BLACK AT YALE

Last year I was recommended this film by my good friend Chris on an episode of The Pink Smoke podcast and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it before. This is truly a unique documentary that was ahead of it’s time. What makes Black at Yale so great is that it isn’t celebratory. Had this documentary about Black students at Yale university in the early 1970s been made by most filmmakers, it would have more than likely been a film celebrating the small demographic of Black students admitted to the college. It would have been seen a win. Instead, this documentary is a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of being “the first” or one of the earliest Black people to do something. This movie opened up a potential lane for more films to explore the negative side of being an early Black person to do something, but very few people went down that path. Instead - folks gravitated towards the stereotypical Christian-minded NAACP way of thinking where every early achievement by Black person is seen as nothing but a positive, and if you’re critical in any way you’re part of the problem. Sadly, this way of thinking continues to have a grip on Black folks now more than ever. If you don’t blindly celebrate every “win” achieved by a Black person then you’re a self-hating coon. And is it me - or does the “coon” insult no longer have the sting it once had? Nowadays, “coon” means everything and nothing at the same time. You vote Democrat? You’re a coon. You identify as a Black conservative? You’re a coon. You’re Black with a white spouse? You’re a coon? See what I mean? Anything can make you a coon at this point.

Anyway…

Getting in to Yale in the early 70s as a Black student is truly a major accomplishment. But once you get past that, you realize that you’re very isolated with little to no support or community. That kind of stuff matters. Especially back then. This is what the documentary hammers home. The film focuses on a few specific Black Yale students and their experiences on campus. From the jump you can see the mild depression in the students as they talk about their somewhat disappointing time on campus. Naturally they experience things like racism but that’s that not even the worst part. It’s racism and discrimination combined with being alone. In the south, if you experienced racism and bigotry as a Black person you still had a community of your own to fall Back on. In New Haven Connecticut, there were only so many Black people there at the time. And the Black locals with no affiliation to Yale would sometimes delineate from the few Black Yale students out of misplaced spite. So they’re facing forms of opposition from all sides.
This is incredibly unique to me because there has always been this slightly inaccurate portrayal of this “all for one” mentality when it comes to the Black struggle when in reality there were many internal opposing civil wars going on between Black folks during and after the civil rights movement. 

The problem is, the cautionary or overly critical Black folks that want to assess a situation before going all in are usually portrayed as "the problem" and are grouped in with the true snakes and sellouts within the Black community which is just unfair. 

Black at Yale / Chameleon Street

What’s most fascinating about this movie is that one of the subjects of this documentary isn’t actually enrolled in the college as a student which is a whole separate unique story in itself. I’m surprised Black At Yale isn’t paired with Wendell B Harris’ Chameleon Street more often. Not only is Chameleon Street based on a true story, but one of the chapters in the film involves the main character pretending to be a student at Yale. The fact that this has happened twice in life is kind of amazing to me.


Black at Yale speaks to my type of critical thinking. There are plenty of like-minded Black folks out there from all generations that would connect with this underseen gem of a film which is now on YouTube for free…

A FEW WORDS ON FOUR NIGHTS OF A DREAMER

This is a summarized version of a talk I participated in on Robert Bresson's Four Nights Of A Dreamer at Video Revival in Brooklyn.

Enjoy...

The motivation of Robert Bresson's characters seem predetermined. It's as if they're essentially going through the motions without any say or input on their own lives or actions. Bresson is kind of like a cinematic puppet master in a sense. While it's totally understandable that this would be off-putting & unappealing to some folks (Robert Bresson does have his share of detractors) it is intriguing to me and quite a few of the filmmakers he has directly inspired (Four Nights Of A Dreamer is a loose adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s White Nights so it's rooted in influence right off the bat).

The predetermined aspect in Robert Bresson's films were in full force from the late 60's (Une Femme Douce) until his final film (L'argent). That's not to say Bresson hadn't found his footing prior to Une Femme Douce (this is evident in The Diary Of A Country Priest which, in my opinion, is when he finally found his signature style), but it was cemented in the late 60's. Four Nights Of A Dreamer is a prime example of this. Besides the basic plot (two strangers fall in love after one saves the other from a suicide attempt), we're given expressionless faces (even in scenarios concerning intimacy and suicide attempts), emotionless/apathetic gestures (at the start of the film our hitchhiking protagonist is asked where he is going and he throws up his arms, with an expressionless look, as if to say; “I Don't know and I don't really care).

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Slacker
(In Slacker, the character on the right kills his mother like it was a menial chore. This is very Bressionian)

Like I already said - lack of emotion & spirit could seem unappealing to some people (especially in cinema) but at the same time life can break us and make us apathetic & emotionless. Again – it's understandable if some audiences want nothing to do with that. Movies are supposed to be an escape for some people. The films of Bresson are a reflection of society to some degree and no one wants to spend their time watching their lives on the big screen or on a television. Some people want a momentary escape to make them forget about their (very real) Bressonian problems from time to time (living life set to an alarm clock, boredom, mindless commuting, etc). But at the same time that aspect of life shouldn't go ignored.

