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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726

Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903

PAST REVIEWS	MORE REVIEWS

The Not So Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

In his collection of essays entitled Mythologies, critic/semiologist Roland Barthes makes the point that the bourgeoisie (my favorite definition of the word "bourgeois" comes from Webster’s on-line dictionary -"marked by a concern for material interests and respectability and a tendency toward mediocrity") maintains its power by denying its very existence. Bourgeois ideology, Barthes argues, obliges everything around it to borrow from bourgeois ideology, and in effect, it spreads itself so thin across everything it touches that it literally disappears into itself – it simply never draws attention to itself. Historically, revolt against this ideology is the function of the avant-gardé, but very often it’s the function of filmmakers to identify some of the more egregious offenses of those in charge of the status quo. Very often these diatribes, by the very fact they are disguised as entertainment, are all the more subversive due to their outwardly friendly appearances. (I always think of The Graduate as being particularly critical of the middle class, and in effect, of the very audience that embraced the film as a celebration of it.) Here then are four anti-bourgeois classics, four unique visions: a sober dressing down from Bernardo Bertolucci, an allegorical case study from Pier Paolo Pasolini, a Surrealist lesson in survival from Luis Bunuel, and a trip to Hell from Jean-Luc Godard.

"Rough going for some viewers, no doubt, but particularly rewarding of second and third viewings, Before the Revolution is a brilliant social document and masterful filmmaking..."

"As compelling as it is bizarre, Teorema works as an allegory for the abuse religion takes by the shallow middle class, attempting to show that even through the liberating rituals of sex, true self-awareness among the bourgeoisie is impossible..."

"The Exterminating Angel embodies a disarmingly simple approach to filmmaking that rejects any attention-calling techniques and makes the absurdist notion of the films’ Surrealist premise all the more effective...."

"It’s a superb-looking film with perfect color photography ... and it’s worth seeing if only to observe how Godard fuses the dialectics of culture – both high and low, high art and pop culture – into a cinematic style that still influences filmmakers..."

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