Examine Rififi through a feminist lens. Use at least one quote from a feminist film theory essay (either the Laura Mulvey essay or Anneke Smelik's essay.) Read the film by FULLY analyzing one five-minute scene. Be sure to discuss the film's meaning as a whole (through the feminist lens) and the scene's relation to that meaning. Why did you choose the scene? I also want you to mention your favorite part of the movie and what cinematic techniques you learned you could use in your own productions. Minimum of 2 paragraphs.
And, check out these cool production design pictures from the movie!
When observing Rififi through a feminist lens it becomes clearly obvious that Dassin does not offer a good depiction of women in his film. This is evident from the very first significant appearance of a woman in which the "protagonist", Tony immediately must display his dominance and/or indifference to women. In this scene he has brought his ex-girlfriend Mado home, and proceeds to command her to strip so that he may beat her with a belt. Here we have an example of castration anxiety being "rectified" by having his reasoning being that she didn't wait for him while he was in prison, because "too allay the threat of castration on a narrative level, the female character has to be found guilty." Ultimately however this does little to justify the violent show of male dominance, but rather serves to bolster the theme of undercutting the masculinity and machismo of the male criminals.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the film would have to be the heist. What I most admired was the use of longer shots and lack of non-diegetic sound in order to create tension, separating it from the the more exciting scenes in the film. Most importantly however I loved how those same techniques also reveals the professionalism and/or experience of the characters.
When watching Rififi, I’ve noticed a lot of scenes that downgrades women and tends to have negative view on those women by treating the people like objects.However In contraction, the film also shows masculinity and empowerment to the male characters of the film. One scene I choose that support this, is where Tony finds out about his old girlfriend is now with another person. After he finds out about this, he then viciously starts to beat her in his own run down apartment. He then proceeds to throw her out of his apartment and was seen one last time near the end of the movie. Basically what is shown in this 5 minute scene, is like I said before, the male characters are shown to have empowerment and a demanding personality, while the female characters is shown to have the stereotypical woman where that character is usually shown only in a couple of scenes and when shown, they are portrayed in a narcissistic way for the male viewers. This is also a huge example of female subjectivity, only for when throughout of this scene Tony is beating up his girlfriend,Which shows desire, his controlling nature, and demands about the truth on “why” she abandoned and left him for a Grutter which sets the tone for revenge and hatred to each other for the rest of the movie. This relates to the whole film as a whole however, when even though this portrays a negative view on female characters such as the narcissistic views, it also shows compassion and occasionally love for one another especially for when Tony is shown caring deeply for his friend's five year old son to which he rescued after being captured by Gruffter.
ReplyDeleteI chose this scene because I wanted to show the socio-context of the scene such as the way women were treated back in the 1950’s. One of the examples of how they were treated, is when women were mainly treated like housewives and couldn’t “Handle” anything that requires a man’s job.This scene relates to this meaning, when Tony and his friends were thinking about breaking in and stealing expensive diamonds from a jewelry store, The women are shown either with a male love partner, or a “Dame in distress” in the feminist eyes. This also relates to this scene, when they are planning about the heist, they allowed no women to be involved in the heist with them. My favorite scene in the movie, is the heist scene when tony and his friends are breaking in the jewelry store. The reason for this because i thought that the mise-en-scene of this scene is taking real serious and has a dark and suspenseful feel to it. Also like i said before the people who are committing this heist are really serious about this act, and doesn’t want to joke around.The cinematic techniques we could learn in our own productions, is possibly the use of more implicit meanings to our films, and bring in more fleshed out characters to propel our film even further and explain our narrative a lot more deeply than our last film.
