This
gentleman from Austria boarded on a ship, and arrived in the United States in
the mid-1930s. Here, he worked his way into the Hollywood system, directing a
number of iconic films from the 1940s into the late 1950s. His work, for his
era, was seen as ‘provocative’ - only because he was willing to expose ideas
which were too controversial for the conservative epoch he found himself in. He
fought for his right to make the films he wanted to show the public, and he
often clashed with the committee which was more than happy to accept
‘feel-good’ and ‘escapist’ movies in an era of conformity and McCarthyism. He
was rumored to be mean and a tyrant, which he believed it was due to his
occasional casting as Nazi Officers, and, in one occasion, Mr. Freeze in the
Batman Series. Yet, he was cherished as a man of integrity and his films would
have influenced the French New Wave and many other directors. His name is Otto
Preminger, the director I will talk about this time!
Recently, Preminger’s
masterpiece, ‘Anatomy of a Murder’, is released again in cinemas in Hong Kong.
This is a great opportunity to explore his unique style, and how his
preferences shape the themes he has explored in his films. As I have stressed
before in previous articles, the greatest filmmakers do not feel there is a
need for compromise between style and content – the style often reflects the
content they want to express.
Preminger’s
background might have influenced his worldview and style. His father was a lawyer,
and Preminger studied law at university, yet it was only a compromise as his
real passion has always been in drama and acting. Nevertheless, these
experiences have certainly impacted his way of looking at the world, and he has
always believed that an objective and unsentimental viewpoint was the best tool
to understand the world through cinema. Thus, Preminger can be seen as a
realist, and many of his techniques were committed to enhance the realism in
his film. For example, he favored the use of long take in many of his work, and
he has made attempts to minimize the number of editing cuts in his films. The
fluid camera movement and long takes he preferred were also curiously similar
to many other filmmakers of his era – Renoir, Welles, Hitchcock, Mizoguchi and Ophüls.
When a change of character perspective was required, Preminger would tend to
use a zoom, a suitable camera movement, or having the character moving closer
to the camera, because he felt that an abrupt cut would compromise the realism
he has cherished so much. Preminger’s use of deep focus photography, like that
of Welles, Renoir and Wyler, also enhanced the impartiality and realism of his
films. This classical approach to cinematography has also be championed by
later critics such as Bazin. His style can be labeled as impartial and
impersonal, and he has committed to an emotional detachment to the themes he
has portrayed in his work. He encouraged the viewers to observe, not to
actively participate nor to get too close to the action. And, he wanted to
divert the audience from those easily-accepted perspectives, which were the
intentions behind the authorities and the powerful ones.
To me, an
analogy to describe Preminger’s style is a circle – yet one that does not close
itself up. Through the well-defined and carefully planned scenes, the
characters play out their roles and reveal their contentions, yet Preminger’s
eyes did not pass any value judgment or sentimental feelings on any of them. He
was like an impartial judge, showing us the world as-it-is.
Obsession
is a significant theme in Preminger’s work, which is a key theme in many of the
Film Noirs. Take ‘Laura’, Preminger’s iconic film noir of the 1940s. The whole
film is about the mystery of a beautiful woman known as ‘Laura’, and how the
different male characters are obsessed to her through different degrees and
means. While the photographic style was highly stylized, the composition of the
various scenes also addressed the theme of obsession. One thing that comes up
to my mind is related to Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’, where James Stewart’s character
is spying on Kim Novak’s character, who she is looking at a portrait in a
gallery. The portrait, in turn, is looking at the audience! Thus this leads to
a cyclical connection between the characters and viewers, reality and fiction!
This is also evident in Preminger’s ‘Laura’:
when Dana Andrew’s detective character is looking at Laura’s portrait,
the seductive image of Laura is looking at the audience, bluffing the viewer to
look closer. We can easily identify with Andrew’s character, because we are
just as obsessed with Laura as he did in the film. Preminger understood our
psychological design, and exposed our unconscious through connecting us with
the characters.
In
Preminger’s films, the feminine characters are often significant for the plot
and motivations of the male characters. Preminger portrayed his male characters
in a very realistic manner. Rather than showing these characters as heroic,
they are often portrayed as underdogs and desperate men, much like the style of
Nicholas Ray and Anthony Mann from the same era. Thus, many of these were film
noirs, or at least other genre films with a heavy noir element. The male
characters, for whatever causes, possessed greed and fought for their aims
ruthlessly. ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ is the prime example, and I believe it is
highly recommendable because it provides an extremely realistic look at the
justice system. Rather than pursuing for the so-called ‘justice’ as in many of
those sentimental films, ‘Anatomy’ provides an objective look at the process of
the legal system, and how ruthless one can be to twist facts in order to fit
into one’s purpose. ‘Twelve Angry Men’ may be an inspiring film, but it is not
a realistic film because the director wants to instill a moral message behind
the movie, so Henry Fonda’s Mr. Nice Guy will win at the end no matter how.
‘Anatomy’, on the other hand, challenges the viewer – is justice always granted
in the legal system? Is that possible that there will be a ‘wrong judgment’, so
the ‘bad’ guy will walk away free? This black-and-white film emerged at an age
when color films were getting popular, and it was black-and-white for a good
reason, because the style had a film-noir sensibility. If you want to
understand what the legal system is about through cinema, ‘Anatomy of a Murder’
is the real deal.
Preminger
was not afraid to present thorny and controversial issues to the public, as he
believed that an impartial portrayal of these issues would lead to a fairer judgment
from his audience. His films dealt with many provocative themes – drugs, sexual
violence, legal system, homosexuality, mental problems and the controversial
historical matters. His films concerned many of the alienated characters who
suffered from all the above misfortunes, and he provided an impartial look of
how the mainstream society interacted with these outcasts. ‘The Man With the
Golden Arm’ was a famous one from Frank Sinatra, regarding heroin addiction
(which was super controversial at the time of release). Mr. Sinatra has
delivered a smashing performance, and his realistic portrayal of a ‘cold
turkey’ was sort of a pinnacle. Other less known, yet worthwhile examples
include ‘Fallen Angel’, ‘Whirlpool’, ‘Exodus’ and ‘Advise & Consent’.
Mr.
Preminger’s controversial image appeared to come from some subjective and
personal feelings from certain personalities around the film industry of his
time, yet, looking at what he has left for us, I can see him as an honest
gentleman with confidence and integrity, and has possessed a mastery of film
techniques. His films were ahead of his time, and are still highly relevant
today.
by Ed Law
Film Analysis
