Crosscultural Comparison through Film

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Cross-cultural Comparison through Film

• Sabine Levet slevet_at_mit.edu
• Foreign Languages Literatures, MIT

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Teaching Culture

• Culture is the logic by which I give order to the
  world. Part of this logic is tacit, invisible,
  it is everything that goes without saying.
  Raymonde Carroll, Evidences invisibles
• Silent Language, Hidden Dimension (Edward Hall)

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Comparative Approach

• Juxtaposition of two cultures
• Comparing a variety of materials with Cultura
  questionnaires, statistics, newspapers, images,
  and films.

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Comparing a Film and its Remake

• Because it unfolds within a limited time
  frame, a movie must work from a large number of
  implicits common to the film makers and the
  audience, a large number of things which are
  self-evident. R.Carroll

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Comparing a Film and its Remake

• The variations between the foreign film and the
  American film are the result of deliberate
  choices. Analyzing these differences can reveal
  the underlying cultural presuppositions upon
  which the original movie and its remake are built.

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Remakes

• We are led to believe that European films adapt,
  readapt, cite, pay homage to, parody, but do not
  remake, the former activities being linked to
  artistic and literary traditions of high culture,
  the latter being representative of American films
  and their ties to commerce and commercial
  interests.

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Remakes

• The truth is that every national cinema is both
  a business and a producer of art. The remake is
  integral to an understanding of the relation
  between the two positions. (Forrest and Koos)

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Comparing a Film and its Remake

• It is important to put aside value judgment in
  order to let both remake and original unveil the
  mutual enrichment that only emerges from a
  juxtaposition of the two. (Claire Vassé)

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Comparing a Film and its Remake

• Our goal is not to decide which version is best,
  as some critics would do, usually evaluating a
  movie against the original, which becomes the
  norm, or the real thing.
• It seems more interesting to underscore the
  cultural differences which come out when two
  versions of the same story are juxtaposed.
  Brigitte Humbert

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Comparing a Film and its Remake

• We do not hand our students a list of differences
  between the American or French cinematic
  tradition.
• We ask them to look, compare, and make sense of
  what they see. They discuss it in class and with
  their online partners.

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Homers Odyssey

• The Simpsons Exported to Middle East

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The Simpsons Exported to Middle East

• The issue of adaptation.
• Is it still the Simpsons?
• Can it work?

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Trois hommes et un couffin Three Men and a Baby
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Trois hommes et un couffin Three Men and a Baby

• Students are asked to watch the French film
  before the remake, and ideally to watch both
  films in one sitting or in close succession.
• They receive a list of questions to show that
  have seen the movie and to pick up on vocabulary.

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Trois hommes et un couffin Three Men and a Baby

• Two steps
• - global analysis of the differences
• - scene-by-scene comparison

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Looking at the differences

• The storyline.
• The relationships between the men, and between
  the men and the baby.
• The relationships between the men and the others
  women, friends, the police
• What is different? What has been added, removed,
  or changed in the American version?

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Looking at the differences

• When comparing the two movies, you will probably
  have to use comparatives. But make sure to avoid
  value judgments.
• Avoid statements such as movie X is funnier,
  scene X is less interesting. Compare only to
  present objective facts, such as there is more
  action in the American movie.

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Looking at the differences

• The main goal to observe and analyze (not judge)
  the differences, and try and understand the
  underlying reasons behind these differences.
• After we list these differences, we will try to
  answer the following question what caused the
  American director (L. Nimoy) to make these
  changes?

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Trois hommes et un couffin Three Men and a Baby

• Students work in class and online
• They work alone and in small groups
• - they share their observations
• - they discuss with their partners to make sense
  of the differences

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The story line - forum

• The most obvious plot change I noticed was how
  the drug exchange finally played out. In the
  French version the dealers got their drugs and
  the police were left out of the loop. In the
  American version the police are able to capture
  the drug dealers. I wonder if this difference can
  be associated with the perception and treatment
  of police in France versus the United States.

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The story line - forum

• Although I can see how the difference adds more
  action to the American version, I think the
  portrayal of cops in each movie reflects the
  cultural viewpoints towards them. For example, it
  seemed to me that in the French version of the
  film the cops were portrayed as stupid and that
  they make a lot of mistakes - such as when the
  cop did not pay close enough attention to realize
  Michel snuck the drugs to the man in the park.
  Based on what we have seen from the
  questionnaires, it seems as if this portrayal of
  a cop would be more appealing to French culture.

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The story line - forum

• Cela me fait penser à  d'autres films où les
  flics ont l'air de parfaits abrutis je ne sais
  pas si Luc Besson est connu outre-atlantique
  (c'est lui qui a fait "le cinquième élément" et
  "taxi"), mais il est spécialiste de la démagogie
  en ce domaine, avec des policiers crétins et
  caricaturaux, tous plus débiles les uns que les
  autres. A bien y réfléchir, je ne retrouve pas
  dans ma mémoire de films récents où la police est
  mise en valeur. Retournons aux bons vieux
  classiques avec des commissaires et des
  inspecteurs intelligents et les Maigret ! Maigret
  c'est notre Columbo à  nous !)