ReplyDeleteRififi, by Jules Dassin, is a very well known and highly influential film revealing the trials, tribulations and precision of a thief's world. One area of interest that is not focused on or analyzed nearly as much as it should be is the treatment and depiction of women. The one scene that particularly stood out to me was in the club when the show girl was singing about Rififi. The scene starts with Jo walking in and sitting down and almost immediately a young girl approaches him. She just kinda follows him around, and he lets her, until she gets payed. There is this one point where the camera follows the showgirl and in the background you can see Jo and this girl very close to each other, cuddling. This can be used as evidence that women are used and considered to be objects. One could also argue however that the woman is just playing into it, using it to her advantage and just getting some cash out of it. Either way it reflects badly on the expectations and perception of women in general in that time period. Shortly after that the “new to the team” safe hacker enters with Mario and takes a seat. The show starts and a beautiful singer comes out. Immediately you can tell the safe hacker has an eye for the singer. The camera cuts back and forth from the singer to him staring at her lovingly. This strengthens the argument that women are seen as objects or items to be possessed.
My favorite scene is the only POV shot in the entire film. It almost looks like it’s in the back of a stage or something where all the props are stored. It made a big impact on me and as soon as I saw it, it immediately stuck in my brain. Being an IB Film student I almost subconsciously notice things like that now. This shot, weaving in and out of set construction items, reveals a lot about his character and what he is feeling. It adds to the tension and mystery of what he could see next.
In my own productions I think I could use this single POV technique as well as the one ice breaker scene of the song about Rififi. The scene is very different from the rest yet is very important and provides evidence to the way the film ends. I might try to reproduce this at some point
ReplyDeleteThroughout the whole of Rififi, we see a lot of conflicting ideas on the role of women, particularly in regards to their treatment – and usefulness too – the men in the movie. Some of the women in the movie seem to function more as accessories to one of the characters than as an actual, real life human being: perhaps the best example is Viviane and her relationship with Cesar. Viviane is essentially a completely flat, two dimensional character: other than the fact she sings at Gruter’s club and is shacking up with Cesar, we don’t k now much about her (well, we know she likes her men with a little “rififi”). In fact, she seems to function more as a plot device than a fleshed out character; a way for Dassin to advance the plot of the movie (through Cesar giving her the ring) and also include a scene about the title. In fact, consider the scene in which we see her sing her song in front of the audience of the club; the song – about “rififi” – perfectly presents her – and her position within the film – as a seeming piece of arm candy for the men of the movie (specifically Cesar), as someone to put up with their violence and go along with it, without questioning it. Even the whole audience watching her during the scene takes the idea of the male gaze to a whole new level, as the audience possesses the desire to see - scopophilia, an intangible part of the idea of the Male Gaze. Viviane, particularly in this scene, may like guys who have that rough and tumble demeanor, but to them, she is nothing more than something to look at (once again, the idea of scopophilia) and maybe try to chat up, a cheap songstress, a plot device for the film to advance.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, not all of the women in the movie are so two-dimensional. In fact, most of the women in the movie possess a large amount of determination and ability. Even in the face of pretty intense threat of violence, most of the woman – particularly Mado and Ida – face it with some sort of resolve; they, unlike Viviane, are not there to be mere plot devices. Consider the scene in which we see Tony beat the living daylights out of Mado for getting with Gruter during his stint in the bin. Not only does it highlight Tony’s previously unforeseen – and, to be honest, never really seen after words – cruel, violent side, it also highlights something we see throughout the film; the idea of a woman being a man’s property. We see this during this scene, as Tony beats Mado in a senseless and cruel fashion for leaving him (a, in my eyes, entirely justified move), and even, in a way, when Cesar gives Viviane the stolen ring. Both actions say the same thing; you are mine, I own you, you belong to me. In this sense, it is even more remarkable how resilient Mado is; even helping Tony after his treatment of her, and doing what is right (getting the kid back). But even though she proves to be resilient throughout the movie, this return to Tony signifies, once again, the role of woman in Rififi as the property of a man.
