modernism essay final

Modernism Essay 1: Describe and enunciate the ways in which it DTMCB displays the characteristics of modernism. BA Film Practice

Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) Hans Ritcher Calvin Day

1

Question 1; Analysing a particular film describe and enunciate the ways in

which it displays the characteristics of modernism. Give reasons for your

arguments.

Rejection of consensual traditions has dawned upon society since the 19th

Century, when Victorian authors and artists broke away from the social and

political conventions, coining the term, a modernist. Although present during

that era, modernism did not impact society significantly until the mid-20th

Century, when early and conceptual German Expressionists explored the

movement further, in order to discover new elements and characteristics of

modernism, ultimately leading to mass individualism as well as a revolution in

the way that art, film and poetry would be produced, perceived and

deconstructed.

I have chosen the film Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) by Hans Ritcher.

Although textualised mainly as a film noir, surrealist and dada, Dreams That

Money Can Buy showcases many characteristics seen at the peak of

modernism, which I shall explore, thus leading to its Award for The Best

Original Contribution to the Progress of Cinematography (947 Venice Film

Festival).

Dreams That Money Can Buy sardonically showcases themes of modernism

and modernity as it challenges the norm of technology, through the use

symbolic imagery of; rejected realism, fragmentation and suspense of

disbelief, which are primary characteristics of modernism.

This sardonic pro-modernity and pro-technology bias is symbolised in the

sequence, The Girl with the Pre-fabricated Heart, where the audience is

forced upon the imagery of a manikin automatically put together and

animated, specifically the hand and arm, through the technique of a stop

motion animation montage. The use of stop-motion and imagery is symbolic

of robotics and mechanics, a futuristic theme in its era. It also rejects the

realistic world to emotionally and psychologically suspend the audience in

disbelief, as it focuses on emphasizing subjectivity and the visual effects, in

order to characteristically[modernism] reflect unrealistic experiences. This

allows the film to break away from convention thus rejecting mainstream

ideologies. Additionally, the suspension of disbelief is a form of escapism,

allowing the audience to psychologically accept and consume the fantasy

of the visuals and audio.

Furthermore, the imagery of automated limbs metaphorically deconstructs

and fragments societies perception of gender, specifically females, to a point

where Hans Ritcher accuses society, media and hype of generating

demands for machined-perfect attributes, hence the lyrics and title pre-

fabricated. According to Tim Armstrong, the automatic hand, one of the



2

prosthetic devices of Modernism, a technology for the extension of the

human sensorium this can be considered metaphorical for the mechanized

and technological world that Hans Ritcher exaggerates.

In synchronisation with the visuals, Hans Richter cleverly adopts provoking

lyrics such as, her chromium nerves and her platinum brain//Were chastely

encased in cellophane. Not only is the use of song and lyric anti-narrative, it

is intellectually challenging, allowing the audience to engage with the lyrics in

coherence with the visuals thus provoking controversial social and political

debate thus leading to identification. The use of chromium, platinum as

well as cellophane suggest a clinical, experimental and alienated

approach to society, idolising perfect women as laboratory experiments

and represents bio-mechanical acting.

The foundations of engaging the audience in a constructed dream allows

Hans Ritcher to utilise an almost musical aspect without losing the attention

or emotionally disturbing viewers as they have been prepped for what is

potentially an extremely abstract scene. Cleverly, the impact of the

unexpected aspect of modernism is expected and accepted by the viewers,

this allows Hans Ritcher to control his audiences emotional reaction and

them back down from suspension of disbelief at any desired moment.

Dreams That Money Can Buy heightens consumption and fantasy through the

use of naturalism. The majority of the film is depicted by an escape to

multiple dreams through the use of disbelief, the use of dreams allowing the

audience to identify with the surrealism and the lack of realistic experiences.

Hans Ritcher utilses a soft colour palette, subjective and deep-focus

cinematography, excessive smoke, shadows and high contrast lighting to

stimulate the texture and flow of a dream, as seen in the protagonists own

dream, when the protagonist is turned into blue man, a symbolic metaphor

for rejected realism and rejection and subjection within society.

