Interview this person for 30-60 minutes. Ask him or her questions that help you understand the culture you are focusing on and that help you make sense of what happened in the film you watched at home.
Then, comment below to report on how the interview went. In your report, state the following:
- Your name.
- What country you are focusing on.
- The name of the person you interviewed.
- The name of the first movie you watched at home.
Then, in your post, answer three of the following questions:
- What did you learn in the interview that helps you better understand or appreciate what happened in the first movie you watched at home?
- What did you learn about the culture of your chosen country that you found most interesting? Why was this so interesting to you?
- In what ways is the culture you learned about most different from American culture?
- What is the most valuable thing you learned from the person you interviewed?
Alyssa Strasburg
ReplyDeleteI decided to focus on German cinema for the at home assignments. The person I interviewed is named Paula Steinman. She was born in 1938 and moved to the U.S with her husband and children in 1962. I honestly didn’t watch the movie I planned on watching. So I decided to use a movie I watched in my 9th grade year. Good Bye Lenin.
Made in 1990, Good Bye Lenin is a movie about a son (Daniel Burhl) keeping his mother (Katrin Saß) from going into shock about East Germany being gone after the Berlin wall is taken down.
The thing that most interest me in this film is that the son could have told his mother about the Berlin wall. But instead of just telling her he recreates the whole event for her. And it left me wondering what family values that Germans have. And threw my interview I found out that when Paula was a child her mother was very caring. But Paula’s parents were very strict. She told me that when she was a kid she knew when she was in trouble and that she would be punished. She and her siblings would be spanked if they were disrespectful. Paula’s family was poor. She had to work around the house. They had two gardens and had to cut wood for the stove. She told me “One night I forgot to bring the wood inside, I went to sleep and my mother can and woke me up and told me to go get the wood. She refused to let me sleep when I had not done what I was told”.
You really need to learn to cherish what you have. In America I see so many children that are ungrateful and disrespectful to their parents. America has become very materialistic. We tend to demand “bigger and better” items. In the interview I was told that not many people appreciate what they have. When Paula first got a job, she had to give her mother some of the paycheck to keep the household running. When she was 17 she got married. Paula didn’t have a bad life in Germany. She had two sons and a loving husband. When she was 24 she moved to the U.S. Her bother-in-law was in the Air force and was from Salt Lake City. Paula’s husband arranged for them to move in with his sister and brother-in-law. But Paula had no idea about this until 2 weeks before. She left Germany not knowing any English and with only her husband and children. This was the time of her life she really learned to appreciate her relationship and bond with her family.
During the time Paula was raised in Germany people had very little. Not many people owned a home, there wasn’t much money, and if you had a good family you lived a good life. In Good Bye Lenin all the son wants is for his mother to be happy. He gives up a lot of his life to make his mother comfortable. I gained a new outlook of this movie in the sense that if your family takes care of you, you should take care of your family in the first interview. You can’t always have everything. But you need to be thankful and make the best of what your life is.
Even though she will probably never see this, Thank you Paula.
That's cool how your interview helped you understand the values of the film better and also helped you think about ways you want to be better. I love it!
DeleteJustus Page
ReplyDeleteMy focus was on Russia
I interviewed Alla Volkova
The first film I watched was "9th Company"
Alla and I had a wonderful, eye opening conversation. The theme of "9th Company" was a theme I didn't commonly see in America, and Alla helped me to understand why. "Russians are very dramatic especially when it comes to cinema. So the most popular are definitely the themes of lost love and separation." That's what she told me. And she also explained how the Russians have been selling out real movies in exchange for Blockbusters, which is what 9th Company was. I've come to appreciate the historical relevancy in the film, because that Soviet history is still very much a part of their culture and their cinema.
What I thought was really interesting was when she told me about how important film was to Russia. Outside of the space race, Russia wasn't really at the forefront of anything. Alla explained that they had an identity crisis. But Russian filmmakers like Eisenstein and Tarkovsky gave the people an identity. It gave them something to take pride in. Tarkovsky was the 'Kubrick" of Russia. Tarkovsky rose to international fame, and Russian filmmakers started winning Oscars. It had a huge impact on the culture. It gave the people something to identify with.
What ways is Russian culture different from American culture? Oh jeez. Where do I begin? Actually, surprisingly, Russia isn't too far from American culture. They're not the brutish, barbaric, vodka-drinking commies that they've been depicted as in American film and media. Lately, they've had an obsession with television crime dramas. People still stuff the movie theaters every weekend. They made a lot of classic comedies in the 70's. Film has deep, deep roots in their culture and cinema. So really, are they all that different? I don't think so.
