REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS

REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS

By

SAURABH DAS Register Number: 1224007

A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Media Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements of the Degree of

Master of Science in Communication

Christ University, Bangalore 2014

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it.

Certificate of Approval

I certify that I have read REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS by Saurabh Das, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for Master of Science in Communication at the Department of Media Studies, Christ University, Bangalore.

Supervisor Name: Father Biju KC Designation: Course Coordinator Signature:

Coordinator Name: Father Biju K C Signature:

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it.

Declaration

I, hereby declare that the research submitted to the Department of Media Studies by me is my own original work. I am aware of the fact that in case my work is found to be plagiarized or not genuine, Department of Media Studies has the full authority to cancel my research work and I am Liable to penal action. Student’s Name: Saurabh Das Registration Number: 1224007 Date: 08th December 2013

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. ii

Dedication

To my dearest family members and my professors of Christ University.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. iii

Abstract

Films represent society and in a society there is a struggle between people and classes made by the people. In any type of film there is an underlying philosophy. Marxist philosophy or Marxism came out of classical German philosophy and it has a strong presence in countries like Russia and India. Marxism deals with various ideologies like capitalism, class struggle, class conflict and economy struggle. The study aims to analyze the portrayal of those ideologies through two Russian and two Indian films by applying qualitative (content analysis and in depth interview) methodology.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. iv

Acknowledgement

My sincere gratitude to my Guide, Rev. Father Biju for his constant guidance encouragement and support. I also thank Prof. Dr. Jomi Thomas for his suggestions in the study. I would also like to thank Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala, T.M.Veeraraghav, senior journalist of CNN IBN for their valuable inputs. A special mention to Neha Gupta and Vivek Mysore, students of first and second MSCOMM respectively, professors, Ms. Amutha Manavalan, Mr. Biju Itukkapparakkal, Mr. Naresh Rao (HOD), Ms. Suparna Naresh and Mr. Sreehari KG for their assistance in bringing out this research.

Saurabh Das

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. v

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Philosophy ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1.1 Ideology............................................................................................................. 3 1.1.2 Social Change .................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Background Study ................................................................................................ 4 1.3 Research Problem ................................................................................................. 5 1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 5 1.5 Chapter Outline .................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2: Review of Literature .................................................................................... 7 2.1 Marxism ............................................................................................................... 7 2.1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Capital and Class ............................................................................................... 7 2.1.4 Class and Class struggle .................................................................................. 10 2.1.5 Cultural Capital ............................................................................................... 11 2.1.6 Ideology........................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Classical Marxism .............................................................................................. 12 2.3 Other Theories of Class ...................................................................................... 13 2.4 Philosophy in Films............................................................................................ 15 2.4.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 15 2.4.2 Skepticism ....................................................................................................... 16 2.4.3 Relativism........................................................................................................ 16 2.4.4 Personal identity .............................................................................................. 17 2.4.5 Artificial Intelligence....................................................................................... 17

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 2.4.6 Free Will and Determinism ............................................................................. 17

2.4.7 Ethics ............................................................................................................... 18 2.4.8 Political Philosophy......................................................................................... 18 2.4.9 The Problem of Evil and Existentialism ......................................................... 18 Chapter 3: Methodology…………………………………………………….………..20 3.1 Content Analysis ................................................................................................ 21 3.1.1 Manifest Content Analysis .............................................................................. 22 3.1.2 Latent Content Analysis .................................................................................. 22 3.1.3 Advantages of Content Analysis ..................................................................... 24 3.1.4 Disadvantages of Content Analysis ................................................................. 25 3.2 In-depth interview .............................................................................................. 25 3.2.1 Purpose of the interview.................................................................................. 25 3.2.2 Logistics for interviewing ............................................................................... 26 3.2.3 Choosing the interviewee ................................................................................ 26 3.2.4 Equipments required for the interview ............................................................ 26 3.2.5 Question format ............................................................................................... 26 Chapter 4: Analysis…...…………………………………….………………….….....28 4.1 Content Analysis of ‘Strike (1924)’ ................................................................... 28 4.1.2 Direction: ......................................................................................................... 28 4.1.3 Theme: ............................................................................................................. 28 4.1.4 Story: ............................................................................................................... 29 4.1.5 Actors: ............................................................................................................. 37 4.1.6 Mise-en-scene: ................................................................................................ 37 4.2 Content Analysis of ‘Battleship Potemkin (1925)’ ............................................ 40 4.2.1 Direction: ......................................................................................................... 40 4.2.2 Theme: ............................................................................................................. 40

Property of Christ University. 4.2.4 Actors: ............................................................................................................. 49 using it. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are 4.2.3 Story: ............................................................................................................... 41

ii

4.2.5 Mise-en-scene.................................................................................................. 49 4.3 Content Analysis of Pratidwandi ‘The Adversary’ (1970) ................................. 51 4.3.1 Direction: ......................................................................................................... 51 4.3.2 Theme: ............................................................................................................. 52 4.3.3 Story: ............................................................................................................... 54 4.3.4 Actors: ............................................................................................................. 61 4.3.5 Mise-en-scene: ................................................................................................ 61 4.4 Content Analysis of ‘Lal Salam (1990)’ ............................................................ 64 4.4.1 Direction: ......................................................................................................... 64 4.4.2 Theme: ............................................................................................................. 64 4.4.3 Story: ............................................................................................................... 65 4.4.4 Actors: ............................................................................................................. 76 4.4.5 Mise en scéne: ................................................................................................. 77 4.5 In-depth Interview .............................................................................................. 77 4.5.1 An analysis of Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala’s interview ................................................................................................................... 78 4.5.2 An analysis of Neha Gupta’s responses........................................................... 79 Chapter5: Recommendations and Conclusions………………………………….…...81 Limitations ............................................................................................................... 83 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 83 References .................................................................................................................... 84 Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................... 88 Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................... 89

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. iii

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Philosophy A philosophical discussion is either carried out in the form of writing or spoken. However, other than written or spoken there can be another medium too which expresses the philosophical arguments. Film as a medium does that and the portrayal of a specific philosophy in a film is almost imminent when we watch a film. A film offers a philosophical content in several different ways. Like a philosopher a filmmaker describes a theoretical situation leaving the audience to interpret. For example, in one of the scenes from the film ‘Strike’, the filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein has showed a non-diegetic image of a bull being slaughtered. This scene leaves the audience to come out with their own interpretations. Philosophy is the discipline that is mainly defined as the logic. It is the conceptual framework of our practices. In day to day life films or motion pictures have become a part and parcel. A film is a visual product of an art. Over a period of time films have taken a major responsibility in disseminating various cultural products, information and entertainment. Filmmaking is a cultural process which involves the aesthetics of art and traditions. The philosophy of Marxism and the Marxist theory has been portrayed in many films time and again. The philosophy of Marxism had its advent in German philosophy. Marxism is the most significant of all social theories. However, even though it is significant it has been criticized and misunderstood by many. Marxism can be related to many domains like philosophy, economics, politics, history, sociology, media and

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. cultural studies and many more. Marxism is more than a theory. It is a process of

understanding the world, presence of capitalism and labor class from a different view point. The attributes of Marxist theory had helped the researcher to approach the study in a critical way. In the macro perspective also, the theory helps one to identify the society and its structure from a critical point of view. Other than Karl Marx rest who had heavily contributed in the concept of Marxism and developing the theory of Marxism are as follows: Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg, Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Jürgen Habermas and many more have extensively worked on the paths of Marxism. Often their view points about the said philosophy is discussed and read by many. Marxist social theory helps one to understand the mode of production and the class relations found in the society. The films which have been taken by the researcher for case study are ‘Strike’, ‘Battleship of Potemkin’, ‘Pratidwandi’ and ‘Lal Salam’. All these films depict a revolution and Karl Marx also has been considered as a revolutionist, a revolutionary socialist. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels have extensively worked on the two influencing factors of society: class and capital. In ‘On the Jewish Question’ Marx had mentioned that “Money is the estranged essence of man’s work and existence; this alien essence dominates him and he worships it” (Marx 1975c: 239). According to Marx alienation in a society doesn’t happen due to differences in ideas or religious beliefs but it comes out from the materialistic needs of human beings. The material needs like money raises the conflict in the human minds and thus brings the alienation and class conflict (Joseph, 2006, p. 11). The old concept of relationship between master and slave has been brought by Marx with a new understanding. It is the understanding of the relationship between proletariat and bourgeoisie and capital and labor. In Marx’s ‘Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’, Marx had said “Philosophy cannot realize itself without the transcendence of the proletariat, and the proletariat cannot realize itself without the

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. transcendence of philosophy” (Marx 1975e:257). Here, Marx had meant to say that

philosophy and proletariat’s relationship is interdependent. The society is dominated 2

by the bourgeoisie people who have capital. The proletariats are living in the bottom strata of the society and are devoid of the basic amenities of life. A certain philosophy in a society cannot be worked upon until and unless the proletariats are a part of it. On one hand their transcendence will only help to sustain the philosophy in the society. On the other hand if they have to realize their importance in the society and to make it visible the philosophy of their class should be transcended. This means their struggle can be eradicated when they lift themselves to protest against the capitalists. Marx argues that though the workers contribute heavily in the means of production but they are alienated from the finished products. This happens due to the fact the machines and factories are owned by the capitalists and also the finished products are being sold to the people who are able to afford it, i.e. the capitalists. In that process the alienation not only happens between the products and the workers but also happens between the workers. In the film ‘Strike’ it can be seen the same. There the workers in the factory are unable to find any relation between them and the products. Moreover, the capitalists, in this case the factory owners depend heavily on the essence of the workers. Marx says that this essence helps the society to get the human fulfilment. The eminent filmmakers like Sergei Eisenstein, Jean Luc Godard, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen and in some cases Satyajit Ray had portrayed well the pathos of the proletariat people, their class struggle and the incessant class conflict. This results to an economy struggle also where the proletariat people have to suffer a lot. They sometimes are unable to get jobs or are being oppressed by the bourgeoisie class profoundly. This leads to frustration and a constant conflict within themselves.

1.1.1 Ideology According to Louis Althusser, a Marxist philosopher, “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence”. Ideology is considered to be imaginary and it represents that imaginary relationship human beings persist living in real conditions of society. According to Marx, alienation can be

Property of Christ University. argues religion and it throws away are that using it. Use it for fair purpose. Givedistracts credithuman to thebeing’s authorconsciousness by citing properly, if your considered as an ideology and religion can also be considered as another ideology. He

3

consciousness which is very much required in day to day life. He says this consciousness helps a person to make right decisions and thus helps them to come out of the problems of the society. He considers religion as the opium of the people due to which the human beings have to suffer. It creates a mist in the people’s mind and thus leaving the real conditions in a complete haze. The Marxist theorists criticize ideology as they consider it has a negative connotation. Engel’s too had mentioned ideology as a false consciousness. Ideology portrays the appearance of day to day happenings and the way we perceive those happenings. However, that is not the absolute truth.

1.1.2 Social Change The films analyzed by the researcher had brought forward the fact that these films have heavily inspired from the philosophy of Marxism and has portrayed a change in the society. Often this change has been depicted either in the form of a subtle change in the character’s attitude or a behavioural change leading to a revolution. The behavioural change found in the protagonist Siddhartha in the film ‘Pratidwandi’ is a reflection of the conflicts imbedded within his mind. Marx finds social change where there is a conflict between the structures of the society. In the film ‘Strike’ it can be seen the labourers goes for a strike protesting against the factory owners and raise their demands. The capitalist society, here the factory owner, faces crisis situation which can lead to his downfall. To earn more profit the factory owner puts more pressure on the labourers and the need for profit is one of the attributes of capitalism. Marx says that ‘revolutions are the locomotives of history’. Over a period of time history builds up on the fact that there is a continuous disagreement between the classes which later leads to a revolution. Through the revolution certain section of the society namely the proletariat section tries to bring a social change either in the structure of the society or in the lives of their people.

1.2 Background Study

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 4

In any form of Cinema there is an underlying philosophy (Wartenberg & Curran, 2005). It is one of those creative and inventive disciplines which help in formulating concepts. Concepts help us to create something, be it a piece of art or a scientific discovery. Marxism is also one of those philosophies which have been used by many filmmakers to make a piece of art. Here the piece of art refers to Films or Cinema. Many studies have been done on class structure and struggle on society and economics on base of Marxism philosophy. But there is still some scope to do research on ideologies of Marxism on films.

