Architecture in Cinema E-Book
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- Herausgeber: Bentham Science Publishers
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024
In Architecture in Cinema, more than 40 architects, writers, thinkers, and academicians examine the magnificent works of cinema that contribute to the art of architecture and bring them to the attention of the architectural community.
The contributors have compiled essays on fifty masterpieces of classic and contemporary cinema, including films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Ben Hurr, The Lord of The Rings trilogy, Nomadland and more. The book aims to stimulate the imagination of readers and offer approaches to understanding fantasy, sociological concepts, ecological problems, and political ideas. The contributors also focus on the elements of creativity, such as utopian or dystopian themes, aesthetics and artistry.
Architecture in Cinema is an informative reference for anyone interested in how architecture is featured in the cinematic medium. Scholars of architecture, urban planning, fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and various design disciplines, will also find the book refreshing.
Readership
General readers interested in urban and popular culture; scholars of liberal arts and humanities.
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PREFACE
Architecture directly relates to various branches of art, such as painting, sculpting, literature, music, and cinema. In the interaction between architecture and cinema, it is possible to take advantage of the visual power of cinema, its ability to give a sense of space close to reality, and the spatial alternatives it creates. The methods and different perspectives presented by these two branches of art nourish each other. Therefore, cinema has recently become a prominent source of inspiration for the art of architecture. Being able to convey the creativity and vision of the art of cinema to the architectural culture makes positive contributions to the architects and the urban texture that is gradually deteriorating.
The separation experienced from organic life, the eerie destruction of nature, the habits of living that crack the door for ecological disasters, the frenzied plunder of historical-traditional heritage, and a terrible adventure blinded by the greed for rent have condemned us to increasingly uninhabitable architectural environments. Leaving the sociological, economic, historical, cultural, and political sides of the issue aside and trying to think just as an architect, how can we overcome this unpleasant situation that we live in? Our share is primarily to ensure the rise of architectural consciousness, perception, and aesthetic values and to reach a society composed of individuals who will accept architectural aesthetics and artistry as a prerequisite while raising architectural quality.
The purpose of preparing the book “Architecture in Cinema” is to provide material for this development through qualified analysis.
We believe that radical changes should be adopted in the discipline of architecture. All cities and countries today are designed in a monotonous way even with the same pattern repeating itself. We wish to inspire a novel understanding of architecture and design thinking by analyzing and spreading the basic movies about architecture.
For this reason, following our "Architecture in Literature" books, we put cinema in our "viewfinder" and examined the magnificent works of cinema that contribute to the art of architecture and bring them to the attention of the architectural community.
Architects, writers, thinkers, and academicians who have reached advanced stages in their professional lives contributed to our book, "Architecture in Cinema", with their articles in which they examined fifty masterpieces of cinema. Undoubtedly, those who want to directly see the applications or reflections of the art of architecture in these articles will not find what they are looking for right away. Among the writings in this book, there are articles that trigger the imagination of architecture, bring the element of creativity to the forefront, lead people towards utopian or dystopian thoughts, increase aesthetic and artistic appreciation, and offer approaches to critical sociological perceptions, ecological problematics, and political judgments.
In short, we wanted the book "Architecture in Cinema" to contribute to our cultural, critical, aesthetic, and artistic accumulation and give back to architects, students, followers, and even users, the ability to dream, pursue happiness and the beauty that we have lost long ago. The goal of this anthology is to start this transformation. To be able to restore, enrich, and make the cities of the future more livable, watching, analyzing, and internalizing the masterpieces of the cinema that are discussed in this book should be an extremely useful method. This has great importance not only for students of architecture but also for architects, urban planners, artists, and anyone with a life awareness.
This comprehensive architectural research and review book on the topic of "Architecture in Cinema" has been prepared in a way that offers benefits for versatile uses. Through this book, the aim of bringing the cinematic "fictitious" spaces that provide visual and imaginary richness to the attention of designers has been achieved. We hope that the resulting book, "Architecture in Cinema", will be considered an ideal reference for undergraduate-graduate students working in the fields of architecture, interior architecture, urban planning, fine arts, humanities, social sciences, and various design disciplines, academics, and anyone with an awareness of urban life. Moreover, we believe this work deserves to be on the shelves of experts and authorities in cinema, design, visual arts, culture, art, sociology, and literature, as well as academicians and practitioners with international views.
