Cinema Mid-Term: Discussion of Four Films

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Cinema Mid-Term: Discussion of Four Films
1. Bagdad Cafe. Discuss a single use of metaphor in the film.
Bagdad Cafe is a straightforward narrative film, but it does have a few small “experimental” overtones in that it does defy some expectations (Barsam and Monahan 70-71). One small element of experimentalism in the film is the way it occasionally throws in a metaphorical object, and the one visual metaphor we will look at here is Hans and Jasmin's coffee thermos which appears in several places through the film.
After their fight beside the highway in the opening of the film, Hans drives off without Jasmin, and leaves a large yellow thermos by the side of the road. We may not think much of this right away, but a few moments later when...

.....ppy here on earth.” Her reckless jump into the river seems on looking back from the end of the movie to be another foreshadowing of Catherine's self-destructive streak.
Works Cited
Barsam, Richard and Monahan, Dave. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 3rd Ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009.
Bagdad Cafe. Dir. Percy Adlon. Perf. Marianne Sagebrecht, CCH Pounder, Jack Palance. Bayerischer Rundfunk 1987.
Casablanca. Dir. Michael Curtiz. Perf. Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid. Warner Brothers 1942.
Jules and Jim. Dir. Francois Truffaut. Perf. Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre. Les Films du Carosse 1962.
Memento. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano. Newmarket Films 2000.