Dominant cinema VS Counter cinema

       Dominant cinema 

Dominant or mainstream cinema refers to the predictable and expected constructions which predominate in most Hollywood narrative and mass production films. “Such feature-length movies are made and distributed along lines common to Hollywood productions which in turn are replicated throughout the world by other major film industries” (Simon, 2009). The film genre (western, musical) and films stars involved are easily identifiable.  

The science-fiction film Avatar (2009) directed by James Cameron conforms to the Hollywood filmmaking standards. The story takes place in 2154, where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a paraplegic former marine, is sent to the moon Pandora, with the mission of bringing back supplies of a mineral (unobtanium) that can solve Earth's energy crisis. He is sent through the avatar programme, changed as one the Na'vi inhabitants of Pandora.

The story was conceived years before its release in the mind of James Cameron but delayed until technology could adapt to his vision. Avatar was a much anticipated film because of its advances in the use of 3D. Such emphasis was made on it that Avatar could almost have successfully distracted us from the very simplistic story-line that could have well been inspired by Pocahontas. The detailed and majestic world of Pandora is not fascinating enough to hold the attention for such a long film (2h40min). The story-line follows the mainstream standards of action and fantasy films (a hero, the “good guys against the bad ones”) and displays traditional family values (through the Na’vi inhabitants).  

Avatar is conforming to Hollywood filmmaking standards in that it satisfies the viewers’ expectations through its predictable story-line and yet offers them something innovative enough (3D) to entertain them.

Counter cinema 

Counter cinema aims to break away from dominant cinema by offering an opposite film construction and techniques. Peter Wollen (1972) set and explained seven counter cinema values: narrative intransitivity, estrangement, foregrounding, multiple diegesis, aperture, un-pleasure, reality.

Some of these characteristics can be identified in the film Babel directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and released in 2006. It relates four different stories (set in the United States, Mexico, Japan and Morocco) which are organized around one tragic event.

The film shows an unconventional choice of narrative structure in that it constantly swaps between the four stories. The chronology of the linked stories is often disrupted which gives the audience a feeling of unpredictability and confusion. Susan’s shooting (Cate Blanchett) for example, is constructed as an accident; the viewer doesn’t learn and understand the actual cause of the shooting until nearly the end of the film.

The name of film refers to the biblical story of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11v1-9)  . The film reflects the passage through the different miscommunication stories, both across and within culture. For example, Richard (Brad Pitt) desperately tries to ask for help when his wife gets shot but struggles because he doesn’t speak the language.   

Babel shows counter-cinema technique with the use of “shaky hand-held camera, temporal disruption and multiple narratives” (Tierney, 2009). By setting stories in four different countries, Iñárritu also makes an emphasis on the differences between them and the class groups within them and portrays the reality of the world.  

References

Keenan, J. (2013) Counter cinema. Available at: http://rgucinemasociety.blogspot.co.uk/ (Accessed on 01 Mar 2013).

Peter Wollen (1972) “Godard and Counter Cinema: Vent d’Est,” [e-book] Available at http://books.google.co.uk (Accessed on 02 March 2013).

Rottentomatoes.com (1997) Avatar. [online] Available at: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avatar/  (Accessed on 02 Mar 2013).

Simon, C. (2009) Dominant vs Counter cinema [Online] Available at: http://filmtheoryandcriticism.wordpress.com/research-topics-source-materials/new-wave/dominant-vs-counter-cinema/  (Accessed on 02 March 2013).

Tierney, D. (2009) Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu: Director without Borders. [online] Available at: http://www.academia.edu/1065538/Alejandro_Gonzalez_Inarritu_Director_without_Borders  (Accessed on 03 Mar 2013).