List of Contributors
Ben-Hur/1959
Nevnihal Erdoğan1,*Abstract
Ben-Hur has been filmed three times. The protagonist of the film, who was shot during the time of silent cinema in 1925, was Ramon Novarro, the great star of the era. The most memorable one, which won 11 Oscars and has an important place in cinema history, is the 1959 film by the master director William Wyler. This review focuses on the 1959 film, considered more successful due to its impressive, sincere, and convincing spatial setup.
Judah Ben-Hur was a wealthy Jewish merchant prince, living in Jerusalem in 26 AD (early first century). What is told in the movie is the story of a large family who lived in Jerusalem when the cruel and imperious administration of the Roman Empire was ruling, and Jesus Christ was spreading his teachings.
In this section, the construction of space that can form the common language of both disciplines in the cinema-architecture relationship, design, innovations and invention, inspiration for real-life, and beyond, the richness of imaginary fiction, ideas about different lives and worlds, art and aesthetics in space setup, and the similarities of cinema and architecture will be the topics of interest. Since the film occurs in the atmosphere of ancient cities such as Rome and Jerusalem, which were at the center of classical world civilization, it provides a suitable setting for conducting analyses in this field. The film presents a wide range of architectural facades within these rich themes. “Power and architecture,” “Faith and architecture,” and “Politics and architecture” are the main ones. The method of the article will be to explain the analysis of the Ben-Hur film over these themes.
The influence of government power on shaping the city and its architecture is excellent. The ideologies, administrative approaches, and practices of the rulers of Rome and Jerusalem were created through monumental buildings that command, subjugate, and spiritually influence, and magnificent architectural works that oppress the ruled. Today, we often cannot show the ability to look at the texture and layers of cities from a historical perspective. However, a well-executed political-religious-architectural film can turn into a civilization narrative that reveals these issues in detail and history. That is what happened with Ben-Hur.
INTRODUCTION
Ben-Hur movie was adapted for the screen in 1959 by Karl Tunberg from the novel by Lewis Wallace. It was the first movie to win 11 Oscars. The production, which is one of the most influential films of all time, also had the title of the most expensive film at that time. Ben-Hur is an epic movie with music by Miklos Rozsa.
Ben-Hur has been filmed three times. The protagonist of the film, which was shot during the time of silent cinema in 1925, was Ramon Novarro, the great star of the era. The most memorable one is the 1959 film by the master director, William Wyler, which won 11 Oscars and has an important place in cinema history.
Ben-Hur was filmed and released once again in 2016. This time the director of the film was Timur Bekmambetov. This review will focus on the 1959 film, which can be considered more successful due to its impressive, sincere, and convincing spatial setup.
THE SUBJECT OF BEN-HUR – 1959
Judah Ben-Hur was a wealthy Jewish merchant prince living in Jerusalem in 26 AD (early 1st century). What is told in the movie is the story of a large family who lived in Jerusalem during the time when the cruel and imperious administration of the Roman Empire was ruling, and Jesus Christ was spreading His teachings.
Noble prince of Jewish descent, Judah Ben-Hur, had grown up with Messala, a Roman commoner, and his “adopted” brother since childhood. Tired of both the difficult living conditions and the disapproval of his love for Judah's sister, Tirzah, by the girl's mother, Messala goes to Rome. He does not respond to Ben-Hur's letter. Ben Hur's childhood friend, Roman Messala, becomes a high-ranking Roman ruler during the years they have not seen each other. He is appointed as the Roman vice-governor (Roman senator) when he returns to Jerusalem. Two childhood friends, who have not seen each other for a long time, greet each other with love and friendship on this first meeting. However, their different political views will distinguish them. In this period, the occupation of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire inflicted great pain on the Jews, angered them, and aroused their desire for revenge. However, a love message from a young carpenter (Judah's father, who also reflects the image of Jesus in the movie) prevails. Ben-Hur, on the other hand, gives advice to the resistance youth (zealots) who assassinated the Romans in his country. His childhood friend Messala asks Ben-Hur fighting for Jewish freedom, to spy and tell on Jews criticizing the Romans. However, Ben-Hur refuses this offer.
