Introduction to Hollywood Cinema: Pastiche and Affect in Far from Heaven

Prof. Julia LeydaMay 3, 2023

quiz

Describe the mise-en-scene of Far from Heaven.

(10 minutes)

pastiche in literature and cinema

• Richard Dyer: “a text that shows extremely close similarities with another, earlier text, but with clear discrepancies and distortions”– discrepancies: anachronisms, interruptions of other

styles, self-conscious or self-reflexive moments– distortions: pastiche selects, accentuates, exaggerates,

and/or concentrates on some details meaning lies in discrepancies and distortions

functions of pastiche

• can be interpreted as simply superficial parody, but…• Dyer: ‘Pastiche noir is able to recognise and mobilise

the structure of feeling it perceives to have been caught by classic noir’

• pastiche cites an original by citing its representations– FFH portrays Hollywood’s images of domesticity, not

“real” 1950s middle-class suburban family life– plays on the audience’s memories of, and feelings about,

previous representations of the same time and place

Far from Heaven as pastiche

• similarities: setting, sets, décor, costumes, color, lighting, two-shots, performance style, overt symbols

• discrepancies: homosexuality and inter-racial desire, cutting ratio, dialogue style

• distortions: stronger emphasis on gender, class, sexuality and race in social hierarchies

pastiche comments on and replicates original

1950s melodrama (“women’s films”)

• Douglas Sirk (director), Ross Hunter (producer) at Universal– All that Heaven Allows (1955) age, class– Written on the Wind (1956) sexual problems– Imitation of Life (1959) race

• FFH also includes direct references to – Max Ophuls (The Reckless Moment, 1949) class– Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Ali: Fear Eats the Soul, 1974)

German remake of Sirk’s ATHA

similarities between FFH and Sirk• setting: time and place, northeastern US 1950s• décor: middle-class public and private spaces of that time and

place• costumes: appropriate to setting and characters• color: complex color coding and accents, gels• lighting: Hollywood glamour, dramatic contrasts• overt symbols: scarf, flowering witch hazel, mirrors, fresh cut

flowers• camera work: two-shots, group shots, high-low• performance style: theatrical, “unrealistic” today

discrepancies and distortions

• pastiche can ‘move us even while allowing us to be conscious of where the means of our being moved come from, its historicity’

• FFH tells a story about the 50s in the emotional and artificial style of 50s melodrama

…but about topics that were not possible then• reminds us how much movies have changed …and how the old styles still have power• allows us to enter the world of the past…and shows us how feeling is shaped by culture

sets and décor

sets and décor

costumes

costumes

costumes

color scoring

• use of color is analogous to musical score, motifs and emotional cues– costumes, sets, décor– lighting, gels and filters

• character / spatial color coding (bars, Raymond)• contrasts between warm and cool colors– lavenders, blues, greens– reds, oranges, yellows

color score

orange: Cathy’s desire for Raymond

orange: Cathy’s desire for Raymond

orange: Cathy’s desire for Raymond

red / green: spaces of forbidden desire

red / green: spaces of forbidden desire

red / green: spaces of forbidden desire

blue: moonlight, dying marriage

blue: moonlight, dying marriage

blue: moonlight, dying marriage

lighting: classical Hollywood

lighting: classical Hollywood

symbols: scarf

symbols: mirrors

cinematography

• two-shots• group shots• high and low angles• canted frames

two-shots

group shots

group shots

high and low angles

canted frames

Far from Heaven and affect

• despite the obvious use of pastiche, FFH produces powerful emotional responses

• shows that the more artificial styles of the past can still move us, just as they moved their audiences then

• thus, “realism” or verisimilitude in movies is not necessary for affective engagement

color score, musical score, symbolism enhance emotion despite “over-the-top” constructedness

melodrama, affect, and society

• portray society’s regulation of desire and its results on characters’ lives

• artifice of visual style echoes fakeness, hypocrisies of middle-class suburban values

• emotional power reinforces sympathy for characters as victims of oppression

• hierarchies of oppression (man / woman, straight / gay, white / black, parent / child)

melodrama, affect, and society

Fassbinder on Sarah Jane and Annie in Sirk’s Imitation of Life:

“The cruelty is that we can understand them both, both are right and no one will be able to help them. Unless we change the world. At this point all of us in the cinema cried. Because changing the world is so difficult.”

discussion questions

1. How did you react to the visual style of FFH?2. Have you seen any other movies made in or set in

the 50s? Compare them to FFH.3. Can you think of other movies you’ve seen that

you could define as pastiche? Explain.4. Some critics call FFH a “re-make” of All that

Heaven Allows. Can a re-make be a pastiche?