Session Four Part 2: Hollywood vs. European Cinema Europe’s Hollywood Cinema Department of Film and Audiovisual Culture Dr. Richard Nowell ¨12:35–14.20 ¨Screening: Paul (2011) ¨ ¨14:20 – 14:30 ¨Break ¨ ¨14:30 – 15:45 ¨Europe’s Hollywood Cinema ¨ ¨ ¨ paul.jpg from_paris_with_love.jpg ¨1. How does Paul exemplify Working Title’s in-house approaches to content-tailoring? ¨ 2. How does Paul suggest that the international flow of cultural producers, artifacts, and ideas is involved in non-national forms of community building? ¨ ¨3. How does Paul use allegory to promote this film – and by extension Working Title Films – as a legitimate non-American part of Hollywood? ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Europe as a structural component of Hollywood ¨ ¨The cases of EuropaCorp and Working Title Pictures ¨ ¨Two dominant content-tailoring strategies ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ paul.jpg from_paris_with_love.jpg ¨Discussion of “International division ¨of cultural labor” emphasizes two topics: ¨ ¨1. Émigré Filmmakers ¨2. “Runaway” Productions ¨ ¨Both acknowledge the transnational status of Hollywood, but still uphold distinctions ¨ ¨Imply rare, temporary cooperation between distinct parties via travel to or from the US ¨ ¨Paradoxically, these notions maintain the nominally American status of Hollywood ¨ ¨ ¨ sound_of_music_ver2.jpg mission_impossible.jpg amadeus_ver1.jpg eternal_sunshine_of_the_spotless_mind_ver4.jpg ¨However, European production companies are imbricated within the structures of Hollywood ¨ ¨This is possible because Hollywood companies have long since out-sourced production ¨ ¨As we have seen European firms produced or coproduced myriad Hollywood films ¨ ¨These have included blockbusters, genre films, and thematically “American” films ¨ ¨Crucially, the European bases of some of these producers determines the nature of their output ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ resident_evil.jpg batman.jpg dances_with_wolves_ver2.jpg blue_bird.jpg ¨ ¨1. What is EuropaCorp? 1. ¨2. Broadly speaking, what types of film has EuropaCorp produced in the twenty-first century? 1. ¨3. How does Vandershelden suggest these product lines complement each other? 1. ¨4. Do you find anything curious about her explanation? ¨Produces ultra-low-budget French-language films mainly for Francophone (but also other) markets ¨ ¨Also produces medium-budget Anglophone fare for export (NOT blockbusters as VDS claims) ¨ ¨Aims to sell these films to Hollywood distributors on their appeal to US and international markets ¨ ¨VDS argues films like Taken are a necessary means to support EuropaCorp’s “French Cinema” ¨ ¨No!!! It spreads risk, generates revenue, and entitles a major corporation to taxpayer support ¨ ¨ transporter.jpg lucy.jpg ¨ ¨ ¨In what ways do the makers of From Paris with Love attempt to distance this film from its French production origins, and why? ¨ ¨Genre ¨Part “Euro-thriller” Part 80s Action throwback ¨ ¨Style ¨Slick, US-Asian type comic book violence ¨ ¨Themes ¨1. Bush-Cheney “Others” ¨2. US violent international interventionism ¨3. Demonization of France (autocratic/impractical) ¨4. Recuperation of preemptive violent pragmatism ¨5. Promotion of US’s surveillance technologies ¨4. Fears of US M/C imperiled by globalization ¨ ¨ ¨ paris 1.jpg paris 4.jpg paris 2.jpg paris 3.jpg ¨EuropaCorp leans toward Imperso-Nation ¨ ¨It exploits the Hollywood/US association to increase its potential consumer base ¨ ¨Tailors content in order to mask national production origins of its medium-budget films ¨ ¨Stresses qualities that most audiences would deem “quintessentially American” ¨ ¨1. Emulates “Hollywood” conventions ¨2. Articulates “Hyper-American” positions ¨ ¨ family.jpg three_days_to_kill.jpg brick_mansions.jpg taken_ver5.jpg ¨What is Working Title Films? ¨ ¨How is Working Title part of the structure of Contemporary Hollywood? ¨ ¨What is meant by Working Title’s “Mid-Atlantic” Approach to films? ¨ ¨What is meant by Working Title’s “Pan-European” Approach to films? ¨ ¨UK-based company with ties to Universal Pictures & Canal Plus ¨ ¨1. Best known for its transatlantic romances ¨2. Sometimes offers pan-European appeal ¨3. Sometimes practices “Imperso-Nation” ¨[backed most of the Cohen Brothers’ films] ¨ ¨Its trademark is the promotion of transatlantic harmony through onscreen relationships ¨ ¨EG: Hugh-Grant + US actress = metaphor for UK-US corporate and cultural partnerships ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ les_miserables.jpg frost_nixon.jpg big_lebowski_ver1.jpg notting_hill.jpg ¨1. How does Paul exemplify Working Title’s in-house approaches to content-tailoring? ¨ 2. How does Paul suggest that the international flow of cultural producers, artifacts, and ideas is involved in non-national forms of community building? ¨ ¨3. How does Paul use allegory to promote this film – and by extension Working Title Films – as a legitimate non-American part of Hollywood? ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨Paul is posited as a sophisticated advertisement for non-American contributions to Hollywood ¨ ¨Suggests “aliens” (i.e. non-Americans) contribute to “American” popular entertainment, esp. sci-fi ¨ ¨Paul/Paul unites people through media choices ¨ ¨Stresses that tastes transcends states: media forges psychographic – rather than national – communities ¨ ¨Promotes Working Title as the glue binding together likeminded consumers … all around the world ¨ ¨ paul-movie-screen.jpg paul tableaux.jpg paul audience.jpg ¨Does not obscure production origins; Transnational in terms of content/themes ¨ ¨Often articulated through shared media culture/heritage, or joyous exchanges ¨ ¨Insulates films from nationalistic viewers, who might reject it on the basis of its origins ¨ ¨Also, promotes the long-term future of the non-US contributors to Hollywood ¨ ¨After all, nominally non-American films have historically struggled to make it statesid. ¨ ¨ ¨ my_week_with_marilyn.jpg hitchcock_ver3.jpg hugo_ver3.jpg saving_mr_banks.jpg ¨European companies are part of the very structures of Hollywood, contributing to myriad films we tend to think of as American ¨ ¨They also employ two tailoring-content strategies to attract Hollywood distributors, by undermining Europe’s reputation for art cinema ¨ ¨“Imperso-Nation” masks European origins, making the films appear to be American-made – sometimes hyperbolically so ¨ ¨“Mid-Atlanticism” foregrounds European origins but promotes transatlantic (media) relations textually, and thus corporately ¨ ¨In both cases, Hollywood’s reputation for accessible, appealing fare is seen as a replicable, commercially attractive asset … not as a foil ¨ ¨ ¨ ¨