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Historical Legacy of Colonialism

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Colonialism is a system of direct political, economic and cultural dominationintervention by a powerful country in a weaker one. Simultaneous mise-en-scène analysis of the film clips Cleo from 5 to 7 and the Battle of Algiers establishes a relationship between the two films as expressions of the historical legacy of colonialism. Agnès Varda, true to her dialectical film making practices, showcases Cleo as a sexual commodity and the product of the French colonial male domineering attitude towards women. The Battle of Algiers conversely shows the Muslim women exchanging their veils for lipstick, enabling them to strike against colonialism by utilizing the patrilineal colonialist view of women to their advantage. The persona of the prototypical woman created by the historical legacy of colonialism is used as an effective tactic for revolutionary decolonization purposes. Specific examples will illustrate how the mise-en-scène elements of costumes, lighting, the combination of mirrors with camera work and props as well as lack of props were used to present this concept. An evaluation of the interactions of the actors with these elements and each other will show the way the mise-en-scènes produced meaning about space, gender and culture relative to this topic.

Both clips omitted the glitz and male gaze of Hollywood in favour of a rawness emphasized by documentary realism in black and white. The Battle of Algiers setting in a windowless single level represented women grounded with an urgent secretive mission. In contrast, Cleo’s random downward drift was illustrated by her descending a spiral staircase with walls featuring the symbolic cracks of ageing paint. Cleo’s despondency is exaggerated by Varda’s style of incorporating a series of jump-cuts which disrupted the story’s flow and focused the viewer on her circumstances of suspension as she awaited her life

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