Mimesis and Catharsis

Since the beginning of human civilization in ancient Greece, theatre has been an art form of self expression,  not only as entertainment but also a way to help people cope through their own problems and emotional build-up. Which is why people love to watch horror films curled up in terror and sad stories to bawl their eyes out. More often than not, people struggle with facing their true self and feelings; in watching and connecting with events&characters with in the film through the concept of mimesis, they can then work through their own emotions in achieving catharsis and heal through the film.
In the 1990 film American Beauty directed by Sam Mendez, the just-below-average, coward suburban father lusts over his daughter's best friend, but really just the concept of being in touch with his youth again, ultimately coming to his end as he finally find himself and finds beauty within those that truly matter. When Lester first lay eyes on Angela during his daughter Jane's dance team performance, the director sets the scene in an anticipatory set up, tilting the shot in a smooth, upward motion and the entire dance team flares out to reveal princess-like Angela in the center. The shot begins to slowly zoom in on her from a long shot to a medium closed shot; emphasizing her significance later on in the film and as the shot is zoomed more and more upon her, it's literally Lester's attraction to her as he becomes more focused on her, zoning out everything else within the shot just as zooming in on her cuts out the distractions in the scene with her. The music in the gymnasium also fades from the upbeat and innocent dance music to a tense, off key, and atonal chime as the the crosscut close ups showing Lester's first fantasy about Angela, watching her dance seductively and winking at him; in intend to make the audience incredibly uncomfortable.  As Lester has more interactions with Angela, some real and some only in his head; in finding sparks of youth through Angela, he finds a new joy in life in trying to relive his younger years and preserving those feelings. Lester speaks as a non diegetic voice over in an ariel establishing shot of the neighborhood, his house, and then himself running out the door saying "Remember those posters that said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? Well, that's true of every day but one - the day you die." with The Seeker by The Who also playing in the background. This foreshadows his ultimate fate of dying in search of himself, the lyrics of The Seeker “I’m looking for me. You’re looking for you. They call me the Seeker. I’ve been searching low and high. I won’t get to get what I’m after. Till the day I die." also signifies his death in that he isn't actually in love with Angela, but rather the thrill he feels. The running Lester is completely unaware of the non-diegetic sounds and his only concern of the moment is to have a good work out to look hot for Angela. Through out the film, the use of color and lighting strongly help support Lester's internal emotions. The roses can be seen in nearly every shot, being the high contrast of the only bright warm tones in shot of bland cool tones, although the roses are planted by his wife, he only associates them with Angela; only in the last scene, seconds before his death does the associate them with his family for the first time. The high key lighting of his face is also in contrast with the low key lighting of his face from the beginning of the film, suggesting the positive effects of his search for self but also getting closer to the "light at the end of the tunnel" in which his face is fully lit in a soft but bright light. The soft piano music used at the scene of his death is used as characterization in that it's also played during the plastic bag scene when Ricky talks about there's beauty within everything, he finally found the real beauty in his life even though he's dead; he died happy and beautifully. In watching this film, the audience goes from being incredibly uncomfortable and awkward to shocked by the bullet that went through Lester's head; through a series of up and downs on the emotional roller coaster ride, they are in the end at peace and mournful for Lester; released of the anger and bitterness to truly appreciate the beauty with in life.

Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe is a 2000 film that tells Crowe's experience in his teenage years through the story of 15 year old William Miller and his journey of finding his way through the world of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll. When William's sister leaves to become a stewardess, she tells William to look under his bed for a bag of records; it then cuts to a medium ariel shot of William finding the records and a note Anita left for him to "Listen to Tommy with a candle lit, it will change your entire future." suggesting as if Anita or God is watching from above, that it's all in his destiny to find his way in rock n' roll and music.  The scene then cuts to William playing Tommy on the record player and the shot slowly dissolves in to William lighting the candle, and by the end of the song, William is a 15 year old drawing band logos on his notebooks in high school. As Tommy begins to play filling the silence in his room, it's also filling his heart, ridding of the boring and uptight life he had; emphasizing the literally change the song had on him, acting as a turning point in his life. When William meets Lester Bangs, they sit and eat together at a diner in a dense and tightly framed medium close up, showing clutters of food and condiments communicating that either of them has their life straight out and that there's so much in life and isn't a perfectly smooth road and that's ok. Their dialogue is presented with shot reverse shot cutting, showing their reactions to each other and an insight to the character's point of views. This is the scene where Bangs assure William that it's ok to be uncool, and that popularity doesn't matter for that "you'll meet them again on your way to the middle." that it doesn't matter how cool one is today, for that everyone is going to be just ordinary. When William first meets Penny Lane and Still water, the proxemic patterns are thrown out the window, Penny first introduces herself in a loosely framed full shot as a band aid, someone thats there to inspire the music, for the music; not a groupie just to sleep with rock stars, she stands at a public proxemic distance, giving William his personal bubble. The second time William sees her, roughly 30 minutes later, the shot is focused only on Penny as she becomes closer and closer, with everything else blurry behind her, showing William is already noticing her and seeing only her in a environment of chaos.  Penny takes it to a more intimate level reallll fast, not going by the "normal" rules of slowly becoming close with someone, she sits closely to William and caressing his face or more specifically his eyebrows in a tight and high key shot. This communicates her character's carefree and un-ordinary nature, the ability to just let go and love in contrast to the polite and formal lifestyle William is use to.  This film allows the audience to see through the eyes of "the enemy", seeing rock n' roll in a different perspective and the efforts of uncool thats behind the mask of glamor and cool. In seeing William as well as Stillwater's struggle to be cool, giving other people the perception of cool, only to realize in the industry of cool, the uncool is the real cool in being different and real; the audience then can reflect upon their own life and become at peace with the concept of cool vs uncool and looking for the more important things that they may have been taking for granted.

 Memento by Christopher Nolan is a critically acclaimed film that went outside of the box in both realms of editing and catharsis, letting the audience see the film and the plot as the character discovers more about himself. Nolan does not follow in the traditional sense of editing and cutting film in the order they happen in in this film, but rather in a series of scattered jump cuts of black and white scenes and scene in color. Toward the end of the film, the audience is presented with a scene of  Leonard pulling up to the empty ranch house(in black and white) previously seen at the beginning of the film, the shot off balanced with only his truck on the right side as a weight. He then goes into the warehouse and ends up killing a man he believed to be his wife's killer, he strips him down and takes his cloths; as he is putting on the suit, the scene slowly goes from black and white. Only then the audience is aware that the film is cut in a way that plays backward in color and black&white in the chronological order of the events happening; Nolan presents the film i such a way that the audience is watching the beginning and end at the same time, they just don't know it till the end of the film. In one scene where Leonard actually discovers that Natalie is only using him to help her kill off people to her advantage, however, desperate to remember, he fails to find a pencil and write down this vital information. The scene follows the 180 degree rule in a very tight close up shot, clutters out of focus in depth emphasizing Leonard's unstableness and a literal representation of his mind: messy and chaotic. Forgetting Natalie's lie, he goes back to being her personal hit man, the scene cuts to a tight close up reverse dolly of him running from someone accompanied by non diegetic sounds of gunshots and car alarms.  As the audience only sees him running but not the destination, leaving the audience lost and confused, just as Leonard is in that he doesn't know where he is, who he is running from, or why he is running from them; the noise adding even more to the already confusing scene. This film takes the audience through mimesis from the very first scene, knowing no more than Leonard himself due to his condition, it steps outside the box in the concept of catharsis in that it never actually gives the audience a solution; the entire film is built up of suspense yet in the end there's no set resolution therefore there's no release of emotion, leaving the audience in question and having to look for the catharsis outside of the film, looking more into their own lives.

