Film Précis 1:
Stereotypes of Austria in Third Man and
Sound of Music
HEADER: Include your name and the date; the film titles, directors, dates,
countries, and studios (in the form: Title. Dir. NAME. Country: studio, date.)
FOCUS: What the image of "Austria" is for the Hollywood audiences.
These two films lie about twenty years apart; both deal with individuals
implicated in Austria's political situation around World War II.
Both how [film x] represents [conflict, situation] for its audience, and what
those choices tell the audience about its content -- what case is being made about
the justification for, conduct of, success or failure of, or the importance of
the event for a particular audience.
LOGIC and GOAL: By comparing [some sets of facts] from each film,
the biases of the film and the audience toward which it is directed reveal themselves.
The contrast shows [what about the US audience's expectations about "Europe" and its
sameness/difference to the US]
First Incarnation:
The Third Man
| Second Incarnation:
The Sound of Music
|
EXAMPLE 1: classes and types of people:
- foreigners (Harry Lime)
- Austrians with no families
- . . .
|
EXAMPLE 1:
- army/navy officers
- upper class Austrians (the VON Trapps) and Germans (the countess)
- lower class Austrians (Rolf, Nazis)
- . . .
|
ADD TWO OR THREE OTHER EXAMPLES: be sure to refer to specifics in the
film (scenes, names, framing, lighting . . . ;
see the class handout on how to read films)
|
|
IMPLICATION
(address in 1-2 paragraphs what these choices tell us about the filmmakers'
possible political agendas and his/her assessment of the audience)
(HINT: Address issues like: What kind of place is Austria in each film?
What images of Europe does each film want to convey to its audience? Who looks
like they're "in charge"; who are victims of circumstance? What values drive their
actions; what is the audience supposed to think about those "values"? Remember
that Third Man was made right after the Second World War, and that
The Sound of Music was made in an era of "family values" and when
the country was moving into the Vietnam War, out of the "war" we lost in Korea.)
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