Bresson's influence knows no bounds especially in the world of french arthouse cinema. Take Michael Haneke for example. All of his Austrian films deal with the same problems in Bresson's films (depression, broken spirits, existentialism, predetermined lives, etc). Haneke's first three films look like stories from an extended Bresson universe.
In The Seventh Continent we see a family live life in the same predetermined depressed fashion (until they snap out of it and handle in their own way). Both The Seventh Continent & Four Nights Of A Dreamer show the same pointless/banal things we do on a daily basis...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / The Seventh Continent

The same could be said about Hal Hartley who considers Bresson to be one of his favorite filmmakers (Bresson's Au Hasard Balthazar is one of his favorite movies). The opening scene of The Unvelievable Truth is a clear homage to the opening of Four Nights Of A Dreamer in which both protagonists are aimlessly/hopelessly hitchhiking somewhere...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / The Unbelievable Truth

Bruno Dumont, who at one point was nicknamed “The Son Of Bresson” due to the similar themes & acting style in his earlier movies, regularly borrows the same scenes from the films of Bresson as well...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Hors Satan
Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Slack Bay

I'd also be remiss if I didnt bring up Leos Carax's possible reference to Four Nights Of Dreamer in The Lovers On Bridge (both movies are shot in some of the exact same locations)...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / The Lovers On The Bridge

Perhaps Four Nights inspired Leos Carax earlier than The Lovers On The Bridge...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Boy Meets Girl
(Both films start with pivotal scenes on a bridge and deal with tough break ups. The delivery of dialogue in Boy Meets Girl is also very Bressonian)

there's also Soderbergh's Solaris...

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Solaris

Four Nights Of A Dreamer / Solaris

It should be noted that all the movies compared to Four Nights Of A Dreamer in this piece have similar plot points & scenarios.
In Soderbergh’s Solaris, Chris Kelvin’s wife tries to commit suicide like Marthe at the start of Four Nights Of A Dreamer (and the characters in The Seventh Continent are successful in their suicide).
Both “Emmet” (The Unbelievable Truth) & Michele (The Lovers On The Bridge) refuse to accept that their respective relationship is over much like Marthe.

So while some of these comparisons could be perceived as vague at first glance, there is some depth & validity behind these images...

THE CINEMA OF PETER GREENAWAY TOLD THROUGH IMAGES & STILLS: PART ONE (ARCHITECTURE, ART & DESIGN)

To say Peter Greenaway has an appreciation for the arts would be an understatement. A large majority of his films are loaded with overly obvious art references (A Zed & Two Noughts & The Belly Of An Architect) and sometimes not so obvious art references (Drowning By Numbers & The Pillow Book). I'm certain that if Peter Greenaway did not find cinema he would have been a painter or a sculptor. And if not that - surely he'd be an architect considering his filmography.
The Belly of an Architect may be Greenaway's only film on the subject of architecture, but his work before and after is still rooted in that profession. In The Pillow Book, Greenaway delves in to the world of calligraphy, which used to be an integral part of the architectural drafting process. Even though it's hardly practiced anymore, architects and aspiring students were once required to have excellent calligraphy skills for their drawings. In The Draughtsman's Contract, Greenaway follows an artist who's been commissioned to draw a series of landscapes. And some of Peter Greenaway's non-film/installation work is rooted in architecture (his installation piece titled; "steps" is a three dimensional large scale model of a staircase).

Not that it makes or breaks the enjoyment of his films, but if you really want to go deep in to the cinema of Greenaway you do have to have a little knowledge on the history of art, architecture & design beyond just Frank Lloyd Wright and you have to be familiar with the lesser known Rembrandt paintings to catch some of his visual references. On one hand, that is a little unfair. Why should you need pre-requisites in order to simply watch & understand a movie? Those unfamiliar with architecture, classic art or art house cinema may find Greenaway's references and name-dropping to be a tad bit elitist at times. But on the other hand, you could take that as Peter Greenaway giving his audience some credit and making the assumption that they know a thing or two about classic art or the differences between a robust column versus an oblique column.


Peter Greenaway's filmography spans over five decades so it would be too much to cram his entire body of work in to one entry. This will be the first of an on-going series (part two will focus on Greenaway's fascination with animals, the human anatomy and other various cinematic influences).


Enjoy...

