Relationship between Cinema and Politics

Relationship between Cinema and Politics

Introduction

Film and cinema have been regarded as a powerful and strong tool for the purpose of creating awareness among the mass. Cinema and films are being known for their power in bringing about a social change, and a change in the thinking and opinions of the mass due to the visual impact they have on the people. Around the globe in various places, films and cinema have been utilized to make the public more aware and alert regarding the economic, social and political issues and conditions of national and global level (Stern, 2000). This trend has been there since many decades and still in practice.

Of many reasons for which cinema are being utilized, politics is one of the primary and most prominent reasons since all times. The notion of political cinema is even proposed for describing the relationship between the cinema and politics (Miller, 2006). It refers to the practice of using cinema for the purpose of portraying historical and current events in an adherent and enthusiastic manner either for informing or agitating the viewer. This cinema may take the form of feature films, documentaries or experimental films. More critically, the notion of the political cinema implies those political films in which the political stance is not hidden. This; however, does not essentially means that these are pure propaganda (Miller, 2006).

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and describe the relationship between cinema and politics in the films we have seen. The paper analyzes and discusses the degree to which cinema served the needs of the State takes part in and reveal the existing political debates or sabotage official propaganda.

Discussion

Cinema and films for all times had been used greatly for the purpose of politics and propaganda by different associated parties. A huge share of the global market was possessed by the French cinema prior to World War I (Miller, 2006). When the French cinema and production industry collapsed, Hollywood took advantage of this collapse. Hollywood established its supremacy and domination. It has continued to be in dominance in the world's film production industry ever since that time. It has not only utilized cinema and production industry for the economical purpose but also utilized it for the purpose of disseminating American values (Prokhorov, 2001).

The Universum Film AG acknowledged as UFA in Germany was established to respond to the professed supremacy of the propaganda of west. In the due course of Weimar Republic, a large number of produced films regarding “Frederick II of Prussia” possessed a conventional nationalistic propaganda as noticed by different film critics including Siegfried Kracauer (Russell, 2009). Many communists such as Willi Munzenberg consider cinema of Russia and Soviet as the exemplar of the political cinema in which a close relation was established between cinema and politics (Taylor, 2009). Soviet films produced by Dziga Vertov, Sergei Eisenstein and many others provided an adherent and diverse vision of the rule and system of ...