Comparative Essay: Use of camera technique in the development of themes in films

The primary goal of the final comparative essay is to reflect on the ways in which the same story can be told formally in different ways, and to different results. For this assignment, you will focus on:
• All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, 1955)
• Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
The former, which was assigned during the semester and extensively discussed in your discussion section, is an example of classical Hollywood filmmaking. The latter is one of the most significant examples of the German New Wave. To better frame your analysis, I encourage you to revisit the materials covered in class pertaining to these two moments in the history of cinema (in particular, the Bordwell textbook and the excerpts from Geoff Nowell-Smith’s Making Waves).
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul is what one might call an “unofficial remake” of All That Heaven Allows. The plots of the two films present many similarities, though the geographical, social, and historical milieux are very different, as are the gender dynamics. Fassbinder fell in love with Sirk’s melodramas--due in particular to their subtle yet incendiary social critique--and this film is an homage to them. It is not, however, a simple remake: it is infused with a very different artistic sensibility, which emerges in the formal organization of the film.
The assignment requires that you provide a comparative analysis of the two films. The fundamental questions you will have to answer are: what changes from the classical Hollywood style of Sirk to the New Wave aesthetics of Fassbinder? How do these stylistic differences express different social critiques? What kinds of reversals and transformations Fassbinder introduces in his remake, and to what effect?
To do so, you have two basic methodological options:
A. You can either focus on two sequences in each film and analyze them in comparison;
B. Or, you can select one formal motif or recurrent stylistic element (lighting, the use of closeups, color, the use of settings, acting, editing, etc.) and analyze how it is used in the two films and to what narrative effect, always providing examples.
The scene you already analyzed in the assignment on All That Heaven Allows cannot be reused here. You can obviously refer to it if needed, but, if you choose option A, it cannot be one of the two sequences you analyze for this paper. Having said that, I encourage you to revisit your scene analysis and pay a great deal of attention to the feedback you received. You may find inspiration as to what aspects of the two films to address in your final essay.
You now have the chance to put to the test everything that you have learned throughout the semester in the lectures, discussion sections, and particularly in the previous scene analysis assignments. One of the basic goals of a training in the formal analysis of film is the ability to read and interpret any film--even, and especially, films whose historical background and context are not immediately familiar to you. The way to do it is to focus on form: what kind of ideas are conveyed by the formal organization of then two films? What do their structure and style tell us about their meaning?
When you place films in conversation with one another, you can greatly enrich your understanding of the topics, motifs, and themes you are analyzing. However, such comparative assignments can also present certain challenges, so here are some guidelines:
1. The goal of the paper is to present an argument containing your interpretation of these two films. Your task is to develop an interpretive argument, using film analysis as your method. An argument is not just a description or a report: it presents an original theory, with which others may or may not agree. It has to be controversial enough that someone could disagree with it, so that your evidentiary support is truly necessary. Although you can certainly use quotes from the readings, you are not required to do so. Focus on the analysis of the films.
2. Be sure to give your paper a specific title that indicates not only the general subject but your specific angle on it.
3. Get to your thesis right away in the first paragraph of the paper. You don’t need to bother taking up space with “background” or atmosphere—put your energy directly into your argument. The paragraph should give your main point, an idea of the evidence for it that will come in the body of the paper, and how your paper contributes to the understanding of the films. To do this, the first paragraph usually takes about 2/3 of the first page.
4. Use clear topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph to indicate what the subject of the new paragraph is. How does this paragraph build on the last one? What phase of your argument does it introduce?
5. Treat both films equally. You should make sure that your analysis is balanced between both of your films, meaning you should not spend the majority of your paper talking about Film A with only a single paragraph on Film B. Do not worry about making things perfectly equal, but it should be clear that your analysis is centered on both films and is not treating one as an afterthought.
6. Avoid oversimplification. One common mistake students make in comparative papers is to treat one film like it does everything right and the other like it does everything wrong, or cannot live up to the standards of the first film. If two films approach the same subject in two very different ways, it does not mean that one is inherently better than the other. Instead, focus on explaining why each film chooses to approach the subject as it does. What does each approach emphasize and allow us to understand about the subject that the other does not (and vice versa), and why?
7. Plan ahead. This applies to all types of paper assignments, but brainstorming, outlining, and mapping out the steps of your argument and the elements of your analysis are doubly important when you have double the number of films to address. So make sure you give yourself the time you need to respond successfully to this assignment. Also, your introduction should clearly outline the major points of your argument and state your thesis—in a way that lets your reader know how you will be addressing each film and how these films fit together in relationship to your argument.
8. In your conclusion, summarize what you have argued. In the very last sentences, see if you can take the reader to a place that clinches your argument or indicates its farthest reach. What reflection do you most want to leave us with?