During the ceremony of the new governor's entrance to the city, tiles falling from the roof of Judah's house injure him. Messala blames Judah even though he is not involved in this. He sends Judah, his sister, and his mother to prison. He decides to send Judah to Tirus by condemning him to galley slavery. Judah escapes from prison and takes Messala as hostage. He requests that he set his mother and sister free. Nevertheless, he would not achieve this. The rest of the movie is based on Judah's return and his vow to take revenge on Messala.
They would not even give water to the galley slave, Judah, on his way to Tirus in the desert's harsh climate and cruel travel conditions. When Judah faints from thirst during the journey, “Jesus” saves his life by giving him water.
During Judah’s sea voyage, a prisoner at the oars of a Roman sailboat, a Macedonian ship, attacks the Roman fleet. In the accident, Judah fell into the sea and survived by holding on to a raft with the ship's commander, Consul Arius, when the ships collided. Another Roman sailing ship finds Consul Arius lost at sea and announces victory. In a magnificent ceremony, Arius and Judah are welcomed in Rome by the Emperor. A feast is given accompanied by music and dance. Arius adopts Judah, who saves his life. He declares himself the heir to his wealth. Judah is also a horse-drawn carriage racer and competes on his behalf in the arena. When Ben-Hur wants to return to Jerusalem, the Consul gives permission.
The cruise starting from Rome continues through the desert. He encounters a horse-drawn carriage racer in the desert, the Arab Sheikh Baltazar of Alexandria. Joining his caravan, he tells the Sheik about his racing experiences in the arena in Rome. Their love for horses creates a friendship between them.
When he returns to Jerusalem, he finds his former slave from Antioch and his daughter Esther, who is his ex-lover. He asks them about his mother and sister. Although Esther knows where they are, she does not tell him. Then, Judah goes to Messala to determine their whereabouts. He did not receive a response. Meanwhile, they were sent to the Valley of the Lepers.
The car racer Sheikh goes to Messala for the race to be held. Messala is the favorite of the race. Sheikh bets him a large sum of money on behalf of his racer. Judah will be the Sheikh's racer. The governor of Jerusalem starts the race in the arena in the name of Emperor Tiberius. At the end of the chariot race between Judah and Messala, one of the most important and impressive scenes of the movie, Messala gets seriously injured and loses the race. Judah has had his revenge.
Judah finally finds out that his mother and sister are in the Valley of Lepers, and he immediately goes there. There he encounters Esther. Esther and his leprous family say they do not want him to see them like this. Meanwhile, he sees the people gathered around the Prophet Jesus in the valley. He understands his teachings, takes his family from the valley, and they return to Jerusalem. They watch the condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the square and are very impressed. Meanwhile, a storm breaks out, heavy rain begins, and the miracle of Jesus Christ occurs. Judah's mother and sister, suffering from leprosy, were cured. The film ends with the family member, Judah, and his lover Esther, who were saved by the miracle of Jesus Christ, hugging each other and reuniting.
The story, which mainly occurs in Jerusalem and Rome, on the one hand, shows the imperialist practices and sovereignty of the Roman Empire; on the other hand, it tells the history of the Jews and the emergence of Christianity.
ARCHITECTURAL THEMES OF THE MOVIE AND AN ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVE
The historical and epic film, which lasts three and a half hours, takes crucial thresholds in the formation process of civilization as we know it clustered around the Mediterranean. The film, which is discussed in the context of politics, history, culture, religion, and philosophy, is open to multi-faceted reading. Some of them are power/opposition, war/peace, Judaism/Christianity, revenge/confrontation, freedom/slavery, and Rome/Jerusalem. In addition, themes related to personal suffering (love, separation, illness, etc.) and human nature (revenge, hatred, justice, belief, etc.) are intensely covered in the film. The film presents a wide range of architectural facades within these rich themes. “Power and architecture,” “faith and architecture,” and “politics and architecture” are the main ones. The method of the article will be to explain the analysis of the Ben-Hur film over these themes.
In this article, the construction of space that can form the common language of both disciplines in the Cinema-Architecture relationship, design, innovations and inventions, inspiration for real-life and beyond, the richness of imaginary fiction, different ideas about different lives and worlds, art and aesthetics in space setup, and the similarities of cinema and architecture are the topics of interest. Since the film occurs in the atmosphere of ancient cities such as Rome and Jerusalem, which were at the center of classical world civilization, it provides a suitable setting for conducting analyses in this field.
