Having taken French for almost five years of my life, I had an idea of what film noir was and the kind of distinct characteristics that the dark movies shared. (Of course French textbooks and professors make sure to brag about French influence, duh.) I must say however, I wasn’t too fond of the genre, and didn’t really care to notice the lighting and shadows in movies. After reading Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir to actually learn about the styles of these films and then watching Christ in Concrete (1949) with lens that scrutinized the titled angles, dark and light contrast, claustrophobic spaces, and shadows, I realized how much intentional work goes behind creating all these effects and how every effect makes its own unique effort in delivering the dark atmosphere of the film.

Christ in Concrete fit Place and Peterson’s description of film noir so well that at times I wondered if the reading was solely based on this movie rather than all of the other ones made in Hollywood during the1940s and 50s. Despite the film’s happy moments here and there, the entire movie seemed to be blanketed by a dark menace revealed by creepy music and blurry frames. After getting some aerial views of Manhattan’s skyline and getting the sense that we were situated in New York City, the film suddenly threw us onto a dark, mysterious and abandoned street. This street was very different from the wondrous beauty of the city a minute ago. The sudden change in the two locations highlighted a contrast that forced us to especially notice the eerie nature of the street as well as the narrative that was to follow. Geremio’s entrance didn’t help enlighten the mood in anyway either. As he walked through the street, I found myself noticing his ridiculously visible shadow behind him. This scene must be low-key lighting at its best because it almost felt like someone was actually walking behind him. Geremio looked confused and drunk, and his emotions were made obvious by the various film noir techniques of off angle compositions of his apartment building and high shots that looked down on him as a victim. As Geremio made his way to his apartment, low-key lighting built a sense of claustrophobia as many shots showed him behind the stairways.

Even when the film gave hope of happiness and Geremio married Annuanziata, we were constantly reminded of the dark theme of the film. Geremio and Luigi were seen conversing behind what seemed like a plaid fence. Again, the film incorporated claustrophobia and the sense of a tightly closed space around the characters. Even Geremio and Annuanziata’s honeymoon, which should’ve been characterized with high-key lighting and brightness, was dulled down and made dark and dreary. The honeymoon almost seemed like a visit to a haunted house rather than a romantic getaway. An interesting editing technique that I noticed in the film, was the transition from one scene to another. I knew film noir consisted of dark frames that were heavily blurred to even cover the faces of characters many times, but who knew the transitions would be this way too? One scene would follow into the next scene by a blurred transition rather than a sudden cut. Perhaps this was an attempt to continue the film noir style. Whatever the case may me, it reminded the audience every second that they were in for a mysterious movie. Lastly, I’d like to discuss the mirror scene that takes place at the bar between Geremio and Kathleen. Place and Peterson mention the loss of the stability of a character in film noir when he looks into a mirror. Geremio is shown looking into a mirror at one of the most climatic moments in the film and his loss of stability can’t be any more obvious. At this point however, I’d like to guess that he’s diving up from his weakness because he runs back to his wife and family. Despite the dive towards realization and stability, I feel like the mirror foreshadowed Geremio’s death at the end of the film. Unfortunately, I can’t provide deep explanation as to why I was able to guess Geremio’s death. I just remember my 11th grade teaching pointing out the link of a character looking into a mirror during a film and how that foreshadows his death at the end. (We were watching The Great Gatsby and Gatsby looks into a mirror at one point during the film). Maybe looking into the mirror means the character is losing stability and thus he dies at the end?

I’d just like to end my blog by expressing my thoughts about the film. Unlike most old movies, I actually enjoyed this one. It just really really bothered me when Geremio died though. Just when everything seemed to work out well, Geremio met with the most ironic life incident. His death was so painful and I sat clenching my teeth, begging the movie not to kill Geremio. Whether Christ visited the Geremio family in concrete or Geremio himself became the Christ for his family, it was excruciating to see that it took the death of Geremio to get Annuanziata a home.

After reading Film Gris: Crime, Critique, and Cold War Culture in 1951 by Charles J. Manland, I think Christ in Concrete (1949) can be better defined as film gris rather than film noir. Manland suggests that an important aspect of film gris is that there is greater psychological and social realism, as well as social critique, in film gris than in film noir. Also, film gris is more likely than film noir to “lament the destruction of families and close human ties because of economic pressures on marginal and working-class people in American culture.” I think Christ in Concrete is more associated with film gris not only because family and human ties were deemed very important, but also because it makes a social critique on the American dream and capitalism.

