The first scene of Ingmar Bergman’s film, Scenes from a Marriage, elicited boredom from within me. I have enjoyed several of Bergman’s films previously. From the very beginning, Johan and Marianne seemed incompatible. It appears this was a marriage built upon financial dependence. He was possessed more ego as he monopolized the conversations with the interviewer. Marianne was passive, protective, and cautious.
Identity and how it changes when a life long commitment is made in the plot of this film. Johann and Marianne have been married for years. They begin to feel unfulfilled by one another. Their own desires have been swept under the rug for years and the ache of not having them fulfilled becomes unbearable. Johann is the first to take action on these desires as he runs off with a younger woman. Marianne clings to the repetition and safety of their marriage, hoping he will return rather than getting on with her own life.
In The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz depicts the cycle of human relationships. He says, “The woman has an outer image that she tries to project to others, but when she is alone, she has another image of herself.” This is also true for men. He continues, “When a man meets a woman, he makes an image of her from his point of view. Then he tries to make her fit the image he makes for her, and she tries to make him fit the image she makes for him. Their relationship is based on fear; it is based on lies.” We can all judge the outcome of this, which is a disaster. For a relationship to work there must be honesty and unconditional love.
Throughout the film Johan and Marianne suffer from confusion and a fear of intimacy. They are afraid their partners do not understand them. They also need to separate themselves from their new relationships as well as their old one. They are proclaiming a freedom they did not allow themselves before.
Our identity is shaped by how our family, friends, and co-workers view us. It is also shaped by how we view ourselves after taking the external information in and how we assimilate it. I think Johan and Marianne saw themselves in bondage to one another. They were prisoners.
In the scene where Marianne asks Johan to sign the divorce papers, I thought there was hope for her to create a new life for herself, but Johan became violent with her and she reverted back into the childish, dependent woman she once was. He had realized his mistake and was questioning the divorce. She left him in the room to sort it out in his head. They met again in better spirits. They eventually became friends and continued seeing each other behind their new partners’ backs.
Ingmar Bergman’s film is a view of how most modern relationships work. People are now seeking more out of themselves and relationships. They are questioning their own identities on a daily basis. Some people choose to confront their own demons and others choose to fill their emptiness with drugs and alcohol, pornography, and material items. Healthy relationships are few and far between
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Life of the Marionettes
The Life of the Marionettes by Ingmar Bergman is a film about the collapse of a human spirit. Peter and Katerina are the main characters who are trapped in a loveless marriage. Peter is the character, who is the most, unhappy. He feels there is “no exit.” In his stating to people that there is “no exit” (throughout the whole film) we see his despair and their negligence.
The psychiatrist knew of Peter’s fantasies to kill his wife. He was aware of Peter’s despair and never did anything to help him. He was only concerned with sleeping with Katerina. When she turned him down then he told her of the danger she was in, but only for manipulative reasons.
Katerina is a condescending, alcoholic, career woman. She constantly makes Peter feel as if he is unimportant in her life. He is miserable with her and she knows this. When he tells her he wants to leave then she cries and begs him to stay for her convenience. She cares nothing for his happiness. This is not an attribute of love.
Peter’s last desperate attempt to find some happiness or meaning in his life is to visit a prostitute. Why? I guess he thinks sexual pleasure is the only thing obtainable to him. He knows he’s acting desperately and tries to leave. Only when his attempt to leave the building where the prostitute (Katerina, also) is fails does he feel there is “no exit” again, blacks out, kills her by strangulation and has sex with her corpse. His spirit has totally collapsed at this moment. He is lost even to himself.
The psychiatrist knew of Peter’s fantasies to kill his wife. He was aware of Peter’s despair and never did anything to help him. He was only concerned with sleeping with Katerina. When she turned him down then he told her of the danger she was in, but only for manipulative reasons.
Katerina is a condescending, alcoholic, career woman. She constantly makes Peter feel as if he is unimportant in her life. He is miserable with her and she knows this. When he tells her he wants to leave then she cries and begs him to stay for her convenience. She cares nothing for his happiness. This is not an attribute of love.
Peter’s last desperate attempt to find some happiness or meaning in his life is to visit a prostitute. Why? I guess he thinks sexual pleasure is the only thing obtainable to him. He knows he’s acting desperately and tries to leave. Only when his attempt to leave the building where the prostitute (Katerina, also) is fails does he feel there is “no exit” again, blacks out, kills her by strangulation and has sex with her corpse. His spirit has totally collapsed at this moment. He is lost even to himself.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Despair
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s, Despair, is set in the 1930s in Berlin, Germany. The main character is Herman Hermann (Dirk Bogarde) who suffers from dissociation (where the mind splits in two). He is a Russian immigrant who owns a chocolate factory. The supporting characters are Lydia Hermann (Andrea Feneol), Ardalian - Lydia’s cousin (Volker Spengler), and Felix, the carnival worker (Klaus Lovitz).
The film begins with a cracking of eggs into glasses of milk, It’s raining outside, while Lydia in her black negligee and Herman converse. Immediately we sense a mismatched couple. Lydia is in the foreground of the frame while Herman is in the background. She is a bubble brain blonde overdone with makeup and perfume (in which we see her spray upon herself repeatedly) and Herman is an intense, uptight, arrogant man.
His mind is split in two from the beginning of the film. In a scene where he is in bed with Lydia, he also sees himself in a chair in the living room as a voyeur watching their intercourse. Often Herman projects his illness on Lydia by referring to her as “scatterbrain.” He is aware he is losing his mind, but his arrogance keeps him in denial. There is a scene where he asks a stranger whom he thinks is a doctor about dissociation. The doctor turns out to be a life insurance agent who Herman later purchases a policy (on himself) from.
The theme of sexuality plays out throughout the film. At one point, Herman thinks he is with Lydia, dressed in an S&M, military costume when in reality he is in the living room chair. Lydia is in the bed pleading for him to come to bed or bring her book to her.
The chocolate factory is going bankrupt so he travels to another for a possible merger. Merger is pronounced “Murder” by Lydia and the other chocolate factory owner. Whether this gives Herman an idea or a sign to us of what is to come in the film – I’m not quite sure. The other owner throws him out.
Herman’s despair grows at this point becoming unbearable. He pictures himself trapped. He is trapped in a lousy business with a dim wit of a wife. As he walks to the train, he walks past a carnival. He spies a worker who he also pictures as being trapped (in glass doors) like himself. he tells the carnival worker (Felix) that he has his face. Herman believes they are one and strikes up a friendship with him. They plan a meeting on a park bench after Herman goes back home. Herman throws him a line about being a film star and needing a double. Felix knows this is bull. Herman hires him for money to pose as him. Felix assumes it’s for a robbery that Herman is going to commit. Herman dresses Felix up like himself down to clipping his hair, fingernails, and toenails. Herman murders him believing that other people will think it is him and in the meantime he can collect on his insurance policy via Lydia. What Herman fails to realize is that Felix looks nothing like him.
Adalian (Lydia’s cousin – who is an artist) earlier in the film is sent to a small town by Herman. After the murder Herman forgets Adalian is in the small town shows up to hide out there. Adalian spies him form a window while he is painting. Knowing that the police are looking for Herman, Adalian notifies them of his whereabouts. The police arrest Herman. Herman starts mumbling about being an actor and that he is in a film. He is escorted out of his room and the film ends.
Despair is a film about a man’s plunge into psychotic illness. Herman’s bizarre behavior bears testimony to us that he is a sick man. The focus in this film is on the dialogue. Without the dialogue, this film would be very exhausting to watch. The dialogue comes mostly from Herman. The other characters just babble. This makes us relate more to Herman and his despair. Poor Herman, a once brilliant man surrounded by ignorance. That could drive anyone insane.
The film begins with a cracking of eggs into glasses of milk, It’s raining outside, while Lydia in her black negligee and Herman converse. Immediately we sense a mismatched couple. Lydia is in the foreground of the frame while Herman is in the background. She is a bubble brain blonde overdone with makeup and perfume (in which we see her spray upon herself repeatedly) and Herman is an intense, uptight, arrogant man.
His mind is split in two from the beginning of the film. In a scene where he is in bed with Lydia, he also sees himself in a chair in the living room as a voyeur watching their intercourse. Often Herman projects his illness on Lydia by referring to her as “scatterbrain.” He is aware he is losing his mind, but his arrogance keeps him in denial. There is a scene where he asks a stranger whom he thinks is a doctor about dissociation. The doctor turns out to be a life insurance agent who Herman later purchases a policy (on himself) from.