I would say my favorite scene from the film is the heist scene, just because it is such a well executed scene. The way no non-diagetic sound is used is absolutely fascinating, but I think if I were to use one of the techniques in that scene for a film, it would be those shots of the street outside, framed through the window, that lend the shot almost a voyeuristic feel.
Whilst observing Rififi through a feminist lens, it was immediately apparent that the scene very close to the beginning of the movie in which Tony comes upon his old mistress, and takes her back to his residence, is a striking statement about the culture and the role of women in it. Upon entering Tony’s home, Tony demands money from the woman who almost immediately complies. From just that, we can already view the establishment of gender roles, and how women are commonly viewed as submissive in a developing society, and are furthermore still generally held to a lower standard than men today on many levels. It is my belief that this is in direct correlation with Laura Mulvey’s castration theory, in that Tony is trying to establish his masculinity that was stripped from a woman leaving him whilst he was in prison, the very woman he is addressing now. If Tony would have ignored her existence altogether, the feminist lens would have tipped toward the scales of female domination, in the instance that we would imply Tony’s embarrassment over the situation, however it is clear that his masculinity is much more important than ethical or moral values in this situation. In this same scene, Tony demands the woman strip her clothing so that he may beat her with his belt, and she, again, complies-which is astronomically ridiculous to me, but in Anneke Smelik’s feminist theory for films defines the female as passive and powerless-she even goes as far as categorizing women as objects, rather than people, with whithout a doubt, this film is in direct parallel with. What’s interesting about the beating of Tony’s prior mistress is that we infer the violence in that it is done offscreen. But I think that’s to emphasize the male role versus the female role, rather than have us focus on the the act more than the person, which would be inevitable if the violence was shown in that it is human intuition to be empathetic toward suffering before all else. I chose this scene to discuss because I felt that as far as discussing feminism in movies, this scene represented a lack thereof in the instance feminism rings true of its modern meaning.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene is without a doubt the heist scene. This is because, I think that it is SO COOL, that it feels like we are riding along in the back seat of the car, never leaving it, and actually experiencing the whole thing. Because I believe there are only two different shots in this scene, an eye level shot of the backseat view of those sitting in front, as well as out of the front window, and another angled out the passenger window from the backseat so that we can see what is going on, just as we would if we were a third party in attendance. I’d like to use similar techniques in upcoming films, because I think being able to identify with movies in such a personal way allows it to better achieve verisimilitude which is undoubtedly one of my biggest goals while filmmaking.
2nd paragraph starts at "My favorite scene.." it did not space correctly.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAs said by Anneke Smelik, “Feminism has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism.” Through a feminist lens, we view Rififi as a film that treats women in a negative manner, as well as being objective by their male counterparts. The males in the film are far more violent and dominant in a feminist lens, stemming back to the scene in which Tony whips Mado.
ReplyDeleteMado clothes that she is wearing are meant to be attractive, to force attention on her, and to make her a point of interest to the viewer as well as the males in the film. The prop of the belt and clothing, or lack of clothing in Mado’s case when forced to take them off, convey Tony being powerful and Mado being powerless. When someone doesn’t have clothes on, they are at their most vulnerable state, or their weakest state, so when Tony forces Mado to take off all of her clothing, he is more powerful than she is. Next, the prop of the belt and the diegetic sound of the belt hitting Mado creates the image of making Mado weak and vulnerable in that given situation. Lastly, there is the picture of Tony and Mado when the camera dolly’s towards it. This shows their previous relation before he went to jail, and in turn juxtaposes with the overall image of the scene and the film as a whole. Although we see a memory of their happiness, they no longer exert that, being how Tony beats her with the belt off-screen later in the scene.
