Film Discourse Research Articles

An Analysis of the Creative Style of French New Wave Cinema, Illustrated by Godard’s Film “Breathless”

When delving into the annals of film history, the pivotal juncture of the French New Wave movement in the 1940s stands as an indispensable focal point, leaving an indelible mark on cinematic evolution and the advancement of the film industry. By introducing a distinctive creative paradigm, the movement notably championed the notion of “auteur cinema”, and encouraged novel production methodologies while endorsing personalized themes, distinctive narrative architectures, unique cinematographic aesthetics, and pioneering editing techniques. As a luminary within the constellation of the French New Wave, Jean-Luc Godard orchestrated elaborate and audacious cinematic experiments in the realms of visual and auditory language. Godard dismantled entrenched narrative conventions and cinematic mores of the studio apparatus, thereby clearing a path for a more self-revealing and artistically-inflected cinematic discourse. This cinematic idiom exerted a profound influence not only upon contemporaneous directors but also furnished subsequent generations of cineastes with a wellspring of inspiration.From the vantage point of Godard, this research attempts to explore and synthesize the historical backdrop of the New Wave era, the idiosyncrasies and shared traits of movie auteurs, and analyzed in a meticulous manner of his magnum opus, “Breathless”. This analytical research encompasses editing methodologies, cinematographic modalities, narrative architectures, and proclivities toward expression with the overarching goal of unearthing the unique cinematic lexicon emblematic of the New Wave. Conclusively, this study pivots back to appraise the French New Wave, unraveling its cultural import and historical limitations.

Технология использования аутентичного иноязычного кинодискурса на занятиях по английскому языку в профессиональном лингвообразовании

The study aims to substantiate the expediency of using the technology of authentic foreign language film discourse (AFLFD) in the educational process in English classes in the framework of the discipline “Practice of oral and written English speech” for third-, fourth- and fifth-year students pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Pedagogical Education (training programme 44.03.05 with two educational programme specialisations). The paper systematises the content of the educational technology, structures and develops the stages of the technology for using AFLFD and the system of exercises implementing this technology. In addition, the results of the introduction of AFLFD in the educational process are presented. The novelty of the study lies in elaborating the technology for using AFLFD in teaching English to language students at a pedagogical university, which is a new educational material that promotes effective foreign language teaching. As a result of the study, the researchers have presented the conceptual basis, the resource support (the content and methodology of diagnostic activity, the description of the necessary training tools) and the procedural characteristics (the algorithm of activity) of the authors’ technology. A system of exercises for mastering foreign language lexical material using AFLFD for improving foreign language communicative competence based on the principle of assimilation of cultural values of the target language, the communicative-cognitive and intercultural approaches has been proposed.

Retracted: Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Interactive Environment of Film Discourse Based on Deep Learning.

[This retracts the article DOI: 10.1155/2022/1606926.].

Multi-modal Discourse Analysis of the Movie the Tea House

In the 90s of the 20th century, the multi-modal discourse analysis that emerged in the West gradually became one of the hot topics in linguistics, and multi-modal discourse refers to the phenomenon of using hearing, vision, touch and other senses to communicate through language, images, sounds, actions and other means and symbolic resources. Usually people discuss film from psychology, aesthetics and other macroscopic perspectives, and less linguistic discourse analysis methods to discuss, multi-modal discourse analysis theory for film researchers to provide a set of simultaneous analysis of film images, music and text compatible methods, so this thesis aims to analyze the film discourse Tea House based on functional linguistic theory and visual grammar for multi-modal discourse analysis.