Moreover, the anti-narrative structure is reminiscent of modernist

characteristics and evocative of real dreams. This is contextualised when the

hardened criminal is playfully juxtaposed with rotating spirals and curves of a

naked woman, examining the idealisation and sexualisation of the female

body in modern society [1950s].

Dreams That Money Can Buy revolves around seven fragmented and

unrelated dreams, which all occur in an office. The aspect of city life of

modernity is contained within the protagonists office, thus the office

becomes the flaneur of modern life. During the protagonists real-life

experiences in the office, the imagery presents connotations of modernism

such as high contrast lighting, shadows and smoke combined with narration

to represent modernity as a whole.



3

The flaneur narrates and introduces the real experiences of the protagonist

which is anti-narrative and ironic. It is anti-narrative as the expectation of

conventional film would place narration in scenes where the audience is

suspended in the mind of a character, however Hans Ritcher rejects this

ideology [a characteristic of modernism] and places narration in reality;

leading on to the irony of the construction as it is symbolic for modernity, a

metaphor of society consistently accepting being told what and how to do

things, that the power of the faceless voices in society and politics must not

be questioned or challenged. Additionally, the narration over the reality of

the protagonist suggests self-reflexive questioning for both the protagonist

and audience, allowing discreet identification and psychoanalysis with the

protagonist, perhaps questioning alienation within 1950s society. The

visualisation that Hans Ritcher expresses of the flaneur and city is proof of

revolution and change. Ritchers era sparked ignition for change. When

compared to the 21st Century, questioning and rejection of mainstream

ideologies is ironically now mainstream and could no longer shunned or

shocking, rather expected and conventional.

Conclusively, Dreams That Money Can Buy (1947) by Hans Ritcher is an essay

exploring the potentiality of filmmaking and how film can examine important

questions in technology, politics and sociology. Ritcher demonstrates the

power of technology through visual and practical effects; political rejection

through the intertextuality of the multiple dreams as well as the environmental

reality of the protagonist; discarding conventional social ideologies through

the anti-narrative structure, escapism and double-entendres of high-contrast

imagery and contextual lyrical meaning.

Word Count: 1049



4

Bibliography

Modernism and Film (URL http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljwp/modernism&film.htm).

(Accessed 13 January, 2014).

Stanly Kubrick and Modernism A discussion (URL http://www.visual-

memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0092.html). (Accessed 13 January 2014).

Delahoyde, Dr. Michael. Expressionism In Film (URL

http://public.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/20th/expressionistfilm.html). Washington State

University. (Accessed 9 January, 2014).

Kovacs, A.B. Screening Modernism: European Art Cinema, 1950-1980. University of Chicago

Press. Chapter 4, page 58.

Polster,H. (November, 2007). Review of Perry, Ted, ed., Masterpieces of Modernist Cinema.

(URL http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=13906). (Accessed 12 January 2014).

Giovacchini, S. (2001) Hollywood Modernism: Film and Politics in the Ages of the New Deal.

Temple University Press. Page 201.

George, C. (17 October, 2011) Fans in a Flashbulb: Her Chromium nerves and her platinum

brain were chastely encased in cellophane. (URL

http://fansinaflashbulb.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/her-chromium-nerves-and-her-

platinum-brain-were-chastely-encased-in-cellophane/). (Accessed 28 December 2013).

Armstrong, T. (28 February, 1998). Modernism, Technology and the Body: A cultural Study.

Royal Holloway, University of London. Page 187-188.

Sunchenski, R. (17 February, 2009) Senses of Cinema: Hans Ritcher. (URL

http://sensesofcinema.com/2009/great-directors/hans-richter/). (Accessed 28 December

2013).

Toledano, Z. (21 December, 2013) The Worldwide Celluloid Massacre: An encyclopedia of

extreme, surreal and bizarre movies. (URL http://thelastexit.net/cinema/richter.html).

(Accessed 28 December 2013).

Lauster, M. (January, 2007). Vol. 102, No.1. Modern Language Review: Walter Benjamins

Myth of the Flaneur. Modern Humanities Research Association. Page 139-156

Pericles, Lewis. (2000). Modernism, Nationalism, and the Novel. Cambridge University Press.

Page 38-39.

Faulkner, P. (1990). Modernism. Taylor and Francis. Page 60.

modernism essay final

Documents