The film isn’t just about a man who gets married, has children, and becomes evil. It is a tragedy about an immigrant man who becomes ruined by capitalism and the American dream. We see as Geremio changes from a hardworking bricklayer to a boss who betrays his family and friends because of economic pressure. No matter how hard Geremio works, it never seems to be enough. It takes him more than nine years to save five hundred dollars for a house to fulfill his American dream, which is (ironically) eventually achieved through his death. As the depression progresses, Geremio is under more pressure to make money in order to feed his family. This leads him to betray his moral standing, which probably was not too firm in the first place (another aspect of film noir; “no character has a firm moral base from which he can confidently operate,” Place and Peterson). The family “eats away [their] dream,” as Geremio expresses despairingly. The claustrophobia that is expressed in film noir and the helplessness of Geremio and his family made me feel claustrophobic and helpless as well. The whole system seemed to be the problem, for it seemed that a family that worked as hard as Geremio and saved as much as Annunziata deserved to have their share of the American dream. Therefore, Christ in Concrete makes a negative commentary on the capitalism, which Dmytryk seemed also to be against. Throughout the film, Geremio is running desperately and restlessly in this race for his American dream but remains at the same place. And at the end of the film, this race turns out to be placed in a quicksand, which consumes him and takes his life as a price of capitalism.

At first glance, it may seem preposterous to assume any connection between the cold, empty, distraught Mr. Nazerman and the kinetic, vibrant, yet tested ethnic population around him. They seem like polar opposites: one, a stone cold judge, emotionally shutdown, dealing his rulings from behind his Pawnshop counter; the other, representative of the struggling immigrant experience, bent on survival, yet socially active participants in their own community. The ethnic inhabitants of Harlem are portrayed, usually face centered in the frame for added intimacy, trying to squeeze every penny out of their pawned items, while on the other side of the counter, Mr. Nazerman plays the other side, decider of their fate, expressionlessly stating his price.

While these two sides appear to be on opposites sides of the social “counter,” they are in fact stuck in similar situations. Both Mr. Nazerman and every other individual that steps into his store are confined to a life of struggle and adversity, in which earning money is the only way to guarantee livelihood. In some way, Mr. Nazerman’s speech about the importance of money holds true in Harlem. While the pawnbroker has taken this maxim to the extreme, repressing emotion and organized philosophical beliefs in exchange for a monotonous, robotic life with its end at acquiring wealth, the immigrant stumbling into his shop is forced to live in similar ways. Rodriguez and Ortiz, for an example, are both forced organize life around money. In such a way, both parties are confined, trapped in an environment with no end but earning money to survive.

The concentration camp in which Mr. Nazerman was detained in bears similarities to his locale in Harlem, both being confined societies in which direction is taken from some higher order of social organization. Flashbacks, keenly positioned at times in which Mr. Nazerman’s memory is violently sparked, help connect these two ghettos. The bleak, jail-esque interior of the pawnshop physically confines Nazerman from the outside world, all the while keeping the struggling population of Harlem from the money they need. The dual nature of confinement present in Harlem is the key component that connects Nazerman to this old prison. His loss of faith in mankind, his view of those on the other side of his barred counter as scum–they all stem from the fact that he is trapped, detained from happiness by the cruelty of both old and new world.

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.

The experience of an immigrant begins with a perilous and painfully endless journey. The man endures it all as he clings onto the hopes of a better life and rejuvenation in America. Little does he know, the highly anticipated nation that embodies the fulfillment of his dreams only awaits him with unique conflicts and issues. The nation will pick on him racial status and label him an alien. It will question his skin color and determine his inferiority. It will constantly remind him that he’s an outsider intruding a nation where Americans live – an ethnicity that he can never be a part of because it has already been created. Assimilation and integration are impossible because he looks different, talks different, and is different.