Femininity Construction between Rebellion and Victimization in L’Amante du Rif (2011)

This article examines femininity construction in Narjiss Nejjar’s film L’Amante du Rif (2011). This work has stirred a heated debate among cinema critics and movies goers regarding Nejjar’s rebellious representation of women. The study of female identity in films directed by a Moroccan female filmmaker would certainly contribute to the understanding of the complex relationship between the filmmaker’s gender and the discourse they produce; films directed by women offer the opportunity to have women’s experiences, concerns, and aspirations reported by women, which helps the audience and critics alike find out how the filmmaker’s gender has an impact on femininity construction. This article tries to deconstruct women’s cinematic discourse and gauge the extent to which their films can be of help to the women’s emancipation project. No doubt, the cinematic work or the film is the manifestation of a cluster of elements such as politics, ideology, and gender that interplay to produce meaning or a certain reality. Amidst these variants, the content analysis seems to be a suitable method that can situate Nejjar’s film within the women’s filmmaking map. The paper adopts a feminist approach to test the extent to which Nejjar’s unconventional gender representation has served women’s cause. The paper concludes that Nejjar has tried to introduce a rebellious feminist perspective by tackling taboo issues and using obscene language. However, according to some critics, Nejjar’s film was not appreciated by a large segment of the Moroccan audience because it does not respect the local specificities of Moroccans. Moreover, the tragic fate of the two main characters, Aya and her mother, aligns with Carter's notion of women's defeatism in film endings (Carter: 2009, 309).

Doing swearing across languages – The curious case of subtitling

How is swearing done in subtitling across languages? This study of subtitles in different languages for Lonergan's 2016 film Manchester by the sea addresses the question with a particular goal in mind: not so much to identify and typologise translation strategies for swearing in the dataset, or not just, but to inspect/document the range of resources involved, at the interface of linguistics and pragmatics, in generating meaning-making options for interlingual sense-making, and publics with very different linguistic and (socio-)cultural profiles.Most frequently occurring swearwords from dialogues in US English are considered in subtitling representation across the languages in the dataset – English, French, German, Italian, Spanish. Frequency and concordance data are the platform for qualitative analyses of a subset of units from different taboo domains in full textual context (‘fuck’, ‘shit’, ‘God’ and variants), from a broadly cross-cultural pragmatics perspective.The study is underpinned by two main lines of enquiry: how linguistic and/or pragmatic specificities of the languages considered may impact on representation; and critically, how the medium itself may shape representation above and beyond difference into a distinctive and richly expressive instantiation of cinematic discourse, as what is revealingly for translation, and pragmatics, the curious case of subtitling.

“You can f*** get lost already”: (Responding to) impoliteness in the (in-)authentic discourse of comedy and crime TV series and movies

AbstractAs a vital means of communication in social life, people’s talk is likely to be influenced by the media, specifically film talk. The study aimed at understanding how impoliteness is presented in TV series and movies. We investigated, quantitatively and qualitatively, 928 min of interactions from selected comedy and crime genres (popular among a group of English as a Foreign Language [EFL] learners). The collected corpus was analyzed using (revised) taxonomies of impoliteness strategies and defensive strategies. The findings revealed that although both cinematic genres abound with incivility, the type of prevalent impoliteness strategies differ between genres. Moreover, the viewers of the English TV series and movies are exposed to impoliteness presented in film discourse, specifically, taboo words. Considering the overall adequacy of the adopted analysis models and the noticeable impact film talk might have on individuals and society, we draw on our findings and the literature to conclude with explanations (e.g., disaffiliative humor and cognitive safety) and implications for similar sociopragmatic studies and applied linguistics domains (particularly language learning and teaching).

A Study of the Evolution of Female Roles in Science Fiction Films and Modifying Society’s Stereotypical Thinking

We have hitherto only considered the viewpoint of men, but now it’s time to give women a fair shot as well. Every human being has the potential to learn about and advance science and technology, thus it is not only a field that is exclusively open to one gender. In movies, women play a supporting role for the men. An examination of the ways in which culture affects the evolving discussion of gender portrayals in cinema. Science fiction films are the ideal medium for discussing human habitation in the future because their content is an imaginative representation of civilization. Under the premise of a science fiction theme, it is necessary to re-examine and reinterpret the connection between genders considering modern technology. It has taken a while for the representation of women in movies to improve after years of under representation. Redemption of women altered significantly as nations advanced in modernity. The media had a significant impact on the modernization of societies and the perception of women in the contemporary world. Women are portrayed in modern movies as being more autonomous, self-assured, and career-focused. For example, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Avatar (2009), Mission Mangal (2019). As movies are a mirror of social structural changes, the goal is to connect the evolving roles performed by women in movies with the rising status of women. The hegemonic discourse of cinema that prescribes what constitutes appropriate gender roles. In order to achieve this, we will adopt a critical poststructuralist viewpoint on how body images are portrayed in well-known science fiction Movies that have been released in recent years. How women are portrayed throughout their development history using famous English-speaking science fiction films. The reflection and feedback of the sci-fi film as a social and cultural phenomenon on the reality of the western world. Sci-Fi movies can instruct and influence viewers in a useful way, such as by portraying positive female characters to encourage more women to shatter the stereotype and actively engage in science-related job or studies.

