Letters to Cinema Manuel Alejandro Salas

Episode 7: Expressing Traumas on Film by Manuel Alejandro Salas

This week, I talk about the auteur theory and expand on the argument suggested by Graham Petrie in his article “Alternatives to Auteurs” where he wrestles with how can we attribute credit where it belongs? Or how can we know we are giving credit to the person that is responsible for the visual style of the film? In other words, why do we give all the credit to the director when many professionals from different departments make a motion picture?

This week, I approach my analysis differently to what I usually do by looking at a film through a cinephiliac moment or privileged moment. Paul Willemen states that a cinephiliac moment “has something to do with what you perceive to be the privileged, pleasure-giving, fascinating moment of a relationship to what’s happening on the screen.” In this episode, to explain this concept in film analysis, I look at Nicholas Ray’s "Johnny Guitar" (1954) and share a dramatic personal experience from my own life.

This week, I touch on an ongoing argument: the difference between watching films in motion picture theaters vs. on a digital home device. My idea on this topic is that motion picture theaters provide a hypnotizing effect that you can’t get anywhere else. The definition of hypnosis says that it is a trance state where someone can be manipulated both physically and emotionally. This is used to control how we feel in theaters by utilizing images and sounds as, metaphorically, the pocket watch that hypnotizes us.

A cinephile is someone who is passionate about the art of filmmaking leading him or her to accumulate a lot of knowledge in film theory and film criticism over the years. After 1990, film directors have been known for referencing other films and historical film styles within their narrative structure. These references influence and complicates both the film’s narrative and interpretations challenging regular audiences to follow and understand their meaning. It can be said, then, that these films are made explicitly for cinephiles because they require some background knowledge for them to be appreciated in their entirety. In this episode, then, I take a close look at Wong Kar-wai’s "Fallen Angels" (1995) and Olivier Assayas’ "Irma Vep" from 1996.
(The song at the end of the episode is by Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie And Clyde)

In this episode, I look at the debut features of Robert Rodriguez, Damien Chazelle, Guillermo del Toro, and Christopher Nolan. I was curious to know the journeys of some film directors and how they started in an attempt to find out the first steps that aspiring filmmakers should take at the beginning of their careers. The result is an episode filled with inspiring words and powerful insights.