Through watching film and seeing the imitation and representations of different aspects of one's life, experiencing things and finding solutions where as it might be difficult to find in real life, one goes through the process of healing through the release of those most of the time negative emotions, a purgation of the darkness that exists within everyone; and in that cleansing their soul to continue through life with a clearer mind and positive outlook. Through mimesis in film people can overcome the resistance to face their raw emotions to achieve catharsis, purifying their mind.

American beauty

In the critically acclaimed film directed by Sam Mendez and written byAlan Ball, American Beauty  tells a story of the facade of a suburban American family losing themselves, ironically, in search of themselves. Music and sound play a major role in the film in constructing character perspectives and revealing raw emotions, both in which help the audience interpret and connect with the film. Sound in film can be generally categorized in two: diegetic sound, sounds that can be heard by both the characters and audience, like dialogue and source music ; and non-diegetic sounds, sounds that are heard by the audience but not the characters with in the film, typically background music and voice overs. An example of diegetic sounds being the dinner scene after Lester quits his job, the family sits together and eats, much like the first dinner scene, the use of silence communicates the awkwardness and lack of connection that exists with in the house hold. However, this time around much more dialogue is present, Lester is arguing with Carolyn and as the argument becomes more and more heated, Carolyn speak with herself interrupted by Lester's yells, something that's happening for the first time in the film. Carolyn's speaking in third person and answering to herself emphasizes her stress and desperation while Lester for the first time feels in control and empowered, both vocally and physically; through all the chaos Carolyn's classy, romantic tunes still play in the background as always, but this time Lester actually voices out his anger and mocks it. After Lester meets Angela and he feels the sparks of being young again, he begins to work out; one non-diegetic music score sticks with him. An upbeat, xylophone-like sound that plays whether he's lifting weights in the garage or running in the neighborhood. Lester himself isn't aware of this music but its clear to the audience that he is on his way from the coward, middle aged man to becoming self-empowered. One sound sticks out to the audience more than any sound or song in the film: the non-diegetic atonal sounds that play during two scenes of where Lester fantasizes about Angela. The first scene being close up crosscuts of Lester and Angela in the gymnasium and she begins to strip off her jacket, revealing her body but roses fly out and covers her breasts; the second scene is the bathroom scene where Angela baths in a tub completely full of rose petals. Atonal sounds are sounds that are off key, not easy to listen to, and often harsh to the ears, both scenes intend to make the audience very uncomfortable, accompanied with atonal chimes, both the content and music make the scene cringe-worthy.

The use of music in this film not only help set the tone and theme for the characters, it also help the audience further understand and connect with the character's emotional state. Every song used in the film was thoroughly examined and picked out to be best fit and representation of a certain character during a certain development. During the first dinner scene, the long shot shows the family eating together, at first sight the scene gives off awkward tension; Lester tries to make conversation but fails Carolyn is pushy and harsh,  and Jane is the typical rebel teen daughter complaining about her mother's taste in music,  Peggy Lee's Bali Ha'I . 

"Here am I your special islandCome to me...Come to me Your own special hopes, your own special dreams Bloom on the hillside and shine in the streams If you try, you'll find me" 

Although Carolyn puts up a front of a strong willed women that supports the family and authority figure of the household, her taste in musics gives away the sensitive side of her away. The lyrics reveal her desire for love and emotional connection, reaching out to Lester in her own unique way.

Lester on the other hand, is becoming more and more distant as he lusts over Angela. In one scene right after Lester quits his job and drives to get a burger at his teenage workplace, he sings along to American Women by The Guess who.

"I don't wanna see your face no more. I got more important things to do. Than spend my time growin' old with you."

American women represent everything dull, old and ordinary in Lester's life, including his wife. He's high on his new profound love(or rather lust) over young and beautiful Angela, the thrill of getting in touch with his youth, and finally having the courage to stand for himself and do what makes him happy. However, every high must come down; in the scene of a bird eye view of the neighborhood, Lester runs out the door and his own commentary of "Remember those posters that said, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"? Well, that's true of every day but one - the day you die." fades in the The Seeker by The Who.