1.3 Research Problem The study will analyze the class conflict, class struggle and economy struggle in films. Marxist philosophy has a strong presence in countries like Russia and India. Over a period of time many filmmakers have extensively portrayed the attributes of Marxism in Russian and Indian films. This study aims to analyze the portrayal of the ideologies of Marxism present in those films through qualitative (content analysis and in depth interview) methodology.

1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study The study aims to analyze the portrayal of Marxism in through two Russian films and two Indian films. Karl Marx and many other philosophers and theorists have discussed about Marxism. Their viewpoints about Marxism have helped the study to analyze and interpret the attributes of Marxism with the parameters viz. Direction, Theme, Story, Actors and Mise en scène. The objectives of this study are as follows: •

To find out the portrayal of class conflict, class struggle and economy struggle in the Russian films.

•

To find out the portrayal of class conflict, class struggle and economy struggle in the Indian films.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. •

To find the presence of Marxism in today’s films.

5

•

To understand Marxist philosophy through in-depth interviews from the experts.

1.5 Chapter Outline

Describes Marxist philosophy and contribution of Introduction

various filmmakers and theorists in shaping up the Marxist theory.

1.

Review of Literature 2.

List out the existing literature related to the attributes of Marxism and its presence in films.

Methodology 3.

Describes

the methodology adopted

for the

research.

Analysis

Analyzing the data through the parameters defined.

Recommendations and

Describes the recommendations for future research

4.

5.

Conclusions

and conclusion of the present research.


Chapter 2: Review of Literature

2.1 Marxism

2.1.1 Introduction The term 'Marxism' was founded by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels. The philosophy of Marxism came out of German philosophy and it’s based the issue of division in human society. A thorough study on the economy, lead Karl Marx to bring up the theory of Marxism (Joseph). From the study it could be found that there was a difference among the people in the society with respect to their private property. The concept of labor theory of value was being introduced from this ideology. The relation between capitalists and working class people are being discussed in the book 'The Communist Manifesto (Das Kommunistische Manifest) by Marx and Engels. The working class people lives on a precise wage. They are involved in the production by working and producing various goods for the capitalists. In turn the capitalists exploit the workers to get more products. This exploitation leads to differences between the capitalists and the working with respect to the property the later produce. This leads to a growing class consciousness. Later this came out with a new ideology of class struggle (Joseph, 2006).

2.1.2 Capital and Class The Marxist social theory focuses on the mode of production and on the class relations. The concept of division in the society is understood with respect to capitalist production. The human labor is affected by the capitalist production by the capitalists

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. bringing indifferences between them. The whole concept of social theory is based on two objects capital and class. One having capital can go through two different phases, 7

firstly where he can face alienation and the secondly he can also eradicate the problems faced by using the sheer power of capitalism. The old concept of relationship between master and slave has brought Marx with a new understanding. It is the understanding of the relationship between proletariat and bourgeoisie and capital and labor (Joseph, 2006). Marx in the book ‘On the Jewish Question’ had mentioned 'Money is the estranged essence of man's work and existence; this alien essence dominates him and he worships it.’ It can be observed that the alienation is due to the people following the materialistic life rather than any ideas or religious views (Joseph, 2006, p.11). Marx's ideology and idea revolved around the relationship between the proletariat and philosophy. He questioned whether there was any group who suffered and also brought revolution. His belief was that philosophy couldn't be explained or realized without the presence and role of the proletariat in the society. Moreover, he added that philosophy cannot be understood by itself without the presence of the proletariat (Joseph, 2006). The alienation between labor class and capitalists happen due to presence of the product which the labor class manufactures. Although the product is being manufactured by the labor class but eventually it goes to the hand of the capitalists. Thus, there creates a loss of bonding between the product and the laborers of the labor class. This eventually brings the sense of alienation. The workers are no more able to identify themselves through their products which they manufacture. This creates another circumstance where the laborer is considered as an external identity in the production process. This attribute of avoidance creates a sense of alienation on their minds. It is the labor which is the essence of human beings (Joseph, 2006). Through alienation we lose the balance of the society. As mentioned earlier the production which is being done by the labor class is being taken from them. As, a matter of fact the creativity, hard work and knowledge they put in becomes useless to them as the laborers don't feel connected to the product anymore. Finally it creates an

Property of Christ University. the power rule of the capitalists comes in. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. environment where the producers of the products get separated from each other and

8

2.1.3 Economic Analysis Karl Marx had developed his economic theory on three columns. They are as follows: i.

Labor, the theory of value: It explains that the price at which the commodities are exchanged can be explained through the amount of labor expended.

ii.

Theory of capitalism: The amalgamation of capital in the society and its analysis.

iii.

Theory of falling rate of profit: He says that change in the society is not a sign of capitalist progress, but rather it can be a replacement of labor by capital which may bring catastrophe in the society (Elster, 1999).

Production plays an important role in the development of human society. Through production the basic needs of human beings are fulfilled. Human beings have many basic needs and they are as follows: the need for food, the need for clothing, the need for shelter and many others. The dominant mode of production in the society is the way a production is organized which leads to the fulfilment of the basic needs. Through the study on the economic laws Marx deduced that commodity is an item and it satisfies the human needs. This commodity has a value which has been referred by Marx as use value. According to Marx under capitalism the commodities which are produced are to be exchanged for money or other goods. An item when takes the form of a commodity it earns an exchange value with respect to other commodities. It can be found that the analysis done by Marx has lead to a new study; it is the study of social relationship between capital and labor. This has been referred as Marx's labor theory of value. In the labor theory of value the argument is that the value of a commodity is equal to the amount of labor time. The labor time is used for production of commodities. Through this labor time the workers get entitled for a wage from the capitalists. It can be inferred that through wage the capitalists are buying something new and unique, it is not the commodity they are buying rather its the labor power. Labor power is very flexible in terms of its value as the value of the labor power can exceed way above its original value. It means that the time the laborers are spending in work is the original value, but if they increase the number of working hours then

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. that value is increased too. To get a surplus the capitalists tries to make sure that the

9

worker works more and produces more value rather than what the capitalists is spending on their wages. There is another way by which the capitalists exploit the labor class. The capitalist system works on the basis of ownership and non-ownership of the means of production. The labor class doesn’t own the means of production like tools, capital and raw material or resources, so they have to use their power by working for the capitalists to survive. Marx has mentioned that due to capitalism the social bonds and feelings between people have been destroyed. It has also lead to the death of the human spirit.

2.1.4 Class and Class struggle On the basis of the ownership and non-ownership of the means of production classes can be defined. There are mainly two classes – a. Wage laborers and b. Capitalists. On one hand, the wage laborers own a very important power known as labor power. On the other hand capitalists own lots of capital. Although the production is done by the wage laborers, it belongs to the capitalists. Through class social and economic representation of groups is possible. There is an antagonistic relationship between classes (Wayne). This sort of relationship brings in more ruptures in the society. The antagonistic relationship is not only because of the economic differences but there are other factors too. Geographical differences, differences due to caste, creed and gender are some of the other factors. Even due to various political affiliations there can be a difference among the class. According to Marx labor power is ‘to be understood the aggregate of those mental and physical capabilities existing in a human being, which he exercise whenever he produces a use-value of any description’ (Marx). Other than Karl Marx himself many other authors have interpreted class and class

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. struggle in various ways. Class can be considered more than an aggregate of class members. According to Schumpeter class is aware of its identity as a whole (Bensaid). 10

2.1.5 Cultural Capital The relationship between culture and capital has lead to the term of cultural capital. The famous French scholar Pierre Bourdieu first proposed the term (Barnett and Allen). Capital can be classified in three fundamental groups: A. economic capital, B. cultural capital and C. social capital Economic capital is directly converted into money and has the property rights. Cultural capital on some occasions can be converted to economic capital and it can be represented in the form of educational qualifications. Social capital comprises of social commitments or connections which are when converted in some occasion’s turns into economic capital. It is a representation of nobility (Bourdieu).

2.1.6 Ideology Marxism is an ideology which is based on the structure of the society. The structure is divided into classes namely the capitalists and the working class. Other than this Marx had also extensively mentioned the role of religion in Marxism. Religion acts as an ideology too which creates virtual relations leaving the real relations intact (Joseph, 2006). He argues religion distracts human being’s consciousness and it throws away that consciousness which is very much required in day to day life. He says this consciousness helps a person to make right decisions and thus helps them to come out of the problems of the society. He considers religion as the opium of the people due to which the human beings have to suffer. It creates a mist in the people’s mind and thus leaving the real conditions in a complete haze. Ideology is considered to be a representation of consciousness. It represents a set of

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. ideas or values or beliefs. In some cases it also represents different theoretical

11

observations through which we try to analyze different events happening in the society. Defining class and class struggle in society has always been the most popular reading in Marxism. Here in this chapter the representation of class in films will be discussed. Through the discussion it can be find out whether there is any representation of class happening in films as such. To get an understanding of it various other factors will be discussed first such as: i.

Classical Marxism

ii.

Other Theories of Class and

iii.

Presence and Absence of Class in Film theory (Miller and Stam, 2004)

2.2 Classical Marxism Classical Marxism helps one to understand the social class. According to Marx, social class selects a position in the economic structure of society. The main subject is the material production and the materials involved in getting that material production. Various entities which help to obtain the production are raw materials, factories, tools in the factories and more. The means of production becomes important in the society and moreover it brings forward the social divisions. The social divisions are also known as classes. The factories are owned by the people who have capital and people who are working in the factories for the means of production are the workers. Marx says that in a capitalist society there are two classes, namely bourgeois and proletarian. Toby Miller and Robert Stam in their book ‘A Companion to Film Theory’ has put forwarded the concept of conflict between these two classes (Miller & Stam, 2004). They also talk about the period during the end of 19th century when industries started to grow in quite a pace; the feudalism model was slowly and steadily losing against capitalism. In the feudalism model there were signs of class division between the landowners and the farmers, whereas in capitalism the division started to happen

Property of Christ University. in the book The Communist “Society a wholeproperly, is more and more splitting Use it for fair purpose. Give credit toManifesto the author byasciting if your are using it. between the factory owners and the workers working in those factories. Marx quoted

12

up into two great hostile camps, into great classes directly facing each other: Bourgeoisie and Proletariat”. Class also has been considered in a more complex form where in addition to economic category it is also seen as a political category. Marx states that over a period of time the meaning of class has become a complex one as it has given rise to more class fractions such as in finance, industry, army, intellectual society, clergy and more. From the macro perspective there is a presence of class division in the society and from the micro perspective there have been more formation of classes in the fields of finance, industry, army, intellectual society, clergy and more. Marxism is a philosophy which is based on the ideas and observations of Karl Marx. He stated that the class which is capable of controlling the material production is also able to control mental production. The ruling class ideas become the ruling ideas of the society. Another philosopher Louis Althusser had also contributed extensively in the Marxism philosophy. He had stated that in the social structure, classes’ nature is independent of any subjects. He figured out that classes’ present is very much visible even in the working class structure too. Other than the Marxist theory of class, there are also non Marxist theories of class. Even post Marxist studies have also extensively discussed about class and their role in the society.

2.3 Other Theories of Class Karl Marx’s contribution to build Marxism philosophy and formulate the theory of Marxism has been immense. He is always considered as the philosopher who had extensively worked for people’s struggle in the society against injustice. However, other than Marx there are many other philosophers too whose contribution in

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. developing and extending the philosophy cannot be underestimated. In fact, these

13

philosophers too have vastly contributed with their observations and ideas in the post Marx period. One of them is Mark Weber, who had defined class not from the perspective of product manufacturing but from the point of market relations. His parameters in defining class owned of property, possession of skills and education. Marx had said that there would be always a structural conflict among the people of different classes. However, Weber had rejected that idea by saying that it need not to be compulsory in a society (Miller & Stam, 2004). Erik Olin Wright, an American sociologist had agreed with Marx’s notion of class division from the point of production, however he had added 3 more classes in that. They are managers and supervisors, small employers and wage earners. On one hand the managers don’t own the production but they control both the means of production and the labor class. On the other hand the wage earners neither own or control the means of production nor lose their power. Pierre Bourdieu, a French sociologist had developed his understanding of class on both Marx’s idea and Weber’s. He says that with addition to Marx’s notion about class, he is adding Weber’s points of practice and lifestyle. According to him the higher class people in a society can reproduce itself and over a period of time it becomes better with better education. This leads to their cultural development the cultural hegemony in the society comes under their grasp. It makes them culturally very powerful in the society. ‘Hegemony and Socialist Strategy’ by Laclau and Mouffe in the post Marxist period had said that the proletariat people have become less visible in the society and their influence in the society in shaping a movement has also quite diminished a lot which is highly unlikely as what Marx had proposed in his book.