America is built on the concepts of freedom, equality, and acceptance. It is for this reason that it has attracted, and continues to attract populations from around the world. Every race and ethnicity is able to walk in and make a living in this nation. Citizenship tests even allow non-natives to enjoying voting rights and other privileges of the nation. The nation grants liberty and the pursuit of happiness to everyone, but then why is it that the boundary of whites and immigrants divides people so apart? Why is the immigrant an inferior alien? Why does his skin color or accent matter? And why does his cultural difference stand in the way of complete assimilation into the American society? William Flores discusses these issues and brings forth the term – Cultural Citizenship. He claims that U.S. Citizenship “does not allow full integration into a society nor equal rights”. The nation might be handing over freedom and equality to its people, but cultural freedom and equality is lost along the way. The nation is made of immigrants and it would only make sense to grant its people a personal set of rights that allow the immigrant to practice his culture and still be considered equal. This lack of cultural citizenship in the nation has given birth to Otherness. Immigrants are others because they’re neither white nor American. Lack of cultural citizenship takes away the sense of belonging from the immigrants, who now feel like outsiders. I must have to argue that the journey of an immigrant doesn’t end once he arrives to America because now he does have to prove himself again and again that he is an American. Inspired by the societal issues of the nation are two movies Brother From Another Planet (1984) and West Side Story(1961), where the journey of immigrants is after all, endless.

Brother From Another Planet is an allegory of the experience of immigrants in America. Whether they are legal or illegal, one can see that races and ethnicities are divided, and there aren’t much signs of assimilation. The establishing shots of Brother From Another Planet introduce a new place to the audience just like New York City is a new place for Brother and other incoming immigrants. Medium and close-up shots of Brother’s facial expressions reveal his confusion and nervousness of the world around him. As Brother wanders in the streets of the city, it must be noted that he only encounters immigrants – African Americans and Asians. He sees the law enforcers around, and they happen to be white. He walks into a bar and only finds Africans Americans inside, who are hospitable towards him and even call him Brother. Right at the beginning, we can see that the society’s character is being set. There isn’t much racial intermingling taking place, as each race is associating with its own. Unlike the Asian storeowner, it is the African American bartender who warmly welcomes Brother and calls him Brother. In addition, the white Americans stand on the other end of the spectrum in being the law enforcers such as the policemen or the INS. The marijuana addicts and street criminals in the movie aren’t white, they’re people of color. Brother’s co-worker, Hector is another man whose actions show how the boundaries of race and ethnicities haven’t been crossed yet. He gets excited when he learns that Brother might know Spanish and easily befriends him. He warns Brother of the rude boss as well, who of course, is white. Themes like these are obviously reflective of the mid-1900s society, where white people were the superior bosses, while the immigrants worked under them. The movie has many interesting scenes, one of which is when the INS members enter the bar. As the men enter, a long shot shows them entering from an almost blinding light outside. This shows the blunt difference between the two people entering and the peopling sitting inside. The close-ups and medium shots that follow show the facial expressions of the black men and the white men at the bar, and the audience can sense the tension that is building. This tension of course, arises from the black and white issues that plague society. People of color are considered different and this is evident when the INS member asks the African American guy for his green card. The doubts of racial tensions are only proven when the guy defensively responds that he doesn’t need a green card because his people built the nation. The use of words like “my people” shows that immigrants did acknowledge their Otherness and alien status. Perhaps Alberto Sanchez is right in saying that black people are already divided and given a place to live, Harlem. I would like to point out two scenes where the audience is made aware of the fact that neighborhoods are divided by race. One scene takes place in the train where a young boy says he’ll do magic and have all the white people disappear. A little humor disguises the truth behind this striking scene where we see that certain races are entitled to certain places. Another amusing yet important scene is when two white men get lost in Harlem. In a long shot of the two men, we can see that the neighborhood people are staring at the sight of white people in the area. Just by looking at these people, the men are able to guess that they’re in Harlem. Had neighborhoods not been separated, nothing would’ve given away where the guys were lost. Even when these guys enter the bar, medium shots of the two white guys sitting next to Brother and across from the black bartender reveal a lot of unease. The audience can see that although there may be physical closeness, there is a lack of communication and tons of awkwardness.