POWER AND ARCHITECTURE
At the height of its power in 26 AD, the Roman Empire is the exact equivalent of the concept of power, with its administrative system, ideology, military system, sociology, infrastructure, mass interaction models, and methods of subjugation. These elements have found their spatial expression in the architecture of the Roman period.
The Colosseum, aka Gladiator Arena as we know it, which is at the forefront of the Roman state system, was built on various plateaus with a variety of sequences to reflect the story of the film, such as the Emperor's palace, ruling class residences, victory roads, arches, vaults, pedestals, monumental pagan sculptures, strong walls, magnificent bastions, etc. All architectural elements that are the main components of Roman architecture and that are not located in the city center, such as bridges, aqueducts, and places outside the castles, find meaning in the urban organization. They are featured in the movie Ben-Hur at their most magnificent, or even exaggerated and “monumental” appearances. The movie Ben-Hur goes so far in this topic that even some of the Roman architectural elements that do not exist today, which have been destroyed or disappeared, were reconstructed for this film. In other words, in Ben-Hur, we watch a movie that resurrected many buildings that we know existed in the past but disappeared in the pages of bloody history and that reflect the Roman architectural style, manner, and administration methods, by making use of the possibilities of the art of cinema.
The most striking scene in which the power struggle is emphasized through architecture is the scene of Judah Ben-Hur and Messala fighting in horse-drawn carriages. Gladiator fights or chariot competitions, which were used for mass dispatch, motivation, interaction, and pacification in the Roman administration, actually consisted of placing the said administration system in a particular architectural order. Actually, it is a kind of prototype of the method of motivating and managing the masses through football and television, which is also applied today. The said administrative practice, which is carried out by technology today, was sustained through architectural works such as the Colosseum and Arena, the most crucial building complexes at that time. The amphitheaters that could be seen in every city in ancient Greece undoubtedly functioned the same as these.
In the naval battles in which some important scenes of the film occur, the master-slave order also prevails on ships edged by galley slaves operating Roman battle fleets. Only the rulers' power gives slaves the right to life as long as they row well. The architecture and design of the ships, those who manage and command the vessel, and the slaves who run the ship with their physical power are in the movie as another type of administrative practice. The master-slave relationship is always in force throughout the movie.
FAITH AND ARCHITECTURE
As is known, the holiest city in the religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is Jerusalem. The Palestinian territories are the promised lands of God to the Prophet Ibrahim. “According to the Old Testament, its borders are the Euphrates in the east, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Sinai Peninsula in the south, and Mount Lebanon in the north.” The Masjid al-Haram temple, located in Jerusalem today, is significant for Jewish people because religious rituals such as sacrifices and pilgrimage can only be performed in this temple. In 637 AD, in Caliph Omar's time, Jerusalem was handed over to the Muslims without going to war. Prayer was held in the Church of the Resurrection. Masjid al-Haram is considered holy as it is the first qiblah, the second masjid, and the third harem of Muslims.
When the Crusader army took Jerusalem in 1099, both Muslims and Jews were greatly persecuted. According to the Christian faith, The Church of the Resurrection is on the land where Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried. Following that, Jesus is resurrected. The holiest place in the world for Christianity is the Church of the Resurrection.
Since the film narrates the Jewish history of the period and the emergence of Christianity, it includes these places within the organization of large sets and platforms. The lifestyle, urban settlement, architectural texture, and social areas that existed in the lands under the cruel and authoritarian rule of the Roman Empire, which occupied Jerusalem at the time when Jesus Christ spread his teachings, could be successfully revived in the film with costly productions.
During Judah's journey through the desert, bound in chains while going into exile as a slave, Jesus gives him a bowl of water and saves his life. This scene is the starting scene from which the magic and the legend of the Christian faith spread. Jesus gathering people around him to spread his teachings, the Romans' persecution and crucifixion, the predominantly religious and moral myths of Christian myth and history, the course of the world, and the change of humanity, and philosophical thoughts and comments on such issues comprise the framework of the film's perspective on faith. While giving these, the architectural environment in theology, that is, in the Holy Books, is created with extensive landscaping, architectural organization, and historical reenactments.
