While watching "Omar Gatlato," I couldn't help but feel a little confused. First of all, it seemed as though the first half of the film was documentary, while the last half was more in the style of a narrative film.
For the first 45 minutes or so, Omar narrates his own story as the camera follows him around. We pretty much see every painstaking detail of Omar's day to day life. This is good for the sake of realism. With this kind of filmmaking you get an uninterrupted look at the film's subject and his surroundings. Then the second half of the film takes a slightly different direction. The narration stops, and the whole "realistic" feel seems to vanish from the film. The filmmaker goes from a documentary depicting the life of an Algerian male in the Casbah, to telling a narrative story about the same man trying to locate a mysterious girl. Obviously, realism can be depicted in any kind of film, but I just wanted to get this out of the way.
As far as realism itself is concerned, I can only really see certain generalities of it here. Some of the women are dressed in a traditional style and gangs run wild trying to rob men and women alike. Omar and his fellow Algerians find pleasure in simple things such as the movies and music. The cassette player that Omar owns is pretty much his version of complete luxury. And the movie drives the point home that they live in a harsh and dangerous world. I know the realism in this film delves much deeper, but I find it difficult to pinpoint. From what I have read about the film, I know that it is supposed to show men as being inferior to women. This is how realism is related to gender in this film. I don't see it. I do see that Omar finds it hard to sleep in the same room as his sister seeing as they are now both adults, leaving Omar to feel out of place in his own home, but this can't be all there is. Realism related to self-determination is a little easier. Omar becomes obsessed with the female voice he hears on a tape and will not rest until he finds this girl. We can all relate to that type of motivation regardless of the motivating factor. But again, is this all there is? I also have the same problem with realism related to the post-colonial situation in Algeria. To me this film is certainly meant to be sympathetic to the formerly colonized people of Algiers. I believe it is meant to show that although they are "free," they are still colonized within the Casbah.
All this is what I can clearly see while watching this film. This fact leaves me with an uneasy feeling. I feel as though I am missing the whole point of why we viewed this movie. But to be absolutely honest, I don't see anything much more than this.
2 comments:
It seems to me that the realism of the film really lies entirely in the filmmaking style. I can't remember exactly who said it (possibly DeSica?) but one of the important italian neorealist filmmakers said that an ideal film would be two hours in which nothing happens. The neo-realists wanted to show the day to day life of the everyday man. This film definitely did that. Also the way in which the film was shot, using a sort of mock-documentary, unprofessonal looking style added to the intended realism. The filmmaker used this realist style in order to examine the various themes of the film, like gender relations and the interaction between traditional and western cultures.
I agree, knowing what i know about the neo-realists I think the film did a really good job depicting that sort of day to day life usually portrayed by the neo-realists. I think that the fact that the film changes halfway through and goes from a mockuementary style to a more narrative based film just goes along even more with life and the day to day. Everyone has some drama that goes on in their lives, and everyone has something that they become a little obsessed with from time to time. Life is never ordinary day after day, and that's why the film really is realistic, because it shows something come up that could alter your life for a while.
I'm not sure about how I feel about the theme of gender relations in the film. The fact that the main character becomes obsessed with trying to find a women kind of puts her on a pedestal in which he can obsess over. In that way it is definitely showing the power that women have over men, that alluring quality that can make men obsess over them. But at the same time it's making woman an object, something that can be found and attained. It's a double edged sword.
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