2.4 Philosophy in Films

2.4.1 Introduction By various ways or methods a specific philosophy is portrayed through films. Sometimes more than one philosophy is portrayed through a film. The audience can understand the philosophy in a film through dialogue which comes out in the linguistic form (Litch). When a philosopher presents a philosophy there is a hypothetical situation put forward by him in front of the reader. Different readers interpret the hypothesis in different ways. It is totally left to the reader how he is going to interpret the philosophy which is in the form of a hypothesis. Films are one of those mediums which can be used to portray various philosophical ideas, issues and views (Livingston). These ideas when reflected can lead to the exploration of various thoughts. It also brings out various arguments. Various philosophical thoughts when discussed more lead to complex and advanced understanding about them. There are various types of philosophies which are being portrayed through films. Often these philosophies are being indirect and it is very subjective. Some of the popular philosophies which have been discussed by Mary M. Litch in her book “Philosophy Through Film” are: i.

Skepticism

ii.

Relativism

iii.

Personal Identity

iv.

Artificial Intelligence

v.

Free Will and Determinism

vi.

Ethics

vii.

Political Philosophy

viii.

The Problem of Evil and Existentialism

Marxism is related to Political Philosophy. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed the concept of Marxism. Other than Marxism the other ideologies which they

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. discussed extensively were liberalism and fascism.

15

2.4.2 Skepticism It is a term which is used in philosophy. It usually entails a doubt in the mind of the person. It is one sort of hindrance, where one is unable to commit to something. Moral skepticism is defined as the situation where nobody can claim what is right or wrong. A moral skeptic would be unable to answer whether moral statements are right or wrong. But the possibility of gaining knowledge is always present (Greco, 2013). Over a period of time many philosophers have extensively explored the world of skepticism. They have argued about the results of taking different skeptical standpoints. In ancient period skepticism was considered as something good and one the ways to lead a life. However, in the present context the philosophers have brough the notion that it should be avoided for the betterment of the society. Peter Suber, from the Philsophy Department of Earlham College says that if one person believes in something, then the other person may disbelief that and the rest of the people are unsure. The believer’s don’t believe anything rather than their own beliefs which they had grown in their lives (Suber, 1996).

2.4.3 Relativism Emrys Westacott from Alferd University, U.S.A explains relativism as the thesis where all points of view are correct and valid. It means that people having different sets of belief systems are uniformly true. There are couple of distinct attributes of all kinds of relativism and they are as follows: 1. They all affirm one thing, i.e. their point of view on any kind of subjects such as knowledge, beauty, values or taste are the same. 2. There is a denial that any standpoint is distinctively priviliged over all others. Present-day philosophy is classified has 3 types of relativism, namely: 1. Moral relativism

Property of Christ University. 3. Aesthetic Use it for fair purpose. Giverelativism credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 2. Cognitive relativism and

16

Out of these while analyzing the films the researcher had found cognitive relativism to be the most important (Westacott, 2005). Cognitive relativism deals with the concept of truth and concepts of knowledge, rationality and justification.

2.4.4 Personal identity This kind of philosophy deals with the identity of a person. Often in films it can be seen that either the protagonist or a character struggles with his/her identity. For example, in the film ‘Memento’, the protagonist is unable to ascertain his own identity. He struggles to relate himself with the society due to the lack of identity. This kind of philosophy brings out the problem of identity over time. For example, if a part of a car starts to malfunction, that part is replaced leaving the frame of the car as same. Over a period of time many other parts are changed in the car like breaks, tires, gearbox and other parts, but the car remains the same. Later, it is seen all the parts including the body and the frame of the car has been replaced, then it becomes difficult to assert whether it’s a new car or the same old car. This example brings about the problem of identity over time (Litch, 2010).

2.4.5 Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence is one kind of technology which develops intelligent programs and machines. John McCarthy coined this term and defined it as a genuine intelligence. This intelligence is being created by an artificial device which is invented by human beings only. Many science fiction movies which deal with this subject, there it is shown a presence of fight for ownership between the world of robots and human beings (Litch, 2010).

2.4.6 Free Will and Determinism In our day to day life one often come across with many incidents. For example, while

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. going to morning shower one finds that there is no water in the tap. There can be

17

many reasons behind that incident. Either the water supply corporation failed to supply water or maybe there is a leakage in the pipe or maybe there can be a situation that the person had forgotten to pay the amount. There can be many probabilites which may lead to this circumstance. So, there can be many reasons for an incident which forces one to believe that there is a cause for the happening. Universal Determinism establishes the fact that behind every occurrence of event there is a cause.

2.4.7 Ethics Ethics is a branch of philosophy and is a system of moral principles. The term ethics is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ which means habit, character or custom. Through ethics one can identify about their roles, responsibilites and rights (Ethics: a general introduction, 2013). Ethics also know as moral philosophy helps one to make an idea of moral evaluations related to their actions.

2.4.8 Political Philosophy Political philosophy is the study which deals with politics, law, and the enforcement of a legal code. The four estates are Judiciary, Legislative, Executive and Press. Political Philosophy is often related to the legislative part of the four estates where it tries to analyze why a particular legal code has been made. It also emphasizes on the politcal belief and general view about certain political ideologies. Political philosophy not only looks into the present context of the law making process but it also deals with the history and evolution of the law (Political philosophy).

2.4.9 The Problem of Evil and Existentialism This issue has been dealt in many films like ‘The Seventh Seal (1957)’ and ‘The

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Rapture (1991)’.

18

The term existentialism is an intellectual term and was applied by the philosophers of late 19th and beginning of 20th century. The philosophers of the 19th century namely Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche are considered as the pioneers of this society. Existentialism is a composite structure involving philosophy and as well as literature (Stone, 2010). Existentialism is initiated with the human subject, rather the commencement of thinking subject. The term signifies that a human being’s existence is much more important than the essence. The individual characteristics carried by human beings and their individuality mostly matters. Later, the label or the stereotype which he/she receives over a period of time is known as the essence (Existentialism). The two film theorists Sergei Eisenstein and Siegfried Kracauer have worked extensively on the lines of Karl Marx’s philosophy. The essay named ‘Eisenstein, Kracauer and Marx: Socio-political Influence in Film Theory by Thomas F. Wylie talks about the attributes of Marx’s beliefs and ideas and how the two film theorists have put it in the films (Wylie, 1978, pp. 15-18).


Chapter 3: Methodology The researcher has chosen qualitative research methodology to understand and analyze the context of the films from the perspective of Marxism. The research problem is to understand and analyze the Marxist philosophy and critical social theory. There are many films which hold the ideology of Marxism. The Marxism theory mainly deals with class struggle, class conflict, economy struggle, alienation and hegemony. The power which the capitalists have through capitalism helps them to persuade their ideas in the society. The proletariats often struggle in the class conflict between the bourgeois and proletariat. The researcher’s efforts will be to study those films where these aspects have been portrayed by the filmmaker. Analyzing those films through a specific methodology will help the researcher to come to a conclusion. The researcher has followed the qualitative research methodology. Qualitative research methodology represents the quality. This quality is important to understand the characteristics of things. Moreover, quality helps to find the answers of what, how, when and where of a thing. These are associated with the essence and ambience of the thing. Qualitative research helps one to understand the concepts, meanings, definitions, attributes, metaphors, symbols and descriptions of things (Berg, 2001). Qualitative research is one kind of scientific research. Qualitative research holds similar attributes when compared to scientific research. Both look for the answer to the research question. Moreover, it tries to find the answer on a defined set of parameters. Both work on the lines of collecting data, followed by analyzing the data based on the set parameters. Later after analyzing the data, findings and conclusions can be made. Qualitative research helps the researcher to understand the ‘human’ side of an issue. It works on various kinds of opinions which are expressed, behaviors which are found and understanding of an issue which is portrayed. Moreover, the indescribable factors like class, society, caste, creed, religion are being recognized through this type of methodology. Through this research methodology the data collected from a sample can be extended to a larger mass having similar attributes

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. (Mack, Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, & Namey, 2005).

20

While designing the qualitative research methodology, the researcher had implemented the study of theory to comprehend followed by substantiating the study. Theories like Marxist theory and Auteur theory had been extensively used. The Oxford English Dictionary defines theory as a supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained. The theories (Marxist and Auteur) applied in this research had helped to understand various relations between one or more parameters, the attributes of the scenes present in the films, various

processes used by the

filmmaker to portray and establish the plots. Various patterns have been also identified through the help of the theory. Implementing the theories had helped the researcher to work extensively on the idea. The idea has been put in a frame with the practicing of the theories. In the later stages the data collection, analysis and conclusion had helped the researcher to get an overview understanding about the study, thus helping the researcher to achieve the objective. Content analysis, in-depth interview, focus group discussions and participant observation are the methodologies exercised by the researcher.

3.1 Content Analysis Content Analysis helps the researcher to observe the art of communication. Mostly these are presented in the form of written documents. The documents represent the verbal communication in a written format. Content analysis can be effortlessly applied to study any type of communication. Content analysis can be a part of both quantitative and qualitative research methodology. However, here the researcher had analyzed the films through content analysis of qualitative research methodology. Films are a kind of storytelling, a narration of either a set of stories, incidents or occurrences or all. Narrative analysis in films often begins with the usage of specific set of theories and the content in the films is analyzed from a qualitative textual approach (Berg, 2001). Content Analysis is classified into

Property of Christ University. ii. Latent Content Analysis Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. i.

Manifest Content Analysis

21

3.1.1 Manifest Content Analysis During the analysis of any form of art which can be either film, songs, lyrics of a song or speech, there are some elements in them which are being analyzed. Manifest content analysis analyzes the elements which are physically present and countable. This kind of analysis works on the surface of a message.

3.1.2 Latent Content Analysis However, latent content analysis goes in depth and it is extended to the interpretation of the symbols. Often these symbols are found beneath the physical data layer. Latent Content Analysis is the deep structural meaning transmitted in a message. Here, while analyzing the films the researcher has done the analysis though latent content analysis. The major elements or parameters which the researcher has identified to analyze the films through latent content analysis are as follows: a. Direction b. Subject matter/Theme c. Story d. Actors e. Mise en scène Direction According to Auteur Theory the filmmaker’s contribution and vision towards making of a film is considered as considered as the ultimate. In France before the advent of French New Wave, many prominent filmmakers used to discuss about the role of a filmmaker in making a film. André Bazin headed the French magazine Cahiers Du Cinéma. Many renowned directors who came to fame during the French New Wave constantly discussed about Auteur Theory in that

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. magazine. The film was considered as an art created by the director. Later

22

François Truffaut guided the French New Wave Cinema with the concept of Auteur Theory. A director’s point of view through direction on a certain theme becomes very important. The message which is disseminated to the audience through the film is highly influenced by the director. The camera angle, the camera movement, positioning of the characters, place of shot are all important to analyze a film and in that context direction plays one of the major roles in the representation of a specific ideology in a film. Certain colors or metaphors used are also one of the ways to define a specific scene of a film. The filmmaker contributes a lot in that feature by taking a stand by where, when, what and how is he/she going to make those objects visible on the screen. Theme The subject matter is one of the other important aspects in a film. There are certain ideologies and philosophies which are carried in a film. In a film which is based on Marxist ideology the content of the subject will help the researcher to identify the reason of choosing the theme of the film. Story After theme, story of the film is another key feature in a film. The stories related to Marxist ideologies are going to be very real. The issues which Marxism deals with are the issues faced by the people in the society. The class conflict and struggle, the problems faced by the labor class, the economic imbalance between the wage laborers and capitalists and the rich becomes richer and poor becomes poorer are the main points are mostly discussed in Marxism. To get a clear understanding on these, the story of the film becomes very important to interpret and analyze.