At that time, the Jewish and Christian communities attributed holiness to the city of Jerusalem. In the rivers, plateaus, caves, and similar natural landscapes of the Valley of Lepers outside of Jerusalem, Jesus spread his teachings to people. The exits of the caves in the valley are isolated leprosy areas where help is provided to the lepers living in them, without contact with people bringing supplies from outside. The valley's natural architectural and landscape environments are open natural spaces with dramatic and tragic elements where people gather, participate in this religious faith, and fall under profound influence. A powerful depiction of the painful, thorny, and tragic times of civilization was brought to life through the animation of these places with the help of crowds of people and expensive equipment in the movie.
In the movie, faithful crowds gathered in the city center of Jerusalem to watch the crucifixion of Jesus. The architectural layout of the setting and the equipment on the square is impressive and striking. Through this architectural organization, we see in a powerful reenactment how a tremendous historical tragedy has transformed the faith of the masses. It is a scene that reinforces the film's visual effect, creates an impact, and has a strong perception of space. The movie Ben-Hur is filled with numerous spatial organizations of this kind.
Ben-Hur's belief in freedom from slavery is strikingly emphasized in the scenes where he appears as a prisoner of hard labor. As can easily be guessed, the rowing prisoners' strategy for survival is rowing. Those who fail to do so pay the price with their lives. The masterfully designed set layout in the interior of the naval fleet, on which Ben-Hur rowed to win his freedom, or rather to survive, evokes a genuine architectural feeling and successfully reflects the passion and longing for heroism and freedom on the screen.
CONCLUSION
The influence of power or government on shaping the city and its architecture is excellent. The ideologies, administrative approaches, and practices of the rulers of Rome and Jerusalem were created through monumental buildings that command, subjugate, and spiritually influence the magnificent architectural works that oppress the ruled. Today, we often cannot show the ability to look at the texture and layers of cities from a historical perspective. However, a well-executed political-religious-architectural film can turn into a civilization narrative that reveals these issues in detail and history. That is what happened with Ben-Hur.
Myths, sagas, miracles, historical legends, and epics are created by faith, and thus the creation of administrative, political, and military power can be realized through spatial construction. The space where that realization occurs can transform natural spaces into “sacred landscapes” and open or closed architectural places and spaces into “sacred spaces” - as is very successfully portrayed in the movie, Ben-Hur. This movie is a clever work of art that every architect should watch, equipped with architectural descriptions that enable us to understand how the sacred space and landscape were created, how they are interpreted, how the souls of cities, the beliefs of people, and even states, empires and civilizations were formed.
REFERENCES
Available from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052618/ Accessed: 02.03.2020The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
Z. Türkiz Özbursalı1,*Abstract
The Name of the Rose is a 1986 film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, a novel adaptation, and a co-production of German, French, and Italian companies. The Name of the Rose, as it is known, is a 'historical mystery without police' by Umberto Eco, in which the 'political' authority war between the ruling power and the papacy institution, the conflicts between sects, and the pressures of religion on the people in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century, were woven like needlework through a seven-day slice of life and the seven sins associated with seven deaths. It is a tough novel with a detail-oriented approach and philosophical weight in which Eco's deep knowledge is reflected in every line. The Name of the Rose is a book that has been translated into many languages, has been selected in the list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the British Crime Writers' Association, and has been criticized for its approach to religion, but has also received much acclaim. Due to these features, it is a long and luscious work that carries serious risks to be adapted into cinema, and every detail has a meaning that cannot be ignored.
Yet, in every frame of the film, in all open and closed spaces, the misery of the famine years of the Middle Ages, the bitter face of poverty, and the oppression of religion can be seen and felt. As those who have read the novel will remember, Eco began to describe the structure and the environment from the moment the protagonists started to see the monastery from afar. Once inside the monastery, all structures of the complex were explained in detail in terms of their place, size, form, relations with each other, and decoration. Undoubtedly, it is not possible to reflect this much detail properly in a limited time; however, it must be admitted that Annaud managed to reflect the general historical and architectural atmosphere as best as he could. The scenes in which we watch the eerie depictions of the reliefs, which also observe uneasiness and even fear, make the audience at least as uncomfortable as Adso.
