Normally I’m a huge fan of the opposite type to this current topic, the dystopian film, such as Blade Runner, Children of Men, or the Terminator series.
happy joy joy movie with a baby, "Children of men"...
These films have the end of the world or something awful happening such as nuclear war which may or may not be solved, a portion try to end on some sort of high note. This can be as vague as the last shot in THX1138 of a lone man’s silhouette against a burning sky, what kind of world is he free in now? list of the so called best 50 dystopian films click here....
But less talked about is the utopian film which has some over lapping with its evil twin genre. Both can have calamitous events which seem to be of an epic scale yet there is a difference in their philosophical intent.
One of the most interesting aspects is the utopian movements at the start of the 20th century which inspired books and movies,and “hollywood” reality on social ideas.
At the end of the nineteenth century several events caused a synthesis of experimental ideas and technology which, combined by the awful scourge of WW I was to make the name of a tiny area of California synonyms with films.
In New York, a group of immigrants, Jews and outsiders had been using this raw new commercial art form but were constantly under the gun from the inventor cad Thomas Edison. He had hoped that between anti Semitism and his iron control of the film patents he would emerge as the sole studio in America. To aid in this he out right stole the works of Georges Méliès, hired thugs to attack enemy studios so in short order the other film makers fled west for greener pastures. Hollywood had been an endless series of orange groves and conservative farmers, now secret film companies sprung up among the trees and near San Diego a Theosophy site called Loma land had been constructed. This group was one of the best examples of the various philosophical, religious and other orders that begin in this state, finding the land itself conducive to new ideas and odd concepts
But less talked about is the utopian film which has some over lapping with its evil twin genre. Both can have calamitous events which seem to be of an epic scale yet there is a difference in their philosophical intent.
One of the most interesting aspects is the utopian movements at the start of the 20th century which inspired books and movies,and “hollywood” reality on social ideas.
At the end of the nineteenth century several events caused a synthesis of experimental ideas and technology which, combined by the awful scourge of WW I was to make the name of a tiny area of California synonyms with films.
In New York, a group of immigrants, Jews and outsiders had been using this raw new commercial art form but were constantly under the gun from the inventor cad Thomas Edison. He had hoped that between anti Semitism and his iron control of the film patents he would emerge as the sole studio in America. To aid in this he out right stole the works of Georges Méliès, hired thugs to attack enemy studios so in short order the other film makers fled west for greener pastures. Hollywood had been an endless series of orange groves and conservative farmers, now secret film companies sprung up among the trees and near San Diego a Theosophy site called Loma land had been constructed. This group was one of the best examples of the various philosophical, religious and other orders that begin in this state, finding the land itself conducive to new ideas and odd concepts
how much did this russian lady have to do with the land of Oz and 20 th century thought? click pic for info on her..
Theosophical Societies colony of Lomoland is sadly no more; there occult studies combined workings of various arts from furniture to printing, all the way to theatre troupes. There art work style was part of a larger movement now referred to as the ARTS and CRAFT movement, of which the famous Frank Lloyd Wright was one of its best. The site itself was beautiful, full of neo classical buildings with beautiful glass domes, Greek amphitheaters, uniformed followers and its purple monarch Katherine Tingley who ruled in full costume. You could walk the grounds with music coming from garden houses, children running dressed in fairy costume and see an outdoor art class in session. Its quality of education was award winning and much admired.
A chair is somehow tied to movies? Oh come on!!
Lomoland Greek theatre
Through its gates comes L. Frank Baum the writer of the Oz books whose setting of the emerald city owes more to this strange occult order then anyone knows. The description of Oz match the Lomaland site complete with multi light beacon on its central building, its similarity only ends at the scale of the fantasy city.
All it needs is a yellow brick road...
These beloved books are written into scripts from their earliest publishing dates with one attempt in 1925 to put it on film. It starred a young Oliver Hardy but had major departures from the book and was Oz really in name only. So it’s not until 1939 that they finally becoming the classic second colour film of MGM.
we represent proletarian archetypes in a perfect fantasy world!
