Blog 2: Is the Neorealism style similar to the film of Brillante Mendoza or Adolf Alix?
This is my second blog and like before, this post is for school work or academic purposes. The topic of my post or blog now is about Neorealism style of film and if it similar to the films of Brillante Mendoza or Adolf Alix?
Before I discuss if there are similarities, let me discuss or describe what a Neorealism style of film is. During that time, Neorealism was described this way: Shot on location, no sets, and they use non-professional actors. As I analyze it, it is really far from the films now. I think it was hard that when taking a shot there are no sets, which means there are many extras seen in the films and no design were made. When they take a scene, they will shoot it at the location without arranging the set. Aside from that, their actors were not professionals so that means they don't have acting workshops or other things needed to learn to be a better actor.
In our class, we watched an example of an Italian Neorealism film. The movie was entitled "The Bicycle Thief." It was directed by Vittorio De Sica.It was about a poor man who was searching in Rome for his stolen bicycle, which he needs for him to be able to work. In the end, because he still had no bicycle, what he did was to steal a bicycle but he was caught but not put in prison. In the film, it was observed that there are many extras because it was shot on location and no sets were there. The actors as well were not professional.
Neorealism style can still be seen in some films in the Philippines but more likely, they are seen in independent films. Brillante Mendoza is one of the Filipino directors that directs independent film. I have seen one of his movie and its title is Serbis. The main cast were Coco Martin, Mercedes Cabral, Jacklyn Jose, and Gina Pareno. In this film, it was observed that there are scenes that are shot on location and no set because there are extras that I can say that it was not really part of the script. For example, there are people walking at the background while a scene was going on. The actors Coco Martin and Mercedes Cabral were not professional actors but now, Coco Martin is a professional actor. In overall, there are still Neorealism style seen in Brillante Mendoza's work. As for Adolf Alix, I was not able to watch any movies he made although I was able to read a little summary about one of his work which is Nars that talks about the plans of five nurses here in the Philippines.It was said to be a tribute for Filipino nurses. Looking at the trailer, I think there are scenes as well that are same as the Neorealism style although some of the actors were professionals.
I think the reason why the style of Neorealism is like that because of lack of money. In order to produce a film with a low budget, there should be less expenses in props or in locations, and aside from that, I think they use non-professional actors to save money as well.