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The story line - forum

• This reminds me of other movies where the cops
  look completely stupid. I dont know if Luc
  Besson is famous on your side of the Atlantic,
  (he shot the Fifth Element and Taxi) but he is
  used to this type of demagogy, with completely
  stupid and caricatural police officers, each one
  more stupid than the others. Now that I think
  about it, I cant recall a recent movie where the
  police would have a good role. Lets get back to
  the good old classics, with clever police
  commissioners and inspectors and the Maigret
  stories! Maigret is our very own Columbo.

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The story line - forum

• A propos de la différence dans le traitement de
  la drogue dans les deux films On retrouve ici
  une des différences entre les cultures française
  et américaine dont on avait parlé lors des
  questionnaires les Américains ont tendance à
  faire appel aux autorités dès qu'il en ressentent
  le besoin, tandis que les Français pensent plutôt
  que les lois sont faites pour être transgressées.

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Comparing Scenes

• Découverte du bébé /Discovery of the baby
• Retour de Jacques / Jack return
• Mère de Jacques / Jacks mother
• Retour de Sylvia / Sylvias return
• Scène Finale / Final scene

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Comparing Scenes

• Teams of students
• Work with clips of specific scenes and with
  transcription
• Look at differences individually then work in
  group
• Discuss with their online partners and connect
  their observations with what they have observed
  so far about the other culture

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Jacques/Jack and his Mother

• Interaction between the characters
• Dialogues
• Non-verbal communication
• Background, music, rhythm, etc.

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Sylvias Return - forum

• It was interesting to see how much more
  enthusiastic Sylvia was in her body language and
  comments in conversation with Mary directly and
  the men in the English version. It appears as
  though she is genuinely happy to be reunited with
  her daughter. In the French version, it's not
  that she is unhappy to see her daughter, but she
  does not express the same level of enthusiasm and
  excitement upon her arrival.

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Sylvias Return - forum

• I think that might be just because the French
  (from the Cultura questionnaires) seem to be not
  as open and expressive with their emotions.

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Other observations (sample)
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Les hommes français se touchent, les américains
se regardent
Couffin, 219 et 223
Baby, 051 et 234
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Les hommes français offrent de laide la Sylvia
américaine la demande

• Sylvia Dormir, daccord, mais quand?
• Pierre Mais vous nous laissez la petite quelques
  jours ...
• Sylvia Jai amené ses affaires pour quelques
  jours.

• Sylvia ... I need help. I need someone to help
  me.
• Michael Well help. We will help! ...
• Sylvia I was hoping you would say that.

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La famille française a des problèmes, la famille
américaine respecte la morale

• Sylvia Mes parents, je suis fâchée avec eux, et
  puis dabord, ils sont en Bretagne et puis, ils
  sen foutent de moi.

• Peter ... Mary should move in with us
  permanently, we should be her family. ... She
  needs a full-time mother. Thats why we think
  that you should move in too. ...
• Michael Yes, of course, four is better than
  three.

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Le film français est plus sombre et classique,
laméricain est dynamique et moderne
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Rubens
Rembrandt
Lichtenstein
Baby, 326
Couffin, 223
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Film critics

• Students read film critics after they have worked
  on the film
• French film in France, and in the US
• American film in the US, and in France
• Sometimes as a way to test how much they have
  uncovered about each movie/culture.

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Film critics

• Serreau's real problem is her inability to tell
  a joke. Unless you find the mere idea of a man
  changing a diaper automatically hilarious, Three
  Men and a Cradle has precious few laughs. Shot in
  a strangely grave, twilight style ill suited to
  the sitcom premise, the movie plods dully from
  one foreseeable irony to the next. Yes, little
  Marie is adorable, but can one cute kid be
  responsible for an entire nation losing its
  esthetic marbles? C'est un grand mystère. David
  Ansen, Newsweek.

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Comparing two trailers of a same movie

• La marche de lempereur
• March of the Penguins
• (see also Movie are made to be seen, Canal)

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Comparing two trailers of the same movie

• Images
• Music
• Text
• Overall impressions?
• What type of movie?
• Message?
• Why these differences?

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Comparing commercials for a similar product

• Faire du ciel le plus bel endroit de la terre,
  Air France
• Going Home, American Airlines

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Remakes in many languages

• Long list of remakes .
• Working with posters, trailers, scenes, film
  critics.
• Additional materials (focus on culture).

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Bibliography and Online Resources

• Books
• Carroll, Raymonde. Cultural Misunderstandings.
  The University of Chicago Press, 1988
• Fabe, Marilyn. Closely Watched Films, An
  Introduction to the Art of Narrative Film
  Technique. University of California Press, 2004
• Forest, Jennifer and Koos Leonard, eds. Dead
  Ringer, The Remake in Theory and Practice. State
  University of New York Press, 2002
• Verevis, Constantine. Film Remakes. Palgrave
  MacMillan, 2005
• Articles
• Carroll, Raymonde. Film et analyse culturelle le
  Remake. Contemporary French Civilization, 132
  (1989) 346-359
• Humbert, Brigitte. Films français, remakes
  américains.
• The French Review, Vol.82, No.5 (2009) 962-980
• Online
• Film Reference www.filmreference.com
• The Internet Movie Database http//www.imdb.com
• Cultura http//cultura.mit.edu Learn About
  Cultura Teachers Guide The Modules Films

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• FIN / THE END