Audiovisual Cultures episode 35 – Festive Wrinkly Film Club automated transcript

hello and welcome to your audio visual cultures the podcast that explores signed an image based modes of cultural production I am the creator and host Paula planner has this episode is geo each on what for many people is Boxing Day I saw it I take the opportunity to reflect on the volunteering I've done specifically my involvement last running to film club at a residential care home and some special festive events we've done I ran to film club from June to December twenty seventeen then pass it on to another volunteer he seemed ready Kane and I've continued on as a friend or two to residents since then the other volunteer left sometime ago and homes activities coordinator has been selecting the films the residents voiced criticisms of the film club at recent presidents meetings and I suggested doing a bank special one as a child this December so I'm going to indulge in a little bit of I told you so for a moment as I pass on all the knowledge I acquired in the six months of running it week late last year and all of my advice was pretty much ignored another reason why I stopped was because we've been moved from a bank lines to a really tiny one with only a few seats and this was excluding quite a lot of people who'd been regulars before then I learned the hard way that animations No matter hi mature or realistic go to sign it's very per day with this audience the man aged in their eighties and nineties are over when men were men generation and they won't bother with musicals or romance themed stories historical fiction particularly involving British heritage and the monarchy always works really well as did some obscure independent film side find which center on elderly people and issues that they face yes given that there are quite a few residents living waste various stages and types of dementia I find that degeneration of the films needed to pay no more than a hundred minutes as they begin to agitate after Ryan to eighty five to ninety minutes the narrative and plot also need to be as straightforward as possible I thought Hitchcock's to catch a thief was a bat as it's probably one of the more accessible and straightforward of the Hitchcock thriller spent many of her Aston's really struggle to even my fat black and white films should only be shown after there is sharp image quality color is best for people with visual impairments that helps and follow who's Hayley and what's what subtitles for the hard of hearing are also a must along with the key and the highest sound quality possible as the slightest distortions caused quite a few problems for accessibility neither the activities coordinator has experienced first hand all the sorts of limitations and face complaints on the scene how challenging it is to please everybody I felt ready to get involved again and last year in December we watched the shop around the corner which wasn't well attended because our session had been double booked with Carol singing we also watched last year a colorized version of the original America on thirty fourth street which was well attended and ready well enjoy it because of that because I think that was quite a successful one I suggested we use it again this festive season as is the reality of life at a care home we've sadly lost residents in the past year some have passed away and some had to be moved on to the facilities where they can receive the more intensive care they need eight new residents have come in and frankly other residents simply don't remember events from a year ago for these reasons some reputation is fine and actually it might help revive dormant memories in some cases so it's okay to be a little bit repetitive awhile back I published posts on my blog find it P. E. A. prior dot blogspot dot com labels affectionately as a wrinkly film club and went silent asked individual films and their reception the shop around the corner was directed by Ernst Lubitsch and released in nineteen forty Lubitsch was one of many European emigre filmmakers whose training and his homeland of germinate helped shape classical studio era Hollywood minute before the U. S. H. O. in the allied forces in World War two the shop around the corner was adopted from me close last Los play in not Sir tar or perforate and apologies for the nonexistent Hungary and accent there this play was first performed in nineteen thirty seven the year before the Hungarian playwright became one of many Jewish emigres I came to the U. S. side around this time the Hollywood film retains the Hungarian setting but not the European political climate of its time it focuses on to the Pickering co workers who don't realize that the author is our long term anonymous romantic correspondence while quick witted and scathing humor of pines this romantic comedy driven by misunderstandings and dramatic irony also engages with emotional fragility sexual harassment mental illness loneliness the trial and suicide at a time when psychoanalysis brews in popularity it appeared that so to date the commercial potential of being in love especially in December in the lead up to Christmas purchases of the cases boxes and wallets that is vessels for by gate H. sold in the store become increasingly for others instead of for the south earlier in the year Clara Novak played by Margaret Sullivan manages to land a job at the matches sack and company letter good skate shop by selling and musical cigarette box as the repurposed Condi box to a woman she is James wan's today's way it's convincing her that it's incessant