ART INFLUENCE/ART APPRECIATION

I always think that art is one of the most wonderful exciting curious ways to learn. I have no worries or apologies about art being used as a teaching medium - Peter Greenaway

The Belly Of An Architect / "The Death Of Murat"

The Belly Of An Architect / Rene Magritte

The Belly Of An Architect /  "The Kiss"

The Belly Of An Architect / "The Thinker" / Atlas

The Belly Of An Architect / "The Thinker"

The Belly Of An Architect / "Tristan & Iseult"

The Belly Of An Architect / "On The Operating Table"

The Cook The Thief The Wife & Her Lover / "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp"

A Zed & Two Noughts / "The Girl With The Red Hat"

A Zed & Two Noughts / untitled still-life painting

Nightwatching / "The Night Watch"

A TV Dante / Vitruvian Man

8-1/2 Women / Modular Man

Drowning By Numbers / "Preparation Of Christs Body"

RECURRING ART REFERENCE: "THE LAST SUPPER"

Top to Bottom:
The Belly Of An Architect
The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover
The Draughtman's Contract
Nightwatching
Drowning By Numbers
Darwin

RECURRING ART REFERENCE: LAMENTATION OF CHRIST

Top to Bottom:

Drowning By Numbers

A Zed & Two Noughts

The Pillow Book

THE ART OF CALLIGRAPHY, PENMANSHIP & SKETCHING

Peter Greenaway has a love for freehand creation from sketching (The Draughtman's Contact & The Belly Of An Architect) to caligraphy (Prospero's Books & The Pillowbook)

Freehand is a lost art. Not a completely lost art but it’s still not as prevalent as it was decades ago. Now…modern technology (Photoshop, sketchup, AutoCAD, Revit, etc) does exist for a reason and should be utilized in the field of design because it makes creating easier. But freehand designing/sketching/calligraphy is also important because there are no limitations outside of your own mind. The aforementioned design programs are very fancy & user-friendly but they are still limited when compared to a pen & a piece of paper. 

Prospero's Books

Prospero's Books

The Draughtman's Contract

The Pillowbook

The Belly Of An Architect

Nightwatching

The Belly Of Architect

The Draughtman's Contract

ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Architecture is the ultimate multimedia and it creates the situation which exists for everyday 9-5 living. You can forget cinema, you can go through life without worrying about a painting, you can even impoverish your life by not listening to music, but you cannot avoid architecture. We need it; it is one of the essential elements. - Peter Greenaway

Art & architecture go hand in hand so it would only make sense that Peter Greenaway has same fascination with Architecture that he does with art (architecture is an art within itself). And like his knowledge of art history, Greenaway’s knowledge of Architecture is quite deep (I say this because I studied architecture, currently work in the design field and have a pretty good understanding of the language of cinema). It's one thing to capture a polarizing shot of an urban landscape or a beautiful modern building but Greenaway goes deeper. Instead of standalone shots of monuments, Peter Greenaway explores the support structures that hold up floors & ceilings. He knows the differences between the different types of columns (load bearing vs. cosmetic) and he knows how to shoot/capture a space created by archways, walkways & columns.

COLUMNS

Prospero's Books

A Zed & 2 Noughts

Eisenstein In Guanajuato

Prospero's Books

The Belly Of An Architect

The Belly Of An Architect

The Belly Of An Architect

Eisenstein In Guanajuato

8-1/2 Women

ARCHWAYS & DOMES

The Belly Of An Architect

The Belly Of An Architect

The Belly Of An Architect

A Zed & Two Noughts

Prospero's Books

The Belly Of An Architect

The Belly Of An Architect

Eisenstein In Guanajuato

The Tulse Luper Suitcases

The Tulse Luper Suitcases

Leonardo's Last Supper

CEILING STRUCTURES

8-1/2 Women

The Tulse Luper Suitcases

Goltzius & The Pelican Company

Goltzius & The Pelican Company

WINDOWS

And for those that don’t know or are in denial, windows are very much an intricate part of architecture as well...

Windows

The Belly Of An Architect

Windows

A Walk Through H

A Zed & Two Noughts

RECURRING SHOT: GRID LINES

Gridlines give me the subconscious visualization of graph paper which then takes me to the idea of designing (architecture), drawing, (art), space planning and the general idea of creating something. His use of gridlines & framing (which we’ll get in to next) is sometimes obvious & on the nose (The Falls) and other times unconventional & clever (The Draughtsman’s Contract).

The Draughtman's Contract

The Draughtman's Contract

The Falls

A Zed & Two Noughts

The Falls

The Falls

A Zed & Two Noughts

A TV Dante

Speaking of framing…

RECURRING SHOT: FRAMING

The way Peter Greenaway frames his actors (and sometimes pieces of actual art) gives us a subconscious sensation of being in an art gallery...

A Walk Through H

A Walk Through H

A Zed & Two Noughts

The Draughtman's Contract

Greenaway’s signature frame-in-frame in shots…

Prospero's Books

The Pillowbook

The Tulse Luper Suitcases

MIXED MEDIA & EXPERIMENTATION OUTSIDE OF "TRADITIONAL CINEMA"

Peter Greenaway is more than a filmmaker. He is a VJ, a visual artist (“Leonardo’s Last Supper”), a mixed-media hobbyist (“Long Live The Cinema/Death To The Cinema”) and a designer (“The Steps”)

"Leonardo's Last Supper"

Peter Greenaway "VJing"...

One of Peter Greenaway's many multi-media art installations...

A shot from "Long Live The Cinema"/"Death To The Cinema"

Greenaway utilizing multiple screens during an art installation

"The Steps" (a structure designed by Peter Greenaway as part of an art installation project)