The theme of sexuality plays out throughout the film. At one point, Herman thinks he is with Lydia, dressed in an S&M, military costume when in reality he is in the living room chair. Lydia is in the bed pleading for him to come to bed or bring her book to her.
The chocolate factory is going bankrupt so he travels to another for a possible merger. Merger is pronounced “Murder” by Lydia and the other chocolate factory owner. Whether this gives Herman an idea or a sign to us of what is to come in the film – I’m not quite sure. The other owner throws him out.
Herman’s despair grows at this point becoming unbearable. He pictures himself trapped. He is trapped in a lousy business with a dim wit of a wife. As he walks to the train, he walks past a carnival. He spies a worker who he also pictures as being trapped (in glass doors) like himself. he tells the carnival worker (Felix) that he has his face. Herman believes they are one and strikes up a friendship with him. They plan a meeting on a park bench after Herman goes back home. Herman throws him a line about being a film star and needing a double. Felix knows this is bull. Herman hires him for money to pose as him. Felix assumes it’s for a robbery that Herman is going to commit. Herman dresses Felix up like himself down to clipping his hair, fingernails, and toenails. Herman murders him believing that other people will think it is him and in the meantime he can collect on his insurance policy via Lydia. What Herman fails to realize is that Felix looks nothing like him.
Adalian (Lydia’s cousin – who is an artist) earlier in the film is sent to a small town by Herman. After the murder Herman forgets Adalian is in the small town shows up to hide out there. Adalian spies him form a window while he is painting. Knowing that the police are looking for Herman, Adalian notifies them of his whereabouts. The police arrest Herman. Herman starts mumbling about being an actor and that he is in a film. He is escorted out of his room and the film ends.
Despair is a film about a man’s plunge into psychotic illness. Herman’s bizarre behavior bears testimony to us that he is a sick man. The focus in this film is on the dialogue. Without the dialogue, this film would be very exhausting to watch. The dialogue comes mostly from Herman. The other characters just babble. This makes us relate more to Herman and his despair. Poor Herman, a once brilliant man surrounded by ignorance. That could drive anyone insane.
Der Müde Tod
Fritz Lang’s Der Müde Tod (Destiny) is a film about death. It is a silent film from 1921. It has also been renamed: The Weary Death, Beyond the Wall, Between Two Worlds, and The Three Lights.
The film begins with an iris opening up beckoning us to enter. In the background is placid music. There are black trees against a white sky. This contrast of white and black exists throughout the frames of this film, creating a sort of absolution to it all. A silhouette of a man in a cape with a cane appears. He is presented as an older man – weathered by his life. A carriage of two young lovers stops to pick up the man in the cape stern and silent. His facial bone structure is rigid. They all arrive at “A little town lost in the past.” The haunting subtitle gives us a clue to the inevitable doom.
The town dignitaries are all getting drunk at the Inn. Jolly music plays in the background. In their self-indulgent pleasure they are ignorant to the events of their surroundings. Death goes to the gravedigger and asks about the land next to the cemetery. He leases the land for ninety-nine years. Death builds a great wall with neither gate nor door around his “garden.” The dignitaries discuss the strangeness of this new member of their community. They are startled when he appears outside his wall announces that he alone knows the way in. They slowly leave.
The couple is at the Inn. Death arrives and sits down at their table. The couple drinks from the loving cup and is startled when it turns into an hourglass. The woman leaves the table to go outside and play with the cats. When she returns her sweetheart and Death are gone. The dignitaries tell her the two left together. She leaves the Inn. The town bum at the end of the stairs points the way to where they went.
There is a long shot of her walking through the town. She walks through the landscape outside of town passing an owl on his perch. The music is now drumbeats. This creates suspense. Exhausted the woman arrives at the great wall. While there she sees ghostly figures pass before her and enter through the wall. One of them is her beloved. Meanwhile the druggist has been out picking herbs and finds her collapsed by the wall. He brings her to his home to rest.
The woman has sunken eyes from her exhaustion. She discovers a book. A close-up of the book is shown revealing the statement, “Love is strong as death.” She focuses on that statement. She takes one of the druggist’s potions. She now appears on the other side of Death’s great wall. She enters through a Gothic archway to enter further into his realm. The archway is illuminated while the sides, top, and bottom is pitch black. She walks up a staircase. Death confronts her saying, “I have not summoned you.” She pleads with him for her beloved. Death takes her to a room filed with different sized candles. He tells her that her beloved’s time had come. Death shows her burned out candles and states, “These are the lives that burn out when God wishes it.” Death makes a baby appear and then disappear in front of her eyes so she can comprehend his eternal power. Violin music plays in the background offering its sympathy. She pleads with Death continuously.
Death tells the woman if she can save one of the three lights then she can have her beloved back. He knows that she can not. He shows her the tales of the three lives that are doomed. They are set in Caliphate Baghdad, Renaissance Venice, and Mythical China. In between each of these tales, a candle is shown flickering and dying out. Each candle is burned down to about one inch of wax. After seeing all this she still pleads with Death. She now cowers on her knees pleading. Death tells her to bring him a replacement.
She returns to the druggist’s home at the same time she left. A clock tells us the time before and after. She pleads with the druggist for his life. The druggist throws her out. She pleads with the bum. He shouts, “Not a day, not one hour, not one breath.” She then goes to the Inn where there is a gathering of elderly people. She pleads for their lives as a replacement for her beloved. They run away from her. A fire starts in the Inn. She overhears that a baby is still in the building after all the other people have gotten out safely. She runs into the building with the intentions to use the baby as a replacement for her beloved. When Death confronts her she hands the baby out the window and allows herself to be consumed by the fire. She has come to the conclusion that her life is not worth living anymore without her beloved. Death leads her to her lover while her body burns inside the Inn. The lovers are reunited in their ghostly forms.
Fritz Lang delivers a visually dramatic film about subject matte known to us all. His use of lighting adds greatly to the story. One day we will all know death. The contrast of bright lights and darkness, the music, and his script all aid to the haunting imagery of death.
The film begins with an iris opening up beckoning us to enter. In the background is placid music. There are black trees against a white sky. This contrast of white and black exists throughout the frames of this film, creating a sort of absolution to it all. A silhouette of a man in a cape with a cane appears. He is presented as an older man – weathered by his life. A carriage of two young lovers stops to pick up the man in the cape stern and silent. His facial bone structure is rigid. They all arrive at “A little town lost in the past.” The haunting subtitle gives us a clue to the inevitable doom.
The town dignitaries are all getting drunk at the Inn. Jolly music plays in the background. In their self-indulgent pleasure they are ignorant to the events of their surroundings. Death goes to the gravedigger and asks about the land next to the cemetery. He leases the land for ninety-nine years. Death builds a great wall with neither gate nor door around his “garden.” The dignitaries discuss the strangeness of this new member of their community. They are startled when he appears outside his wall announces that he alone knows the way in. They slowly leave.
The couple is at the Inn. Death arrives and sits down at their table. The couple drinks from the loving cup and is startled when it turns into an hourglass. The woman leaves the table to go outside and play with the cats. When she returns her sweetheart and Death are gone. The dignitaries tell her the two left together. She leaves the Inn. The town bum at the end of the stairs points the way to where they went.
There is a long shot of her walking through the town. She walks through the landscape outside of town passing an owl on his perch. The music is now drumbeats. This creates suspense. Exhausted the woman arrives at the great wall. While there she sees ghostly figures pass before her and enter through the wall. One of them is her beloved. Meanwhile the druggist has been out picking herbs and finds her collapsed by the wall. He brings her to his home to rest.
The woman has sunken eyes from her exhaustion. She discovers a book. A close-up of the book is shown revealing the statement, “Love is strong as death.” She focuses on that statement. She takes one of the druggist’s potions. She now appears on the other side of Death’s great wall. She enters through a Gothic archway to enter further into his realm. The archway is illuminated while the sides, top, and bottom is pitch black. She walks up a staircase. Death confronts her saying, “I have not summoned you.” She pleads with him for her beloved. Death takes her to a room filed with different sized candles. He tells her that her beloved’s time had come. Death shows her burned out candles and states, “These are the lives that burn out when God wishes it.” Death makes a baby appear and then disappear in front of her eyes so she can comprehend his eternal power. Violin music plays in the background offering its sympathy. She pleads with Death continuously.