Cinema, which expresses its concerns through moving images, is a field of study that reveals its existence in other art branches and has to follow the technology closely. Literature and cinema, which have a common dramatic source, have always progressed art in art, and in The Name of the Rose, the relationship and affiliation of architecture, which is a visual field of study focused on intervention in space and designing the space for cinema has come to life in a much stronger and more violent way.
INTRODUCTION
Jean-Jacques Annaud is a director who has moved from directing commercials to cinema. His first film was Noirs et Blancs en Couleur (Black and White in Color), made in 1976. This film, which did not get much interest from the French audience, managed to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His second film was Coup de Téte (Hothead). La Guerre du Feu (Quest for Fire) is a 1981 film telling the story of the people who discovered a fire, and when the fire is extinguished, they assign a few of them to get the fire back. Annaud was also the winner of the Best Film and Best Director awards at the French Cesar Awards for this film. The Bear, which occupied an important place in his career, Seven Years in Tibet, which caused him to be banned from entering China, Enemy at the Gates, Two Brothers, and Wolf Totem, which opened the gates of China to him again, are among his outstanding works. Der Namen der Rose (The Name of the Rose) is a 1986 film by Annaud, a novel adaptation, and a co-production of German, French, and Italian companies.
The Name of the Rose, as it is known, is a 'historical mystery without police' by Umberto Eco, in which the 'political' authority war between the ruling power and the papacy institution, the conflicts between sects, and the pressures of religion on the people in Europe at the beginning of the 14th century, were woven like needlework through a seven-day slice of life and the seven sins associated with seven deaths. It is a tough novel with a detail-oriented approach and philosophical weight, in which Eco's deep knowledge is reflected in every line.
The Name of the Rose is a book that has been translated into many languages, has been selected in the list of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time by the British Crime Writers' Association, and has been criticized for its approach to religion but has also received much acclaim. Due to these features, it is a long and luscious work that carries serious risks to be adapted into cinema, and every detail has a meaning that cannot be ignored. The adaptation of the book to the film must have caused a lot of trouble in this respect, as the places that Eco presents eloquently with the meticulousness of an architect are described in such detail that even readers with limited imagination can pick up a pen and draw.
ABOUT THE FILM
Considering that the spatial visualization arising from the book's fiction technically constitutes the main backbone of the film, it should not be seen as too long for Annaud to spend three years researching to adapt the novel into a movie.
Let us briefly recall the topic: In 1314, Ludwig of Bavaria wore the imperial crown in Frankfurt. On the same day, Frederick of Austria was elected as emperor in Main. Since there cannot be two emperors in one state, they fight, and Ludwig is victorious, but the pope is dissatisfied with the result and excommunicates the victorious emperor. Ludwig responds to that move and accuses the pope of heresy. The emperor felt close to the Franciscans, who advocated that the church should be poor because of the poverty of Jesus and his apostles. The Church and the Inquisition, on the other hand, aim to ensure the continuation of belief in God by declaring that the thoughts and behaviors pointed out by the priests will also be considered sins, in addition to the sins mentioned in the holy book, and accordingly by keeping the fear alive in the heart and hiding the knowledge.
SPACE IN THE NAME OF THE ROSE
In such an environment, the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his young apprentice Adso are sent as attendants to a monastery in northern Italy. The novel is written through the words of the young apprentice Adso, based on his diary. At the end of the work, seven dead events, such as the cost of sin that developed in seven days, will be brought to light.
Can we say that the reader who watches the adaptation of the novel, in which the relationship between sins costs and cause-effect is narrated in a dark and gloomy atmosphere in a very striking way in the time-space of a 14th-century medieval monastery, is experiencing the same intense emotions again? As in all written texts, while Eco's novel comes to life in the mind of the reader as it is read page by page and gains its flavor like food cooked over a slow fire, I wonder if Annaud was able to convey the same taste, flavor, and emotion to the audience in the film adaptation?
In Annaud's film, the dark and mysterious atmosphere of “crime scenes,” where the questioning of religious and ethical values is emphasized in an age when people lived with religious references, is felt like an element of pressure. Like the novel, the film is not just a work exploring consecutive murders. Medieval history and philosophy are also reflected following the author's interpretation. The film starts with the voice of Adso. It is winter, and the weather is cold and gloomy. Two horsemen are approaching the monastery on the hill. It is a monumental structure. The arrivals are expected, then the door is opened; first, the hands are washed and dried with a clean towel. In the courtyard of the monastery, everyone is doing their job in a calm state of anxiety.