Actors The presence of certain actors becomes very important in visualizing a certain ideology through a film. On one hand there are cases where some specific actors are good in representing a certain ideology in a film. On the other hand many a times it has been observed irrespective of specific actors various ideologies have been portrayed well. Mise en scéne This is one of the ways to analyze a film. It was first used by the critics in Cahiers du cinema. It focuses on the presence of different objects in the picture. It consists of the presence of actors in specific locations in the stage. This puts the audience to analyze it from their point of view. Also, the presence of camera is another major aspect of the analysis done through mise en scéne (Lacey, 2005, p. 5). Mise en scéne also consists of: •

Sets, props and costumes which contributes to make the production design.

•

Color

•

Presence of lights

•

Actor’s presence and performance

•

Framing

•

Presence of diegetic sound

3.1.3 Advantages of Content Analysis The researcher had identified the content analysis to be useful and flexible. While analyzing the films through content analysis it was found that though the process was simple but quite effective. It didn’t have the complexities of making a questionnaire for a survey. The materials (here in this case films) were accessible and the entire research was cost efficient. The films, the parameters set helped the researcher to do

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. his research.

24

3.1.4 Disadvantages of Content Analysis Through content analysis the researcher was not able to find any relationship between the parameters set. The parameters had helped the researcher to understand the representation of the art form in the perspective of the theories set. In some cases, the researcher had also founded issues while trying to analyze the usage of certain camera angles or lighting through content analysis.

3.2 In-depth interview Among the entire qualitative research methodology methods in-depth interview are one of the most effective and frequent used methods. It helps the researcher to get inputs from people who are well versed in the relevant field. The in-depth interview conducted was face to face. The in-depth interview conducted had helped the researcher to understand the trends of using Marxist ideology in films. The researcher had conducted an unstructured interview to get narratives on specific topics. The questions were direct and open ended to get a vivid understanding on the topic. The interview data was recorded and as well as noted down by the interviewer.

3.2.1 Purpose of the interview The main purpose of the in-depth interview was to obtain information about the philosophy of Karl Marx and the portrayal of that philosophy in Cinema. The Marxist theory is based on certain strictures like class conflict, class struggle, economy struggle, cultural capital and ideology. The aim of the researcher was to identify these points in the films and thus get a broader understanding through the in-depth interview. The information collected after analyzing the films was helpful for the researcher while conducting the interview.


3.2.2 Logistics for interviewing While conducting an interview the researcher had a set of requirements which are as follows:

3.2.3 Choosing the interviewee 1. During the preparation of the interview, the interviewees were chosen based on their knowledge about films, film theories and Marxist theory. Based on these points, Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala. Neha Gupta, a first year Master’s student in Media Studies, Christ University, Bangalore. She had done her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and carries a good amount of knowledge in Marxism.

3.2.4 Equipments required for the interview A recorder able to record voice and stationary items like notebook, pen, pencils and eraser were used to write down the responses. The interview was taken in a spacious room located in the University campus, devoid of any interruption.

3.2.5 Question format The researcher has set the questions in an open ended format. The interviewee’s detailed response is important for the researcher. The answers of open ended questions have given the researcher a better understanding about the topic. Often through the answers the researcher has come across with the viewpoints and beliefs of the interviewee. On one hand the responses from Mr. C M Cyriac, has helped the researcher to substantiate his findings and content analysis done on the four films. His long experience in the political field has given the researcher a lot of viewpoints to be analyzed. His responses were based on the theoretical and practical experiences. On

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. the other Neha Gupta’s responses has helped the researcher to get acquainted with

26

various forms and entities used in Marxist theories and thought processes (viz. Classical Marxism, Neo Marxism, Capital, Class, Culture, etc.). These are being discussed by eminent philosophers like Karl Marx, Max Weber, Louis Althusser and many.


Chapter 4: Analysis

4.1 Content Analysis of ‘Strike (1924)’

4.1.2 Direction: Sergei Eisenstein was a Soviet film maker who was artistic, brilliant and passionate about the film making process. He was a theorist to. His early experiences of the arts were in theatre and graphic arts. His first full-length feature film Strike (1924) is considered as the pioneer in Montage editing. The plot of this film is based on political backdrop it with strong statements about collectivism. Eisenstein was an extremely cultured man who always preferred art and philosophy on screen. He was a socialist, a Marxist, a materialist and a Communist. He was a self styled Marxist and later the materialist film theory which he brought up became very popular among the audience, film critics and scholars. The Soviet Revolution encouraged him to make films on the concern of the people, the workers and others who were struggling in the country due to various reasons. Eisenstein through his films put forwarded a new theory (Roberge, 1985). He is considered to be as the “Father of montage”.

4.1.3 Theme: Strike was the first of a proposed series of eight films made by the Moscow Theatre of the Proletkult, under the general subheading ‘Towards the Dictatorship of the Proletariat’. The other seven films were never made (Nelmes, 2002, p. 428). Strike deals with the issues of factory workers. It is about their portrayal of oppression in an industry lead Soviet Russia. It is about the disputes, especially the confrontation with the factory owners and government forces. It ends up with the massacre of the strikes lead by the factory employee strikers and their families. Through this film Eisenstein came out with a revolution in the field of art. The revolutionizing of the aesthetics of theatrical forms has happened over a period of

Property of Christ University. material wasGive beingcredit put forward. mass manufacture of industry goods the using it. Use it for fair purpose. to theThe author by citing properly, if yourby are time (Taylor, 2010, p. 60). Through the subject matter of this film the concept of mass

28

industry labourers and their exploitation storyline by the factory owners are the significant attributes which have been portrayed here. The film is divided in six parts and they are as follows: 1. ‘All Quiet at the Factory’, 2. ‘The Immediate Cause of Strike’, 3. ‘The Factory Stands Idle’, 4. ‘The Strike is Protracted’, 5. ‘Engineering a Massacre’ and 6. ‘Slaughter’ (Nelmes, 2002, p. 428) According to the likes of Soviet filmmakers like Vertov, Pudovkin and Eisenstein Soviet Montage theory has a basic underlying philosophy. Often this philosophy has attracted the audience to enrich their visual experiences through this art form. Moreover, they believed that theory and filmmaking should be closely linked as the revolution was aimed to bring worker and peasant classes to power (Bordwell, 1972). Strike is a historically, aesthetically and theoretically distinctive political film that uses montage to easily and intellectually convey political ideas for general public viewing.

4.1.4 Story: The plot of Strike revolves around the issues and challenges faced the labor class people. The suffering of the Proletariat class of people under the hands of Bourgeois people is one of the main portrayals in this film. The class struggle and confrontations with the capitalists bring agony in a proletariat’s day to day life. The film starts with a quote by the great revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin which sates “The strength of the working class is organization. Without organization of the masses, the proletariat is nothing. Organized, it is everything. Being organized means unity of action, the unity of practical activity.” Throughout the film the echoes of this quote can be experienced.


Strike is a visual representation of the oppressed class people of the society. Its focus on the brutal and bizarre treatment of the workers by the bourgeois leaves the audience shell shocked. Strike tells of a suppressed group of factory workers 20 years before it was made. One can also view how the Bolsheviks (the workers), the administration and their spies worked. There are many scenes which helps one to understand the philosophy of oppression of the labor class people by the capitalist.

Figure 1: The odd and suspicious look of the director

In one of the starting scenes there is this man who has the odd and suspicious look on his face. This is followed by a scene where the administration people are busy and running around the office to make sure the work is being done. Later through one of the scenes, one comes to know that this person happens to be the director.


Figure 2: The spies inform the director

In another scene, one can see the example of an administration which is cunning and manipulative. The spies come to the director to report against the laborers about their activities in the factory and also about a possible agitation.

Figure 3: The workers are on the verge of a protest against oppression


In this scene, the workers start collecting the support of their fellow mates. They are in a happy mood, singing, walking and dancing to the tune of an accordion. Their pathos, sorrows and suppression in life are being suppressed through music and collective support from the members.

Figure 4: The moment when the body of the worker is shown hanging

A very significant scene in Strike in the part “Reason to strike” is Yakov, a factory worker hangs himself. The reason being he discovers that a micrometer has been stolen. However, he tries his best to find it, however when he didn’t he went up to the administration and informed the loss. However, the administration accuses Yakov of stealing the micrometer. This leaves him in sheer disappointment, as Yakov fails to convince that he is not the thief and he is innocent. Later, he hangs himself and leaves a letter telling his co-workers of the injustice he faced. This sparks the fight between the manager and the strikers.


Figure 5: The furious workers start running and protesting against the administration

The previous action where the worker hangs himself leads to the massive protest against the administration. They start leaving their work stations; throw away their tools and starts running with loud protests.

Figure 6: The mass comes one


This scene gives the audience to reflect a lot about the unity the labor class people bring forward. An incident brought the desolate and alienated workers to life protesting and raising their voices against protest.

Figure 7: The proletariats are united to fight against the capital

This is one of the defining moments where the mass is awake and is ready to fight against the capital. People who had the capital had the power. The same set of people who were having the power was controlling the mass. So, when for a moment that realization hit the workers that they can also fight against the oppression, they went for huge protests through various demonstrations.


Figure 8: Determined workers stand against the administration

The above scene from ‘Strike’ leads to the end of part 2. Still before the self hanging incident, the workers were alienated, oppressed and didn’t had any voice against the hard hitter capitalists, but later they got the smell of freedom which eventually stirred their thoughts and actions leading to strong believer of their strengths and the role they play in producing the industrial goods.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Figure 9: The shareholders read the demands of the workers

35

This is a scene where there is a portrayal in part 3 “The factory dies down”, where the shareholders and director read the demands of the workers. The shareholders and the director of the factory are discussing the demands of the workers. However, it is obvious to the audience are not convinced with the efforts of the shareholders and the director as the group discussing these demands do not take the workers seriously. The reason being the shareholders are in a jolly mood, where they are being shown drinking wine, smoking cigars and laughing with one another. None of them actually care about the workers. This scene is juxtaposed with the scene where the police raid the workers and it is cut back to the scene of the shareholders using the demand letter to clean up a spill. This leads the audience to get an understanding about the injustice towards the workers and their families. This has been effectively established through the use of montage as the film cuts to different scenes back and forth. There are many rhetoric moments in the film where Eisenstein has left a metaphor to the audience. For example, during the same turn of events where the shareholders are enjoying over drinks, one of the shareholders uses a juice squeezer. This can be rhetoric as it is an attempt to show the audience the ultimate consequences of the workers.

Figure 10: Non-diegetic image of a bull being slaughtered

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. In the last scene Eisenstein has showed the non diegetic image of a bull being

slaughtered. The bull doesn’t exist in the narrative but it is used as a metaphor to show 36

the killing of the laborers at the hands of the army. This is an attempt to demonstrate the viciousness of the army towards the people. It also represents army in a very negative way as it is under the control of the bourgeois class, rather than being an independent authority protecting the mass. The film undoubtedly ends in a tragic bloody tone as the laborers are slaughtered like the bull instead of being listened to or reasoned with properly. In conclusion, Strike is a powerful political film that stands out aesthetically and historically. Eisenstein developed montage theory can be seen extensively in this film and this can arguably be his overall style, to assemble a film that has many layers of meaning through visual effects so that spectators will feel the same injustice that the workers have felt by the higher “class” and be inspired to support the communist regime. Strike cannot be dismissed as a propaganda film, because while it is – Eisenstein’s innovation and style should not be over looked.

4.1.5 Actors: Grigori Aleksandrov played the role of the factory foremen who is considered as one of the protagonists of the film. Other than him there were many other characters like worker, chief of police, member of the strike committee and more. Aleksandr Antonov played the role of the member of the strike committee who is known for his role as Grigory Vakulinchuk in Sergei Eisenstein's another film ‘The Battleship Potemkin’.

4.1.6 Mise-en-scene: Mise-en-scene plays an important role in films like ‘Strike’ where Eisenstein has experimented with extensively with montage. Throughout the film, one gets to see many aspects of mis-en-scene which is vivid and has a very important role to play to explain the importance of the presence of the objects in the frame.


