Cinematography is a very diverse and multi-genre art, one of which is documentary cinema. A documentary is a film based on filming real people and events. Documentaries also have their dramaturgy and director’s idea, so it is difficult to establish a boundary between documentaries and a game picture in some works. The high-quality documentary film evokes feelings and touches, as it is firmly connected with reality and allows considering reality better. The documentary “Why We Fight,” directed by Eugene Jarecki, will be considered in this paper. Visual and sound means of expression that directly affect the director’s message to the audience will be analyzed. It is evident that cinema elements such as tone, camera angle, lighting, editing, and music significantly impact the viewer’s perception.
The documentary “Why We Fight” was directed by Jarecki in 2005. The film’s name immediately catches the eye – it was chosen by analogy with a multi-part propaganda film commissioned by the US government to justify military actions in 1942. Probably by choosing an identical title, the author of the documentary expresses their response to the propaganda of 1942 and their opinion about the content of that serial. For further analysis of the documentary, it is necessary to go through its content briefly. Why We Fight narrates the industrial and military complex of the United States, its growth and development over many decades (Exclusive Cinema). The documentary claims that every decade after World War II, the American public was misled so that the government could involve people in the war and fuel the military-industrial economy, supporting America’s political dominance in the world. This documentary’s main idea is that the desire for military superiority has entirely dominated American foreign policy.
Like many other documentaries, this film raises acute social problems and conflicts, trying to draw public attention to what is happening in the world. The work consists of interviews and various inserts, such as the filming of past events or reliable documents. By quoting historical figures and multiple documents, the author creates a sense of deep research, the realism of what is happening, which brings the modern viewer closer to the events that occurred in the past (Exclusive Cinema). There is practically no music in the film, as the viewer should concentrate on words and images. The music sounds quiet and melancholy in some places, creating a tense atmosphere of hopelessness and longing.
It can be noticed that in this documentary, dark lighting, and close camera angles prevail, which show the speaker’s face almost intimately. Cold and dark colors are needed to create an uncomfortable atmosphere for the viewer because the events covered in this work are striking in their cruelty (Exclusive Cinema). The close camera angles were chosen so that the audience could get a good look at the speakers’ emotions when they relive the tragic events of the past and talk about their losses. Thus, the viewer becomes closer to the people shown in the film and more acutely perceive their words, imbued with sincere emotions.
Director Jarecki uses foreboding diction with the use of solemn music, vivid traumatic experiences, and footage of carnage, warfare, and mass destruction. The creator of this film addresses the logos by interviewing politicians and political scientists, thus revealing expert opinions and increasing the level of confidence in his research. The words of the participants of the described events and filming from the scene make this film more emotional and authentic from the audience’s point of view. The composition of the frame has a clear pictorial form and conveys to the viewer the shot’s content. These elements together form the ethos of this motion picture as a work of quite heavy and complex but having a clear idea, expressed in the fact that military operations are always associated with losses and human suffering.
Reference
Exclusive Cinema. (2018). Why we fight ( American documentry – 2005) [Video]. Web.