My favorite part of the movie, by far, has to be the heist scene. I believe it is the climax of the movie because after it, everything about the movie changes drastically. In this scene, the lighting is very dark except to show the faces of the group. You can also see the tension in their faces. Also, the editing is very long and slow. This also gives the feeling of suspense because the audience is anticipating the next cut to happen, however it truly plays its part of staying realistic. The whole group of men stay very quiet, and are very professional in the whole situation. The scene itself only contained diegetic sound, which made everything all the more real. Everything that happened was in that scene, with no outside influence, and that’s the strongest part of it all. It maintains suspense without needing eerie music in the background. When making a film with my group, it would be great to incorporate the same form of suspense, and be able to show realism without the need of non-diegetic sound.
While watching “Rififi”, I noticed almost right away the way Dassin portrayed women in his film. They were “lower” in status than their male counterparts. One of the most significant scenes that portrays this is when Tony goes to see Mado at the bar thing. When Tony first sees Mado, it is a high-angle shot, from Tony’s perspective, looking down at her, where she is quite small in the frame, surrounded by other people in the background. Right when she notices him, it switches to a low-angle shot of Tony, this time from Mado’s perspective, he is very big in the frame, taking up most of the space of the frame. The camera then goes back to Mado, where she looks quite shocked (and scared) to see him. The camera then cuts to a medium-long shot of Mado and her date(?) at the table and Tony standing right next to the table. Mado is very small when compared to Tony’s towering frame next to the table. The juxtaposition between Tony and Mado is quite noticeable, like Claire Johnston said in Anneke Smelik’s essay, “women are represented negatively as ‘not-man’”. After Tony tells Mado’s date to leave, he and Mado have a talk in public for a few seconds before they head back to Tony’s(?) apartment where he orders her to strip and then proceeds to beat her with his belt. The audience never sees the actual beating, but they do see the scars left on her shoulders later on in the film.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the film was the heist. I loved the fact that we only heard the diegetic sounds of them working and breathing, no talking or music. It really struck home the meaning that they were very serious and professionals at their task. I would really like to try this technique out in one of my own films.
Rififi is a film noir mainly focused on its criminal environment. It has a dramatic emphasis on planning, self control and the importance of hierarchies. This is shown through male dominance within the film and the depiction of woman as being the “lowest class” in this hierarchy. We are first introduced to a woman in the film and immediately or shown Tony’s dominance over Mado, his ex. Tony is exceptionally cruel to this woman. Nearly the first thing he does after leaving prison is visit her, his ex-girlfriend, who didn't wait for him while he was in prison. The reunion between the betrayed man and deceiving woman seems very common in noir. This scene told us Tony’s mastery of and indifference to women. She does not say much, but is placed in a subordinate, secondary, subservient role. This occurs in the same scene where Tony brings Mado home and she tried to explain herself, but once he tells her to strip, she immediately obeys and takes the beating that is awaiting her. She has no true voice in this scene which is explained in Annekes Melik’s essay which she speaks of female desire. “The female voice can hardly reach a signifying position in language, meaning or power and is hence all too easily reduced to screams, babble or silence in dominant film.” Also in this scene, Mado is somewhat represented as a stronger woman for dealing with Tony’s beating and not telling anyone but she is still forced in an inferior role as she is still dependent on men and shows she still has feelings for Tony even after all this. This is also is represented in the part of the article where she speaks of female subjectivity and says “The female subject is made to desire feminity. This is a cruel and often coercive form of seduction.” Even when the men are not beating on the women, Dassin shows how deliberately Tony and the other men in the movie marginalize the women in their lives. There are two separate scenes in which Mario tells his “wife” to go to bed while the men discuss business. He literally calls her pet, and then pats her on the cheek showing her inferiorness to him.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite scene is funny because it is also the scene that I hate the most. It stands out from the movie altogether. The scene of Tony driving his nephew home as he is bleeding to death. It cuts back and forth between his drifting head, the blood dripping down his leg, the boy, and the scenery that Tony is seeing. It is different because it is one of the few point of view shots within the movie and has the most jump cuts within this scene. I felt it did not fit in with the movie because of how fast it was and usually this movie is full of longer takes and silence and all we here is ambiance. In this last scene there is non diegetic music and the only scene that shows blood. This makes ony even more significant because it seems that he is the only one deserving of us watching them bleed. It makes him the protagonist that we feel for. I hated this scene as well because the cuts to the blurry scenery were too dramatic, but I would still use that I filming of my own in dramatic moments and it taught me how to make time past with these jump cuts.
