According to Comolli and Narboni:
This brings out the following
categories:
A)Films which are imbued through and through with the dominant ideology in pure and unadulterated form, and give no indication that they are even aware of it.B) Films which ATTACK their ideological assimiliation on two fronts.
- These films totally accept the established system of depticting reality.
- Nothing in these films jars against dominant ideology, or the audience's mystification by it.
- In this sense their form and style is apolitical.
- Their subject and/or content is likewise apolitical.
- Example: Die Hard, Rocky, The Lion King
- they deal with a directly political subject--they do not just discuss an issue, but use it to attack dominant ideology. In this sense it is political content.
- the from and structure of these film break down the traditional way of depicting reality. In this sense these films are considered to have political form.
- Example: Report
C)Films which work "against the grain" insofar as:D) Films which have an explicitly political content, but whose form and structure adhere to the traditional way of depicting reality.
- The content is NOT explicitly political but becomes so through the form and structure of the film.
- The content is thus understood as apolitical in itself.
- The form and structure, however, break down the traditional way of depicting reality, and hence, politicize the subject.
- Example: Our Trip to Africa
E) Films which seem at first sight to belong within the ideology and be under its sway, but which turn out to be so only in an ambiguous manner.
- These films do not effectively criticize the ideological system in which they are embedded because they UNQUESTIONINGLY adopt its language and its imagery.
- These films thus have apolitical form.
- Example: All the Presidents Men
- They start out from a nonprogressive standpoint but are worked upon, and work in such a way that there is a noticeable gap, a dislocation between the starting point and the finished product.
- These films throw up obstacles in the way of ideology, causing it to sway and get off course.
- The cinematic framework lets us see it, but also, shows it up and denounces it.
- Example: Taxi Driver
The other "categories" are really not categories as much as they are discussions of particular groups or genres of films.