Auteurship

How far are your chosen films impacted by their production contexts? 

Both Apocalypse Now and Casablanca are deeply Influenced by their production contexts, especially the institutional and political which are often entwined, seen through micro features in these films. Casablanca is saddled with the weight of an over bearing producer as it existed during the studio system; politically it also represents the context with an easily digestible message of American exceptionalism and globalism, which is furthered by the institutional contexts behind it through the micro features it facilitates with budget and location on a permanent set. Apocalypse Now’s only burden was Coppola’s self imposed madness; in line with the institutional context of Hollywood at the time Coppola received a large amount of money and freedom to create the film he wants, so here the institutional context of New Hollywood theoretically removes the influence of production context. The political context however is clearly evident in the film, with the not so clear message representing the fractured and disorientated mind state of America in the 1970’s caused by the films subject matter, the Vietnam War. Again the two become entwined as such freedom allows for this confused message. 

The ideological shift from Casablanca’s American exceptionalism, isolationism and globalism to Apocalypse Now’s scepticism and American shattered national image is evident in the opening scenes of the films, as the protagonists of each film embody the respective ideology. Starting with Apocalypse Now this shattered national image is portrayed through editing and mise en scene; a close up of Willard’s face is overlapped with a long shot of a panning jungle scene from Vietnam, with helicopters and a close up on a ceiling fan. Certain elements fade in and out, like the ceiling fan and the helicopters and their sound becomes entwined; combined with Willard’s upside down face this merges the physical environment of the hotel room to the memory or metaphorical environment of Vietnam, showing Willard to be inexplicably linked to the two but simultaneously neither of them independently, they are connected yet not. This reflects Willard’s broken mind state, which more largely represents America’s fractured national image at the time, showing the significant influence of political context on the film. In argument for freedom from context, the structure of New Hollywood gave Coppola the independence and budget necessary to shoot the film he wanted to; in argument against this however it can be said that the institutional context of New Hollywood facilitated the freedom Coppola had, therefore through not exerting direct influence over the film, it has indirectly influenced the film by very virtue of freedom. Conclusively this scene reveals the inescapable entanglement any film including this one has with its political and institutional contexts. 

Casablanca’s opening scene reveals the far more direct influence of its institutional context as part of the Studio System. In this system the producer would exercise significant influence, like dictating the interior meaning. The nature of the system meant it was filmed on permanent plots allowing for highly choreographed cinematography. This cinematography aligns with the producers influence in this scene, as America through the embodiment of Rick is presented as isolated and stoic. The cinematography tracks through the bar smoothly, motivated by character movement and sound is used in conjunction to establish the chaos of world war two which surrounds America through the desperate foreign characters in the bar. Once we reach Rick he is proved isolated from this chaos, surrounded by its suffering. The message is clear: America despite being surrounded by the suffering of WW2 is unmoving and stubborn in its policy of isolationism. This criticism aligns with the political context, as Casablanca was released shortly after America joined the war, showing political context to be clearly impacting the film. The difference with Apocalypse Now however is that Coppola is given the freedom by New Hollywood to explore this context how he sees fit reflected in his abstract cinematography, however in Casablanca the producer enforces a clear cut, less so exploration, but moral or message based on the surrounding context and what would’ve been acceptable/ profitable. This is proven through the highly choreographed cinematography that seeks to reinforce a singular and simple interpretation, which is at its height in the final scene. 

Casablanca’s final scene cements an ideology of American exceptionalism and Globalism. Initially western connotations create such exceptionalism as Rick duals with the German Commander. A quick cut between the two on medium close ups reinforces the western, which itself connotes a kind of American exceptionalism as well as clear cut ideologies of good and evil; the film blatantly presents America or Rick as the unequivocal Nazi killing hero through this mini dual, a microcosm of the war America has just entered, the global scale is hinted at in the final shot. This shot cranes up and tilts down to reveal Rick and Renault walking off to start a ‘beautiful friendship’. This shot creates a feeling of finality and assuredness, the alliance between the allies (Renault) and America (Rick) has been cemented and America is entering the war and this new ideology of globalism which is morally impenetrable. The crane up could also suggest the global nature of America’s entry into the war, as we look down from above at the bigger picture. Again this highly choreographed camera move was allowed by the production context, which arguably did lead to a unique style to the film. Limitations in this scene caused by the institutional context also contributed to this style, such as the famous fog which was introduced to hide the rest of the studio in long shots, as in the studio system films were shot in permeant studios. This is however still more so evidence of context influencing creative decisions and therefore the film; furthermore, the clear cut ideology presented in the final scene is a product of the entwinement of the producers influence and the influence of the political context, manifesting within the physical constraints of the studio system on a permanent set with choreographed cinematography. 

Conclusively the films are inseparable from their production contexts; creatively however it is clear that Coppola benefitted from the freedom afforded to him by New Hollywood where as Curtiz was most likely strangled by the creative constraints enforced by overbearing producers in the studio system. These films are however inescapably entangled to influences larger than themselves, namely the ideological and political which manifest in drastically different ways due to their surrounding institutional contexts which ultimately benefitted Coppola and his work more so than it did Curtiz.