Rififi presents women as subordinate and subjective to mens desires and uses for them. "The Stephanois", or Tony, demonstrates this conclusion in his treatment towards his ex-mistress, Mado, in the first scene we meet her in. From the beginnings she is cinematically put in a place of weaker resolve signified through a high angle shot of her and a contrasting low angle shot of Tony. Being placed in the middle of the frame gives her the place of the hot seat as in there is nowhere for her to go because he is so intent on getting what he wants: revenge. When they return to Tony's apartment, Jules Dassin presents the situation in a way that tries to justify Tony's entitlement to punishment her. Mado shies into the background, displaying her fear and lack of capability to defend herself. The fact that Mado did not wait around for Tony to get out of jail to move on to someone new makes her the bad person even though she didn't commit any crime, yet she accepts his brutal beating. Dassin makes use of the mis-en-scene by accentuating the gaudy quality of Mado's accessories to make her even more of a villain for accepting these gifts from her new lover, moving into medium close up shots to get a better view. By making her take them off, he is slowly dehumanizing her. Finally, to further emphasize the divide between the two, the camera zooms in on an old picture of the two on the wall, dining at a restaurant, while we hear the offscreen action of Tony beating Mado with his belt. This is turn makes the viewer "identify with the the main male protagonist (Tony) so that his power as he controls everything coincides with the power of the erotic look, both giving a satisfying sense of omnipotence" (Mulvey, Spectator and Audience). In this sense, Dassin deems Mado (and all following women) subject to the will of men, incapable of her own free will, which further gives the men of the story a greater aura of power and domination since they can treat women how they please. I chose this scene because I believe it is a very tell-tale sign of how Dassin felt women should be treated. It held a copious amount of cinematic evidence to support this claim.
ReplyDeleteI thought Dessin's music choice, diegetic or non-diegetic was well fitted for each scene and usage. However, what I appreciated the most was his lack thereof for the most critical parts of the film. When the foursome was breaking into the store and then the safe, there was no music and the only sound was the noise the actors made in action. I thought this was rather clever as it forced the viewer to be that much more intent on the scene as to pick up everything and not miss one detail. For this reason, it is my favorite scene in the movie.
“Feminism has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism.”- Anneke Smelik
ReplyDeleteWith the feministic theories of film it is interesting to look at a film such as Rififi that treats women as objects for most of the female characters in the film if not all of them. The women in Rififi are never put in charge of anything and can barely handle themselves as people. They have no real responsibilities in the film as a whole because the big strong men always take over and fix everything. Sometimes the film just completely abuses women. An example of this is in the scene with Tony beating his Mado.
Tony arrives at the club to see Mado flirting with a man. As soon as Tony arrives the man is scared off and Tony talks to Mado. Tony stands and talks to Mado asserting his power of her. She is scared of Tony because he was in jail before the confrontation. Mado’s dress is low cut making her seem like more of a sleaze. Tony gets Mado to leave with him showing that she’s obedient to him even though he just came back into her life. Tony slams the door and intimidates Mado. She is frightened and clasps to her coat around her for a false sense of protection. The tension is high in the room. Tony begins to make her take off her clothes. This transforms into being his sexual object. She is absolutely void of power as she takes off her clothes uncomfortably. He pushes her into his bedroom and grabs his belt. He whips her as the camera dollies into a picture of them from their past. Tony then physically forces her out of the apartment. Throughout the whole scene Mado is pretty much a dog with human qualities. She takes orders and does what she’s told and is hurt if she doesn’t. This abuse shows the complete lack of respect for women throughout the whole film.