On the need and directions of studying language in film

This article takes up the problem of studying language in film. It points to the significance of the issue and the causes of the film discourse having been ignored in analyses of Polish in the media to this date. It also indicates the primary parameters of the verbal aspect in a firm work, which can be subjected to a linguist overview. Additionally, it discusses the main linguistics methodologies that seem to be the most effective in examinations of film dialogues.

Linguistic creativity and multimodal tropes in cinematic discourse

The present article explores the creative potential of language that is realized in cinematic discourse and is based on the case study of eight popular Soviet comedy films of the 1960s with the overall running time of 670 minutes. The choice of this period is determined by the sociohistorical relevance of the sixties in the development of Russian culture and cinematic art. The goals of this paper are to identify and categorize the verbal means that trigger the creation of cinematic tropes, and to define the transformations that these verbal means acquire as a result of their involvement into constructing cinematic figurativeness. To achieve these goals, a complex methodology has been elaborated. It includes three stages of analysis and rests on conceptions that have been recently developed in linguistics, film studies, and research on multimodality. According to research findings, cinematic figurativeness originates in two kinds of verbal means. Non-figurative verbal means (i.e. words used in their literal meanings; free word-combinations, etc.) and figurative verbal means (i.e. literary metaphors; idioms, etc.) are employed for the creation of three kinds of cinematic tropes: cinematic metonymies, cinematic metaphors, and cinematic irony. In the process of the formation of cinematic tropes, verbal units of both categories are transformed in a variety of ways: structurally, grammatically, semantically, and pragmatically. The investigation has revealed a dual or reverse character that linguistic creativity has in cinematic discourse: verbal units provide the creation of cinematic tropes and at the same time they themselves acquire certain innovative properties. The results could contribute to further studies of creativity in cinematic discourse as well as in other types of multimodal texts, including media, advertising, visual poetry, and electronic literature.

Eco-Nolly: The depiction of the gods as forest dwellers and tree nymphs in the discourse of preserving Africa’s ecological richness

While Nollywood, Nigeria’s movie/film industry, may have had a chequered history, it has no doubt carved a niche for itself in the global space of the film industry. It currently stands as the most authoritative and authentic voice of Africa and the Black race in film discourse. Employing historical-analytic and direct observation methods, this paper examines how Nigerian moviemakers preserve the Nigerian/African ecosystem through their film locales. By building homes for the gods in the forests and on tree trunks, they preserve such trees, which would have fallen victim to modernisation by being used as planks and woods for various purposes. Unfortunately, this supposedly noteworthy effort is distorting reality and misrepresenting the way Africans relate with and treat their gods. Drawing from Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory, the paper submits that Nollywood’s concept of forests and tree trunks as the dwelling place of the gods might, over time, be assumed to be the norm rather than a fictitious creation of filmmakers by the viewers in contrast to reality unless it is addressed forthwith. It is, therefore, recommended that Nollywood filmmakers should not sacrifice the reality of the dwelling place of the gods in Africa for the purpose of achieving film richness and aesthetics.