Figure 11: One of the opening scenes where reflection on the water is being shown

This scene first show that the feet of a man are on the water and later it goes out of the screen followed by reflection of men discussing is shown.

Figure 12: Reflection of discussion

Property of Christ University. with the help of credit reflection. capturing specificproperly, scene in aif usual Use it for fair purpose. Give to Unlike the author by aciting yourway, are using it. This scene and the last one expose the filmmaker’s style of depicting some scenes

38

Eisenstein has taken the help of the reflection to portray the scene. The reflection scene can be analyzed in two different ways. On one hand it can be considered that the filmmaker has shown the reflection of thoughts on the minds of the workers. On the other hand it can be also established that maybe the filmmaker may has asked the question to the audience about their perception of the scene. This is generally a metaphor which has been used meticulously to express the form of art.

Figure 13: The four spies are being shown through 4 frames

In this scene Eisenstein has meticulously divided the single frame into four different frames in a window format and has put the four spies in them. The intelligent usage of dividing one frame into four represents the process of making an ordinary scene to an extraordinary format through comprehensively using the art of mis-en-scene. Here, mis-en-scene is the positioning of characters in a frame and extensively using the setting, costume, lighting and movement of figures to represent the dynamism in the scene.


4.2 Content Analysis of ‘Battleship Potemkin (1925)’

4.2.1 Direction: ‘Battleship Potemkin’ was directed by Sergei Mikhaiolovitch Eisenstein. He was born in 1898 in Riga, Latvia in a middle class Jewish family. Eisenstein was a socialist, a Marxist, a materialist and a Communist. He was a self styled Marxist and later the materialist film theory which he brought up became very popular among the audience, film critics and scholars. The Soviet Revolution encouraged him to make films on the concern of the people, the workers and others who were struggling in the country due to various reasons. Eisenstein through his films put forwarded a new theory (Roberge, 1985). The Materialist Film Theory comprises of three attributes and they are mentioned below in pairs: •

Idealism or Realism

•

Spiritualism or Materialism and

•

Mechanism or Dialectics

4.2.2 Theme: Materialist films were known for its new content and new form. Through the new content and new form Eisenstein tried to use Cinema as a process to reach knowledge of the world. Eisenstein’s films were structured in a complex plot and he extensively used complex system of signs. He also brought the new form. For example in most of his films the objects which he used got more exposure time. Battleship Potemkin dealt on the true story of a mutiny. The mutiny happened on board in 1905. The themes it dealt with were anti-bourgeois, anti-idealist, anticapitalist and Marxism. Battleship Potemkin is a milestone film and many scholars and critics consider it as one of the best ten films ever made. The film is known for its

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. innovative way of assembling the images. Eisenstein extends most of his scenes in the

40

film to make a greater impact. For example, the open fire on the gathering leading to crowd panicking was extended to 11 minutes. Several shots were taken like people begging for mercy, praying, a woman carrying her bleeding child and walking up the steps and later she also gets struck with bullets, a lame person crawling to safety and more had left a great impact on the minds of the audience (Rao, 2009).

4.2.3 Story:

Figure 14: Part One

The film consists of five episodes. The first episode called ‘The Men and the Maggots’ deals with the issue where the sailors protest against the authority to have a worm infected meat.


Figure 15: Sergei Eisenstein hallmark

In the films of Eisenstein who was basically a Marxist filmmaker one can see extensive use of speeches or dialogues given by great leaders related to revolution. During the days of Russian revolution Vladimir Lenin had extensively contributed by theorizing and effectively politicizing the efforts of the working class against oppression.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Figure 16: The sailors are fed worm infected meat

42

The film has no story in connection with scenes arranged, no protagonist; it is just a documentation of an event. The sailors of Battleship Potemkin broke into a mutiny after returning from war. It happened due to the fact that they were being treated very badly with the basis amenities, especially food. In one of the scenes it shows the sailors were served worm infested meat.

Figure 17: Part Two

This lead to an outrage among the sailors and eventually it happened to be the beginning of a revolution. The captain of the ship who happens to be very diplomatic and aggressive orders his crew members to parade to the deck where they are trapped under a tarpaulin. Later, when the captain orders the other crew members to fire the sailors trapped under the tarpaulin, they break into mutiny. The mutiny has leaded to chase the officers and threw them overboard (Rao, 2009).


Figure 18: Vakulinchuk is shot by one of the officers

When the mutiny broke out Vakulinchuk as one of the leaders from the sailors’ raised his voice and gathered around the sailors. His revolutionary attitude even persuaded the rifle holders as they found out that they were killing their own brothers and they were unaware of the fact that the officers were only gratifying their selfish needs. Marx had stated in Communist Manifesto that to fight against social injustice a society needs a revolution. Vakulinchuk’s course of action was the starting of the revolution.


Figure 19: Part Three

After Vakulinchuk was shot the sailors took his corpse to the city where he was being laid so, that people can come in and pay their respect who initiated the revolution against injustice and capitalism.

Figure 20: People come in numbers to pay their respect People of Odessa come in thousands gather near his corpse to pay their tribute and

Property of Christ University. grit and courage protest. This results in another the ruler.if your are using it. Use it for fair purpose. Giveto credit to the author by revolt citingagainst properly, last respect. After sometime they go berserk leading to become determinant, gather

45

Figure 21: The crew initiates protest

This is the beginning of another revolt. Struck in grief the ship’s crew reads out the fellow citizens to take revenge against the oppressors. The sheer powers carried by the officers are extensively used to suppress the common citizens’ voices. With capital they control the people who work for them, control the workers of the society. They have the arms and ammunitions which they use against their countrymen only.

22: Part Four Property ofFigure Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 46

The incidents which happen in the Odessa staircase is Sergei Eisenstein’s one of the best creations so far. The extensive use of montage and different types of camera angles bring a live experience. The scenes are lethal and it catches the audience’s attention then and there. The czar’s troops arrive to drive out the pack. The troops advance down the steps and starts shooting the gathering to disperse them. This leads to the slaughtering of many innocent citizens.

Figure 23: Mass running away from bullets

Karl Marx had said that the capitalist system works on the basis of ownership and non-ownership of the means of production. The labor class doesn’t own the means of production like tools, capital and raw material or resources, so they have to use their power by working for the capitalists to survive. Marx has mentioned that due to capitalism the social bonds and feelings between people have been destroyed. It has also lead to the death of the human spirit. The filmmaker has portrayed that fact on screen with one of these scenes where they are running against bullet.


Figure 24: A mother carrying her son who is shot The above scene where a mother is standing in front of the Czar’s troops seeking for life elucidates many layers. Czar using his sheer power controls the troops with his orders which were quite impractical as the troops shot each and everyone, later the mother too. This brings out the huge class conflict among the people who are in power by owning the capital and people who don’t. This kind of relationship brings in ruptures in the society.

Figure 25: Part Five

Property of Christ University. carry towards theircredit fate. Thetoship against the massproperly, assassination and targets Use it for fair purpose. Give theprotests author by citing if your are using it. The last episode deals with the concern which the sailors of the battleship Potemkin

48

the Odessa Opera House. The sailors in the battleship Potemkin looks forward to join the people on land. But their ship is surrounded by other squadron ships. It presents a situation where the battleship Potemkin is all one in the fight against other squadron ships. There is a reluctant attitude about targeting as they are unaware about who is going to initiate the first attack. In the stage of huge uncertainty one fact came as a silver lining. It turned out to be their fellow mates in the other squadron ships. It resulted into no more war and peace prevailed.

4.2.4 Actors: The main members of cast in this film are Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky, Grigory Alexandrov and I.Bobrov. Here the presences of certain actors were not important to put forward certain ideologies of oppression and suffering. Moreover, Eisenstein as a self styled Marxist was able to bring out successfully the pathos of the working class, class conflict and economy struggle.

4.2.5 Mise-en-scene Through Mise-en-scene one gets the portrayal of all the visual elements of an art, especially of a theater or cinema. It is a French word and usually the four main aspects of mise-en-scene are setting, costume, lighting and movement of figures (Lathrop & Sutton). Sergei Eisenstein extensively used the montage editing in his work. Tomi Huttunen in the paper ‘Montage Culture’ extensively talks about the usage of montage in post Revolutionary Russia. The montage theory develops in Russia and later it has its influence on art, literature, theater, photography and painting (Huttunen, 2005). Montage is an editing technique which comprises of separate elements and either these elements can be related or unrelated. According to Montage theory there is a relationship between the author and his reader. The ideas, thought processes, ideologies are encoded by the author in his piece of art which in turn is decoded by the reader.


Use of montage

Figure 26: Montage - people running down the stairs

Figure 27: Montage - people running down the stairs.

In Battleship of Potemkin one can see that Sergei Eisenstein has depicted the thought

Property of Christ University. people in the state. One can find the various levels of propaganda being used by the Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. processes of those people who are being suppressed by the dominant and powerful

50

powerful people (in this case the officers and the leader of the troops). Later the vigorous propaganda leads to outburst and agitation by the sailors and the citizens of the state. As mentioned earlier the four main aspects of mise-en-scene are setting, costume, lighting and movement of figures, we will discuss them one by one about their usage in Battleship of Potemkin.

4.3 Content Analysis of Pratidwandi ‘The Adversary’ (1970)

4.3.1 Direction: Satyajit Ray was an Indian filmmaker and he began his career as a commercial artist. He is being admired across the globe by who all loves storytelling and technologies of cinema. The cinema fraternity understands his vision which he held towards his films. The films which he made were subtle and expressed the complexity of humans living in a society. A man’s various quests and his journey is often portrayed in his films. His storytelling method in cinema was class apart. He made his films in Bengali and as mentioned his plots revolved around human race. Their relationships, emotions, struggle, conflicts, joys and sorrows are delicately handled and portrayed well leaving a very strong message for the audience. Satyajit Ray was known as the master storyteller for his aptitude towards making films dealt with various issues and thus establishing successfully establishing the roots of Indian Cinema in the global perspective. He was inspired through the works of imminent and path breaking filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Charles Chaplin, David Lean, Vittorio De Sica and many more. On one hand he was an ardent follower of Italian Neo Realism films likes Bicycle Thieves and on the other hand films like ‘Pratidwandi’ portrays his influence of French New Wave in his direction. Jump cuts, dream sequences, metaphors depict that trend (A Brief Introduction to Satyajit Ray, 2011).

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if yourwhich are using it. society. After India’s independence from the British Raj in 1947 the concern Over a period of time Satyajit Ray has covered many aspect and issues of Indian

51

still stayed in India was the power of the zamindars (land lords). The attributes of Feudalism were very much prevalent. Shatranj-ke-Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977) depicts the feudal irresponsibility. He also took the onus on making films on sensitive issues as untouchability and an unjust Hindu cast system. Sadgati (Deliverance, 1981) does that for him (Cooper, 2000). Ritwik Ghatak was another stalwart filmmaker from Bengal who was very well connected with the ideology of Marxism and most of his films showed the revolution instinct of the protagonist protesting against the tyranny and oppression of the ruling class. However, Satyajit Ray’s world of films depicted the small facets of life expressing love, sorrow, emotions and many more expressions. But the film ‘Pratidwandi’ depicts the clash of ideologies. The differences of ideologies among the capitalists and the working class can be seen. It also the shows economy struggle and the beginning of a revolution against the ruling class (namely Naxalites Movement).

4.3.2 Theme: This film set in Calcutta during the late 1960s explores the various contrasting shades of the city. On one hand there is a serious dearth of jobs and employment and on the other hand still there are families who are well to do and are leading very high standards of living. The director tries to depict the social responsibility through this black and white film. The film revolves around the life of the protagonist Siddhartha. He belongs to a middle class Bengali family and starts looking out for a job when his father dies. Siddhartha has to leave aside his medical studies to support his family as in one of the scenes he says that his father didn’t leave plentiful savings for them. During that time period to be an honest employee and leaving ample savings was beyond the imagination. The means and mode of production are one of the important themes of this film. In a society where this is an unvarying clash of various ideologies, philosophies and thought processes one has to struggle a lot to earn bread and butter. The mode of production becomes the key element to establish a relationship in the

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. society. It is an economic relationship which shapes the society.