My favorite part of the film is tied between the robbery and the Rififi song. The robbery is a landmark in film history with its edge and effectiveness. I learned the power of silence in a scene from the robbery. Silence can create suspense or put forth calmness. Scorsese also uses silence in a lot of his films to put forward all kinds of messages and sometimes uses silence better than his great soundtracks. The Rififi song scene is great because it is a great piece of choreography and music put together for a film. I have recognized many musical movies that have gotten influence from this scenes mise en scene and character.
Rififi is a great movie to analyze with a feminist lens because of the constant interactions between men and women. While watching this film, anyone can easily notice the blatant sexism present that is oppressed towards the women of the film. This sexism depicts women as second to men in this world and less mentally capable (obviously not true). The film focuses on the sexual appeal of women constantly. This quote by Laura Mulvey supports this: "In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness. Women displayed as sexual object is the leitmotif of erotic spectacle." The sexism can be seen greatly in the Parisian night club scene when Tony tries to find Mado. From the beginning of the scene, as he descends the stairs he ignores the female coat checker who offers to take his coat. Had this coat checker been a man, Tony would have probably acted differently. Since this is not a big event I will not focus on it as much as the following event but it still foreshadows the presented atmosphere toward women. Tony eventually finds Mado but with another man. She was talking the man into buying more drinks and he does, which shows that she does have some small amount of control over this man because of her sexual appeal. When she meets Tony’s eyes, we can see fright in the eyes of Mado. This expresses how Tony has control over Mado, who has control of the man, thus Tony has control over them both. Tony visibly asserts his power over Mado until taking her back to his room. She is visibly uncomfortable and has a pained look on her face the entire time though she makes no resistance at all to Tony’s sexist instructions which are also severely condescending. When Tony forces Mado to undress and beats her, the sexism is most prevalent in the film in my opinion. This scene is very disturbing and caused many of the students, including myself, to momentarily look away because of the horrendous and atrocious actions being displayed on the screen. This scene not only signifies Tony’s control over Mado with her words, but also shows his physical control.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the movie was the 35 minute heist scene because of its longevity, I have never seen anything like it. I enjoyed the part where the men drilled the hole into the back of the dresser. There was only diegetic sound present, no background music or noises. All we can hear is the men’s feet shuffling and the sound of the drill. This use of sound created suspense and caused many of the viewers including myself to hope that the men did not get caught. I hope to use this use of diegetic sound in my future productions because I find it draws the audience in and adds significant meaning to the film through suspense and anticipation.
Adil Kadwa
Watching Rififi through a point of view by a feminist, we can see that there are many problems throughout the film. Anneke Smelik said “Feminism has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism”. The women in this film are treated as if they are detached by their masculine analogue. A feminist would portray the men in this film as uncontrollable and assertive. The best scene to represent this point of view would be the scene when Toni hits Mado.
ReplyDeleteThe costume Mado is wearing is used by the director to try and grab the attention of the audience. The director wants the entire audience's attention drawn to Mado, which would explain why she is dressed in an enticing dress. The dominance between Mado and Toni easily expressed when Toni makes Mado undress. Mado’s clothing case isn’t very full, meaning she doesn't own many clothes, this may mean that Mado compared to Toni is powerless. If a character has no clothes, this symbolizes that they are at their most susceptible state. This is relevant to the fact that Toni is more powerful than Mado because he makes Mado take off her clothes. The effect of Toni whipping Mado is heavily increased because the sound of the belt was louder than it should have been, making it sound more violent, which would show Toni having more power over Mado. You can tell how much Toni has changed because there is a small clip of a camera slowly zooming in on picture which turns out to be both Toni and Mado and this must have been before Toni was sent to jail because they seem a lot happier in the picture then they actually are, this would oppose the whole idea of the film. Toni went from a gentlemen to a cold hearted man.