Sociological Research on the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Student Preparation and the Development of Film Discourse

This article aims to assess the impact of the pandemic on the education and film industry, specifically focusing on the formation of film discussion. The study examines the peculiarities of the educational process and cinema development trends during the pandemic and quarantine restrictions. The research methodology involves information systematization based on survey results. The study reveals that the majority of respondents perceive the pandemic as having a negative impact on education development, highlighting various challenges associated with distance learning. Additionally, a significant portion of respondents express concerns about the adverse effects of the pandemic on the film industry. The research identifies key development issues in education and the film industry. It suggests that digital advancements offer new opportunities for education development, while considering the changing worldview of the population due to the impact of mass diseases. In terms of film industry development, the study emphasizes the importance of considering economic and resource costs, as well as the need for digitalization during the pandemic. The findings highlight the need for strategic measures to address the challenges faced by the education and film industry during the pandemic. The study underscores the importance of leveraging digital tools and platforms for education and film production. It calls for a comprehensive approach that takes into account the evolving needs and preferences of the population, as well as the economic and resource considerations in the film industry. The research provides insights for policymakers, educators, and filmmakers to navigate the current landscape and make informed decisions to promote sustainable development and growth in these sectors.

On the Limits of Islamic Cinema: The Politics of Halal Cinema Discourse in Kerala, India

Some of the most crucial debates surrounding Islamic legitimacy and cinema rotate around the question of the permissible ( ḥalāl) and prohibited ( ḥarām) in Islamic law and how these function for Muslim theology and politics. Emerging from these debates, halal cinema has been one of the recent critical interventions in the field of Indian and Islamic cinema. Rather than making cinema Islamic from an ideological position, the new halal experiments with the visual language of cinema without compromising the popular dimensions of its viewership. This article looks at the politics of halal cinema within the context of the state of Kerala in South India and argues that the space of halal cinema shows the aspirations and negotiations of the Muslim community in Kerala. Halal cinema thus becomes an immanent critique of Islamic cinema by destabilizing the dominant practice that connects the relationship between Islam and cinema.

Slow narration in Voyage in Time by Andrei Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra (1983)

The main purpose of this article is to rethink the documentary filmmaking of Andrei Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra in the context of the new spiritual challenges of the modern era and to assess the potential of the audio-visual language of the travelogue Tempo di viaggio (Voyage in Time) () within the slow cinema discourse. This article focuses on the analysis of the ways to slow down the narrative in Voyage in Time. Apart from focusing on the significance of screen images, it aims to define the role of background audio content, including spiritual singing, which is used by the filmmakers in the prologue and epilogue to create a ‘circular frame’. The documentary narrative of Voyage in Time is transformed into a slow poetic film text in which the everyday rises to the level of the artistic, and the temporary to the level of the eternal.

The Role of the Internal Context of a Cinematographic Work in Creating and Interpreting the Wordplay (Based on the TV Shows: “The Sandman”, “Anne with an E”, and “Shadow and Bone”)

For a long time, researchers have been studying the concept of context in linguistics and related sciences. However, until now the concept of context does not have an unambiguous definition and classification. Within the framework of this study, a special type of context was identified, namely the internal context of a cinematographic work, which covers information about the time and place of the action, the personalities of the communicants and communicative situations within the work under consideration. The subject of the study is context, or rather the role of the internal context in understanding the wordplay in the TV shows of the last decade. The author states that the internal context of film discourse is an integral factor in the creation of wordplay and plays a key role in understanding the wordplay in films, since often we cannot attribute the cases under consideration to the wordplay without contextual information. Finally, we believe that the concept of the internal context of a work can go beyond the scope of film discourse and can be used when considering literary discourse, song discourse, etc.

Display of Islamic Conflictual Discourses through Logics of Film Discourse Interpretation

In the past few decades, Islamic discourse in Indonesia was turning more problematic, leaving some issues to the conflict between majority and minority discourses (the Muslims’ conception) of Islam. Some of the manifestations of discursive conflict were captured in popular work, such as the movie Ayat-Ayat Adinda. This research tries to unpack the movie using Wildfeuer's Logics of Film Discourse Interpretation (FDI) theory and combine it with the concept of Halliday's ideational metafunction to track the Islamic signs emanated by the movie. FDI is chosen to fill the area which has not been studied by previous research. This study found some rhetorical segment relations: Result, Elaboration, Contrast, Background, Parallel, and Narration, presenting two Islamic discourses being contested. However, the interesting point is indicated at the end of the resolution of the movie that none of the discourses wins. This study interpretation is somehow implicitly parallel to the spirit of 'moderation' of religion when the movie maker hopes that it can stop violence and discrimination which degrade religious practices in Indonesia.