Unlike Brother From Another Planet, which touches on the black vs. white issues, West Wide Story simply portrays the impossibility of immigrants to become American, because they are not American. As one of the Jets member says, the Puerto Ricans are just cockroaches who are solely intruders trying to take over the place they own. If society is running on these kinds of thoughts, of course an immigrant will always stay an un-American immigrant. The Sharks are threatening to the Jets, and Alberto Sanchez questions exactly how musicals show ethnic differences because in this case, immigrants are obviously being shown as a threat to “national, racial, and linguistic identity”. Sanchez even points out the symbolism behind the gang names and how immigrants are consciously being shown in a negative light. Sharks are dangerous animals that bite, and the Puerto Ricans are being given this title to refer to their “barbaric” and “savage” nature, whereas the Jets represent technology and civilization. Immigrants are belittled in society, and this is seen right at the beginning when the two gangs stand opposing each other in the park. The white policeman steps in to end the conflict between the two groups, but while he tells the Sharks to get out of the park, he nicely lessons the Jets against the “PRs”. Even the law enforcement is racist, and perhaps this is another reason why immigrants feel like they don’t belong; like they’re Others. At the store when the two gangs are making a deal on where they will be fighting, the lieutenant once again jumps in to kick the Puerto Ricans out, and provide assistance to the Whites against the PRs. The lieutenant is expected to practice equality, yet he abuses the power of his badge against the immigrants. Another scene that convinces the audience of the ethnic issues of the society is when the whites and Puerto Ricans attend the party. As always, the Sharks and Jets stand on opposite ends. This time, their clothing colors vary too as we see the Jets wearing bright blues and yellows, and the Sharks wearing dark browns and oranges. The game that the lieutenant makes the two groups play too portrays the animosity each group has towards the other. The circling game forces the whites and Puerto Ricans to intermingle and dance with whomever that they come across, yet even then the two groups cheat and end up dancing with their own people. If one must point out any progress in the movie, one can clearly say that the love between Maria and Tony overcomes all boundaries and issues. This is obvious when Maria and Tony catch each other’s eye at the party and approach each other without any concerns of what the society might say. The cinematographer’s choice to place a soft focus around them as they embrace shows how they have blurred out the racial differences between them to pursue their feelings of love. The tragic love story of the couple teaches the audience a lesson, as they see that skin color and racial divisions are all man-made barriers that can be, and must be erased.

Hence we see that movies like Brother From Another Planet and West Side Story took fictional characters to portray realistic issues of racism and intolerance that existed in this nation. Immigrants are considered outsiders as they are either being hunted down by the INS or picked on by the white Americans. How then can these people feel like this nation is home? They were struggling and they are struggling – to be “American” and to prove that they are American.

Brother from Another Planet and West Side Story are both very obvious examples of the prejudices that come with immigration. Unfortunately, immigration comes with racial barriers that are seemingly impossible to destroy.

West Side Story promotes two kinds of racism: against puerto ricans and also against all whites. There’s one specific scene that genuinely promotes this. Picture it: Both gangs are sitting in the shop Tony works at discussing the possibility of a rumble. Rif and Bernardo are facing each other with their gang members close behind. The camera is zoomed out just enough to fit the gangs and nothing else. The importance of the intimacy of this scene is that the two leaders are central. The breaking point of this scene is when accusations get thrown around and profanities are used. “Mick.” “Spic.” Okay, It’s obvious that the Jets hate the Sharks because they’re “PR’s” who are stealing their town. However, I feel like a common misconception is that the Sharks only hate the Jets because they hated them first. In my opinion, the Sharks hate the Jets for the pure and simple fact that they’re white. Unlike the Puerto Rican’s, the Jets are never split up into a specific type of “white.” This in it self is racism. Not all white people are the same, just like not all spanish people are the same.

Alberto Sanchez’s mentioning of the song “America” as a patriotic song signified that the director was promoting assimilation. This example is the most prominent. Anita and Bernardo (along with the rest of the PR’s) are singing about living in America. From the women’s point of view,  America can’t be any better. It is literally a paradise compared to the country they left behind even if they have to work hard for what they do. However, according to the male PR’s life is rough in America and sometimes they’d rather rough it out back home. To me this shows another issue with assimilation: the gender divide. While one dealing with citizens of a country that don’t want them there, these immigrants also have to deal with the gender gap.

Brother From Another Planet had a less obvious racial barrier. Aside from racism, immigration was the huge issue of this movie. My favorite scene from this movie was when the “brother” walked into the bar for the first time. At first no one realized he couldn’t talk, but that didn’t even matter. When the alien sat down, every man in the bar sat there and blatantly analyzed him. They rudely threw out their assumptions, and the crazy old man was even obnoxious enough to pop a bag behind his head. The obnoxiousness of the men represents the same amount of disrespect natives give immigrants. The problem with the “brother” walking into the bar was that he wasn’t even a regular. He was ruining the daily flow of activities in that specific neighborhood. To me, that is what scares natives the most. While the men of Harlem were very gracious to this man, most of this country wants nothing to do with immigrants. My final presumption is this: Had the alien been a white man instead of a black one, he would not have been treated with the same amount of hospitality that most of Harlem provided for him.