The few images of America that come through the official media are carefully controlled. Occasionally an American film is telecast in English with Albanian subtitles. But the movie must meet the Albanian governments approval, which means any nudity is cut and usually the story deals with the darker side of American life or with imperialism. Some recent samples: Under Fire, the Gene Hackman film about a newsman killed in Nicaragua; Missing, the Jack Lemmon movie set in Chile around the time of the Allende coup, and They Shoot Horses, Dont They? the Jane Fonda character study set at a Depression-era marathon dance. Albania has been making films for about 30 years, but movie directors still use American films as an educational tool. Kino Studio produces 14 feature films, 18 documentaries and 16 cartoons a year on a 14-million lek budget (about $2 million), according to studio chief Gjika. He says the old Marlon Brando film Viva Zapata is required viewing. Our filmmakers grow up on this film. Brando controls himself so well. The average Albanian feature film costs about $90,000, and it shows: Gjika says his directors use East German color film and concedes that the quality is desiring. Occasionally the studio uses Kodak film bought in France for scenes with special lighting. But its expensive. Enver Derhemi, head of the cartoon department, says he tapes Walt Disney, Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry cartoons from Italian TV. The Albanians have been producing cartoons since 1975, and Walt Disney is like a school for us, he says. Weve learned the language of animation from him. Many residents listen to short-wave radio broadcasts by the Voice of America, British Broadcasting Corp. and other stations. Young people love rock and roll but they dont get it from Albanian radio. The occasional American song heard on Albanian stations, such as When a Man Loves a Woman, are instrumentals and sound like Muzak, so the young tune in foreign stations and can talk at length about Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Madonna. Because original cassettes or phonograph records of Western rock music are not for sale in Albania, friends get together with a dual-cassette recorder (price: 3,500 leks, or about half a years salary), and blank tape cassettes (100 leks on the black market) to record their own from foreign broadcasts. The governments skimpy TV offerings also drive Albanians to search for Western alternatives. Homemade Albanian antennas pull in Italian and Yugoslav TV. In the south, Albanians can pick up Cable News Network from Corfu. Gjoni, the Albanian guide, used to spend weekends in Kruje, a medieval castle city 2,000 feet up in the mountains near the Adriatic Sea, where its possible to receive clear signals from 10 Italian TV stations, including several pay channels, and two Yugoslavian stations. I stayed 24 hours a day watching films, Gjoni said. He talked about Bruce Willis, Charles Bronson and Paul Newman and asked, Is Elizabeth Taylor all right? Gjoni is one of the few Albanians with access to a VCR; he has both a Betamax and a VHS in his office.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 15:31:51 +0000
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