If you film a soldier, you don’t stand in front of the rifle, but behind, like a war reporter
"We had a somewhat simplistic idea. A little soldier facing a fortress, society. If you film a soldier, you don’t stand in front of the rifle, but behind, like a war reporter." - Luc Dardenne, on filming Rosetta (h/t)
That's probably why I find "Rosetta" one of the most manipulative films, and the Dardenne's brothers worst. They force the viewer to accompany and physically share the subjective experience of a rather dubious character, never allowing another point of view. Then, I don't see her as any kind of soldier, and their reasoning has another, more frequent and real parallel: it always worries me that demonstrations are almost invariably filmed from the side of the police, not from the side of students, workers or any other protesters, usually weaker. Miguel Marías
My appreciation of Rosetta - such as it is - comes from this intense and even manipulative subjectivity. I'd feel betrayed by this if her character wasn't so dubious; forcing the viewer to stay with this woman whose choices are questionable (questionable choices made under difficult circumstances) creates a distance just as a more 'objective' camera does. She's no more or less a soldier than any other. Sons and daughters of the working class, fighting a war for their own survival, have their struggles co-opted by the state apparatus - the need for bread becomes the need for work becomes taking a place as a cog in the machine. Which is why protests are filmed from the side of the police: protests are forms of disorder, and abiding by the rules of order is a necessary compromise in the battle mentioned above.
2 commentaires:
That's probably why I find "Rosetta" one of the most manipulative films, and the Dardenne's brothers worst. They force the viewer to accompany and physically share the subjective experience of a rather dubious character, never allowing another point of view. Then, I don't see her as any kind of soldier, and their reasoning has another, more frequent and real parallel: it always worries me that demonstrations are almost invariably filmed from the side of the police, not from the side of students, workers or any other protesters, usually weaker.
Miguel Marías
Miguel,
My appreciation of Rosetta - such as it is - comes from this intense and even manipulative subjectivity. I'd feel betrayed by this if her character wasn't so dubious; forcing the viewer to stay with this woman whose choices are questionable (questionable choices made under difficult circumstances) creates a distance just as a more 'objective' camera does. She's no more or less a soldier than any other. Sons and daughters of the working class, fighting a war for their own survival, have their struggles co-opted by the state apparatus - the need for bread becomes the need for work becomes taking a place as a cog in the machine. Which is why protests are filmed from the side of the police: protests are forms of disorder, and abiding by the rules of order is a necessary compromise in the battle mentioned above.
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