Death tells the woman if she can save one of the three lights then she can have her beloved back. He knows that she can not. He shows her the tales of the three lives that are doomed. They are set in Caliphate Baghdad, Renaissance Venice, and Mythical China. In between each of these tales, a candle is shown flickering and dying out. Each candle is burned down to about one inch of wax. After seeing all this she still pleads with Death. She now cowers on her knees pleading. Death tells her to bring him a replacement.
She returns to the druggist’s home at the same time she left. A clock tells us the time before and after. She pleads with the druggist for his life. The druggist throws her out. She pleads with the bum. He shouts, “Not a day, not one hour, not one breath.” She then goes to the Inn where there is a gathering of elderly people. She pleads for their lives as a replacement for her beloved. They run away from her. A fire starts in the Inn. She overhears that a baby is still in the building after all the other people have gotten out safely. She runs into the building with the intentions to use the baby as a replacement for her beloved. When Death confronts her she hands the baby out the window and allows herself to be consumed by the fire. She has come to the conclusion that her life is not worth living anymore without her beloved. Death leads her to her lover while her body burns inside the Inn. The lovers are reunited in their ghostly forms.
Fritz Lang delivers a visually dramatic film about subject matte known to us all. His use of lighting adds greatly to the story. One day we will all know death. The contrast of bright lights and darkness, the music, and his script all aid to the haunting imagery of death.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Der Blaue Engel
Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel) is a German film directed by Josef von Steinberg. The film’s dramatic structure is based on the two main characters are: Professor Immanuel Rath (Emil Jennings) and Lola-Lola (Marlene Dietrich). It is a film about the slow deterioration and demise of a man (Prof. Rath) who falls in love with an entertainer (Lola-Lola) from a lower class than he.
In the beginning of the film we learn that the Professor is disrespected by his class. This is demonstrated in a scene where one student (with the aid of the others draws a fat man on the Professor’s notebook with the word, garbage. The Professor has good intentions trying to straighten his students out and therefore gain their respect. He never does either though he attempts. He goes to The Blue Angel (a dive-bar where his students go) to try to catch them and stop them from going again. In the midst of trying to set his students straight he becomes entranced with the entertainer, Lola-Lola.
Professor Rath falls in love with Lola because she supplies his emotional needs by complementing him and giving him attention. For example, there is a scene in her dressing room at her makeup table where she tells him he is a good looking man. Lola, of course, is a pro and she knows how to work things so she receives something in return for her efforts.
Professor Rath decides he wants to marry her. He defends her reputation to the school’s president and in the process gets fired. He proposes to her. She laughs at first then accepts. Lola’s laughter is the sign of worse things to come.
Rath becomes her slave. He sells her picture cards. Then he is turned into the clown. He is featured when their show goes to his hometown. This humiliates him. On the poster of Lola is also a sign stating Professor Immanuel Rath’s personal appearance. Lola manages to strip him of all his dignity while he volunteers his services to her. He is reduced to the silent, sad, clown that haunts so many of the film’s frames. We are led to believe that he too is one of Lola’s victims.
Lola takes up with Mazeppa (the strongman). Rath sees them kissing and runs after Lola. He tries to strangle her. He is captured and put into a straightjacket. He is then used as a prop in Mazeppa’s act.
Lola performs Falling in Love Again. The song mimics the narcissist tramp that she is. Lola has no conscience. She continues only to think of herself, not caring over the fate of her husband, Professor Rath.
The Professor runs away form the show, while it’s in his hometown. he goes back to the school where he once taught and enters his old classroom. He embraces the desk that was once his and dies there with his arms enfolded around his desk.
Der Blaue Engel is a disturbing film. It is an overwhelmingly sad story. It is a story about how a person’s emotions can lead them astray. It also demonstrates how one way or another a person’s emotional needs as well as their physical ones must be met. It is a story of masochism and loss.
In the beginning of the film we learn that the Professor is disrespected by his class. This is demonstrated in a scene where one student (with the aid of the others draws a fat man on the Professor’s notebook with the word, garbage. The Professor has good intentions trying to straighten his students out and therefore gain their respect. He never does either though he attempts. He goes to The Blue Angel (a dive-bar where his students go) to try to catch them and stop them from going again. In the midst of trying to set his students straight he becomes entranced with the entertainer, Lola-Lola.
Professor Rath falls in love with Lola because she supplies his emotional needs by complementing him and giving him attention. For example, there is a scene in her dressing room at her makeup table where she tells him he is a good looking man. Lola, of course, is a pro and she knows how to work things so she receives something in return for her efforts.
Professor Rath decides he wants to marry her. He defends her reputation to the school’s president and in the process gets fired. He proposes to her. She laughs at first then accepts. Lola’s laughter is the sign of worse things to come.
Rath becomes her slave. He sells her picture cards. Then he is turned into the clown. He is featured when their show goes to his hometown. This humiliates him. On the poster of Lola is also a sign stating Professor Immanuel Rath’s personal appearance. Lola manages to strip him of all his dignity while he volunteers his services to her. He is reduced to the silent, sad, clown that haunts so many of the film’s frames. We are led to believe that he too is one of Lola’s victims.
Lola takes up with Mazeppa (the strongman). Rath sees them kissing and runs after Lola. He tries to strangle her. He is captured and put into a straightjacket. He is then used as a prop in Mazeppa’s act.
Lola performs Falling in Love Again. The song mimics the narcissist tramp that she is. Lola has no conscience. She continues only to think of herself, not caring over the fate of her husband, Professor Rath.
The Professor runs away form the show, while it’s in his hometown. he goes back to the school where he once taught and enters his old classroom. He embraces the desk that was once his and dies there with his arms enfolded around his desk.
Der Blaue Engel is a disturbing film. It is an overwhelmingly sad story. It is a story about how a person’s emotions can lead them astray. It also demonstrates how one way or another a person’s emotional needs as well as their physical ones must be met. It is a story of masochism and loss.
Das Blaue Licht
Leni Riefenstahl’s Das Blaue Licht is a film of cinematic beauty. The film is based on a fictional legend of a blue light on Mount Cristallo. The legend’s heroine represents the world of ideals. She is surrounded by the harsh world of reality. I will be examining how Riefenstahl creates conflict between idealism and realism through her story, special effects, and mise-en-scene.
The story begins in a village called Santa Maria. Santa Maria is located beneath the majestic Mount Cristallo. The two main characters are Yunta (a young Italian woman) and Vigo (a Viennese artist). When there is a full moon a blue light radiates from Mount Cristallo. The blue light mesmerizes young men who climb Mount Cristallo in search of its source. These young men are in search of an ideal, which is unattainable to them. All the young men who attempt the climb fall to their deaths. Yunta is the only one able to reach the light. This is done when she is sleepwalking. In her dream state she is able to reach the ideal.
The villagers label Yunta a witch. They base their judgments on the fear of the unknown. Yunta is different, so in their realistic view, there must be something wrong with her. If none of their sons can reach the blue light then how can Yunta? She must have supernatural powers. They persecute her when she comes into town from her mountain cabin. She represents hope and the light. All they are able to fell is their despair and inability to deal with their grief.
Vigo is a newcomer to Santa Maria. He falls in love with Yunta. He is a realist also. It is absurd to him that a young peasant woman could have that much control over the lives of others. He sees her as a natural beauty that relies on her instincts. He also sees her as being untainted and pure, because she lives away from civilization. This makes him desire her more. She becomes his ideal.
One night when there is a full moon Yunta climbs Mount Cristallo and Vigo follows her. He watches how she climbs, but he finds an easier path. Realists see exactly what is there. They then access the situation, and take the easiest route. Vigo is a realist. Idealists create more of a maze so they do not tarnish the object of their desire. They are skittish. He finds Yunta in a cave covered wall to wall, top to bottom, with crystals. She immediately is fearful. He is elated with feelings of its monetary worth.
Vigo goes back to the village and shows the peasant in a drawn map how to mine the crystals. They mine the crystals with Vigo help. This takes the form of a rape of nature. Yunta’s ideal is killed by the greed of the realists. Vigo and the villagers become wealthy over their exploit and celebrate at the Inn.
Yunta suspects something is wrong and climbs Mount Cristallo. She discovers the crystals have been mined. She is devastated. The beauty of her life is gone. While descending down the mountain she loses her grip and falls to her death. Her body lands in a bed of flowers. Nature cares for her in her death as she had cared for nature in her life. She dissolves into the ideal and becomes part of its essence in her death. This symbolizes transcendence. In death, there is a smile on her face. Later, Vigo discovers her body.
