The filmmaker is essentially a storyteller. Over the years, the stories told on film have worn down deep tire tracks as they've gone in their different directions. We call these tracks genres. Think of the path a romance movie takes: lovers meet, suffer a series of missed connections, and then finally come together in a well earned kiss. Or a sports story: a team of individuals struggle against each other's egos, learn to work together, and win as one. War stories feature heroes and villains locked in deadly conflict, trying to find justification for the mutual brutality, and the identity of the victor depends on what the camera focuses on.
But what about a terrorism story? A recent rash of European films take on terrorism in their home countries and around the world, and have received a volitile mix of praise and condemnation from critics.
From the article: "The wave of terror films comes as a new generation of European filmmakers looks to make political sense of the past -- and be provocative at a time when the issue of terrorism is so relevant.
"In the case of most of these films there has been about a generation of distance from the events depicted," says Professor Elizabeth Ezra, an expert in European cinema at Scotland's University of Stirling. "The events depicted are moments of trauma, and trauma by its very nature is characterized by a delayed reaction."
(Spanish director Jamie) Rosales says... "Classic Hollywood-style cinema is very easy and very comforting...When you see my film it is not a pleasant experience. Even when I saw it I thought this is hard and the ideas are complicated. But I wanted to propose something very different to what we've already seen in cinemas.""
So, do filmmakers need to change their cinematic language to make us hear them, or do we have to learn to speak theirs?
But what about a terrorism story? A recent rash of European films take on terrorism in their home countries and around the world, and have received a volitile mix of praise and condemnation from critics.
From the article: "The wave of terror films comes as a new generation of European filmmakers looks to make political sense of the past -- and be provocative at a time when the issue of terrorism is so relevant.
"In the case of most of these films there has been about a generation of distance from the events depicted," says Professor Elizabeth Ezra, an expert in European cinema at Scotland's University of Stirling. "The events depicted are moments of trauma, and trauma by its very nature is characterized by a delayed reaction."
(Spanish director Jamie) Rosales says... "Classic Hollywood-style cinema is very easy and very comforting...When you see my film it is not a pleasant experience. Even when I saw it I thought this is hard and the ideas are complicated. But I wanted to propose something very different to what we've already seen in cinemas.""
So, do filmmakers need to change their cinematic language to make us hear them, or do we have to learn to speak theirs?