52

As Marx has explained the concept of “base” and “superstructure”, one of the themes of this film also explores the same. The economic system in a society represents the base whereas the values of a given society form the superstructure. ‘Pratidwandi’ represent the same ideology when on one hand it has been seen how the people are struggling to find enough jobs. The jobs are a representation of the means of production. On the other hand the ideological institution which forms the superstructure is not affected when the base struggles in the cat and mouse race. In one of the scenes it can be seen that there is a job vacancy for only four candidates and many have applied for the same. The mode of production affects the superstructure and it is a primary concern for the filmmaker here too. The economy struggle of the country during the 1960s and 70s was a prime concern. The lavish life led by the capitalists, the constant dearth of jobs, various policies favouring the bourgeois lead to Naxal revolution in the 1970s. The contributors to this movement were mostly students who were leaving schools, colleges and universities. They were called Naxalites and they were tough opponents of people like businessmen, policemen, politicians and against feudal system. The then chief minister of West Bengal Siddhartha Shankar Ray had put strong measures against the Naxalites. The police administration was given the full liberty curb this revolution and in that process many young students were being beaten to death (Naxalite). Satyajit Ray also explores the revolution phase in many of the scenes in Pratidwandi. Siddhartha’s younger brother Tunu is a student and is an ardent follower of Che Guevara, as he is being seen holding that book in one of the scenes. Actually this book on Che Guevara was gifted to him by Siddhartha; however it is Tunu who has got the inspiration of bringing a revolution and over a period of time he has become the supporter of the Naxalites’ revolution.


Figure 28: Siddartha holding the book on Ché Guevara

Satyajit Ray in one of the interviews with Cineaste magazine said that in this film one can find the two brothers Siddhartha and Tunu have two different sets of convictions. On one hand Tunu’s convictions’ are firm and resolute. He knows about the struggle of the mass and he is determined to join the Naxalites’ revolution. He is ready to raise his voice against the oppression of the proletariats. He is brave and his goals are set. On the other hand Siddhartha is a person who has vague ideas about his goals in life. After losing his father, he only has the aim to find a job and help his family. During the interview process when asked the question, “What is your aim in life?” He resolutely answers “Right now, it’s to find a job, Sir!” Satyajit Ray had mentioned that the character of Siddhartha is more appealing to him as he struggles in life and has doubts.

4.3.3 Story: The film ‘Pratidwandi’ is based on the novel by Sunil Gangopadhyay. The story of the film revolves around the life of the protagonist Siddhartha. It is set in Calcutta during the late 1960s explores the various contrasting shades of the city. During that period

Property of Christ University. as well as political turmoil. The incessant increase in corruption at all levels of the Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Calcutta and the whole country was under turmoil. There was economic turmoil and

54

society and the inflation of goods had cut a very sorry figure for the country. The country was also suffering from various protests by opponent political leaders. Strike was a common phenomenon of protest incurring loss. Later the then Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in the country where freedom of speech and expression was curbed from people and press (Chandra, Mukherjee, & Mukherjee). Some of the scenes which help one to understand the various themes in this film are discussed below:

Figure 29: Siddhartha standing on the footboard

After his father’s death Siddhartha leaves his medical studies and starts exploring for a job. In one of the scenes it is seen that in a crowded bus he is standing on the footboard. The filmmaker has expressed his view point well here. The mass of a society, in this case the travellers in the bus have to struggle to commute. Siddhartha is one of them. Lack of money and unemployment doesn’t give him a better choice of commuting rather than taking the crowded bus. Here, the commuters are being alienated. Here, alienation happens in two forms. On one hand it can be the alienation where the commuters are unable to experience the other modes of comfortable rides

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. like taking a cab. On the other hand there can be another form of it which is the

55

presence of capitalism which is able to produce goods and materials in plenty but it still creates alienation. People have the money to afford a cab or a private transport but still they prefer the local transport maybe because of its frequency and availability.

Figure 30: Siddhartha attending the job interview

The protagonist of the film during a job interview when asked about his aim in life, he firmly answers that at that juncture he has to find a job. This brings out the urgency of his thought process towards life. Again when asked about the most outstanding and significant event of the last decade, he takes some time and replies the war in Vietnam. He considers this event is far more significant than the great achievement accomplished by the human race when a group of scientists from NASA landed on the moon. He gives a reason that the technological advances have brought that achievement. It was predictable as over a period of time the technological revolutions which had leaded new products of science had made it easier. However, he says that the war was not unpredictable but it’s the strong and sheer resistance of the Vietnamese people which was unpredictable. The peasants protest is quite remarkable and opens many new horizons of human power. Here Siddhartha talks about the protest of the ordinary people which lead to a revolution.


For many years Vietnam had experienced bitter taste of war. First Indochina War and Second Indochina War had leaded to loss of property and human lives. Later, the guerrilla war by the Viet Congress and a more usual war by People’s Army of Vietnam had brought much devastation. Over a period of time incessant increase of American troops in Vietnam had leaded to Americanization of the war and place too. The My Lai Massacre is one of the shocking events ever happened in the history of war. The mass murder of more than 500 civilians by the US army soldiers brought almost the rest of the Vietnamese people on their toes to fight against the oppression. A large number of women and children started joining Viet Congress troops to fight the war of independence (My Lai Massacre, Effects and analysis). This empowerment and fight against the oppression by the common people was being reflected in the voice of Siddhartha. According to him this revolution was unpredictable as it neither had the existence of technological innovation nor it had the exploration of science, but what it had was the power and grit of the common protesting against all odds. Throughout this film we see two kinds of conflicts occurring in the life of the protagonist. On one hand the ideological conflicts with the other people. On the other hand the conflict within him. His passion towards making a change in the society and his subjugation idea of being a leader in the society brings the conflict through an extended dream. In one of the scenes it can be seen when he sees the book on Ché Guevara his imagination transforms to dream where he sees himself like Ché Guevara with long beard and moustache. The photographs depicted below expresses it.


Figure 31: Transformation phase no. 1

Figure 32: Transformation phase no. 2


Figure 33: Transformation phase no. 3 Moreover, these transformation phases showed in the film brings the concept of defining an ideology. The book titled ‘What is Film Theory? An Introduction to Contemporary Debates’ by Richard Rushton and Gary Bettinson extensively discusses about the ideological aspects. While doing so the authors relate their understanding with the essay ‘Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses’ by Louis Althusser. Louis Althusser was a Marxist philosopher and his essay had given a very distinct and apparent view about ideology. To define ideology or ideological state apparatuses the author had explored various aspects of human life and society, such as law and order, imagination, relationships, subjects and science. According to Althusser, “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” He argues that ideology is an imaginary approach to find an individual’s experience to real conditions but it is not because of ideology, an individual’s existence in the real conditions comes out to be imaginary. It means real conditions are very much present and experienced in the society by and individual and the process by which the ideology represents those conditions stands out to be imaginary. Althusser had got insight of the word ‘imaginary’ from Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theories. In one of the theories where the concept is called ‘mirror stage’, Lacan’s argues that human

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. beings aged between 6 to 18 months grow the notion that they are individuals. They perceive themselves as individuals who are separated from other people and materials 59

of the society. This perception divides the feeling of a child towards his own body and the way he feels or imagines about how his body looks. It means that the difference of feeling towards the real body which the child lives in and another body which the child imagines it has. The body which the child imagines is the body the child symbolizes itself (Rushton & Bettinson, 2011, p. 36). Similarly, in this film when Siddhartha finds himself to look like Ché Guevara the filmmaker tries to bring the notion that his personal experience with the real conditions in society puts across an ideology which is an imaginary. The rebellious instinct of Ché Guevara can be seen inside Siddhartha with the transformation on his looks. Siddhartha is struggling a lot after his father passed away, leaving him no option to discontinue his medical studies and start looking for a job. However, it becomes very difficult for him to get a job during those days as the economy is struggling to survive. His dreams and ambitions take a toll and he forms an imaginary ideology of being a rebellious character.

Figure 34: Siddhartha's outburst against the management This rebellious character which was previously seen as an imaginary ideology of Siddhartha comes out to be real when during a job interview he questions the management. The job interview happens in one of the days when the mercury level is

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. high leading to exhaustion. It can be seen that there are many applicants standing in a

long corridor waiting for their turn in the selection process. The exhaustion, the 60

management’s whimsical decision not to keep enough chairs for seating purpose and the decision of lunch break persuades the protagonist to protest which is followed by an outburst.

4.3.4 Actors: The actors were Dhritiman Chatterjee, Jayshree Roy, Debraj Ray and Krishna Bose.

4.3.5 Mise-en-scene: In a film by Satyajit Ray one can find out many instances of the usage of mise-enscene. In the film Pratidwandi, the filmmaker had intelligently used the essence of mise-en-scene through dreams. The protagonist Siddhartha visualizes many aspects of life through dreams. He constantly faces a conflict within himself and also within the society. That reflection is portrayed adequately through mis-en-scene.

Figure 35: Usage of negative image as a technology For example, his job interview is captured in a dream. This has been shown with the usage of negative images.


Figure 36: Siddhartha's sister as a model Siddhartha dreams that his sister gets through modelling and is shooting on a beach. The framing of his sister is done by maintaining one third rule of photography.

Figure 37: Negative image showing the firing squad In another dream Siddhartha finds his younger brother, a Naxalite in front of a firing squad. Again the negative image technology has been used here to portray the firing squad.

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit the author properly, your are incidents happening with to Siddhartha’s life.by In citing some cases those if incidents are using it. Satyajit Ray has meticulously used the camera, the techniques of it showing the

62

happening in his real life and some in his dreams. Satyajit Ray in most of his does his story boards for the films and as well as cinematography. The scenes leave a long lasting effect on audience’s minds when it comes to mis-en-scene.

Figure 38: Light and Shadow play This film is all about the conflict which the protagonist goes through in his life and in the society. It is a representation of class conflict and the economy struggle faced by men like Siddhartha who belongs to a middle class family. The literal meaning of ‘Pratidwandi’ is opponent. In the film it can be seen that Siddhartha as a character has to live a life by facing many opponents or competitors. Sometimes the opponents are the ones in the society who are ruling and in some cases it’s his mind that does the conflict. His mind becomes his opponent. In unconscious level, he used to think continuously about his life and struggle. He has to leave his medical studies to get a job and that disappointment is always protruding out as a scar. In the above scene, Satyajit Ray has attractively used the light and shadow to go into the depth of philosophy. On one hand one can find that outside the glass doors there is light, however shadows can be seen inside the room. Even there is a fair amount of light in the room, but it is the shadows which attracts the most. In Siddhartha’s life also there is light outside his physical body, however, inside he is struggling to find a silver lining and till then it’s the shadow which is bringing out those dreams.


4.4 Content Analysis of ‘Lal Salam (1990)’

4.4.1 Direction: The film is directed by the late Venu Nagavalli who has made immense contributions to the Malayalam industry. Starting his career as an actor, Venu Nagavalli has written scripts and directed several hit Malayalam movies starting from the late 1970s. The ace artist worked on films which went on to become major hits and some of his popular films as a director include Sukhamo Devi, Sarvakalashala, Lal Salam and Aye Auto. The influence of Venu’s educational background is quite clearly seen in some of his works as a writer and director. Films such as Lal Salam and Raksthasakhikal Zindabad are examples of his ideology and belief towards the left-wing politics. Having finished his graduation with a Bachelor Degree in Politics, Venu Nagavalli’s oeuvre had strains of his left learning. He headed the production wing of a pro-left television channel and with films like Lal Salam; he attempted to take an introspective look at the rise and fall of communal politics. He tends to deal with the issue of cracked political movements and its impact on human relationships. In the film Lal Salam, the director takes a straightforward approach in dealing with the projection of Marxism belief. The narration is kept simple and the viewers receive the strong belief of the director in Marxism right from the start of the film. Taking a dig on the power structure and their view on Marxist leader, Venu Nagavalli offers a transparent depiction of Marxist party movement struggles. The harsh truths of the communal leaders trying to bridge the gap between the ‘haves and the have-nots’ are depicted symbolically with the help of songs, dialogues and various scenes, all kept at the right places. Venu Nagavalli also portrays the influence of power structure on human relationships and clearly brings out the fall of Marxist party ideals.

