Research- Historical Films

Wikipedia states:

“The historical drama is a film genre in which stories are based upon historical events and famous persons. Some historical dramas attempt to accurately portray a historical event or biography, to the degree that the available historical research will allow. Other historical dramas are fictionalized tales that are based on an actual person and their deeds, such as Braveheart, which is loosely based on the 13th century knight William Wallace's fight for Scotland's independence.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_historical_drama_films

This definition fits in with ‘Another Life’ in that it is set in the First World War, even though it doesn’t actually show any fighting. It also follows a real person in history, even though he isn’t famous. Also, ‘Another Life’ is a mixture of the two takes on historical films- like many historical films e.g. 300, I have and will further, research the period and topic matter, but also allow creative license to ‘fill in the gaps’, so to speak.

Similar Products- Research into WW1 Fashion for Women

Dress from WWI to WWIIThe First World War (1914-1918) had a pronounced effect on women's fashion in the Western world. Several trends that had roots in the decades prior to the war, were rapidly accelerated by wartime conditions. The most lasting change happened to women's hemlines. Hems which had risen from floor length to ankle length prior to the war, rose to mid calf length by 1916, and have stayed that high, or higher, ever since. Hobble skirts were instantly jettisoned in favor of slightly wider more practical skirts. Several avant-garde fashions, like women's trousers, and short hair, decried before the war as sinful and ugly, were promoted as practical fashions for war work. Short hair was considered a safety measure for certain factory workers, and practical for women working near the front lines. The few women who were soldiers (mostly in Russia and Serbia) were featured in pictoral magazines internationally with close cropped hair and tales of heroism. Most women did not suddenly cut their hair, but once it became acceptable to do so, gradually more and more women did in the following decades.

Women's Suits, c.1915-16
The tendency for female office workers to wear feminized versions of men's suits and shirts (common since 1900) became virtually standard by this time.
Soft V-necklines, considered racy in 1912-14, during a time of high boned necklines, became normal daywear after 1915.

Large numbers of women were recruited into military organizations on all sides, and put into a variety of uniforms, which also influenced the shape of fashionable dress. (For more see Women and the First World War).

During the war, a dye shortage, and fabric shortages encouraged a certain utilitarian drabness in dress, but the most noticeable change engendered by the war was a relaxation of the formal rules of attire which had bound men and women's dress since early in the Victorian era. Not only did women's hemlines rise to mid-calf length, but more exciting yet, ladies wore these shorter styles with sexy heeled shoes and flesh toned silk stockings, not high button boots. Young men wore the more casual "Tuxedo" jacket to formal evening occasions, not just to men's only club functions. Young and daring women dumped the corset in favor of brasseries. Army officers wore Wristwatches instead of pocket watches, and soft "lingerie" shirts with soft collars attached to them. Tail coats and frock coats began only to be worn on highly formal occasions, to be almost fully replaced by the modern sack suit. This is why clothing after the 1914-1918 War period is instantly recognizable as "Modern" to our eyes.
Orientalist fashions continued to be popular, and were eventually stylized into a form which came to be know as Art Deco, the dominant style for fabric decoration and interior design until WWII. Notable European designers like Erte, Poiret, Chanel, George Barbier, Fashion Illustrator, Vionnet, Zamora and Delaunay all worked in this style through the succeeding decades.

Source: http://thecostumersmanifesto.com/index.php?title=The_History_of_Fashion_and_Dress:_WWI_to_WWII

Research- A Very Short History of Tragedy

Tragedy has had a long history in the Western world, dating back to the Tragedies of Ancient Greece, where it is thought to have been born out of worship of Dionysus (God of Wine and Ecstasy, associated with ritual madness).  Tragedy was recognized as an official state cult in Athens in 534 BC, often cited as the ‘Golden Age’ of Athenian Tragedy.[1] [2]

Aeschylus

Described as ‘The Father of Tragedy’, Aeschylus was born in 525 B.C and died in 456 B.C . In his youth, Aeschylus claimed that when he fell asleep watching grapes ripening in the country, Dionysus appeared to him and ordered him to write tragedies. He did so throughout his life, revolutionising tragedy with the introduction of a second actor. Famous works include Agamemnon, The Eumenides, Prometheus Bound, Oresteia and Seven Against Thebes. Agamemnon was made into a 1973 film and various other works have been televised.[3]

Aristotle

Aristotle wrote Poetics in 335 BCE, 200 years after the Athenian Golden age. His definition of tragedy is succinctly put in the following passage:

“Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude; in language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play; in the form of action, not of narrative; through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions”[4](Section I, Part VI)

Catharsis [New Latin, from Greek katharsis, from kathairein, to purge, from katharos, pure.] is an important concept in tragedy. It is defined as:

 “A purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions, especially pity and fear, described by Aristotle as an effect of tragic drama on its audience. A release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit” [5]

Aristotle also set the basis for the tragic hero, who is essentially good, but has a tragic flaw or ‘hamarthia’, usually arising from ‘hubris’- or an overinflated ego or sense of worth. Poetics gives a more in depth account of this idea, but the basic principles are as follows:

-          The hero is a noble or has status in society

-          They are essentially great but they are mortal, and have a tragic flaw (hamarthia)

-          This flaw leads to their downfall, usually without the immediate intervention of a villain, and it is usually undeserved, the punishment exceeds the crime

-          The hero goes under some form of epiphany and ends with a catharsis

Roman Tragedy

The Romans, as with almost everything in their culture, stole tragedy from the Greeks. As with nearly everything again, the Roman form of tragedy was far less sophisticated and philosophical, and more about a show, with use of acrobatics, gladiators, jugglers, chariot races, naumachia (sea battles) and venationes (animal battles). [6] Roman Tragedy began after the first published Latin work of 240 B.C. The First Punic War 264-241 brought the Roman’s into contact with the Greeks.