What I learned that was most important to me was what I learned about Russian film. I had no clue that Eisenstein and Pudovkin invented the "montage". I learned about classic Russian directors like Eldar Ryaznov, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergei Eisenstein, and Andrei Tarkovsky, and their various impacts on the culture. And I got some great suggestions for Russian movies to watch. I even figured out which movie I'm gonna watch next. SOLARIS!!!
I've become a wiser person from this assignment.
Thank you, Alla
Thank you, Josh
Good work, Justus. We already discussed this in person.
DeleteTayia Groesbeck and Tommy Kiter-
ReplyDeleteWe interviewed our aunt Tiffany who lives in New Zealand. The first movie we watched at home was heavenly creatures and we really enjoyed it. The country we chose to do is New Zealand. There is lots of animals there that are nowhere else in the world, one is called the kiwi but we guess it's endangered. They have a holiday there called Waitangi Day, it's on February 6th every year to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. February in New Zealand is summer instead of winter which we thought was interesting. Everything in New Zealand is a lot more expensive than here. We remember when my aunt came to visit she was amazed on how much cheaper it is here than in New Zealand. Everything in New Zealand is smaller such as fridges, soda etc. things like that. Going to the movies is about 15 dollars per person without getting any drinks or food. What we found most interesting about New Zealand is that they are much more expensive than here, and we can't believe that it's 15 dollars just for one person to go watch a movie without even getting food or drinks. Small portions of food is about 4.50$ and for a plate 2x bigger here is 4.50$ too. After this interview about New Zealand we really didn't understand anything about my movie any better. If this movie came on TV we wouldn't know that it was made in a different country because its just like U.S. films nothing different, except they had accents and it showed a lot of ocean which New Zealand is in an ocean.
That makes sense that things are more expensive in New Zealand because it is a big island so it costs more to ship things to there. I'm glad you learned a little more about another country and are now better world citizens. I'm also glad you were honest about how this interview didn't help you particularly appreciate your film any more. It will be interesting to see how the interview might help you understand the next film you watch at home better. May I recommend that you watch "Whale Rider" for your next film. It is quite good.
DeleteMy name is Stephen bednarz. The film that I'm doing is Goodbye Lenin. It is a post world war II movie showing the affect of the Berlin wall falling in Germany. I decided to interview my mom. She has grown up in America mostly. But when she was a teenager she had spent some time in Germany. I started by asking her for more information about the time that. Basically in early 1990 and the years before. There was a separation between West and East Germany. One of the most Important thing to know about this film is that. East Germany was a communistic country. They made all the food, clothes basically everything was made within its boundaries. So When the wall fell. East and West combined into one country. Germany.... The whole area that Alex and his mom lived completely changed. Commercialism officially came to the East. Burger King, Coca-Cola, Cars. So you could imagine how much change would come from that. My mom has also told me that after the war. Germans felt like complete pieces of crap. That so much killings have happened and they had know Idea what was going on. I really don't think some of the other things she told me were valuable things to know about. She did also serve a mission there and said that most people were not trusting after what Hitler did. people didn't want another religion. They usually shut the door in her face. So most Germans would only converse with their family. So to Germans family is the most important thing to them.
ReplyDelete-Randi Michelle :)
ReplyDeleteI focused on Japan, and I FINALLY interviewed my cousin Sri Kie Stephens. She was born in Japan and lived there until her and her family moved to Washington when she was about 4 or 5. She's like..a hardcore Buddhist, and she's really, really rad. :) I watched the movie Spirited Away, both of one our most favourite movies EVER, and this is what I learned: I learned that family importance and caring for each other no matter the situation is something that played a big role in the movie. I found it really interesting that a traditional Japanese breakfast consists of a serving of sticky white rice, fish, cooked vegetables, miso soup and pickled vegetables. That's extremely different from waffles or like....bran flakes. Especially the fish and pickled vegetables part, that's something you don't hear every day as a breakfast meal! I think a big thing that's different between the U.S. and Japan is the schooling. When going to school, all traditional Japanese students are required to wear a school uniform. It's very challenging to get into a college or university in Japan, so many students spend time going to after school educational lessons called "juku" (joo-koo). They usually don't get home until really late, so around 9 o’clock at night. I respect Japan and all it's values, but one thing I value most is their respect level. Japan has so much more respect towards everyone and everything, and are very polite nearly 100% of the time, unlike the U.S. As a way of showing respect to others, Japanese people say others’ last name first, then their first name. Another very important thing is bowing, you always bow to show respect in Japan.