Guests are offered a room with small windows, the flooring of which is covered with wood. There is no place for washing and nor is there a toilet inside. Also, affected by the sound of the water William uses, feels the need to use the bathroom, and William helps him again: “Ascend into the courtyard, take the aedificium to your left, and you will find where you need behind the third arch of the right in the courtyard.” Adso asks, “You said you haven't been to this monastery before?” That is his way of saying, 'How do you know where the toilet is?' “I saw one of our brothers rushing towards that side, but he seemed calm and relaxed on the way back,” William says with careful wisdom. Even at the beginning of the movie, William's attention, wisdom, and success in solving problems and reading the place are emphasized, making us feel that we should expect much more from him.
Looking through the small window, William sees a newly dug grave. Arriving in his room, he learns from the abbot that the deceased is an artist of miniatures, known for his funny and witty drawings, whose body was found under the east tower. For this reason, William and Adso begin their research from where the monk Adelmo of Otranto was found dead under the east tower.
In every frame of the film, in all open and closed spaces, the misery of the famine years of the Middle Ages, the bitter face of poverty, and the oppression of religion can be seen and felt. As those who have read the novel will remember, Eco began to describe the structure and the environment from the moment the protagonists started to see the monastery from afar. Once inside the monastery, all the structures of the complex were explained in detail in terms of their place, size, form, relations with each other, and decoration. Undoubtedly, it is not possible to reflect this much detail properly in a limited time; however, it must be admitted that Annaud managed to reflect the general historical and architectural atmosphere as best as he could. The scenes in which we watch the eerie depictions of the reliefs, observing uneasiness and even fear, make the audience at least as uncomfortable as Adso.
The study section of the library, where William went after the discovery of the body of the Greek translator to see the works of both members of the monastery who lost their lives, is also revived in a way that is very close to the original description of the novel. The clergy members work at their desks, casting anxious glances around them. No one can enter the area where the books are located except the library staff. But then, one night, William and Adso easily enter through a secret passage by sticking their fingers into the eye of the most frightening relief at the entrance. Again, William speaks wisely: “The rats love parchment even more than scholars do.” They follow the rats and reach the library at the end of the stairs. There are hundreds of precious but banned books here. In the film adaptation, the labyrinthine structure of the library was reflected quite successfully. In there, William and Adso lose each other, try communicating by voice, and meet each other as a result of Adso's constant movement to the left by unraveling his clothes and fixing the end of the thread while reading parts of a book. The excitement peaks when William is rescued by Adso at the entrance of the forbidden area when he is about to fall through the hatch of the trap on the ground. The most striking aspect of the library is its labyrinth-like structure and stairs. Although the fathers of modernism, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Mies van der Rohe, crowned functionality and adopted simple, minimalist, and undecorated designs, we can see mixed, complex, winding, and labyrinthine themes mainly in the designs of postmodernist and deconstructivist architects and in the works of artists who are from other art branches. In the novel's film adaptation, we can follow the labyrinth phenomenon Eco uses to further reinforce the gloomy, mysterious, frustrating, and unsettling atmosphere of the library, with Annaud's interpretation.
While William and Adso are trying to solve the mysterious events in the monastery, Bernardo Guide, who comes to the monastery with the papal team to participate in a debate, and who is not on good terms with William due to an old conflict, adds fuel to the fire. The subject of the debate is whether Jesus is the owner of the clothes he wears; and whether the church must be poor... On the one hand, new events continue to occur. The scenes start with Salvatore, who caused a fire while having fun with the girl who sold her body for food, the girl, and the cellar accused of murder were sentenced to death by burning after being tried in the inquisition court where the high priest and William were also counselors, and followed by the poisoning of Malachi, who committed the last murder and found dead with ink on his finger and died, William was declared responsible for all these events by Bernardino Gui. The scenes that continue with William and Adso entering the secret room by deciphering the code and pressing the letter Q above the door of the library, are followed by the driving of stakes, the inmates being brought to the place where they are to be burned, and the preparations for execution. When William and Adso climb up the stairs, they go through the shortcut of the labyrinth and find the Venerable Jorge, who has come to the tower before them. William demands to see the lost book of Aristotle, and Jorge gives it to him without objection. Touching the book while wearing gloves, William ruins Jorge's plan. Realizing what happened, Jorge makes a mess and escapes, while the fire that started with the fire of the oil lamp that fell to the ground spreads. It ignites Jorge, who tries to destroy the book pages by tearing and putting them into his mouth. People are watching the execution revolt when they see the fire. Seeing that the situation is evolving into a dangerous, chaotic one, Bernardino Qui and the papal group get into their cars and flee. Then, while they escape, Bernardino falls from the overturned car and dies. William takes as many books as he can and leaves the tower.