playing of the Russian love change Oct chi chair name well Peter off eating sweets quite a few times and the firm some characters display fought phobia after the establishing act gifts are sought as an obligation to loved ones including Clara wanting to buy one of the long unsold novelty boxes for her unnamed intended unbeknownst to Clara her colleague added first Serie Alfa to chronic played by James Stewart discovers that she is has anonymous lover and persuade her to buy him a stylish wallet and stats this is of course after cruel words have been exchanged and that psychological confusion quoted from the film caused by their falling in love the musical cigarette box plays the role of MacGuffin and elephant in the room its presence and regular mentions recalling the very fact of Clarice employment at the shop her physical entry into health for its life and health it's better judgment as it was he who advise their employer Q. Q. much sack played by Frank Morgan against stalking it despite the products stagnation and driven by people's need to purchase gifts Christmas Eve becomes their quote biggest day since twenty it's on quotes that is since before the global impact of the nineteen twenty nine Wall Street crash the shop success comes despite or perhaps because of matches Shaq's absence following a suicide attempt after a private investigator provides evidence that much as Jack's wife has been having an affair with another employee a a it's apparent that his over work an obsession with the shop factored in the breakdown of his marriage was supposedly still in hospital his attempts at psychological sales tactics at the shop window back fired when the customers recognize him so well known are he and his maneuvers this results in him staving off loneliness at the end of the film by essentially buying friendship and company with the new shop boy for Christmas day as everyone else is paired offer has family commitments in a way it mildly reminiscent of screech and a Christmas Carol he only becomes generous and that school of bitterness to offset his own guilt and pain as for the lovers they began the work of being true to one another and developing mutual respect without them realizing this first emerges while they hit each other during a store room arguments Clara observes that no one but specifically L. for it has tried to grab her in this situation during her employment not much checks she confirms that being harassed as why she left her previous job the onus of course being on the victim not much has changed it fails so many years later the shop appears to be a respectful workplace but each meal employee it's nineteen forty so yes it's a heteronormative environment specially in Hollywood at this time as preoccupied with a wife or lover of some description Alford agonizes over someone he believes to be a world apart from Clara Fitch played by Felix press art is happy family man Vatos played by Joe says Schildkraut is not convicts with the bosses wife Macek is obsessed with the shop and even Pappy the delivery boy played by William Tracy has a girl at the rate of his ambitions Alfred's harsh words the Clarets that they're not interested as are frankly trade she is not considered as worse harassing by the male employees of much check and compelling the more problematic elements in the film the site it's a good watch I thank picky if you enjoy humor and delivery that really staying there's nothing quite like that classical Hollywood comedy and the picture is very famous for those it's hard to gauge its reception as the one person as they said he attended thought they had to leave before the end of the film and some other people joined us after an hour when the Carol singing was over but they had really very little concept of what was going on or what they were watching so the film is night part of the homes collection and maybe put IT again next year he knows the following week last year we watched the nineteen forty seven version of miracle on thirty fourth street written and directed by George Seaton and starring Maureen o'hara and John P. and to my surprise last year the DVD and created a colorized version which we collectively decided to have a go west as vision is an issue for many residents as I mentioned earlier color is much easier for them to see them block might also it's just a bit more cheery here especially in the dark winter days and being quite far north it gets dark for a hard line being a joyful story about the spirit of Christmas the color first added in the nineteen eighties was flew a vibrant hues of red green and gold and rare late was its addition even discernible I find it really impressive I was very familiar with the black and white version I'd watched it before and I just find it really impressive how wild the color was done on that occasion six residents attended and we were joined by to the relatives of one of the residents and I was surprised that not only had no one else in the room saying this version before they also hadn't heard of the story I told but has experienced quite a few incarnations and see other radio television no for lies ation and Salem sensei original story was written by fallen Tyner Valentin database I'm not sure hi that person per nine states the nineteen ninety four remake was fairly popular and I remember it being released when I was ten but I also must remember as a lifelong cinephile to re calibrate to the experiences of the general non cinema going public and a lot of the residents in the home are of a generation that didn't really go to the cinema very much