Special effects are used throughout the film. Riefenstahl used negative film material to shoot some of the scenes. The effect of this is the scenes shot during the day appeared as if shot in the moonlight. The moon appears to be rising opposite to that in reality. It appears to be rising in the West and setting in the East in the film. A reversal of film would have solved the problem, but Riefenstahl decided to leave it to create a mystical effect.
Another special effect used to create the idealism of the film was a red and green filter. This was placed on the camera lens. It made the green leaves white as if they were being illuminated by the moonlight. Riefenstahl also used smoke bombs to create fog. Whenever Yunta is shot climbing the mountain, there is fog around her symbolizing her oneness with nature.
The mise-en-scene conveys to the viewer the emotions of the characters. There are several scenes that have no words, but are conveyed through camera angles and the expressions of the characters. Yunta’s ideal is shown by her fixated look as she holds a piece of crystal. There is a scene where Vigo paints a canvas of Yunta. He is speaking to her but all she can focus on is her ideal (the crystal she is holding).
The villagers’ attitudes towards Yunta are conveyed through a series of close-ups. Near the beginning of the film, Yunta goes into the village when they are in church. When she passes the priest he crosses himself as if to say only God can save her. The scowls on the faces of the women in the village are seen through the camera lens as she passes them by. Yunta has downcast eyes, which present her as an alien or outlaw to this community. She knows she is not welcomed there. When Yunta climbs the mountain she is dead center in the frame. She is the center of attention for the viewers because she is in her domain.
Das Blaue Licht retains a mythical quality form its beginning to its end. It is a fairytale. Fairytales represent the two worlds; that of idealism and realism. In the ending both achieve their own goals. In idealism when this world crushes the dream, the next world opens up to it. It is transcendence. In this world realism is rewarded, but there is no further realm to move on to. Das Blaue Licht is a visual representation of these two worlds and their consequences.
References
Borg-Pan Renata. (1980). Leni Riefenstahl. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers.
Giannetti, Louis. (1999). Understanding Movies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
The story begins in a village called Santa Maria. Santa Maria is located beneath the majestic Mount Cristallo. The two main characters are Yunta (a young Italian woman) and Vigo (a Viennese artist). When there is a full moon a blue light radiates from Mount Cristallo. The blue light mesmerizes young men who climb Mount Cristallo in search of its source. These young men are in search of an ideal, which is unattainable to them. All the young men who attempt the climb fall to their deaths. Yunta is the only one able to reach the light. This is done when she is sleepwalking. In her dream state she is able to reach the ideal.
The villagers label Yunta a witch. They base their judgments on the fear of the unknown. Yunta is different, so in their realistic view, there must be something wrong with her. If none of their sons can reach the blue light then how can Yunta? She must have supernatural powers. They persecute her when she comes into town from her mountain cabin. She represents hope and the light. All they are able to fell is their despair and inability to deal with their grief.
Vigo is a newcomer to Santa Maria. He falls in love with Yunta. He is a realist also. It is absurd to him that a young peasant woman could have that much control over the lives of others. He sees her as a natural beauty that relies on her instincts. He also sees her as being untainted and pure, because she lives away from civilization. This makes him desire her more. She becomes his ideal.
One night when there is a full moon Yunta climbs Mount Cristallo and Vigo follows her. He watches how she climbs, but he finds an easier path. Realists see exactly what is there. They then access the situation, and take the easiest route. Vigo is a realist. Idealists create more of a maze so they do not tarnish the object of their desire. They are skittish. He finds Yunta in a cave covered wall to wall, top to bottom, with crystals. She immediately is fearful. He is elated with feelings of its monetary worth.
Vigo goes back to the village and shows the peasant in a drawn map how to mine the crystals. They mine the crystals with Vigo help. This takes the form of a rape of nature. Yunta’s ideal is killed by the greed of the realists. Vigo and the villagers become wealthy over their exploit and celebrate at the Inn.
Yunta suspects something is wrong and climbs Mount Cristallo. She discovers the crystals have been mined. She is devastated. The beauty of her life is gone. While descending down the mountain she loses her grip and falls to her death. Her body lands in a bed of flowers. Nature cares for her in her death as she had cared for nature in her life. She dissolves into the ideal and becomes part of its essence in her death. This symbolizes transcendence. In death, there is a smile on her face. Later, Vigo discovers her body.
Special effects are used throughout the film. Riefenstahl used negative film material to shoot some of the scenes. The effect of this is the scenes shot during the day appeared as if shot in the moonlight. The moon appears to be rising opposite to that in reality. It appears to be rising in the West and setting in the East in the film. A reversal of film would have solved the problem, but Riefenstahl decided to leave it to create a mystical effect.
Another special effect used to create the idealism of the film was a red and green filter. This was placed on the camera lens. It made the green leaves white as if they were being illuminated by the moonlight. Riefenstahl also used smoke bombs to create fog. Whenever Yunta is shot climbing the mountain, there is fog around her symbolizing her oneness with nature.
The mise-en-scene conveys to the viewer the emotions of the characters. There are several scenes that have no words, but are conveyed through camera angles and the expressions of the characters. Yunta’s ideal is shown by her fixated look as she holds a piece of crystal. There is a scene where Vigo paints a canvas of Yunta. He is speaking to her but all she can focus on is her ideal (the crystal she is holding).
The villagers’ attitudes towards Yunta are conveyed through a series of close-ups. Near the beginning of the film, Yunta goes into the village when they are in church. When she passes the priest he crosses himself as if to say only God can save her. The scowls on the faces of the women in the village are seen through the camera lens as she passes them by. Yunta has downcast eyes, which present her as an alien or outlaw to this community. She knows she is not welcomed there. When Yunta climbs the mountain she is dead center in the frame. She is the center of attention for the viewers because she is in her domain.
Das Blaue Licht retains a mythical quality form its beginning to its end. It is a fairytale. Fairytales represent the two worlds; that of idealism and realism. In the ending both achieve their own goals. In idealism when this world crushes the dream, the next world opens up to it. It is transcendence. In this world realism is rewarded, but there is no further realm to move on to. Das Blaue Licht is a visual representation of these two worlds and their consequences.
References
Borg-Pan Renata. (1980). Leni Riefenstahl. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers.
Giannetti, Louis. (1999). Understanding Movies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror
F.W. Murnau employs several cinematic elements in his film, Nosferatu, to enhance the evilness of the vampire. These elements include: camera, lighting, mise-en-scene, and editing. Each one interacts with the other to contribute to the horror of Nosferatu.
Murnau emphasized Nosferatu’s height and arched back by using a low camera angle. The vampire seems more monstrous, awkward and gruesome by using this angle. At times Nosferatu was not directly filmed. Rather they used his shadow to present a more sinister evil which is forbidden. This leads the audience to fear him more. Nosferatu is too evil even to show.
Murnau used an iris. The iris opened in the light or when Thomas (in all his innocence) was shown. It closed when Nosferatu (evil) was to come or when night had fallen. He used negative footage for the forests and animals to give it more of a mystic feel. This enhanced the feel of Nosferatu’s magical power.
The whole frame is used simultaneously. There is action in the foreground, middle, and background. For example, Helen looks out the window in the foreground of the frame. There is a funeral procession taking place in the middle and the background of the same frame. These are all the vampire’s victims.
The frames are edited in order which allows us to comprehend the evilness of Nosferatu. While the story is being told frames are stuck in between to make us realize his demonic qualities. The frames include the footage of the beasts running, the Venus fly trap (vampire of the vegetable kingdom), and various frames of sentences such as; “Man does not know the dangers that beasts can sense at times.”
In Nosferatu references are given to us of as to how Germans felt about World War I. The scene where the rats are bringing the black plague to the ship and Bremen is an example. Death is everywhere. People close the shutters to keep it out, but it seeps through. This is a fatalistic view. Also the Aristocratic class became outcasts like Nosferatu. They were no longer accommodated, because all Germans were trying to piece their lives back together. They could no longer be tolerated either, because of their persistent desire to be recognized as the elite. They were forced to be grounded.
Nosferatu will remain a classic. It represents a time of despair. We can only imagine the devotion involved in making the film. The artistic talent and imagination has now been replaced by technology and commercialism. It leaves one to question if these are advancements.
Murnau emphasized Nosferatu’s height and arched back by using a low camera angle. The vampire seems more monstrous, awkward and gruesome by using this angle. At times Nosferatu was not directly filmed. Rather they used his shadow to present a more sinister evil which is forbidden. This leads the audience to fear him more. Nosferatu is too evil even to show.