During this genesis of Hollywood there was a spirit of potential and freedom that appealed to those of different class, sexual orientation, race, immigrant and outsider. The changes that seemed possible in the 20th century had not gone through the cauldron and been shattered. Optimism feed by the by the rise of socialism, occultism and science seemed boundless, with each trying to lay claim to full human potential. An interesting idea to think about is that the title of silent film is a gross inaccuracy. At worst there would be a organ accompaniment, or at the best premiere’s full orchestra adding deeper emotion to the action on screen. But the story is told more by the actions on screen with a few needed title cards. When you watch movies of this period you have to watch them, they’re not like a lot of modern movie which are radio plays with pictures and can be casually viewed. They demand your full attention. If you've ever had the chance to see any of these films with live music you will begin to see how powerful they where, and far from silent.
Cant avert eyes, must understand story!
During these early days of film one of the most famous masters of this new medium, DW Griffith made up his method for running a film set, which we still use today. He also had his ideas of what films could do, he realized that with pantomime and music there was a universal language in the so called silent film. This would allow the human race to return to a pre tower of Babel period, in which both the primal and modern coexisted with a common tongue worldwide to fix the schism of humanity.He also started Hollywood’s future obsession with youth but for the idea that youth was a universal experience in that everyone had been young at one time.
film master and paradox
He believed that film would replace history lessons as objective reality, yet his first attempt at this the film “Birth of a nation” was deemed even when it came out as a racist mess. It was as far from an objective depiction of the civil war as could be mastered, yet what adds to the tragedy of it was the technical skill and that it was the first feature length movie. Think of Leni Riefenstahl and her "Triumph of the will" in a similar light.
Made by a artist seeking perfection of ideals, but made the KKK look good.
Made by a artist seeking perfection of ideals, but made the SS look good
In a way he was correct again, in that historical events shown on film are hard to shake, they become your perception of those events. They can be historical distorting as old westerns with injun attacks to something like Cate-Blanchett as Elizabeth the first. Both he and Warhol have put the idea forward that we will live in a world where if a event is not recorded it did not happen so how it is depicted is even more powerful and have real world impact. Read up on what happened with "Passion of Christ" for a great example.
This is 100 percent correct historically! Honest the camera doesn't lie!
Many of the studio heads who were Jews had fled other countries for America. Despite the American anti Semitism found ways to thrive. Some had started as gangsters selling drugs and had found their way into the film showing and then movie making almost by accident. But like all oppressed people sought to be seen as normal business men, pillars of the community. They know that under the skin of the society deep prejudice may lay dormant but could come out with the wrong conditions. By the 1920s those very conditions were rising in Europe with Germany moving to the right with the Nazi party rising as a reaction to the Russian revolution. These early moguls where denied entry to eastern New York based awards shows so they made their own, and were determined that it would out shine any other picture awards. Thus the Oscars were born.
Some people find it phallic i think its a middle finger from early moguls to Thomas Edison and his ilk.
For the next twenty years they began to show America an idea of what it could be. The emerging American dream which we may look at now as white centric, but was showing a style of life which was safe, clean and had a friendly cop on every corner. This image which right winger‘s today wax nostalgic over was a creation of the repressed dreams of Jew’s who had fled violent pogrom’s in places like Russia seeking a quiet suburban dream.
If Cossack's had chased you out of your burning village this would be your dream home too.
This had become so much a part of the American ideal that by WWII America was facing a enemy that was in some ways more similar in racial intent but on the surface America was starting to see itself as something else, and this helped motivate its entry into the war. Remember that even thought slavery had been abolished about eighty years before America was basically an Apartheid state into the 1960's.
One of the best film makers during this period was Frank Capra who had in 1937 depicted the mythological city of Shangri-La in the epic “Lost Horizon”. The film is about a group of plane crash survivors who end up in this mythical city and one by one succumb to its perfect charm. The location is itself one of the most incredible sets ever put on film and I highly recommend this movie. Again hints of that same architecture of curves and flowing lines, a repeating subconscious city.
