Discussion Leader Presentation
Set in 1960s France, Cleo, a famous singer, has had some medical testing done and is awaiting the results to see if she has cancer. She visits a fortune teller who reads her tarot cards and says that she is ill, but doesn't go further into depth. The film follows her through 5 to 7pm of her day, where she tries to get her mind off of her fear but keeps getting confronted with reminders of impending doom.
In this opening scene, Cleo is getting her fortune read through tarot cards. The cards are shown in color, but when we cut to Cleo and the fortune teller, they're in black and white. In “Some Points on the Semiotics of Cinema,” Christian Metz describes the difference between connotation and denotation in film and the roles they play in the plot of a narrative. While denotation is the literal meaning derived from visual information, connotation refers to the symbolic or philosophical message of something. Connotation is not obvious, so by nature it changes from viewer to viewer. In this scene, the connotation of the switch between color and black and white to me is that once Cleo gets this news from the cards that she is sick, things turn bleak in her mind and she loses all happiness shown in color.
In this scene, Cleo goes to a café and plays one of her songs on the jukebox to watch peoples reactions. One woman complains that it makes it hard to concentrate, and another talks about how she doesn’t know how people like it. Immediately after this clip above, Cleo is walking and sees flashes of images of her maid and her composer sitting silently and very still, but in a way that they seem to be confrontational. There’s also an image of a clock. This again ties into connotation, as these collections of images could mean different things to different people. To me, it shows her concern that her friends know about her possible illness, but don’t seem to care. The clock shows her worry that her time is running out, and the café scene shows her that she won't even be survived by her music because these people don't like it.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
In this film, King Arthur is rounding up some knights to join his round table. Once he does, God appears before them and sets them on their wild quest to find the Holy Grail.
In this scene, the townspeople bring a “witch” to Sir Bedevere the Wise, asking him if they can burn her. It’s very obvious that she is just a regular woman they dressed as a witch, presumably because they don't like her very much. Sir Bedevere asks the townspeople how they know she's a witch and they can’t really give a real answer. This scene is a great example of denotation without accompanying connotation. The only point this scene serves is to establish the fact that Sir Bedevere is the smartest person around and that he would therefore be good on King Arthur’s court. There is really no underlying message to be found anywhere in this narrative, only surface level information that moves the plot in a simple and easy to follow way.
It’s Not That Deep, Fam. But Maybe it is
In this scene, the knights must answer three questions correctly in order to cross the Bridge of Death and continue their quest. Two of the knights fail and are launched into the Gorge of Eternal Peril. No one is really fazed by this. The deaths of Sir Robin and Sir Gallahad are completely inconsequential and really don't affect the rest of the film in any way. However, one can argue that the circumstance of their deaths hold certain connotations. Sir Robin died because he got cocky about his ability to answer the questions. Sir Gallahad died because he didn't even get his own favorite color correct. These can be seen as warnings to not become too cocky when things get serious and the importance of self-knowledge.
Answer Me These Questions Three
Can you think of any films where connotated meaning prevails over denotated meaning?
Do you think specific genres of film use one over the other? For example, a lot of comedy movies rely more on denotated meaning, like in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Are films that rely heavily on connotated meaning more or less successful than films that have a good balance between connotation and denotation?