Murnau used an iris. The iris opened in the light or when Thomas (in all his innocence) was shown. It closed when Nosferatu (evil) was to come or when night had fallen. He used negative footage for the forests and animals to give it more of a mystic feel. This enhanced the feel of Nosferatu’s magical power.
The whole frame is used simultaneously. There is action in the foreground, middle, and background. For example, Helen looks out the window in the foreground of the frame. There is a funeral procession taking place in the middle and the background of the same frame. These are all the vampire’s victims.
The frames are edited in order which allows us to comprehend the evilness of Nosferatu. While the story is being told frames are stuck in between to make us realize his demonic qualities. The frames include the footage of the beasts running, the Venus fly trap (vampire of the vegetable kingdom), and various frames of sentences such as; “Man does not know the dangers that beasts can sense at times.”
In Nosferatu references are given to us of as to how Germans felt about World War I. The scene where the rats are bringing the black plague to the ship and Bremen is an example. Death is everywhere. People close the shutters to keep it out, but it seeps through. This is a fatalistic view. Also the Aristocratic class became outcasts like Nosferatu. They were no longer accommodated, because all Germans were trying to piece their lives back together. They could no longer be tolerated either, because of their persistent desire to be recognized as the elite. They were forced to be grounded.
Nosferatu will remain a classic. It represents a time of despair. We can only imagine the devotion involved in making the film. The artistic talent and imagination has now been replaced by technology and commercialism. It leaves one to question if these are advancements.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Director Series - Guiseppe Tornatore
Guiseppe Tornatore is an Italian director known for his nostalgic films. In his charming storytelling we are led into his world that is a blend of realism and fantasy. What adds to his films’ charms is his collaboration with the world-renowned composer, Ennio Morricone, who has composed the score for several of his feature films. In this paper I will focus on the setting, characterization, and editing of three of his feature films, which are: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), Stanno Tutti Bene (1990), and Malena (2000), to show how these elements help to create his cinematic style.
In order to examine Tornatore’s films, we need to first take a brief look at his life. He was born, May 27, 1956, and raised in Bagheria, which is a coastal city located on Sicily. As a youth he started working as a photographer and was published in several magazines. When he was sixteen years old, he staged two plays by Pirandello and De Filippo. He then started making documentaries. One of them, Il Carretto, gained acclaim at several regional and national festivals (http://www.regalis.com/giuseppe/tornatore.html 1).
In 1979, Tornatore began collaborating with RAI Television (Italy’s national network), for which he directed various programs including: Diario De Guttuso, Ritratto Di Un Rapinatore, Incontro Con Francesco Rosi, Scrittori Siciliani E Cinema—Verga, Pirandello, and Brancati E Sciascia. In 1982 he won the award for best documentary for Le Minoranze Etniche in Sicilia at the Salerno Festival. From the years 1978 to 1985 he was chairman of the CLCT Cooperative. Since then Tornatore has made seven feature films, which include: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), Stanno Tutti Bene (1990), Especially on Sunday (1991), A Pure Formality (1994), The Star Maker (1995), The Legend of 1900 (1999), and Malena (2000) (http://www.regalis.com/giuseppe/tornatore.html 1).
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Stanno Tutti Bene, and Malena are all set on the island of Sicily, where Tornatore grew up. Tornatore’s feelings of nostalgia for his homeland is evident in these three films. Although Stanno Tutti Bene begins and ends in Sicily, the body of the story takes place on the mainland of Italy in several modern Italian cities such as; Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan, and Venice.
At some point in each of these films we are brought to the coast where the shimmering, blue water meets the clear, blue sky. This creates a feeling of serenity for the viewer. The main characters are brought to the coast for either introspection or recreation. For example in Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto and Alfredo go to the coast to talk after Toto arrives back home after being released from the military. Toto goes to the coast with Elena for a romantic interlude. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo rents five bungalows on the coast of Sicily in hopes that his children will come from the mainland and visit him. Matteo goes to the coast on a senior citizens’ trip while taking a break from visiting his children. He does this to reflect on the events that have just happened with three of his children and to prepare to visit the last two of his children. He ends up discussing his grown children with a woman on the trip, who has the same experiences with her grown children. They help each other understand their lives. In Malena, Renato can be seen sitting on the wall next to the water with his bicycle watching and fantasizing about Malena as she walks by. In each of these films, Tornatore sets some scenes by the water to be a symbolic of the characters’ inner world or introspection.
The season that dominates each of these films is the summer. In Stanno Tutti Bene, we see Matteo on the coast with his wife and young children on a family vacation, which is a scene that repeats three to four times in the film. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, we see Toto riding in the summer sunshine with Alfredo on his bicycle. We also see the blueness of a warm, summer night when Alfredo projects the movie on the outside building’s wall. In Malena, we see her walking through the Piazza in her clinging summer dresses. Tornatore seems to be invoking a calm feeling of summer as a way to catch us off guard when the characters experience trials in their lives such as fire, persecution, rejection, and loneliness.
The main characters in these three films are men. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, the main characters are Toto (Salvatore) and Alfredo. In Stanno Tutti Bene, the main character is Matteo and in Malena, it is Renato. Even though the film is called Malena, she has not been given a voice. She speaks only a few words. She is the object of Renato’s desire. Women are only objects in all these films. In Sicilian culture women have not achieved the same status as men and Tornatore reflects this in his films. He is keeping up with tradition. The fact that the color blue so dominates his frames, adds to the masculinity as being dominate in this culture (http://www.insteam.com/LauraFunderburk/myColor.htm 3-4).
Toto, Matteo, and Renato watch the people they love go through tragedy. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto saves Alfredo from the fire. Alfredo then becomes blind and thus suffers from isolation because he can no longer work. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo watches his children lie to him in their desperate attempt to please him. He is aware of their deception the whole film, but goes along with it. In Malena, Renato watches Malena being persecuted by the village women. Her hair is cut off, she’s beaten, and then is outcast from the village. The main characters are affected by these tragedies, because of their emotional involvement with the characters going through them.
The main characters in these films also all long for the past. The present is not fulfilling them. They each have loved a woman and lost her to either death or ignorance of their whereabouts. They have all placed meaning on these women that goes beyond a companion. These women represent the virility of these men. In these men’s eyes there will never be a woman like the first woman they loved. Their idealism of the past creates their unhappiness in the present. We can only hope that they will get over it, so they can find happiness in the future.
In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto longs for Elena, the woman he first loved. Countless women spend time in his bed in the present, because none of them evokes the feelings that Elena did in him. Alfredo even saved the film of her that Toto filmed while he was a teenager. We see Toto watching the film near the end of the movie. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo still talks to his dead wife, Angela, and refers to her in the present while talking to his children. It is clear that he hasn’t accepted her death. In Malena, Renato states in his narration that the only woman he will never forget out of all the women he has loved is Malena, the woman who never asked him to remember her. In all these characters pining over their lost loves Tornatore is creating a romance that is epic, because it has been lost and not accepted that it has been lost.
These three films of Tornatore have the common element of flashbacks in their editing. These flashbacks help us to feel the emotional trauma the characters are going through. They evoke our sympathy for them. We cannot help but feel sorry for them, because some events in their lives have been holding them captive. This adds to the nostalgia of the films. The flashbacks involve still photographs, clips of movies, and images of fantasies that they have had.
In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, almost the whole film is told in flashbacks. There is no narrator, but we view the events as if they were happening in the present. We know they are flashbacks of Toto’s memories, because we see him as a middle-aged man in the beginning of the film. We then see him as a child with his mother and Alfredo. The flashbacks include clips of films he saw while growing up and working at the local theatre in Giancaldo, Sicily. We flip back to Toto in the present day after the more traumatic flashbacks, such as the fire that almost kills Alfredo. Toto lays awake thinking about the events of his life before he boards the plane to go home for Alfredo’s funeral.
In Stanno Tutti Bene, the flashbacks happen in an unrealistic manner. Matteo flashes back to when his children are young, but he imagines them young going through the events of the present day. He asks them why they lied to him as he is imagining them young. He has an image of his wife and children on the coast that is shown to us as if he were having a flashback, but it is a nightmare. It is repetitive, so we aren’t sure whether it was an actual event or his imagination.
In Malena, the whole film is told in flashback images. We know this because the main character is the narrator of the story. By knowing the images are in the past it puts the viewer at ease to watch them. After all we know the main character survived whatever is going to happen to him. The flashbacks include images of his fantasies, which we view in black and white as if they were old Hollywood films. The editing allows us to feel the desire of this young man through his fantasized interludes with the object of his attention, who is Malena.