4.4.2 Theme:

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. credit to the author byfilm citing if which your asks are using it. becomes theGive dominant feature of this film. The has aproperly, parallel track The beliefs, characteristics and the consequences of communist party movement

64

questions about the influence of power structure on human relationships. Lal Salam is Venu Nagavalli’s first of his two films, which is done with the theme on Marxism. The second film on the same lines was Rakthasaakshikal Zindabad. Lal Salam, through its main protagonist gives the story of Marxist believers and their struggle to establish their ideology on a larger scale of the society. The taboo behind the term ‘communism’ in the city of Kerala when a National Party was in rule is efficiently dealt in the film and the long fight of communal leaders and followers in sustaining the presence and functioning of the party is grippingly brought by the film crew. The impact of people being in political power on human relationships and the essence of party (Marxist/Communist) beliefs being lost in the rush of political responsibilities is also dealt in the film. The upper class reputation and their living standards not colliding with the simple yet strong aims of Marxist leaders is also depicted in the film Lal Salam. Owing to its success with the critics and audience alike, the film is considered as one of the best Malayalam political movies till date and has received a cult status in the state.

4.4.3 Story: The story is about the early days of Communist Party in Kerala. The film revolves mainly around 3 protagonists - Nettoor Stephen (Mohanlal), T.K Antony (Murali) and Sethulakshmi (Geetha). These 3 protagonists play hardworking and powerful comrades working extensively towards the empowerment of Communist party. Set during the days when practicing the ideologies of Marx was illegal, the three leaders worked hard in order to end the difficulties of daily wage laborers and other proletarians in the village, thereby planning to end the rule of existing landlords. The three leaders unfortunately land up in jail as they are wrongly accused of killing a landlord during a farmers’ uprising. Their attempt to stay in the hiding goes futile as their followers and poor laborers are troubled greatly by the Kerala State Police in

Property of Christ University. surrender toGive police.credit Sethulakshmi A K Antony love each other andifget married. Use it for fair purpose. to theandauthor by citing properly, your are using it. order to find a way to get to the leaders. Thus to stop these atrocities, these leaders

65

Nettooran and Annamma, daughter of the village landlord get married against the wishes of the landlord. When they returned after their term in jail, they again began to work towards party establishment and in the coming election of State Legislative Assembly, T.K Antony and Sethulakshmi goes on to contest and the Communist party emerges winner. Sethulakshmi is chosen as the Home Minister and T.K Antony goes on to become the Finance Minister. When Nettooran Stephen finds himself with less money and when he is unable to spend during the important time of his wife’s pregnancy, he seeks the advice of Antony to come out of this helpless situation. Antony advices him to start a business and thus, slowly Nettooran Stephen goes on to become a successful business man. With this he takes a sabbatical from the party, though he doesn’t like to do it. Post the electoral success, the capitalist attitude hits Sethulakshmi and she is unable to retain the communist beliefs which once were her main mantra. There are conflicts of ideologies and Sethulakshmi further learns about an illicit relationship of her husband Antony with a poor woman and thus gets herself separated from him. When Nettooran wishes to return to the party but party members does not allow him as he was a businessman which is against the communist ideologies. The end, where Nettooran stands in front of the burial place of his friend T.K Antony with Antony’s friend, he pledges that he will make his son a better communist; it signifies that the party movement and struggle to empower party followers will continue.


Figure 39: The red flower is used as a metaphor to portray the color of Marxism

The above picture is one of the opening scenes of the film where the director has cleverly used the red flower as a metaphor to represent the ideology of Marxism. The filmmaker has intuitively used the red flower as the color red represents passion and flower represents love. In a way, the red flower not only represents a certain ideology but also the passion and love towards Marxism.

Property of Christ University. Figure 40: The leaders after coming out of jail Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 67

In another opening scene it can be seen that three people who are the leaders of their political party comes out of jail with their fists raised in salute to the party and its leaders.

Figure 41: The leaders join the procession after coming out of jail After coming out of Jail, the three protagonists with their other political members march. The filmmaker has begun the film with a portrayal of unrest among the people.

Figure 42: Nettoor and Annamma talking and at the backdrop presence of

Property University. photographsof of Christ Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. 68

From this figure it can be seen the setup of a room. While Nettoor and Annamma talking one can see the symbols at the backdrop which portrays Marxism and the Marxist movement brought out by the political leaders. The red flags, the drawing of hammer and sickle on the wall and the frames of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin portray the ideal attributes of people practicing Marxism.

Figure 43: The people are working undercover As the members of the Communist political party are under the target of the capitalists and in some cases police administration, most of the times they have to undercover. To empower the labor class people of the society these people discusses various issues and try to find out solutions to them. However, if these discussions are happening under the broad daylight where they are vulnerable to threat it will leave their ideologies go in sheer void.


Figure 44: Nettooran Stephen, the Communist leader is explaining to his lover how being a Communist is tough

In this scene it can be seen that Nettooran Stephen is trying to make Annamma understand the dangerous life he leads. He has to handle a lot of risks to fight against the capitalists in the battle of trying to liberate the proletariats from the bondage of suppression. To fight for the proletariats and to abolish the class struggle is one of the main objectives. However, he doesn’t want to bring other people whom he loves in the same zone. He also tells her that she should not tell this to anyone.


Figure 45: Holding meeting to find out the party's functioning To fight against the oppression of capitalists by making people aware about their rights is an illegal task for the police administration. So, most of them are working undercover, without anybody’s knowledge in order to stay from being doubted. They hold meetings to decide and how they can function.

Figure 46: Fight between Nettooran Stephen and the sons of the village landlord


When Nettooran wanted to meet Annamma, the sons of the village landlord protested against him and tried not to allow him to speak to Annamma by citing that he is a Communist.

Figure 47: The protagonists surrender When wrongly accused of killing a landlord, the Communist Leaders Stephen and Antony tries to prove their innocence by staying undercover. But the police, showing the ugly side of power structure goes on to torture innocent laborers in the name of finding where the leaders are hiding. Thus, Stephen and Antony surrender to end the atrocities on the powerless people.


Figure 48: Celebrations of the party's victory at Church

From this snapshot one can find that Stephen is celebrating the victory of the Party in front of the Church. During the imprisonment of Antony and Stephen, the party has grown popular and has become an extensive political power. The party comes out victorious in the State Assembly elections.

Figure 49: Annamma is being carried to the hospital


Stephen’s celebration with the other party members shows that over a period of time his love and passion for the party has not decreased a bit, even though now he is a married man. His dedication even makes him unaware about his wife’s pregnancy complications where she is being carried to the hospital.

Figure 50: Sethulakshmi is under oath as the home minister

As the Communist Party emerges winner in the State Assembly Elections, there is a sudden shift in the lives of the three leaders. Antony and Sethulakshmi are sworn in as Finance and Home Minister respectively, whereas Stephen decides to remain as the same old ambassador of the party by adopting simple lifestyle.


Figure 51: Headed conversation between Sethulakshmi and Antony When Sethulakshmi becomes aware of her husband Antony having another wife, she goes berserk and she decides to end the relationship with him. She also begins to get detached from the Party and Party ideology. Nettooran as a common man goes through a lot of hardship. He is unable to finance his family and the poverty days have struck him and his family very badly. He goes to his friend Unnithan for advice who suggests Nettooran to sets up a small business. He does that and afterward the business prospers and he becomes one of the most powerful business people in the state. Later Nettooran doesn’t get to re-join the party. The party thinks that his life as a businessman will be unable to understand the Marxist ideology. His name as a party member is disregarded which leaves him aghast and leaves the meeting in disappointment.


Figure 52: Lal Salam to Antony

T.K Antony dies in a car accident and Stephen is shown standing in front of his burial place with Antony’s son. The scene depicts a new beginning as Stephen speaks to Antony’s buried body and pledges that he will make his son a better Communist in the years to come. The film ends with Stephen saluting his grave and giving a ‘Lal Salam’. ‘Lal Salam’ is a familiar gesture between the people carrying the ideologies of Marxism and Communism. It is a code used to either say hello or bid goodbye. The word ‘Lal’ means the color red and ‘Salam’ means salute. The color red is the traditional color used by the believers of Marxism and Communism. The film titled by the same name is a tribute paid to the people of Communism who over a period of time have contributed a lot by fighting against the oppression of the Capitalists in the society. They have become voice of the voiceless and strength of the weak. Their simple life with sheer commitment and dedication towards making the society a better place to live has been given its due respect through this film by the filmmaker.

4.4.4 Actors:


The film Lal Salam revolves around three main protagonists, who are playing the role of Communist leaders. Mohanlal, Murali and Geetha play these roles and it is their excellent performances which helps the film to grow stronger as a work of art. Their introduction, transformation and change in the character are the backbone of the film as the filmmaker is able to send out the messages of Marxist philosophy to the audience due to their convincing acting. The character etched out to them are meticulously presented on screen and thus this enables the film to display the struggle of Communist leaders to empower daily wage laborers and stop the capitalist rule of landlords and the privileged class.

4.4.5 Mise en scéne: The filmmaker Venu Nagavalli through the film ‘Lal Salam’ has paid tribute to those who have been committed and dedicated towards their objective of helping the proletarians in the society. Throughout this film one can see the extensive of the color ‘red’. The red color often represents the ideology of Communism. Moreover, the red flags consisting of hammer and sickle represents the labor class people. Often the means of production is made through the usage of hammer and sickle.

4.5 In-depth Interview The researcher has conducted three in depth interviews to get a substantial understanding about Marxism and its portrayal in films. The interviewees chosen were 1. Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala. He is a Marxist and he had joined the political party CPI (M), when he was 18 years old. Now, he is 60 years old and holds an extensive knowledge about Marxism and Cinema. 2. Neha Gupta, currently pursuing Masters in Media Studies, Christ University, Bangalore. She had graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi with Political Science Major and has an extensive knowledge about Marxist


philosophy. She also has a profound interest in understand Marxism by keeping the present social context as a frame of reference.

4.5.1 An analysis of Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala’s interview When asked Mr. C M Cyriac about his thoughts on the portrayal of Marxism in films, he said that there are many kinds of themes like love, revenge, social factors, politics, etc. are being portrayed on the screen. He considers Marxism, as a social or a political factor. According to him, Marxism is one of the biggest political ideologies in the world, so portrayal of it is a common thing in film as well as story. According to him, the films carrying the philosophy of Marxism show the inequalities in the society, limitations of capitalism and privatization. Moreover, class struggle and class conflict will be a direct or an indirect outcome. Often indirect representation of class conflict adopts a specific situation which is a minute entity in the society. He feels if a film shows that society is emerging against any particular social or political factor then that film is based on Marxism. Revolution, in the society is one of the major attributes of Marxism. He stresses on the fact that Marxism is against the inequality happening in the society. A film which is trying to correct the inequalities in any manner can be considered as a film made from the Marxist point of view. Often these views are based on differences in religion, caste and others. For him, adaptation of socialism in a film is an outcome of the direct portrayal of class struggle. He thinks that the modern day films present more about the economy struggle rather than the class struggle. However, the presentation of cultural degradation due to globalization is seen in the present day films. When asked whether, he has found any instances of Indian lives being shown in the films from the Marxist point of view. He says there are many instances and he remembers one film Kathapurushan (1995) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and made in Malayalam which significantly portrays class conflict and class struggle. According to him, it is the dramatization of Kerala’s history since the onset of India’s

Property of Christ University. from his uncle Vasu, who became Gandhianby andciting later a Marxist. Kunjunni too gets Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to thea author properly, if your are using it. independence struggle. The protagonist of the film Kunjunni draws heavy inspiration

78

drawn towards leftist ideology during his college period. He thinks that Communism or Marxism offers cure for social ills and inequalities. To fulfill and gratify his desires he joins a Maoist group where he leads by his intellectual thoughts. When asked whether Marxist attributes like capital, class struggle, class conflict, economy struggle and cultural capital are present in today’s films. He takes examples of films like Ritu (2009) which talks about class struggle and ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi (2013) which portrays class conflict.