The credit titles, a rosetta stone of the cinematographic narrative

The opening scenes of any film are produced first in the sound plane, then in the visual one and set the horizon of expectation to the future audience3, offering it through a methaphor specific to the language of this art, the deep meaning of the film. We can also say that this visual discourse graphically coded in the form of credit titles, communicates to the audience’s subconscious all the necessary elements for the cinematic narrative to acquire the force of truth, to be truthful.. Thus, „a pattern” or „a key” is established that the audience will unconsciously resort to in order to understand the meanings of the cinematic discourse when the dramatic moments of the film define the destiny of the narrrated universe. We could say that these moments constitute the foundation on which the film narrative is built, the universe in which the characters will evolve, but also the sighn of their destiny.

X-Ray Vision: Surface and Depth in Aldir Mendes de Souza’s O homem que descobriu o nú invisível (1973)

As a visual medium, cinema is an art of the surface. Bodies, objects, and environments are projected before us as two-dimensional images on the flattened surface of the screen, which provides only an impression of depth but which cannot be broached by the audience. Nevertheless, deep focus and 3D technology have sought to immerse the viewer in the world of the film, while film discourse more broadly has railed against ornamentation and superficiality in its bid to assert a certain depth of meaning. This article considers the tensions between surface and depth as they emerge in Aldir Mendes de Souza’s O homem que descobriu o nú invisível (1973), a Brazilian softcore sex comedy that makes particular use of X-ray technology for both serious and voyeuristic ends. Comparing the use of radiography in this film with the artist’s experimental work with X-rays elsewhere, this article interrogates distinctions between high and low culture, and between the literal surfaces and depths of the photographic image.

Filmtext as a Product of Several Cultures: the Problem of Transferring Cultural Concepts (Based on Films about Mulan)

The problem of cultural transformations or transference remains a relevant object of research in film discourse. Of particular interest is the study of the representation of cultural concepts in films. It is noted that the film text is a complex linguistic product that can undergo primary, secondary and more transformations through comprehension by representatives of different cultures. There are many recipients have an opportunity for seeing a product of mass culture, therefore filmtext can also generate cultural transfers. There is a special position in the scheme of cultural transfer in the filmtext is occupied by the translator in the status of an intermediary and interpreter of culturally significant components of the original, responsible for the availability and maximally equivalent perception of information. This article examines the stages of cultural transfer and their influence on the final filmtext for the Russian viewer (final recipient); a classification and comparison of linguistic and cultural concepts are carried out based on the material of the films “Mulan” produced by Walt Disney Pictures (2020) and “Hua Mulan” (花木兰) produced by Beijing Film Company (PRC, 2019). The authors came to conclusion that the linguistic and cultural concepts selected in the course of the study have undergone several stages of cultural transformations during the transfer, contain “imprints” of this culture and therefore may not be understood by the final recipient.

Margarita, the Big Bad Wolf, and the film censor: film, feminism, and dictatorial repression in Spain

ABSTRACT This article studies the themes, techniques, and aesthetics of some of the student films that the Spanish filmmaker Cecilia Bartolomé made at the Escuela Oficial de Cinematografía (Official Film School, EOC) during the 1960s, framing them within the cinematographic currents and the cultural expressions of feminism in the national and international sphere of the time. Through historical analysis, archival research, and interviews, the above-mentioned aspects will be related to the filmmaker’s vicissitudes with censorship, examining how they marked her formative years and the beginning of her professional career until the mid-1970s, when the feature film project intended to launch her professionally was curtailed. Ultimately, I seek to explore the way in which Bartolomé experimented with narrative techniques and cinematographic language while articulating a feminist film discourse that incurred the censors’ wrath, making it impossible for her to work until the coming of democracy in Spain.