Tornatore’s style shows through each of these three films using common elements found in his setting, characterization, and editing. When we see a Tornatore film we expect to watch a nostalgic story about the good old days. We expect the main characters to be sentimental and to be men. We know that women are merely the supporting characters in the film or the objects of desire for the men. The color blue dominates the frames even in its softest nuances to create a calm, masculine, and reflective feeling. These are all the marks you will find in a Tornatore film. If you love nostalgia, I would suggest you watch Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Stanno Tutti Bene, and Malen
In order to examine Tornatore’s films, we need to first take a brief look at his life. He was born, May 27, 1956, and raised in Bagheria, which is a coastal city located on Sicily. As a youth he started working as a photographer and was published in several magazines. When he was sixteen years old, he staged two plays by Pirandello and De Filippo. He then started making documentaries. One of them, Il Carretto, gained acclaim at several regional and national festivals (http://www.regalis.com/giuseppe/tornatore.html 1).
In 1979, Tornatore began collaborating with RAI Television (Italy’s national network), for which he directed various programs including: Diario De Guttuso, Ritratto Di Un Rapinatore, Incontro Con Francesco Rosi, Scrittori Siciliani E Cinema—Verga, Pirandello, and Brancati E Sciascia. In 1982 he won the award for best documentary for Le Minoranze Etniche in Sicilia at the Salerno Festival. From the years 1978 to 1985 he was chairman of the CLCT Cooperative. Since then Tornatore has made seven feature films, which include: Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (1988), Stanno Tutti Bene (1990), Especially on Sunday (1991), A Pure Formality (1994), The Star Maker (1995), The Legend of 1900 (1999), and Malena (2000) (http://www.regalis.com/giuseppe/tornatore.html 1).
Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Stanno Tutti Bene, and Malena are all set on the island of Sicily, where Tornatore grew up. Tornatore’s feelings of nostalgia for his homeland is evident in these three films. Although Stanno Tutti Bene begins and ends in Sicily, the body of the story takes place on the mainland of Italy in several modern Italian cities such as; Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan, and Venice.
At some point in each of these films we are brought to the coast where the shimmering, blue water meets the clear, blue sky. This creates a feeling of serenity for the viewer. The main characters are brought to the coast for either introspection or recreation. For example in Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto and Alfredo go to the coast to talk after Toto arrives back home after being released from the military. Toto goes to the coast with Elena for a romantic interlude. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo rents five bungalows on the coast of Sicily in hopes that his children will come from the mainland and visit him. Matteo goes to the coast on a senior citizens’ trip while taking a break from visiting his children. He does this to reflect on the events that have just happened with three of his children and to prepare to visit the last two of his children. He ends up discussing his grown children with a woman on the trip, who has the same experiences with her grown children. They help each other understand their lives. In Malena, Renato can be seen sitting on the wall next to the water with his bicycle watching and fantasizing about Malena as she walks by. In each of these films, Tornatore sets some scenes by the water to be a symbolic of the characters’ inner world or introspection.
The season that dominates each of these films is the summer. In Stanno Tutti Bene, we see Matteo on the coast with his wife and young children on a family vacation, which is a scene that repeats three to four times in the film. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, we see Toto riding in the summer sunshine with Alfredo on his bicycle. We also see the blueness of a warm, summer night when Alfredo projects the movie on the outside building’s wall. In Malena, we see her walking through the Piazza in her clinging summer dresses. Tornatore seems to be invoking a calm feeling of summer as a way to catch us off guard when the characters experience trials in their lives such as fire, persecution, rejection, and loneliness.
The main characters in these three films are men. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, the main characters are Toto (Salvatore) and Alfredo. In Stanno Tutti Bene, the main character is Matteo and in Malena, it is Renato. Even though the film is called Malena, she has not been given a voice. She speaks only a few words. She is the object of Renato’s desire. Women are only objects in all these films. In Sicilian culture women have not achieved the same status as men and Tornatore reflects this in his films. He is keeping up with tradition. The fact that the color blue so dominates his frames, adds to the masculinity as being dominate in this culture (http://www.insteam.com/LauraFunderburk/myColor.htm 3-4).
Toto, Matteo, and Renato watch the people they love go through tragedy. In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto saves Alfredo from the fire. Alfredo then becomes blind and thus suffers from isolation because he can no longer work. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo watches his children lie to him in their desperate attempt to please him. He is aware of their deception the whole film, but goes along with it. In Malena, Renato watches Malena being persecuted by the village women. Her hair is cut off, she’s beaten, and then is outcast from the village. The main characters are affected by these tragedies, because of their emotional involvement with the characters going through them.
The main characters in these films also all long for the past. The present is not fulfilling them. They each have loved a woman and lost her to either death or ignorance of their whereabouts. They have all placed meaning on these women that goes beyond a companion. These women represent the virility of these men. In these men’s eyes there will never be a woman like the first woman they loved. Their idealism of the past creates their unhappiness in the present. We can only hope that they will get over it, so they can find happiness in the future.
In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Toto longs for Elena, the woman he first loved. Countless women spend time in his bed in the present, because none of them evokes the feelings that Elena did in him. Alfredo even saved the film of her that Toto filmed while he was a teenager. We see Toto watching the film near the end of the movie. In Stanno Tutti Bene, Matteo still talks to his dead wife, Angela, and refers to her in the present while talking to his children. It is clear that he hasn’t accepted her death. In Malena, Renato states in his narration that the only woman he will never forget out of all the women he has loved is Malena, the woman who never asked him to remember her. In all these characters pining over their lost loves Tornatore is creating a romance that is epic, because it has been lost and not accepted that it has been lost.
These three films of Tornatore have the common element of flashbacks in their editing. These flashbacks help us to feel the emotional trauma the characters are going through. They evoke our sympathy for them. We cannot help but feel sorry for them, because some events in their lives have been holding them captive. This adds to the nostalgia of the films. The flashbacks involve still photographs, clips of movies, and images of fantasies that they have had.
In Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, almost the whole film is told in flashbacks. There is no narrator, but we view the events as if they were happening in the present. We know they are flashbacks of Toto’s memories, because we see him as a middle-aged man in the beginning of the film. We then see him as a child with his mother and Alfredo. The flashbacks include clips of films he saw while growing up and working at the local theatre in Giancaldo, Sicily. We flip back to Toto in the present day after the more traumatic flashbacks, such as the fire that almost kills Alfredo. Toto lays awake thinking about the events of his life before he boards the plane to go home for Alfredo’s funeral.
In Stanno Tutti Bene, the flashbacks happen in an unrealistic manner. Matteo flashes back to when his children are young, but he imagines them young going through the events of the present day. He asks them why they lied to him as he is imagining them young. He has an image of his wife and children on the coast that is shown to us as if he were having a flashback, but it is a nightmare. It is repetitive, so we aren’t sure whether it was an actual event or his imagination.
In Malena, the whole film is told in flashback images. We know this because the main character is the narrator of the story. By knowing the images are in the past it puts the viewer at ease to watch them. After all we know the main character survived whatever is going to happen to him. The flashbacks include images of his fantasies, which we view in black and white as if they were old Hollywood films. The editing allows us to feel the desire of this young man through his fantasized interludes with the object of his attention, who is Malena.
Tornatore’s style shows through each of these three films using common elements found in his setting, characterization, and editing. When we see a Tornatore film we expect to watch a nostalgic story about the good old days. We expect the main characters to be sentimental and to be men. We know that women are merely the supporting characters in the film or the objects of desire for the men. The color blue dominates the frames even in its softest nuances to create a calm, masculine, and reflective feeling. These are all the marks you will find in a Tornatore film. If you love nostalgia, I would suggest you watch Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, Stanno Tutti Bene, and Malen
Run Lola Run
Run Lola Run is an independent German film written and directed by Tom Tykwer. The film opens with the camera fixated on an antique clock, which is ticking. The techno music kicks in as swarms of people go about their day. Their speed blurs their images, which is then covered by a new frame. These scenes are cause enough to make Madonna jealous that they were not included in her “Ray of Light” video. There’s a man rattling on about questions and answers. It is all irrelevant in the end.
The concept of the film is that life is a game. Through its twists and turns one makes decisions affecting their destinies. The timing of events plays a significant role.
Lola and Manni are the two main characters. They are lovers. Manni works for some crime boss and botches a robbery by forgetting the 100,000 marks on the subway, which a bum picks up. He has to have the money back by 12:00 noon. Because Lola was negligent in picking him up from the heist, she feels responsible for his predicament. He calls her from a brilliant yellow phone booth, in which he is filmed in most of the movie.