and it's actually more at the man and they're very few men and residents at this home women have a longer life expectancy so there are just naturally fear man but it is my the man who would have gone to the cinema more regularly but the point of this is been to introduce the residents to films and different stories that they would like but may never come across before and it feels good when that worksite and it's even better when I have a few things that I can say about them from experience I'm not occasion everybody enjoyed the film very much and just sing the the lady whose relatives were there says very little and for here hardy said anything positive about my fate she's passed away since last year but believe me when I say I was ready to light it up when I asked her what she thought she replied it wasn't too bad and with a lot of the rats and stuff for the past you can really hope for that's really positive purposes or laughed and confirm dot so I take that as a huge positive and others expressed that they thoroughly enjoyed it and find it very funny and cheering so's quite lively that'll discussion afterwards which was really nice the firm opens as Doris Walker played by Ohara oversees the Macy's department store thanksgiving day parade which culminates in Santa Claus is a rifle the store that was back when they used to do this sort of thing in late November as opposed to starting in September as it feels like they deny however there Santa Claus played by Percy Helton is drunk and passes all right an elderly passer by he stopped to berate him as asked by Doris to replace him and Kris kringle played by admins Glenn he claims to be the real Santa Claus gets the job while there are concerns about Chris's Sunday his honesty and warm heartedness security loyalty from the customers meanwhile it becomes apparent that Doris is the divorced mother of the young season played by Natalie woods he has befriended their neighbor the attorney Fred Keeley played by paean he has deep affections for the walkers but wishes they were last Sirius he soon analysts Pringles help and igniting imagination and blind faith and Susan has been taught by her mother to be truthful and skeptical which in this story are synonymous with seriousness and it seems particularly and the women and the process Doris is emotional armor against further heartbreak dissolves and she gave center loving frat and believing in Kress while the film is funny with sharp harm this humor there are of course issue use that a film of this nature and a film made in nineteen forty seven raises but in comparing it with the nineteen ninety four remake I find the nineteen forty seven version to actually be less problematic the nineteen nineties single working mother Dorothy Walker played by Elizabeth Perkins seems to rely on free child care from her neighbor Brian Bedford's played by Dylan McDermott spend the elderly Kris kringle played by Richard Attenborough and %HESITATION she's just Matt and thanks installation L. while her nineteen forties counterpart has hired help and cleo played by Teresa Harris hello minimal it's refreshing to see an African American person fully present in the nineteen forties film and has expository linesmen she's really no more than not she's really no more %HESITATION than providing exposition or someone to talk to plot today but if memory serves St correct me if I'm wrong because I'm not Canary what's it to finite but I think the remake presents quite a whitewashed New York City and in a reassure of anyone working in menial or subservient roles people seem to be very Monday eight in the nineteen nineties %HESITATION moreover the men and both films spent much time alone with six year olds say send putting cleo's first appearance she has a line of sight through the walkers and Fred's apartment windows file which she keeps an eye on season watching the period from frats better VA on that side of them apartment building well the subtle layers of surveillance in the earlier film might suggest post war social paranoia it also demonstrates some characters concerns for the safety and well being of others switched to my recollection again the remake doesn't tear at least doesn't date to the same extent as Chris spends time with Susan he convinces her that mess on legends have their place as two stories and a matching nation and of course they D. but the danger is conflating the Swiss truth and reality season seems to appreciate this distinction and shows no interest in anything other than Fakten trace Fred and Chris joined forces to persuade her otherwise meanwhile company psychologist Granville Sawyer played by Porter hold in this forty seven version claims that Chris Harper's quote latent maniacal tendencies on quote as aspects of his life and character of March it is likely that he is projecting his own mile content on to Chris and Jack Chris is persistent and prepared to go to great lengths to persuade rather than proof to season that he is who he says he is and imposes his help on Doris and say send him he sees condescendingly as quote two lost souls unquote what really is so wrong with preferring facts to play your honesty to make believe disruption of gender normativity as walked in both films the ultimate goals are to you sure face and the young questioned on noble the violent offensive which is apparently sanctions and to restore the hetero patriarchal middle class normative order by reinstating that natural family unit having blind faith and imagination as a farmed as what's best for girls well being at least until she's old enough to