The media is heavily influenced by the characteristics of its society. Thus it is no surprise that 20th century films repeatedly portrayed various ethnicities and racial conflicts that arose as a result of the influx of immigrants into the nation. Each and every film was able to earn an identity because it represented a different angle of immigrants; a different neighborhood; a different mixture of cultures; a different ethnic conflict.
We can all agree that movies like The Jazz Singer, Hester Street, Brother from Another Planet, West Side Story, and The Pawnbroker revolve their plot around culturally diverse immigrants instead of your typical “white Americans”. With that said, it is important to see that the neighborhood depicted in each film contrasts that of another, because a different ethnicity and/or conflict is represented. Films like The Jazz Singer and Hester Street touch on the difficulty of assimilating into the American society. It is taboo for a white person like Jakie to sing jazz music rather than the Kol Nidre, for jazz requires a blackface. It is for this sole reason that Moisha Yudelson takes a direct flight to inform Jakie’s father about his wrongdoings. On the other hand, the immigrants of Jack’s neighborhood are torn apart as half of them desperately try to become American, while the other half stay conservatively Jewish. Brother from Another Planet and West Side Story give the audience a look at the more aggressive cultural clashes that neighborhoods face. Brother in Brother From Another Planet finds hospitality and friendship with African American friends at the bar. The ease of assimilation is explained by location of the film – Harlem, a place that would welcome Brother because of his race. Brother is constantly hunted down by the INS, which consists of two white men – a conscious choice on the director’s part. West Side Story doesn’t need much explanation for the film bluntly depicts the neighborhood’s territorial issues between different ethnic groups. This neighborhood is finding it hard to allow another ethnicity on its grounds. Lastly, Sol in The Pawnbroker is failing to survive in his neighborhood as his past repeatedly taunts him.
Cinematic effects like aerial views, close-ups, cuts, zoom-ins and flashbacks all worked to elevate the tensions in each neighborhood. The Jazz Singer made use of close-ups and flash backs when Jake sang with a blackface. Jake looks into a mirror before his rehearsal, and takes a flashback to the synagogue. Through facial close-ups, we could see Jakie’s desperate eyes and expressions, which begged for acceptance in society. Hester Street used aerial views many times to show the Jewish neighborhood where people with American as well as Jewish attire passed by in the market. Such a zoomed out view showed how one single neighborhood welcomes the choice of differing lifestyles and deals with the conflicts that came with it as well. Brother From Another Planet used long shots many times when it needed to show either fitting in or standing out of the neighborhood. As Brother wandered in Harlem, a long shot showed how many black people approached him. The two white friends from Arizona, in contrast, entered via long shot where no one in the back was available to help. Similarly, the INS entered the bar with a white flash from the outside. The bright blinding flash itself was enough to portray the contrast between the white INS and the black people inside the bar. West Side Story began with an aerial view of the city, which slightly reminded me of the aerial view in Hester Street. This was just because it reminded me of how amidst all the motion and buildings burn unceasing racial conflicts. By zooming in on one certain neighborhood in West Side, it just felt like this was a story of many that existed in the city. A noticeable and repetitious tactic that was used to build tension within its scenes was the numerous cutting. This is visible right at the beginning of the movie when the two opposing gangs are being introduced. Facial close ups were used as well, and they showed the contemptuous facial expressions of each gang. The movie makes clever uses of color as well. Long shots at the party show a stark contrast between the two groups, as the Jets wear blues and yellows while the Sharks wear purples and blacks. Finally, The Pawnbroker uses aerial shots, close-ups, and flashbacks to get its point across. Aerial views of Sol’s home neighborhood and numerous long shots of his work neighborhood show the distinction between the two places. While his house is located in a serene and what looks like a conflict-free place, his pawnshop is surrounded my masses of people and stores all built on top of one another. The claustrophobic affect almost feels like it’s hinting at the huddles of immigrants that have flooded in. Constant cuts with flashbacks back to Sol’s excruciating past, and close-ups of his face works to set this Holocaust survivor different from all those people he interacts with. Not only do we see that Sol can’t assimilate and communicate properly with Jesus and his customers, we see why he is incapable to do so.