The urgency in the film is depicted through the director’s use of red. Lola’s phone and hair are red. A red ambulance passes through the streets. Even the love scene has a red hue to it.
After a long piercing scream Lola hangs up on Manni and starts running. She runs to the bank. The people she knocks accidentally into on the streets have their destinies flashed before us.
There are three possible outcomes in the film. The first is a tragic ending with Lola being shot. The second ending has Manni hit by the ambulance. The third and final ending has Lola and Manni reunited 100,000 marks ahead of the game.
My favorite scene in the movie is when Lola is in the casino. She places two bets on number twenty. The second bet she places leaves her in euphoric screaming that breaks every glass in the place and stops everyone around her. And when she wins they’re still stunned. Her screams had to be one of the highlights of the film.
Run Lola Run is an enjoyable movie to watch, especially if you are into alternative, artsy films. The subtitles go fast but so does the film. The animation in the film is a perk also.
The concept of the film is that life is a game. Through its twists and turns one makes decisions affecting their destinies. The timing of events plays a significant role.
Lola and Manni are the two main characters. They are lovers. Manni works for some crime boss and botches a robbery by forgetting the 100,000 marks on the subway, which a bum picks up. He has to have the money back by 12:00 noon. Because Lola was negligent in picking him up from the heist, she feels responsible for his predicament. He calls her from a brilliant yellow phone booth, in which he is filmed in most of the movie.
The urgency in the film is depicted through the director’s use of red. Lola’s phone and hair are red. A red ambulance passes through the streets. Even the love scene has a red hue to it.
After a long piercing scream Lola hangs up on Manni and starts running. She runs to the bank. The people she knocks accidentally into on the streets have their destinies flashed before us.
There are three possible outcomes in the film. The first is a tragic ending with Lola being shot. The second ending has Manni hit by the ambulance. The third and final ending has Lola and Manni reunited 100,000 marks ahead of the game.
My favorite scene in the movie is when Lola is in the casino. She places two bets on number twenty. The second bet she places leaves her in euphoric screaming that breaks every glass in the place and stops everyone around her. And when she wins they’re still stunned. Her screams had to be one of the highlights of the film.
Run Lola Run is an enjoyable movie to watch, especially if you are into alternative, artsy films. The subtitles go fast but so does the film. The animation in the film is a perk also.
Fannie and Alexander
Ingmar Bergman’s film Fannie and Alexander is paradoxical. Part one of the movie shows us the dysfunctional Eckdahl family in which Fannie and Alexander are born to. They have loose morals, are artsy, and loving towards their children. Part two of the movie shows us the hypocritical, Vergerus family who is sterile, rigidly disciplined, and aggressively cruel towards the children all in the name of God. It is a contrast between light and dark, which both families seem to embody. Each has their earthly and spiritual sides.
The father of Fannie and Alexander is Oscar Eckdahl. He is pale and out of breath often. It is stated that he works too hard at what he loves, which is the theatre. His mother Helena expresses concern about his health to his wife Emily. He eventually dies playing Hamlet’s ghost and he becomes a ghost to his son Alexander. Oscar’s ghostly appearance is out of concern for his children. His spirit is weighed down by this earthly concern and cannot pass on until his worries are put to rest.
Alexander sees his father’s ghost. At first he is comforted by it then he is annoyed. In his despair over the Bishop’s cruelty towards him and Fannie he asks his father why he can not just go to God and ask that he kill the Bishop. Alexander tells his father to move on that he can not help them right now. He tells Oscar to go to heaven and get help. Alexander deals with his present abusive life through escapism and lies. Or rather are they lies or just premonitions of what the truth is? Can you call it black when it could be white? Is it just in the interpretation of the audience?
Ingmar Bergman further leads us on this questioning journey to another crossroad, which presents itself as Ismael. He is by far the most interesting character in this film. Ismael is the glimmering light in the darkness and he is considered dangerous. This is a paradox. For Ismael is the savior-he is the saving grace. Ingmar Bergman is saying to us if you do not understand what I am trying to convey in this film yet, here is more of a clue. I see it as a flaming sword. Ismael’s danger is that he possesses a secret metaphysical knowledge. He is able to read minds, change signatures, and perhaps alter a chain of life’s events by seeing through another person’s eyes. He appears feminine, but is introduced to us as Isaac’s nephew. Ingmar Bergman might have been stating that women are more in tune with this sort of knowledge.
Alexander is led to Ismael’s room by Aron (Ismael’s brother). Ismael requests a longer visit with Alexander sensing his despair and urgency. He places his hands on the boy’s temples and sees into his mind. Ismael sees his fears and desires. Alexander’s desires center on the Bishop’s death. Is it by Ismael’s powers or did Oscar go to God for help to cause the Bishop’s death? All this would be an end if it were not for the Bishop’s ghost appearing to Alexander in the corridor one night. He knocks Alexander down to discipline him even in death.
The doors of perception are open to the audience. It is the theatre of the mind. Ingmar Bergman sets the stage and gives us clues but we are left to decide for ourselves. Are our decisions based on our own spiritual beliefs or on our fears of a parallel metaphysical universe that merges with ours at times? Can our desires be fulfilled just by wanting them badly enough? Or is it a convergence of the paradox turning into a tornado that brings about the change?
The father of Fannie and Alexander is Oscar Eckdahl. He is pale and out of breath often. It is stated that he works too hard at what he loves, which is the theatre. His mother Helena expresses concern about his health to his wife Emily. He eventually dies playing Hamlet’s ghost and he becomes a ghost to his son Alexander. Oscar’s ghostly appearance is out of concern for his children. His spirit is weighed down by this earthly concern and cannot pass on until his worries are put to rest.
Alexander sees his father’s ghost. At first he is comforted by it then he is annoyed. In his despair over the Bishop’s cruelty towards him and Fannie he asks his father why he can not just go to God and ask that he kill the Bishop. Alexander tells his father to move on that he can not help them right now. He tells Oscar to go to heaven and get help. Alexander deals with his present abusive life through escapism and lies. Or rather are they lies or just premonitions of what the truth is? Can you call it black when it could be white? Is it just in the interpretation of the audience?
Ingmar Bergman further leads us on this questioning journey to another crossroad, which presents itself as Ismael. He is by far the most interesting character in this film. Ismael is the glimmering light in the darkness and he is considered dangerous. This is a paradox. For Ismael is the savior-he is the saving grace. Ingmar Bergman is saying to us if you do not understand what I am trying to convey in this film yet, here is more of a clue. I see it as a flaming sword. Ismael’s danger is that he possesses a secret metaphysical knowledge. He is able to read minds, change signatures, and perhaps alter a chain of life’s events by seeing through another person’s eyes. He appears feminine, but is introduced to us as Isaac’s nephew. Ingmar Bergman might have been stating that women are more in tune with this sort of knowledge.
Alexander is led to Ismael’s room by Aron (Ismael’s brother). Ismael requests a longer visit with Alexander sensing his despair and urgency. He places his hands on the boy’s temples and sees into his mind. Ismael sees his fears and desires. Alexander’s desires center on the Bishop’s death. Is it by Ismael’s powers or did Oscar go to God for help to cause the Bishop’s death? All this would be an end if it were not for the Bishop’s ghost appearing to Alexander in the corridor one night. He knocks Alexander down to discipline him even in death.
The doors of perception are open to the audience. It is the theatre of the mind. Ingmar Bergman sets the stage and gives us clues but we are left to decide for ourselves. Are our decisions based on our own spiritual beliefs or on our fears of a parallel metaphysical universe that merges with ours at times? Can our desires be fulfilled just by wanting them badly enough? Or is it a convergence of the paradox turning into a tornado that brings about the change?
The Serpent's Egg
Ingmar Bergman’s The Serpent’s Egg, made me feel like I had just had a night of smoking two packs of Marlboro Lights, a six pack of Coors Light, and multiple shots of Jack Daniels. The darkness of this film reminded me of another film, Metropolis. I felt immense despair during the entire film. The only pleasant surprise is that Rosenberg survives although he may desire death himself.
The Serpent’s Egg begins with cabaret music. The first frames of the film show a crowd of people. The film is black and white suggesting nostalgia. The crowd has pale, expressionless faces and resembles clowns. With the music blaring in the background I sense that this is a weird film. The title suggests a horror film. For the serpent represents evil and an egg represents birth or life. Therefore is this the birth of evil? I think so.