His ideal was one of calm and to see the natural world and be linked with its rhythms, almost a precursor to the yoga ideals of the 1960s. The idea that humans, who have enough to eat, drink, clean air, and clean water, will become aware of greater purpose, but at the time this was just seen as the now great evil of soviet communism and the movie suffered strange cuts which diluted the message.
click here for info on the film....
click here for info on the film....
Robots saving plants, must have been a interesting pitch session..
By the 1970s the cynical world view seemed to have taken hold, and the dystopian films start to come out with "Clockwork Orange" timing. Films such as “Silent Running” showed the death of nature, in the end only a tiny dome with plants obits Saturn. "Zardoz" with its wizard of OZ connection and Sean Connery in a diaper depicted the nightmare of a perfect society wishing to die or “Logans Run” which depicts a city designed to preserve humanity by a constant rebirth and culling of its population at age 30. Personally I think it was more a metaphor of the 1960's idea not to trust anyone over 30… But one of the common themes was the idea of a utopia gone wrong, that it wasn’t even possible or safe to dream any more.
Space disco unitard perfect world!
Even today the ghosts of these ideals and places shows up in films, it’s no accident that in the “Phantom Menace” planet of Naboo looks like it does, nor its near paradise social concept of a costumed queen and artist based craft world. On route between Skywalker ranch and San Francisco is a series of buildings made by one of the best students of the utopian ideals of the arts and crafts movement which echo the earlier Lomoland. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Marin civic center seems to bridge the fantasy of Star Wars to Oz to that earlier colony ruled by its costumed queen.
In a way Star Trek has carried the ancient idea of fallen perfection, only instead of seeing our society as fallen it reversed it saying we were moving towards a perfect society, this is in a way echoing Marxist theory of social inevitability.
In “Star Trek next generation” the final missing piece of the puzzle was added in the form of the replicator, which as a philosophical idea is worth volumes for thinking. It’s worth asking as we head towards that ability what would have value? If I can copy anything what is that object worth, such as the Mona Lisa?
On various star ships their interests in an object is purely atheistically motivated, the old books they owned could have been made ten minutes before, it’s a choice of antiquing them for the emotional value. In Star Trek it’s the intelligence, strengths and abilities of a person rather than arbitrary objects such as gold that are their personal value. What I found interesting was the more topical and dark "trek" became the greater the audience loss. While for various reasons I’m not a fan of the really well done current redo of “Star Trek” it was great to see it returning to its earlier ideals. I think this, as well as the polish that JJ Abrams gave it accounts for its success.
In “Star Trek next generation” the final missing piece of the puzzle was added in the form of the replicator, which as a philosophical idea is worth volumes for thinking. It’s worth asking as we head towards that ability what would have value? If I can copy anything what is that object worth, such as the Mona Lisa?
On various star ships their interests in an object is purely atheistically motivated, the old books they owned could have been made ten minutes before, it’s a choice of antiquing them for the emotional value. In Star Trek it’s the intelligence, strengths and abilities of a person rather than arbitrary objects such as gold that are their personal value. What I found interesting was the more topical and dark "trek" became the greater the audience loss. While for various reasons I’m not a fan of the really well done current redo of “Star Trek” it was great to see it returning to its earlier ideals. I think this, as well as the polish that JJ Abrams gave it accounts for its success.
Are we in a way space commies????
And we’re seeing more and more films of an event, non narrative, visual, and effects drive which work for the money machine side of Hollywood by raking in the cash, but its appeal is closer to the silent era. Plot is not needed in a movie about giant stompy robots, it works on a combination of music image, and effects, that can be understood by anyone. Films are again becoming Griffith’s universal language.
I'm perfect, why change?
But as for utopia's themselves we have only to look at the current highest grossing movie currently playing. Avatar is a simple story but works on the primal with the most modern of CGI created alien worlds and is selling as well in Thailand as LA. It's also no accident that it depicts a modern version of a nature utopia at a time we are struggling to deal with this issue in the real world. Perhaps more then ever we want and need to start dreaming again.
RSS Feed
