Civulano
Ebrezhanar’s controversial classic, reimagined for the screen by Senet Marilar. In 3 V’nech III, servant girl Civulano asks her employer, Othala Valconezh, to register her as his ward to comply with the newly-passed law against unmarried women living in the homes of unrelated men. When Civulano begins to fall in love with one of her employer’s wealthy parishioners, Valconezh grows suspicious—and his jealousy pushes him to blur the lines of propriety. Civulano is left with a choice: strive for an uncertain freedom, or accept a life of subservience. (19 E’has 7)
Zhelsu
Pel-Thenhior’s “Riot Opera”, brought to screen by the man himself. A manufactory worker’s life is never easy, but when Zhelsu is propositioned by her employer, even the people she trusts the most turn against her. As her friends and relatives fail to save her one by one, Zhelsu is forced to decide between conceding her body to the man who controls her life or accepting the consequences of turning him down. Starring Nesho Kalmened as Zhelsu; Othoro Vakrezharad returns as Zhelsu’s Mother. (23 E’has 7)
Pel-Temered’s ‘The Makh’avarsin’
The Avar of Avarsin has been struck by a life-threatening blow. His two sons must prepare their armies for the upcoming battle; his four daughters, meanwhile, scheme to keep their bloodline on the throne—without letting the nation fall into either brother’s foolish hands. In addition to the original operatic score, director Nemet Lohanevezh has adapted many of the composer’s discovered notes into the spoken sections of the film. From the son of Varenechibel IV’s ambassador to the Corat’ Dav Arhos comes a love letter to the Barizheise operatic tradition. (2 E’has 8)
Shess Tid
Mm. Qentak
Introduction to Dakhenbarizheise Cinema
728 Words
Prior to watching, Pel-Temered's 'The Makh'avarsin' (Lohanavezh, 2 E'has 8) seemed a potential reprieve from the otherwise heavy tone of the past week's content. [This assumption was soon proven to be just that: an assumption.] For the future, assumptions are not always incorrect.
[Admittedly, Makh'avarsin is in fact less dire than the alternatives;] unlike Zhelsu (Pel-Thenhior, 23 E'has 7), the subjects live in remarkable splendor, and unlike Civulano (Marilar, 19 E'has 7), the uncertainty of the ending is treated a source of celebration rather than yet another dagger to be jabbed into the viewer's proverbial gut. [It almost must be said] that the inevitability of Makh'avarsin's conclusion hangs less heavily than that of the other cal'operas, even though the implications of their father's death would reach not only the princesses themselves, but the nation as a whole. Still, the hopefulness of the ending leaves the viewer far more at ease than the fate of Zhelsu, whose final choice is entirely unforeseeable until the moment that it occurs (and yet obvious in retrospect), or even that of Civulano, whose suicide is replaced by a marriage that may very well be a worse fate[1].
1. This phrasing adheres to the letter of the law re: personal pronouns in acceptable academic writing, but not the spirit.
2. If it is only almost worth saying, then it may not be worth saying.
What makes Makh'avarsin stand out from the other two films, however, is how much more terrifying it is. First, there is the film's interest in the particulars of physical violence. We do not see Zhelsu's body after she jumps, nor do we see Civulano's assault. For a cal'opera whose setting is the eerie stillness before civil war breaks out, Makh'avarsin shows a surprising amount of blood on screen. When the elder brother, Sorer, must slit the throat of his traitorous would-be general, there is no point at which the kamera cuts away. Instead, we are made to watch as the actor slices into an exquisitely well-hidden squib and lets the fake blood gush out at a terrible rate. Similarly, when the younger brother, Ezhris, accidentally spears one of his soldiers, the kamera stays on the wounded figure until an unrealistic level of syrup has been spilled from his chest. Even sex is shorthanded by the presence of blood; when second-youngest sister Lidoleian solidifies her alliance with her father's favourite general through marriage, the act of consummation is not hinted at by an embrace which fades to black, nor the presence of night-clothes the next morning, but rather by Lidoleian proudly showing her sisters the excessively bloodied bedsheets.
Arguably more frightening, however, is the employment of masks. To be completely honest, knowing that unfaced Dakhenverazheise films utilised masks to hide the actors' faces does very little to prepare a viewer for the reality. All six of the Avar of Avarsin's children wear masks that are hand-painted with interpretations of real faces, [likely those of the actors.] The flat, expressionless features of the mask betrays a sort of unnamable malice. As the film continues, the static nature of these paintings only serves to further the sense that the person behind the mask is growing gradually more resentful, that they are plotting something unknown to the viewer. What's even more unsettling is that the secondary characters, such as Lidoleian's General Roharad, are not afforded the privilege of a painting. Nameless characters, whose masks bear minimal features (if any), [are surely the most chilling of all.]
1. "Likely those of the actors" will require a source. In fact, only some masks are painted with the faces of the actors. In the case of several cal'operai, the mask is painted to reflect the director's memory of past opera singers.
2. Rather than "surely the most chilling of all," consider digging into the root of the fear. What do these masks remind you of? What makes the absence of features more frightening than incorrect or unsettling features?
Between the blood, the masks, and the feeling that such a combination inspires, Makh'avarsin reads less as a historical drama and more as a horror film. This is not to say that the production's decisions are somehow wrong or illogical, however. [Given that the filmmakers genuinely believed] [that any display of the actor's countenance beneath their veil would do severe damage to that individual's soul,] the thought process behind the masks does make a great deal of sense. The blood too becomes more reasonable to an outsider, given that excess of gore does on some level make up for the inability to read the characters' faces; without the actors' expressions, the literal expression of blood ends up tracking the emotional circumstances of the scene. At the same time, it would be dishonest to say that recognising the legal and cultural precedent of these artistic choices [does much to settle the stomach.] If anything, the possibility that any given performance in Makh'avarsin may have been given by actors who knew that the slightest slip of skin or hair could very well spell their doom is, [to say the least, a bit hard to swallow.]
1. You have made two sweeping generalisations here. Is the belief you reference here no longer present in the world? Did every single filmmaker believe this, or were there filmmakers who merely followed the legal requirements? How might you better express a general pattern within a specific era?
2. Poor phrasing.
3. You used a similar structure in the preceding paragraph: "does very little to prepare a viewer for the reality."
4. While the final sentence is satisfactory for the scope of this assignment, I would encourage you to consider what makes a conclusion effective. Why is it a hard pill to swallow? What might this difficulty cause?
Once more, I must suggest allowing yourself more time to respond to the assigned films. You hit on an interesting argument when you brought up the relationship between the missing facial expressions and the physical expression of fake blood, but relegated the point to a single sentence.
I would also recommend journaling your reactions to the films before you attempt a finalised response. You have a strong instinct for analysis, and I would like to see what sort of conclusions you draw when you do not lose yourself in retreading the content.
[1] Marilar changed the ending of the opera so that instead of killing herself, Civulano finds another prelate who will take pity on her and marries him. It was his hope that the audience would wonder whether this new situation would prevent her death or merely postpone it.
Source: “Civulano (3477)” Pneumapedia. [Retrieved: 5 Xan, 3619] https://pen.pneumapedia.org/page/Civulano-3477
Pneumapedia is not a reliable academic reference. Consider referring to the citations made in the article as a jumping-off point for your own research. Additionally, I would like to suggest that you would not have needed to cite the change in Civulano's ending if you had kept your focus limited to Makh'avarsin to begin with.