pretty obvious plot to this movie, but Titanic, I feel, can be related to European movies. Clearly, the plot is focused on Titanic, but it's not so much about Titanic until the end. Throughout the whole movie it's more about the two main characters, Kate Winslet and Leonardo Dicaprio. You get to know them on a deep, emotional level, and it is all about them and their romance.
I agree with this quote. I think it means that while many American stories follow a story line, meeting many different people, this story pretty much just follows this one girl, Lola, while she tries to save her boyfriend. Then there are those snipits of other people lives that she sees that really have nothing to do with the story but you know the person. They are personal. They are about the things that occur in a person's life that you would never know about. I enjoy the movie and how it is set up like that.
ReplyDelete2. I do think that Run Lola Run fits into the definition because it's all about her and her life and what she finds out about herself.
3. I think that most American movies are just plot based but I know the movie Once wasn't American, but that was also just about people. Gardenstate has this kind of feel also where there is no real story, the audience just gets to know the characters.
1. I think this quote means that a european movie is all about a persons life rather not just a person itself. A american movie is about a person reflecting thire life in a story.
ReplyDelete2. yes
3. The movie Forest Gump has a taste of a european movie because it is centered around Forest's life in different stories but in ones life.
1. I think the quotation is telling us thst the director and writers try to show more emphasis on the characters rather than making the story really detailed and instense.
ReplyDelete2. Yes, the story is pretty simple but there is a lot of emphasis on the characters.
3. I think the movie All Quiet on the Western Front has more to do with the characters than the story.
1. The quotation tells us more about the actual characters than the plot of the movie. it gets you into the driveres seat, and makes you focus on the character more than the environment.
ReplyDelete2. Yes because the camera is always focuses on Lola instead of the plot, i mean the plot gets reset 3 times but Lola stays the same.
3. Fight Club, just because the narrator always mentions Tyler, which means he is talking abuot him self, and same thing for Run Lola Run, i think the director wants us to focus more on the character than the actual plot.