herself felt motherly or wifely duties that ninety four version conflate stays with religion what Wednesday and forty seven is the authority of the US postal service where is in ninety four it is the blind faith and the Christian god appearing on U. S. currency that dispels the court case a trial held after kringle commit to sold but in both cases tenuously becomes concerned with proving or disproving the existence of Santa Claus rather than dealing with the actual assault that happened when I first saw the remake was old enough to not be shocked by the mild violence but the ease with which a man supposedly the embodiment of peace kindness generosity and goodwill could be provoked to strike someone never stop right with me the same goes for the forty seven version however it came quite soon after a war in which the U. S. I help the allied forces combat fascism and injustice so perhaps in that sense Glenn's Kress and both movie versions were played by English man can't be ten years C. excused by contextual moral standards importantly the forty seven crash I was standing up for the young kind and impressionable Alfred played by Allison Greenman he was being bullied by Sawyer while the ninety four Chris defends himself and his stroke Santa's existence to his provocateur the drug center he replaced played by Jack McGee night working for rival storm which brings me on to a solid foundation of capitalism on which the systems are late went against company policy Chris advises parents on where to find the guests the children want instead of marketing what needs to style it works in Macy's fever and a friendly rivalry and marriages between the store and its biggest rival Campbell's copy the idea of the stores set aside differences to share publicity and are rewarded for their profit motivated good well with trade and happy customers the ninety four approach as cynical perhaps reflecting the post Edie's greed is good philosophy forty seven crest is committed to a mental institution after heading Sawyer with his key in for insisting that Alford's kindness is an indicator of mental instability this act as a catalyst for a personal vendetta against crested so your regrets to lay it on it works to his own detriment however in ninety four the provocation is an act of personal revenge incited by associates of the Kohl's stores biggest rivals shoppers express to damage the seals and lasting reputation of coals to improve their own even still it is a bit rich to hear forty seven crest complete in about Christmases commercialize aviation when some to personify sets and ensures that the festive efforts of the primary care first of childcare go unappreciated for years World War two is never referred to directly in forty seven but instead only to to use Siri necks and loaded silences after half uttered introductions for example the scene in which Chris communicates in sign language with a deaf girl in ninety four was originate with a non English speaking Dutch adopted orphan reading between the lines she is likely her family's sole survivor of the Nazi occupied Netherlands I could speculate further but the purpose of this in kind Jr is Susan witnessing crest conversing in the first language of the displaced and traumatized child which suggests to her the possibility that he may just be the Charlie one post war renewal is perhaps why politics is mentioned over day in forty seven judge Henry acts Harper played by Jean all cart worries about the trials impact on his reelection as governor and mentions that he is a Democrat while district attorney Thomas Mara played by Jerome Keahlian he presents the prosecution case is a Republican this indicates judge Harper's leftist liberal and perhaps socialist leanings when he is buried in mail addressed to Santa Claus delivered to the court heist by the truck filled he accepts the argument that if the mail service believes Christ based on data then he must pay this pits Harper in a win win situation for children and voters alike by declaring some to to be rail and showing tremendous faith and the robustness of a federal system tension to review territory it but here the intricacy of the original story in the nineteen forty seven miracle on thirty fourth street that's partly why it won many awards and has been preserved by the academy film archive by the nineteen ninety four remake may well see it in time it is also much less cynical and has much more potential to cause hearty laughter and the young and old alike so you'll probably notice S. by the difference and the signs at just slash the home after a screening and recording us while walking back home okay can bear with me just a bit of a tight turnaround for head office at the break and I want to have my main computer so in a separate from the site as is customary at doing basically anything at a care home things don't always go according to plan today is Wednesday the nineteenth of December twenty eighteen and this morning I got a call from the volunteer coordinator to say that they just charge that somebody had shown mereka in thirty four straight to their assets last week they had a quick chat with some people and they decided to stay watch it's a wonderful life because they could easily get their hands on a copy it's not a sign on its not awesome I would have chosen for quite a few reasons I'm probably an odd one here because I've never seen this also but some I never understood why it's such a classic I think as well part of the reason is because so many people claim it sort of affair sums and yet nobody ever seems to learn any lessons from my