4.5.2 An analysis of Neha Gupta’s responses She considers Marxism as an ideology is strongly portrayed in films. Often it starkly brings about the class struggle to the forefront. According to her the ownership of means of production makes one class of individuals very dominating and oppressive. It brings out their dominance towards the workers. She firmly believes films carrying Marxist philosophy also carry the notion of alienation of labor. It runs like a central thread and the ‘revolution’ is caused due to the workers uniting to revolt against the elites, often known as bourgeoisie. When asked whether she has come across with films where Indian lives are being portrayed from the Marxist point of view. She says the film ‘Pratidwandi’ effectively brings out the portrayal of Marxism. She sees the character Siddhartha struggling to find a job in a capitalist ridden political set up of the state is the representation of class struggle. According to her the working class is seen battling with the adversities due to the policies favoring the bourgeoisie. It aptly portrays the Indian society in the midst of Marxist web. She happens to find the elements of class struggle, class conflict, economy struggle and cultural capital in today’s films. Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (2013) is the film which she considers to bear the traits. She says that this movie captures the cynical businessman who dreams of turning the Mandola village to a Special Economy Zone

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. by plotting against the villagers to sell the land at throw away price to the

79

Government. The African dancers in the movie have a subtle influence and mark of neo-colonialism resembling techniques and operations of capitalism in global society. Other than films Neha Gupta also brought some exemplary viewpoints which can be considered as a good way of understanding Marxism and its influence in the society from times immemorial. According to her ‘The Civil War in France’ - “Commune” by Marx regarded as the harbinger of a new society. It was regarded as the first major rebellion of the modern industrial proletariat. France according to Marx would present the apt example in a struggle between capital and labor. Karl Marx’s address to the General Council of the International Working Men’s Association in London talks about the importance of Commune and its lessons for future socialist movements. She also thinks that Marxism can be linked to the idea of Colonialism in India unleashing elements of modernization which would be exploitative given the role East India Company played in the country. She stresses on the point that Marx does mention about the regenerative forces of the colonial rule as well.


Chapter 5: Recommendations and Conclusions The portrayal of Marxism in films is not a new trend and it is present from the early days of 20th century. While analyzing the films ‘Strike’, ‘Battleship Potemkin’, ‘Pratidwandi’ and ‘Lal Salam’, the researcher has found a common thread in between these films. Class conflict, class struggle and economy struggle leading to a revolution against the capitalists is one of the common observations. Often the revolution occurs either in a community or in a society. On one hand Sergei Eisenstein, the Russian self styled Marxist filmmaker and film theorist has extensively portrayed the lifestyle and their struggle in a society driven by the bourgeoisie values and on the other hand it can be seen Indian filmmakers like Ritwik Ghatak, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Venu Nagavalli and many others have also worked on the same lines. Class struggle is portrayed when the proletariats are unable to find jobs or are being oppressed by the bourgeoisie class profoundly. In ‘Pratidwandi’ it can be seen the protagonist is going through the same phase, where he finds it very difficult to find a job. The economic system in a society represents the base whereas the values of a given society form the superstructure. ‘Pratidwandi’ represents the same ideology when on one hand it has been seen how the people are struggling to find enough jobs. The jobs are a representation of the means of production. On the other hand the ideological institution which forms the superstructure is not affected when the base struggles in the cat and mouse race. Neha Gupta, one of the interviewees has also the same kind of response about class struggle where she considers Marxism as an ideology in films starkly brings about the class struggle to the forefront. According to her the ownership of means of production makes one class of individuals very dominating and oppressive. It brings out their dominance towards the workers. Class conflict is another major attribute of Karl Marx’s philosophy. The constant ideological conflict within one individual’s mind or the conflict of ideologies of the

Property of Christ University. the society Give is classified superstructure base is the meansare of using it. Use it for fair purpose. creditintoto base the and author by citingwhere properly, if your individual with the society is one of the aspects of class conflict. According to Marx,

81

production and superstructure is the layer formed by the ideology of the society. So, over and over again with capital and power not only there is a conflict but also a void which is created in the society. There is a dearth of humanity. As seen in the films analyzed by the researcher that when the mass is aware of this fact it becomes ready to fight against the capital. People who had the capital had the power. The same set of people who were having the power was controlling the mass. So, when for a moment that realization hit the workers that they can also fight against the oppression, they went for huge protests through various demonstrations. Also, class conflict can be a representation of an ideological conflict within oneself. According to Louis Althusser, “Ideology represents the imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence.” He argues that ideology is an imaginary approach to find an individual’s experience to real conditions but it is not because of ideology, an individual’s existence in the real conditions comes out to be imaginary. In the films ‘Strike’ and ‘Pratidwandi’, the same conflict can be seen within an individual. On one hand in ‘Strike’ before the laborers goes for a strike, they have the dilemma within themselves whether their action is justified. On the other hand the protagonist of ‘Pratidwandi’ sometimes faces an ideology crisis. He believes in the ideology of Marxism and Communism, where he talks about the revolution in Vietnam by the Vietnamese against Americanization. He says that the Vietnamese peasants have showed great courage in protesting against the atrocities. However, in the present world he finds people bearing the same ideology is struggling in the society. When a person starts believing in the ideology of Marxism, naturally there is a paradigm shift from ‘Capitalism’ to ‘Means of production’. People following the ideology often concentrates more on the values of life by leading a simple life rather than finding the comfort bought through capital. However, to run a family he needs capital and for that he needs a job. So, during those phases he goes through the inside ideological conflict about his course of action. Mr. C M Cyriac, Area Secretary CPI (M) Kottayam, Kerala during the in-depth interview talks about understanding or analyzing a film from the Marxist point of view which brings class struggle and class conflict either as a direct outcome or an

Property of Christ University. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. indirect one.

82

According to him inequality in the society is being fought by bringing the ideology of Marxism. The film ‘Lal Salam’ portrays the three protagonists’ hard work in order to end the difficulties of daily wage laborers and other proletarians in the village, thereby planning to end the rule of existing landlords. The researcher has also observed in all the four films that the filmmaker has used meticulously portrayed the events happening through mise-en-scene. All the four films have been shot both indoors and outdoors. During the indoor shooting the filmmakers have taken the help of external source of light to portray struggle of the individual, whereas in the outdoor shooting various locations have been chosen to portray the life of an individual or a group of people. An actor’s facial expression has complemented well with the setting of light and props chosen in the film.

Limitations The researcher felt that more films based on Marxist ideology could have been taken from other countries too like China, Cuba and others. The researcher also felt an in depth interview from a filmmaker could have given more insights on the research. A focus group discussion through the participation of scholars or political leaders bearing a comprehensive knowledge about Marxism and films could have been done.

Recommendations •

More in depth study with more parameters can be done.

•

A further study on comparing the Russian and Indian films bearing the Marxist ideology can be done.

•

A further study on new generation Indian films portraying the issues of class conflict, class struggle can be done.

•

A study on European cinema portraying the issues of struggle and conflict can be done.


References

A Brief Introduction to Satyajit Ray. (2011). Retrieved November Monday, 2013, from satyajitray.org: http://satyajitray.org/about_ray/introduction.htm Barnett, Lisa A. and Michael Patrick Allen. “Social Class, Cultural Repertoires, and Popular Culture: The Case of Film.” Jstor 15 (2000): 146. Bensaid, Daniel. Marx for Our Times. Trans. Daniel Elliott. London: Verso, 2002. Berg, B. L. (2001). Qualitative Research Methods For The Social Sciences. Needham: A Pearson Education Company. Bordwell, D. (1972). The Idea of Montage in Soviet Art and Film. Texas: University of Texas Press. Bourdieu,

Pierre.

The

Forms

of

Capital.

1986.

Wednesday

June

2013

. Chandra, B., Mukherjee, M., & Mukherjee, A. (n.d.). India After Independence 19472000. Penguin Books. Cooper, D. (2000). Library of Congress Online Catalog. Retrieved November Monday,

2013,

from

http://catalog.loc.gov/:

http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99024768.pdf Elster, J. (1999). Karl Marx: A Reader. New York: Cambridge University Press. Ethics:

a

general

introduction.

(2013).

Retrieved

from

bbc.co.uk:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml


Existentialism.

(n.d.).

Retrieved

from

wikipedia.org:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism Joseph, Jonathan. Marxism and Social Theory. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2000. Greco, J. (2013, November Saturday). philpapers. Retrieved from philpapers.org: http://philpapers.org/browse/skepticism Huttunen, T. (2005, September Thursday). MONTAGE CULTURE. Retrieved July Wednesday, 2013, from http://www.helsinki.fi/. Joseph, J. (2006). Marxism and Critical Theory. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Lacey, N. (2005). Introduction to Film. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Lathrop, G., & Sutton, D. O. (n.d.). Welcome to Proseproductionsink, LLC. Retrieved July Wednesday, 2013, from http://www.proseproductionsink.com/. Litch, Mary M. Philosophy Through Film. Second. New York: Routledge, 2002. Livingston, Paisley. Cinema, Philosophy, Bergman. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K. M., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2005). Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector's Field Guide. Retrieved from

fhi360:

http://www.fhi360.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Qualitative%20Res earch%20Methods%20%20A%20Data%20Collector's%20Field%20Guide.pdf Marx, Karl. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1. 1999. Wednesday June 2013 .

Property of Christ University. Publishing Ltd, 2004. Use it for fair purpose. Give credit to the author by citing properly, if your are using it. Miller, Toby and Robert Stam, A Companion to Film Theory. Oxford: Blackwell

85

My Lai Massacre, Effects and analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Lai_Massacre#Effects_and_analysis Naxalite. (n.d.). Retrieved November Monday, 2013, from Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naxalite#Violence_in_West_Bengal Nelmes, J. (2002). An Introduction to Film Studies. London: Routledge. Political

philosophy.

(n.d.).

Retrieved

from

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_philosophy Rao, H. N. (2009). The Most Memorable Films of the World. Bangalore: Prism Books Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved July Wednesday, 2013 Roberge, G. (1985). The Subject of Cinema. Kolkata: Seagull Books. Retrieved July Wednesday, 2013 Rushton, R., & Bettinson, G. (2011). What is Film Theory? An Introduction to Contemporary Debates. Jaipur: Rawat Publications. Wayne, Mike. Marxism and Media Studies. Delhi: Aakar Books, 2009. Stone, T. R. (2010, October Monday). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from stanford.edu: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/ Suber, P. (1996). Classical Skepticism; Issues and Problems. Retrieved from http://legacy.earlham.edu/: http://legacy.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/skept.htm Taylor, R. (2010). Sergei Eisenstein Selected Works. London: I.B. Tauris. Westacott, E. (2005, May Sunday). Relativism. Retrieved from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/relativi/


Wylie, T. F. (1978). Eisenstein, Kracauer and Marx: Socio-political Influence in Film Theory. Journal of the University Film Association, 30. Retrieved July Tuesday, 2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20687434


Appendix 1

REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS This in depth interview questions is for the purpose of collecting data for the research of my P. G Dissertation entitled ‘REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS’, for the partial fulfilment of M S in Communications at Christ University. Kindly respond to the questions. This data will be used only for academic research, still in compliance with personal privacy. Saurabh Das II M. S in Communication Christ University 1. What do you think about the portrayal of Marxism in films? 2. What are the parameters have you identified for considering films having the Marxist Philosophy? 3. What are the instances where you had find that Indian lives are being portrayed from Marxist point of view? 4. Some of the major attributes of Marxism are Capital, Class Struggle, Class Conflict, Economy Struggle and Cultural Capital. Do you think that these are seen and present in the today’s films? If so could you please give some examples?


Appendix 2

The films borrowed from the video parlor is for the purpose of viewing and doing a content analysis on them for the research of my P. G Dissertation entitled ‘REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS’, for the partial fulfilment of M S in Communications at Christ University. Kindly respond to the questions. This data will be used only for academic research, still in compliance with personal privacy Saurabh Das II M. S in Communication Christ University 1. Strike – marketed by Amazon.com 2. Battleship Potemkin – marketed by Amazon.com 3. Pratidwandi ‘The Adversary’ – released by Shradha Home Video. 4. Lal Salam – released by Moserbaer India Ltd.

.


REPRESENTATION OF CLASS STRUGGLE AND CLASS CONFLICT IN FILMS: A MARXIST ANALYSIS

Recommend Documents