Lauren Bachner Final Exam for Cine 121 01 An offer Hollywood could not refuse One of the most popular examples of the American gangster film genre is The Godfather which was created by Francis Ford Coppola in 1972 Francis Ford Coppola was not only known for his success from the film but also for being an auteur His film exhibits accurate portrayals of the mob and exposes their way of life which therefore changed Hollywood cinema forever The Godfather is a work of an auteur yet also is put under a genre An auteur is defined as a director or other creative intelligence with a recognizable and distinctive style who is considered the prime author of the film 892 The work of an auteur and a genre are conflicting because genres contain certain aspects that make them standardized in the category they are placed in In an auteur film such as The Godfather Coppola is credited for all the success that came from the motion picture which contributes to his title of an auteur In a specific genre there are distinctive qualities a film must meet when being placed in that classification A genre and auteur are seen as opposing because a director cannot be an auteur with original unique qualities and also mold into the category the genre must fill Coppola demonstrates a distinguishing style in scenes of The Godfather that characterizes him as an auteur director For example the first scene of the film opens up to a man named Bonasera asking for Don Corleone s help The camera is placed behind Don Corleone so the viewers can pay attention to Bonasera asking for his assistance in something and also puts the audience in the mind of The Don Don Corleone remains silent for most of the man s plea for help which exhibits his control over the situation Coppola uses extended silence and lack of dialogue in his film to represent who is in power and furthermore in the film to display the calmness of the criminals when facing violent situations which not many directors choice to do Coppola allows the actions of the characters to speak rather than the words they use Coppola s distinctive use of silence and composure of the characters is shown again when Paulie s assassination is taking place He also portrays the mob as more than just that it is a family business that is based off the mutual protection of the mob families as well as the police forces involved Clemenza was ordered to kill Paulie and he did so very nonchalantly Paulie picked up Clemenza unaware that he is driving to his death and is asked to stop for Clemenza to urinate on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere The camera is positioned out of the car so the audience gets the main view of Clemenza killing Paulie and taking the canolies in silence revealing his stoic character that is indifferent to the act of committing murder This scene represents Coppola s use of silence in this wide angle shot to kill someone within the mob family something that is not usually seen in gangster films Furthermore in one of the last scenes when Michael is in the church waiting for his nephew to be baptized he remains mute and composed while the plan he constructs with his gunmen to kill all of his enemies and rivals takes place Coppola exhibits the ability for the families within the mob to remain silent when killing off anyone who interferes or poses as a threat to the gangster family as a whole The audience sees Michael take an oath and while this religious ceremony is taking place there are different cuts to the murders of the enemies Coppola s particular techniques of silence and facial expression contributed to the auteur renaissance 628 and also deemed him as a success in the gangster film genre The Godfather is a significant film that marked the beginning of the golden age Francis Ford Coppola s work as an auteur allowed the audience to pinpoint his style of Hollywood cinema through each scene that was filmed by using methods such as silence and expression to speak for the characters to portray what he wanted to get across to the audience Imagining China with Zhang Shuqin Cui discusses the works of Zhang Yimou and other Fifth Generation Chinese film directors as meeting the expectations of the spectators imagined China 840 In other words the way China is perceived in film by the audience is said to be oppressive yet visually stunning 840 Zhang Yimou s film Raise the Red Lantern 1991 contributes to this notion that China is repressive yet visually exquisite by using the techniques of mise en sc ne and cinematography Shuqin Cui states Such representations meet the expectations of the spectators imagined China oppressive yet visually stunning The discourse of China in the Western imagination is encouraged and reinforced by this visual ethnography Thus when self exhibition meets the cinematic gaze and corresponds to the discourse of an international spectatorship we have a cooperative orientalism 840 One can say Cui means that Chinese culture carries a burden of tradition that is shown in the films made Many Westerners imagine China to be an oppressive culture with strict guidelines and nothing more but film allows the Western imagination to expand beyond that simple form of knowledge that has been acquired typically Films create a window of opportunity for those apart of orientalism to display a truthful portrayal of a culture Zhang Yimou s film Raise the Red Lantern 1991 uses mise en sc ne and cinematography to aid in generating the imagined China oppressive yet visually stunning The iron house Zhang s mise en sc ne trademark symbolizes the nation as a sealed space in which citizens languish lethargically and nearly suffocate 834 as a literal depiction of oppression and tradition Mise en sc ne has to do with staging and Yimou s film specifically creates certain scenes by choice Songlian is placed as the fourth wife for the household of the wealthy Chen family that obeys old rituals that were passed from previous Chen s to their wives In the film the iron house is used to portray the denial of freedom to its people and Songlian lack of freedom by submitting herself to become the fourth wife For example when the fourth wife is sentenced to death because of her affair she is sent to the iron house for disobeying the master s rules The iron house is constantly shown throughout the film but can be seen by the audience as an object that displays oppression Additionally cinematography is a group of many different techniques used in the scene when Songlian is