Montage
served different purpose and has several meanings in the context of film and is
not exclusively used to refer to Soviet Montage. It is used as a synonym of
editing. In Hollywood cinema it means to edit a concentrated sequence using a
series of short shots as brief transitions to create the effect of the passage
of time or movement over large distances or for expressionistic moods and
representation of symbolic meanings. Contrary to the conventional styles and
movements, the soviet filmmakers was stepping away from common narrative
structure and adapting what has come to be called "Soviet Montage".
This new theory of editing was invented by Sergei Eisenstein and then adopted
by a few other Russian filmmakers. Eisenstein, however, was the one who discovered
its potential and first put it to work to make the people in the audience think
whatever he wanted them to think of. “Thematic” or Soviet Montage was achieved arranging
striking juxtapositions of individual shots to suggest an idea that goes beyond
meanings within an individual shot. It is called collision montage as sequences
create significant effects mainly through editing. Its rejection of the forms
and conventions of the dominant Hollywood entertainment cinemas have inspired
many film-makers to challenge the styles by creating films which emphasizes on
the editing which aims to shatter the illusionistic storytelling and seamless
continuity cultivated by Classical Hollywood.
In films nowadays, the technique of the Montage Theory is frequently applied in various conventional films in the hope of enhancing psychological relationships between the images in the montage. They would apply the technique as an explanation for longer narrative within short period of time. An example of montage used in contemporary films would be the training sequence in the Rocky (1976). Throughout the montage shows how Rocky trains for his upcoming important boxing match by running through streets, doing sit up and pushups, punching large piece of meat, running up and down of the stairs while in the mean time there is this song singing “Trying hard now… Getting strong now, Won’t be long now… Gonna fly now.” The passage of time was explained through the montage and in the mean time it also indicates that Rocky is exerting a great deal of energy in getting ready for his big fight with heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. It brings the narrative along forward by compressing shots of Rocky’s training into a short three-minute sequence.
Similar
to the Rocky, the montage is also used in romance-genre films to portray the
romantic moments and sweet memories a loving couple has been through together
for a long period of time by showing a sequence of short footages consisting
key events in the narratives from time to time. For instance, in the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(2008) where Benjamin and Daisy were living together for the first time after
knowing each other for so many years. In this sequence, the montage shows that
the couple started living in a small apartment with not much of the furniture
except a piece of mattress which both shared and slept on most of the time. In
between, there are shots of the couple lying on the bed hugging and kissing
each other from time to time while at the same time the narrative progresses as
it started to dissolve into the same location but with more decorations and
different time. As time goes by, their house started to filled with more
furniture and they even painted house and making fun of each other during the
process. Also, there is narration throughout the montage as Benjamin Button was
describing his feeling during that period of time and how beautiful the
memories are back then. All these shots were put together to imply to the
audience how much time they spent with each other and how loving they were
during that time. All these sequence of shots which lasted for years were then edited
and put in together in a 58-second long montage in order to show all the
quality time they have spent together and explain about the development of
their relationship.
Besides
conveying the passage of time, montage is also used to create the effect of
expressionistic mood in a way that various shots are combined to formed a
sequence in a slower pace to amplify the engagement of audiences feeling and
experience towards the characters and atmosphere within the film. As background
music and sound effects are widely used along during the montage, it tends to create
more realistic feelings for the audience as the music allows film makers to
touch on the emotional facets on the audience and draw them deeper into the
films. In the film Pearl Harbour (2001)
by Michael Bay, the part where Japanese air fighters have not yet started the
assault towards US Navy at Pearl Harbour, the montage shows that different
military units and officials conversation which together brings the feeling of
calm yet tense as some of them were very relaxing as they are not aware of the
Japanese fighters that are approaching the harbor nor did they expect any
possible hostility from Japanese army because of the false friendly show on
news. On the other hand, all the US army officials such as the admiral,
strategic analyst and others were very tense as most of them were very
suspicious towards the Japanese army because they were aware of Japanese’s
threats towards the pacific fleet and they were very skeptical of the Japanese
fleet which disappears at the pacific ocean as they suspect that it might be
heading towards Pearl Harbour, which it did then. Therefore the mixture of
relaxation and nervous expressed throughout the montage tends to give the
audience a very tense feelings as they are now very nervous and worry about the
US Navy and people in Pearl Harbour because they are way off their guards at
that moment while the Japanese air fighters were slowly approaching towards
them. It is like calm before the storm which then explodes when the assaults
started.
As
for the representation of symbolic meanings, there are films which use series
of short shots and link them together to create an association for a particular
meaning. As Sergei Eisenstein explained his montage theory of collision
suggesting individual shots are used as fragments or parts of a whole scene,
and not in collision with each other. (creative
geography). Therefore, two short footages which alone depicts different
meanings were put together to bring out a different meaning, just like how
thesis and antithesis were add together to form a synthesis. With that, the
best example of films applying the collision theory would be the Requiem For A Dream (2000) by Darren
Aronofsky where there is an immense amount of montages which applied the
collision theory to depict meanings to audience which not only serve
transition, but more importantly they bring out meaning and feeling the
director intended to show to the audience in the hope of engaging them into the
mind and reality of the characters within the film. For example, every time
when one of the main characters was taking drug or pills, the drug-taking
processes were shown using a fast pace montage with different shots including
the heroin bag, the syringe, US dollar cash rolled up, sniffing heroin, boiling
glucose with heroin and etc. and all these shots were put together to form a
sequence of montage that not only help to transit the narrative of the film but
also to explain the process of it while imply how fast the transaction,
consumption and addiction as well as the state of mind of ecstasy can be
without knowing how slow and long the pain and suffering will become after. The
close ups of all the shots showing details of the process along with sound
effects aim to give audience the trippy feeling of addiction as it draws them
into the characters’ perspective when they were taking drugs. Also, the montages
where Sara was taking the diet pills and waiting for time to pass have their
own meanings as well as they were used as a contrast to how different it is to
lose weight naturally following conventional way compared to taking diet pills.
The fast pace of the montage for taking pill implies that losing weight by
taking pills can be as fast as the montage is while the slow pace of all the
clocks, television and close ups of Sara as montage signifies how long it takes
for a person to lose weight without taking diet pills. Thus, it shows the
contrast of the diet process.
Despite
of its brief period of time, Soviet Montage managed to influence not only the
Soviet cinema back then, but it had inspired many of the prominent film makers
which have successfully created many films using the Soviet Montage theory and
has entertained countless of audience over the pass decades. The use of Soviet
Montage has become so commonplace in mainstream film today that we take it for
granted that this important part of film grammar had to be invented by a small
group of Soviet filmmakers in the 1920s. (Rock, A.)
I have gained a lot of information about montages after reading this post. Very well put and very detailed analyzing. Bravo.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite analytical analysis in terms of your explanation of influences from Soviet Montage as well as citing examples from the scenes of that particular film. Maybe, you can put some captions under the videos you want to share with us? So that we have better understanding after watching the video. Overall, was quite nice and it increases my knowledge for this movement. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell organized and attached with the examples for every montage in every film. Compact information. Good Job!
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This is a really infomative post but just wondering if there are any foreign film, particularly european that have been influenced by soviet montage???
ReplyDeleteThis is a really infomative post but just wondering if there are any foreign film, particularly european that have been influenced by soviet montage???
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