At the end of the film, we watch the departure of William and Adso from the monastery. William of Baskerville and Adso walk away, leaving behind a steaming pile of rubble in the place of that majestic, crushing, heavy structure, and the only earthly love that Adso has fallen in love with and whose name he will never learn.
CONCLUSION
Cinema, which expresses its concerns through moving images, is a field of study that reveals its existence in other art branches and has to follow the technology closely. Literature and cinema, which have a common dramatic source, have always progressed art in art, and the relationship and affiliation of architecture, which is a visual field of study focused on intervention in space and designing the space, with cinema has come to life in a much stronger and more violent way. It is also worth mentioning some valuable directors and film theorists who have helped achieve the respectable position of cinema today and have had a significant share in its acceptance as an art branch. Béla Balázs, who brought a philosophical dimension to the cinema with his first book, The Visible Man, always argued that writing and music should not get in the way of the image. Rudolf Arnheim, the pioneer of formalism in cinema, Sergei Eisenstein, Fritz Lang, Akira Kurosawa, and Luis Buñuel, the unforgettable director of surrealist films, are among the first to come to mind in the list of directors who contribute to making cinema art. Jean-Jacques Annaud is a director who has made a name for himself primarily via his animals, people, and nature-themed films. He has a style that prioritizes the image and is not very fond of dialogue. For this reason, in the movie The Name of the Rose, we see a flow where the long dialogues and detailed descriptions of the book are not given much priority. This is probably one of the reasons why the movie can be watched comfortably and without getting bored, despite the narrative that includes all symbolic elements.
However, it is also worth noting that the richness of narration and philosophical depth in the book becomes rather monotonous and tasteless. We should respectfully acknowledge the contribution of Italian Tonino Delli Colli, the unforgettable cinematographer of Spaghetti Films, in The Name of the Rose, in which the medieval Gothic atmosphere is revived with dark, gray and brown tones, and the details are softened with an almost dark filter, and the mystery is emphasized.
REFERENCES
Available from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091605/ Accessed: 02.03.2020Fellini's Rome
Hikmet Temel Akarsu1,*Abstract
Fellini's Rome is one of the mature works of the famous Italian director Federico Fellini. Fans of Fellini's films find high artistry in his cinematic style, which does not follow coherent fiction, combines extraordinary façades with sad humor, and, with contradictory and audacious focus, excites every human emotion. Although most of the critics have described him within the neorealism movement in cinema, it should be noted that he has an extremely original style that does not fit into this category. It would be more accurate to say that he has a sui generis expressionist style that sometimes borders on fantasy and surrealism, requiring a separate definition. The movie “Fellini's Rome” is one of the refined examples of this new expressionism style.
Fellini paints Rome with a completely different color in his highly impressive film, and this new color is a very, very different place from the laboratory of architectural history, which includes that familiar array of monuments. This new Rome is now completely painted with Fellinian poetry and transports us to other realms with its richness of image and irony. So, Fellini's Rome gives us an unfamiliar feeling. It allows us to see the city, which has the world's greatest architectural heritage, from a completely different perspective. What should it mean for us to shift away from architectural-monumental structures and turn to different images in such a city that served as the capital of the Roman Empire for centuries and imprinted itself in the memory of mankind with extremely powerful images? There, the philosophical and metaphorical messages of a great director come in the most artistic and mysterious way and find us. Even if you create the world's most magnificent architectural universe, your thinking, and even your life will be completely in vain if you cannot grasp the truth and validity of the human spirit.
