Seminole Cinema: SEHS Film



IB Film 1: W24.3Homage—How History Influences FilmHere is a sequence from?Shanghai Knights?(2003) that alludes to?Singin’ in the Rain?(1952).Watch -?Shanghai KnightsWhat is an Homage?While watching?Singin' in the Rain?(1952), you were no doubt aware of the film history that was being used to create the plot of the movie.But there may have been some moments when you were unaware of the homages that were going on.OriginsIt is a token of respect shown from one filmmaker to another by reproducing a moment from another filmIt originally meant:"a ceremonial acknowledgement by a vassal of allegiance to his lord under feudal law."Over time the word has come to mean a special honor, or token of respect, expressed publicly.In film, an homage is usually a visual, or visual and audio, 'quotation'?from another film.?Homages within Singin' in the RainHomage to artists and technologyIn?Singin' in the Rain, at the party, the studio head R. F. Simpson shows a short demonstration of a Vitaphone talking picture.This is an homage to the DeForest Phonofilm demonstration, which featured company head DeForest himself explaining the system, in 1921.Later in the film, Cosmo gets down on one knee and sings, "Mammy, how I love you, how I love you..."This is an homage to popular singer Al Jolson, who was the star of?The Jazz Singer?(1927).Of course, it was?The Jazz Singer?that was responsible for the wide-scale adoption of sound to movies, the main driving force of the conflict in?Singin' in the Rain.Sub-plotThe end of silent dramaDoris Warner (daughter of Warner Brothers studio cofounder and long-time president Harry Warner), about halfway through the first presentation of?The Jazz Singer?in 1927, began to feel something exceptional was taking place.Jolson's "Wait a minute" line prompted a loud, positive response from the audience, and applause followed each of his songs.In some ways, Jolson's performance - which borrowed much from African-American music - anticipated the later birth of rock and roll. To the audience of the time, he was electrifying.When Jolson and Eugenie Besserer?began their dialogue scene the audience became hysterical, and apparently, at the end of the film the audience shouted "Jolson, Jolson, Jolson!".The head of MGM was Samuel Goldwyn, and his wife Frances remembers looking around at the celebrities in the crowd as the audience applauded and seeing:"terror in all their faces, as if they knew the game they had been playing for years was finally over."The critic for Life Magazine, Robert E. Sherwood, described the dialogue scene between Jolson and Besserer as:"fraught with tremendous significance.I for one suddenly realized that the end of silent drama was in sight."In-JokesImitation is the sincerest form?of flatteryGene Kelly (playing Don Lockwood) in the silent film?The Royal Rascal?in the beginning of?Singin' in the Rain,?is an homage to the silent movies of Douglas Fairbanks,?who starred in such swashbuckling silent adventure films as:The Mark of Zorro?(1920)Robin Hood?(1922)and?The Thief of Bagdad?(1924).Like Don Lockwood's gymnastic performance, Fairbanks performed elaborate stunts, falls, and fight scenes in his films.With Mary Pickford?and Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks played an important part in the rise of the star system, forming the studio United Artists with the other two actors, who were also hugely popular at a time when studios fought against publicity for actors and sometimes even repressed their names in the credits.Also in?Singin in the Rain, and not quite an homage, but more a reference because not much respect is implied, is the scene in?The Dueling Cavalier?where the audience goes crazy with laughter when Don repeats, "I love you, I love you, I love you..." over and over again.This is a reference to a similar reaction to a scene by actor John Gilbert?in his first talkie.There are also cameos in the film that work as in-jokes.Again, when?The Dueling Cavalier?is playing, a man wonders to a woman beside him, "Who writes this stuff?"The man and woman are in fact Adolph Green?and Betty Comden, the screenwriters of?Singin' in the Rain.Homages to Singin' in the RainSingin' in the Rain?itself is the focus of homages in many other filmsRoger Thornhill (Cary Grant) whistles the song resignedly in the shower - he is dressed in a suit at the time and hiding from stalkers - in Alfred Hitchcock's film?North by Northwest?(1959).In Baz Luhrmann's?Moulin Rouge?(2001), Ewan McGregor does a similar dance with an umbrella during the 'Your Song'?scene.In?Shanghai Knights, Jackie Chan's character does a similar dance with an umbrella as he fights off attackers. Parts of the song?Singin' in the Rain?are played as part of the film score.Probably the most disturbing homage to?Singin' in the Rain?is the rape scene in A Clockwork Orange?(1971) when Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) sings the song mockingly as his gang execute their crimes.The meaning, in this case, has been twisted entirely. Again, we might question whether the moment is a true homage or an observation about the effect of movies on our psychology and the way we see reality.Regardless, Gene Kelly's rendition of the song?Singin' in the Rain?is heard during the end credits of the film.Homage or Fromage?A token of respect, or simply a lack of imagination?Quentin Tarantino's?Kill Bill: Vol. 1?and?Kill Bill: Vol. 2??are composed of many homages to Hong Kong wuxia films, Japanese chambara films, spaghetti westerns, and even Japanese science fiction / horror films.The plot is very similar to Francois Truffaut's?The Bride Wore Black?(1968), though Tarantino claimed he never saw that film. Practically every scene in the film is an homage or a reference to another film.Marc Caro of the Chicago Tribune said:"You never forget that Kill Bill is an exercise in genre sampling."Other critics had a much more positive reaction to the film, seeing it as an exploration of the revenge melodrama with scenes borrowed from:Lady Snowblood?(1973)Goke the Body-Snatcher from Hell?(1968)Master of the Flying Guillotine?(1976)and many, many more films.Filmmakers derive inspiration from other filmmakers around the world.This is certainly true in Quentin Tarantino's case.One critic said:"People probably think he makes this stuff up by himself."As a film student, you know it is really homage. ................
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