Seneca

Probably the most famous Roman writer of tragedy, his work was directly influenced by the Greek tragedies, as seen in his re-telling of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King- Oedipus. Seneca’s Oedipus is changed in a few key ways, mainly, in true Roman style, taking out some of the philosophical elements of the original, and adding in violence and blood spectacle.[7] Oedipus has been made into both TV and film adaptations, such as Khodzhakuli’s debut in 2004, Edip- which is the Kirghiz translation of Oedipus.[8]

Claudius Aesopus

Claudius also spelled Clodius    (flourished 1st century BC), most eminent of the Roman tragedians, contemporary and intimate friend of Cicero, whom he instructed in elocution, and regarded by Horace as the equal of the great Roman comic actor Roscius. Aesopus became completely absorbed in his roles; the biographer Plutarch mentions that, while playing the part of Atreus deliberating revenge, Aesopus forgot himself and in the heat of the moment struck and killed another actor. Aesopus made a last appearance in 55 BC at the dedication of the Roman ruler Pompey’s new theatre; Cicero mentions that Aesopus was advanced in years at that time.[9]

Renaissance Tragedy

Shakespeare

Tragedy was lost with the fall of the Roman Empire, but redeemed in the Renaissance. Shakespeare is often credited with revolutionising and changing the face of tragedy. Professor Helen Cooper described Hamlet as ‘the first psychological tragedy’, and Hamlet is thought to have created the framework for all other tragedies. Hamlet features many of the concepts created or by Aristotle, such as catharsis and a tragic hero with a flaw (arguably hesitation, also could be loving Ophelia, and an inability to play the role he thinks he should). Hamlet has been made into several films, including: Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 full length version, Laurence Olivier’s 1948 version, the Michael Almerevda modern re-telling in 2000 and the TV film of 1965 by Philip Saville.[10]

Another one of Shakespeare’s great tragedies is Romeo and Juliet which sees a true Renaissance twist on the classic tragedy with the love story becoming the central focus. Romeo could be seen to be the tragic hero, but both appear as a victim, which complicates things. Romeo and Juliet both die out of love for each other. The most famous film adaptation is Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 movie which sees the Montagues and Capulets as opposing gangs in modern day ‘Verona Beach’- a fictional location.

Modern Tragedy and Tragedy in film

Nietzsche

In his speculative work on the origins of Athenean tragedy, The Birth of Tragedy (1872), Nietzsche writes of this "two-fold mood": "the strange mixture and duality in the affects of the Dionysiac enthusiasts, that phenomenon whereby pain awakens pleasure while rejoicing wrings cries of agony from the breast. From highest joy there comes a cry of horror or a yearning lament at some irredeemable loss. In those Greek festivals there erupts what one might call a sentimental tendency in nature, as if it had cause to sigh over its dismemberment into individuals"  (Speirs 1999, 21) [11]

Modern tragic playwrights include Tennessee Williams and Henrik Ibsen

Tragedy in film is often seen in romantic films such as:

The Notebook, 2004

An old man tells an old woman the story of Noah and Ally, a young couple who are torn apart by class differences, only to meet years later and re-kindle their love. The ‘twist’ is that the old man and woman are Ally and Noah, Ally having developed dementia and cannot remember who Noah is. They die in bed together.

Moulin Rouge, 2001

A young writer falls in love with a performer and prostitute at the Moulin Rouge- Paris’ notorious club. His love is requited, but she is unable to be the person he wants her to be, and ends in tragedy when she dies suddenly from Tuberculosis.

[1] http://faculty.gvsu.edu/websterm/Tragedy.htm Accessed 4th February 2012

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus Accessed 4th February 2012

[3] http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc3.htm Accessed 4th February 2012

[4] Aristotle, Poetics, BCE 335, Source: http://classics.mit.edu//Aristotle/poetics.html, Accessed 4th February 2012

[5] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/catharsis Accessed 4th February 2012

[6] http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/spd130et/roman.htm#roth Accessed 5^th February 2012

[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_(Seneca) Accessed 5^th February 2012

[8] http://www.kinokultura.com/2006/11r-oedipus.shtml Accessed Accessed 5^th February 2012

[9] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7462/Claudius-Aesopus Accessed 5^th February 2012

[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_William_Shakespeare_film_adaptations#Hamlet Accessed 5^th February 2012

[11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy Accessed 5^th February 2012

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