bike being decent say your words your other fellow humans I find it a bit frustrating also this M. A.'s over two hours on the switch here is ten minutes I'm not sure it's much too long for a lotus paperless tensions spawned and as one resident mentioned to me quietly they find it very difficult to follow this story because said narrative structures were unusual so I'll just describe this coming back because the structure is such that he actually see a bit of a John Terry George Bailey's icing me character it's an awkward narrative structure if you're not really used to watching films because you see accept service like Georgie his guardian angel right guard presumably and then you see this re run again later as this he has never existed it's all those the same events and high people's eyes to be negatively impacted because he wasn't there to help them the structure which is very confusing for some people to follow so this is gonna but some it's a wonderful life was directed and produced by Frank Capra and it was released in nineteen forty six and it's after Christmas Eve nineteen forty five so I made it easy there are going to be association so I guess the second World War which hasn't long and does it stars team shirts and Donna reed and it was adapted from a short story called the greatest gas by Philip van Doren stern he'd written it probably and they think that by nineteen thirty nine but it was first published in nineteen forty size it seems after Arcadio got wind of it because you can get it published and they wanted the rights to the Sam so it became published it seems after getting interest from some studio George Bailey played by Stewart's experiences deep despair a lot of stuff has gone quite badly and as I said he hasn't been able to stay the things he wanted or planned today because of various things like service from a tragedy status being L. circumstances he gets to a point where he's contemplating suicide back to the film begins where people you know Hey I'm sending prayers for him and the prospects it could save you you find out why he is he's been really good to have a lot of people he's been integral to his community and he signed himself in a time of need but he needs to be shown that people have his back as much as he has bears so he's experiencing that state despair he's contemplating throwing himself off a bridge and ending at all G. K. heads guardian angel he needs to earn his wings his way of stopping George saying this is set for ten to be someone trying to commit suicide and the rest are on Sir George CSM and then doesn't believe that Clarence's says guardian angel Clarence is portrayed by Henry Travers on his intervention he shows George what everybody's life would be like had he not excessive and high much more negatively impacted everybody would be without him in their lives so there's quite a lot of difficult topics in the sound I have to say I actually wasn't there to see most of it for the past year I've been more of a profound Jr and they're very particular residence that's eyeing which spends quite a lot of time my sematech your Haiti's dementia there's state of her memory has deteriorated significantly so I spent quite a bit of C. sedan actually rest that resident and I've never it's never been a sum that subpoena to many so I've never actually seen that always very probably say nearly all of it but Justin Bates hello I'm now on a story on the so much talked again more to the practical reasons I stated earlier I just wouldn't chosen this because of the running time there was no opportunity nobody had time or the inclination to use and have a chat with me afterwards by debt we just have to pack up because they were getting their dinner it was the H. assassin there wasn't much of a turn ice forest which I think is what we're hoping but then this was always part of the problem was this getting marks bites and things being changed making plans only to have them torn asunder the day of the event unfortunately I'm going to go back say just for friending and just as a dying and not ready doing this but I do want to stress that anybody here say thanks for the science like a great idea it is a great idea to try and do some kind of at a care home Jones for men that shame that my experiences are typical it's just hi it's work sites definitely give it a try and I think as generations move on you'll get more and more older peoples are adults gradient descent and I actually quite a lot of more recent residents and they spoke already quite into sound and Jeez themselves so go to the cinema and I think sentiment can be such a powerful so that can be restored as it can be compassionate I can help with memory I can help with understanding the complexities of life and knowing other people's stories if you don't have access to them otherwise so it is really worth it and it's rewarding when it works while case of be discouraged by any negative experiences I've had it's a shame because we have quite a good tax set up since I hate I think one of the issues asylum is that because it was a last minute thing and it weighs the person advised that holds it wasn't a TV date ever playing on it before it was right from day to day and they hadn't done it with any subtitles I'm not meant that there were issues with the audio because together at a high enough level that anybody with any hearing impairments Kate's follow it and hear the dialogue that man then other people were struggling and right and says co pay and that doesn't happen so much when you've got subtitles because then the people S. hearing impairment