“I’m looking for me. You’re looking for you. They call me the Seeker. I’ve been searching low and high. I won’t get to get what I’m after. Till the day I die."

The lyrics of this song sums up the film quite literally, by the end of the film, Lester finally sees his daughter in Angela and no longer lusts after her; finally being able to look past the hype and realize what he'd been looking for this entire time was right in front of him, his family. By the time he sees this, finally found what he'd been seeking, he comes to his end.

Almost famous

Music is presumably one of the most powerful things in the world , it is the universal language,  connecting people and helping them find themselves and a peace of mind in this crazy world. Sound and music are important elements that manipulate and control emphasize on plot to create the director desired effects and feelings expressed by the film. Almost Famous by Cameron Crowe, based on his own experiences touring with bands and writing for Rolling Stones in high school; which is exactly what the main character, William Miller does in the film. In the beginning of the film, William's sister, Anita Miller, leaves home to become a stewardess, as she leaves she plays America by Simon&Garfunkel synchronously and says it explains why she is leaving. The lyrics of America "So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies And we walked off to look for America" speaks for Anita in that she needs to be free of the restricted environment she was brought up in and herself to a road of finding her place in the world and living life. Before she gets in the car, she whispers in young William's ear telling him to look under his bed and it will set him free. The scene then cuts to William pulling out a bag of records from underneath his bed and running his fingers along the records and finding a note from Anita that says “Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and you will see your entire future.” America fades off into a silence as he takes Tommy out to put on the record, the song begins to play, filling the silence with upbeat, loud rock n'roll suggesting the music fills the silence just as it is fills his heart and the empty places of boredom and ordinary.  The scene then cuts to close ups of the record player, William's face, and the candle to emphasize the change turning point to the film and his life by the end of the song he is in high school drawing band logos on his school folders, this quite literally changed his future, leading him to a life of music and passion for writing.

In the film William meets his mentor Lester Bangs and he guides him through the crazy life of drugs, sex, and most importantly, rock and roll. In one scene of purely synchronous sounds and dialogue, Bangs talks to William about his writing and school. Bangs asks William about school and William say "they all hate me." in which Bangs responds with “You’ll meet them all again on their long journey to the middle.” The middle can be interrupted in two ways; one, the middle as in the middle class, that although the "cool" kids at school think of themselves above William, none of that will matter in 10, 15 years, they will all just be ordinary, living life as the average american working nine-five jobs and paying off their house and car.  Two, the middle as in the middle of the earth, buried in the ground...death; that everyone meets their end one way or another, it doesn't matter how they lived or how cool they are, it simply does not matter.  

Later on in the film, William calls Lester as he is on tour with Stillwater trying to write for the Rolling Stones and Bangs says "the only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." he means when one is stripped away their ego and social status, they can then truly connect with another person on a profound level.  Everyone is all in the game of life in the bankrupt world together. When the band found out that William wrote the story of them, the singer, Jeff Bebe rants about how he knew he couldn't trust the writer. He was so focused on the perception of being cool to the fans, that he'd forgotten what it's really all about; the music and experience. He belts out "is it that hard to make us look cool!" and Russell replies "maybe we just don't see ourselves the way we really are". The irony is that William sees himself as being uncool and StillWater being the coolest thing he'd ever seen, yet they are feeling uncool themselves.  However the fans and the Directors at Rolling Stone loved the story and the band in that they are different and raw. "In America you can ease into middle age with the accoutrements of adolescence still prominent and suffer relatively minor embarrassment: okay, so the guy's still got his sideburns and rod and beer and beer gut and wife and three kids and a duplex and never grew up. So what? You're not supposed to grow up in America. You're supposed to consume." The real Lester Bangs says this in the clash, backing up the Bangs quote from the film about "the middle". Middle class and middle age,  that America is ordinary, and through rock n' roll, one can find a different lens to view the world through, to find common ground with, and procrastinate their journey to the middle for as long as possible.