My favorite part of the film was the whole robbery scene. I like this film the most because it showed me the dynamic effect that silence can bring. I noticed that during the whole robbery scene it was silent. The effect silence can bring is that it can create more suspense for such a serious scene.
Watching Rififi through a point of view by a feminist, we can see that there are many problems throughout the film. Anneke Smelik said “Feminism has had an enormous impact on film theory and criticism”. The women in this film are treated as if they are detached by their masculine analogue. A feminist would portray the men in this film as uncontrollable and assertive. The best scene to represent this point of view would be the scene when Toni hits Mado.
ReplyDeleteThe costume Mado is wearing is used by the director to try and grab the attention of the audience. The director wants the entire audience's attention drawn to Mado, which would explain why she is dressed in an enticing dress. The dominance between Mado and Toni easily expressed when Toni makes Mado undress. Mado’s clothing case isn’t very full, meaning she doesn't own many clothes, this may mean that Mado compared to Toni is powerless. If a character has no clothes, this symbolizes that they are at their most susceptible state. This is relevant to the fact that Toni is more powerful than Mado because he makes Mado take off her clothes. The effect of Toni whipping Mado is heavily increased because the sound of the belt was louder than it should have been, making it sound more violent, which would show Toni having more power over Mado. You can tell how much Toni has changed because there is a small clip of a camera slowly zooming in on picture which turns out to be both Toni and Mado and this must have been before Toni was sent to jail because they seem a lot happier in the picture then they actually are, this would oppose the whole idea of the film. Toni went from a gentlemen to a cold hearted man.
My favorite part of the film was the whole robbery scene. I like this film the most because it showed me the dynamic effect that silence can bring. I noticed that during the whole robbery scene it was silent. The effect silence can bring is that it can create more suspense for such a serious scene.
Du Rififi Chez Les Hommes has a strong perspective on male versus female interactions and roles. Most often, people think of the scene in which Tony beats Mado. But many other segments contain the film's male-centric and female-objectifying vision. Let's examine the scene during which Ida bathes her husband Mario before being visited by Jo and Tony. The opening shot is a close-up of Mario's smiling face, taking up nearly the entirety of the frame. We see immediately how male-centric the scene is. Following that is a shot showing the source of Mario's joy; his wife Ida is vigorously rubbing his back with soap and water. From that and the noises he is making, any viewer would see a sexual connotation. But bathing is not in itself a sexual activity. The addition of the female character brings about the sexuality, so we see Ida as an object of sexual nature. Her presence, and the presence of other females throughout the film, contributes a sexual element to otherwise "ordinary" life. Men by themselves are not such objects, only females are. Further sexuality is attributed to the activity when Mario pushes Ida's head beneath the water, as we see his bath is not merely a one-person involvement as one would expect. Also, Ida's punishment for her evident wrongdoing relieves male castration anxiety to a degree. "To allay the threat of castration on the level of narrative, the female character has to be found guilty."
ReplyDeleteIn the scene's second half, Tony and Jo arrive at the door. Ida steps away from her husband to greet them. As the three stand in the frame, males dominate the shot and give it a sense of unbalance. Ida's back is right against the side of the shot, and she appears trapped by the two men. Another noticeable aspect of this shot is that although Ida's clothing might be considered insufficient for anyone besides her husband, she chats with Jo and Tony without the slightest indication of indignity, nor the slightest sign of embarrassment on their part. All three are used to suggestive images of women, and perhaps accept that image as standard. Ida's wardrobe, coupled with the eyes of Tony and Jo, also serves to direct the spectator's gaze to her. In the following shot, however, things are quite different. Jo and Tony walk over to the bathroom, where Mario lies in a tub, half covered in suds. Although revealing even less than his wife, Mario is offended by his friends' intrusion and shouts at them. He does not have to accept the objectivity his wife is burdened with. The idea of sexual objectivity being an inevitable characteristic of females permeates their appearance throughout the film.