usually they're lucky enough that the rise to start working quite well and they can read the subtitles as well as I said when there's no subtitles you don't have that to fall back on just makes it a bit more awkward it's also a matter as sensitivity that I wouldn't ready eschews nice some because there are quite a lot of the residents and their nineties it's very clear memories of the second World War there are residency not only did they remember at that time that that date back J. house I. degree a survivor's guilt they should person I'm second I'm thinking of he had a separate gateways skills in the war one of the things that bite George's different time line as he didn't exactly as that his younger brother would get killed and the war and so that is a very sensitive as she disappeared okay so that's a very long time with that person missing because it's not huge event in world history so I think it would just actually be quite upsetting for people and it is quite difficult Salem and not send sectors it was very real issues and I think some things are just a bit too close to home when you have a long life it means that you fight left so many of the people involved so trying to be sensitive to that because there is quite a lot of tasks and suffering in the sound but when you actually have pain sorry that when you actually left with grace and has been very difficult times in your life I think anyway it's great disco some say enjoy show we say they're straight at me no he said differently but certainly from my experience I've lost a lot of family members and in a way I want them to be escapist this time is here because every day I love to grace the older I get the more you can read it so we're tied in the sixth inning issues have graced her over seventy years gosh December thinking about you know it's not something I would have chosen to bring up for them I think it's okay so message said cigarette terms of box office because it didn't do huge she well when it was released I think it was up against quite a lot of figured he says and it's race was brought forward it was actually supposed to be released in January nineteen forty seven but it was brought forward so that it could be a contender for the Oscars but it had a lot of competition of course is post war there's a stardate kind of sorts that much didn't ready work force but it also didn't do terribly I either did okay but it has become a classic at this time of the year that people watch it over and over and it's not as in only just watching it domestically and that it's on TV all the time is people going to the cinema to see the sound a lot every year it's the main Christmas Sam it's restrained and sent a mess year after year after year and I've just never really understood why it injures so much and let's captures their popular imagination as it were but also why is it not working why is its message not working wiry also also see each other we're not all awful see each other but a lot of people are and this is one of the most popular films and Angus owned world so I don't understand how so much of the anglophone world is causing so much pain when this sounds should be sending a very clear message to the cross streets other to value each other not at any particular time is here but all the time so I'm afraid I was going to wash I did you know what you have to try the same tactics right man you have to do it anyway and I think it's fair to say that I can't say from cubs game at a specific item package the chances that it rests for a year and then I tried again and it's not ready to go to work I spend my energy so I and other things I think but yes it's Heidi for selling their being a volunteer at a care home anyway that is something I'd really recommend J. and Bessie opportunity arises very older paper %HESITATION bring it MMA Saxon tastic I think it is very much a part of our sonic and visualize it happening intergenerational friendships the experiences because even when it's hard to minus negative nobody may fail like it at the time but you're doing some gains if you find this useful or interesting please become a member five Petri on dot com forward slash a fee cultures pledges from as little as one dollar a month this will get you access to a quite a few E. tron only goodies such as previews to keep in touch and to get regular updates you can follow AP cultures on Facebook and Twitter he can get more information on the podcast and how you can support the making of it at Audi of visual culture style part press dot com where you can also get links to all previous episodes the podcast has been going for just over ten months at this point thank you so much for listening for supporting for retweeting anything at all it's such a huge help and it's old really very much appreciated please check with us and the new year there's going to be more chats with artists and other scholars will try and make it even more diverse growing all the time and improving all the time and with your help we can do something really excellent it's been a blast so far and I really hope we can continue well into twenty nineteen and beyond the music you've been hearing as cold a little Christmas music copyright it's teaching up for Sarah and licensed under the creative Commons attribution three point zero it could be fined at CC mixed or don't work you can also support on Patreon enjoy your midwinter break whatever you're getting up today and he happened to be listening in the southern hemisphere if I've reached out far enjoy your summer have a great one thanks and catch you next time