The characters of this film are disoriented and bland. Abel Rosenberg is an ex-trapeze artist whose brother just died and he believes he murdered him. He spends his days and nights drunk and miserable. He steals money from Manuela after she had allowed him to stay with her.
Manuela Bergman is a nieve prostitute. She appears to have a heart of gold but not the strength to pull Rosenberg out of his drunken stupor. Manuela is too confused herself to do anything but survive.
Hans Vergerus is the character that pulls the film together. He is romantically involved with Manuela. He is the Nazi scientist who performs experiments on humans. He does not have the courage to be killed by others when they discover his experiments so he swallows a sinanide capsule and dies. We find out that Rosenberg’s brother was one of his experiments.
The state of mind these characters are in is evident in the scene where the Nazi police come barging into the cabaret. They seize the owner and beat him to a pulp while the others watch. They do not attempt to help him. There is a sense of fear and depression that encompasses this scene.
The characters accept their fate because it is 1923 in Berlin. The devastation of World War I affects the economy and the Nazi regime has formed. People are murdered and their bodies are found in the alleys. They have lost all hope and the desire for acceptance and love.
I thought this film was too controversial for the general public and that is why it did not do well when it was first released. It addressed issues involving Nazis, which is a taboo. The film was dark and hopeless and people desire to be entertained. I like the thought provoking challenge but it’s like going to a funeral when you want to attend a wedding.
The Serpent’s Egg begins with cabaret music. The first frames of the film show a crowd of people. The film is black and white suggesting nostalgia. The crowd has pale, expressionless faces and resembles clowns. With the music blaring in the background I sense that this is a weird film. The title suggests a horror film. For the serpent represents evil and an egg represents birth or life. Therefore is this the birth of evil? I think so.
The characters of this film are disoriented and bland. Abel Rosenberg is an ex-trapeze artist whose brother just died and he believes he murdered him. He spends his days and nights drunk and miserable. He steals money from Manuela after she had allowed him to stay with her.
Manuela Bergman is a nieve prostitute. She appears to have a heart of gold but not the strength to pull Rosenberg out of his drunken stupor. Manuela is too confused herself to do anything but survive.
Hans Vergerus is the character that pulls the film together. He is romantically involved with Manuela. He is the Nazi scientist who performs experiments on humans. He does not have the courage to be killed by others when they discover his experiments so he swallows a sinanide capsule and dies. We find out that Rosenberg’s brother was one of his experiments.
The state of mind these characters are in is evident in the scene where the Nazi police come barging into the cabaret. They seize the owner and beat him to a pulp while the others watch. They do not attempt to help him. There is a sense of fear and depression that encompasses this scene.
The characters accept their fate because it is 1923 in Berlin. The devastation of World War I affects the economy and the Nazi regime has formed. People are murdered and their bodies are found in the alleys. They have lost all hope and the desire for acceptance and love.
I thought this film was too controversial for the general public and that is why it did not do well when it was first released. It addressed issues involving Nazis, which is a taboo. The film was dark and hopeless and people desire to be entertained. I like the thought provoking challenge but it’s like going to a funeral when you want to attend a wedding.
Enemy at the Gates
Enemy at the Gates is a film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The main character of the film is Vassili, who is played by Jude Law. Vassili is a shepherd from Urals. He becomes the Russian’s best sniper and is forced to a duel with the German’s best sniper, Major Konig, played by Ed Harris. This occurs during the battle at Stalingrad from September 20, 1942 to February 3, 1943 during World War II.
The film opens with the eyes of a wolf being seen between the boughs of a snowy tree. A boy is taught by his grandfather, how to kill the wolves that prey upon their flock of sheep. He is given one shot to kill the wolf and he freezes. The next scene is a young man in military uniform on a train headed for Stalingrad. It is September 20, 1942. On this train is Tania, played by Rachel Weisz, who later becomes his love interest.
The next scenes are very graphic. They consisted of the Russian soldiers on that train, getting off and having to cross a river, which contained bloody corpses, some of which were dismantled. There were planes overhead dropping bombs. Some of the soldiers attempted to go back and their captains shot and killed them for being cowards. The main character is seen charging forward against the Germans without a gun. The Russians did not have enough rifles for all their soldiers. All the while the Germans are shooting. The Germans even shot at the heap of dead soldiers to make sure they were dead.
Vassili meets Danilov, played by Joseph Fiennes, in the heap of dead bodies, where they both are hiding. Danilov gives Vassili a rifle and asks him if he knows how to shoot. Vassili says he knows a little. Through his peephole we see a couple German captains and some soldiers, which he shoots in the head one by one. Not bad for someone who can shoot a little. Then Danilov uses Vassili for the Russian propaganda to help other soldiers see that there is hope. The Germans want to end the Russian propaganda so they send Major Konig to Stalingrad to kill Vassili. This is ironic, because the Germans used so much propaganda themselves.
Vassili learns of Major Konig hunting him and loses confidence. We see through Vassili’s flashback what happened to the wolf in the opening scene. He missed the wolf, which then attacked his grandfather’s horse. His grandfather took the rifle from him and shot both the wolf and the wounded horse. We then see Vassili as a boy apologizing with tears to his grandfather. This is an important scene, because it gives the audience insight into his desire to be a good marksman, which is to get his grandfather’s approval.
Tania decides to fight, rather than stay as an interpreter in the shelter, when she hears of her parents’ deaths. Her parents were lined up against a railing on a bridge and shot at once, by the Germans, to save bullets. They both fell into the river. The weight of the body of the one who died pulled the other one underwater to drown. Tania is the object of the love triangle between Danilov and Vassili. Tania loves Vassili and at one point risks her life trying to find him. Their lovemaking takes places between the other sleeping soldiers.
Vassili and Major Konig hunt each other through the ruins of Stalingrad. It seems like they are fighting their own personal war at times, but we are reminded of World War II through the bombs, the fires, and the tanks in the background. Sacha, played by Gabriel Marshall-Thomson, aids both of them. His loyalty lies in chocolate bars and his own country, which is Russia. The most shocking scene in this film is when Sacha is found hanging mid-air after being hung by Major Konig.
The movie ends with Danilov sacrificing himself as a target for Major Konig. So that Vassili knows where he is to shoot him. Vassili waits for him to come out of his sniper spot, waits for him to take off his hat, and kills him. Vassili and Tania are reunited. And, of course the allies win World War II.
Annaud uses Vassili and Major Konig to demonstrate the strategy of war for us. There are no rules as we can see from all the corpses covering the ground. We see a glimpse of hope as the two lovers are reunited and the war ends. This vivid portrayal of the insanity of war is a film all should see to remind us of how lucky we are.
The film opens with the eyes of a wolf being seen between the boughs of a snowy tree. A boy is taught by his grandfather, how to kill the wolves that prey upon their flock of sheep. He is given one shot to kill the wolf and he freezes. The next scene is a young man in military uniform on a train headed for Stalingrad. It is September 20, 1942. On this train is Tania, played by Rachel Weisz, who later becomes his love interest.
The next scenes are very graphic. They consisted of the Russian soldiers on that train, getting off and having to cross a river, which contained bloody corpses, some of which were dismantled. There were planes overhead dropping bombs. Some of the soldiers attempted to go back and their captains shot and killed them for being cowards. The main character is seen charging forward against the Germans without a gun. The Russians did not have enough rifles for all their soldiers. All the while the Germans are shooting. The Germans even shot at the heap of dead soldiers to make sure they were dead.
Vassili meets Danilov, played by Joseph Fiennes, in the heap of dead bodies, where they both are hiding. Danilov gives Vassili a rifle and asks him if he knows how to shoot. Vassili says he knows a little. Through his peephole we see a couple German captains and some soldiers, which he shoots in the head one by one. Not bad for someone who can shoot a little. Then Danilov uses Vassili for the Russian propaganda to help other soldiers see that there is hope. The Germans want to end the Russian propaganda so they send Major Konig to Stalingrad to kill Vassili. This is ironic, because the Germans used so much propaganda themselves.
Vassili learns of Major Konig hunting him and loses confidence. We see through Vassili’s flashback what happened to the wolf in the opening scene. He missed the wolf, which then attacked his grandfather’s horse. His grandfather took the rifle from him and shot both the wolf and the wounded horse. We then see Vassili as a boy apologizing with tears to his grandfather. This is an important scene, because it gives the audience insight into his desire to be a good marksman, which is to get his grandfather’s approval.
Tania decides to fight, rather than stay as an interpreter in the shelter, when she hears of her parents’ deaths. Her parents were lined up against a railing on a bridge and shot at once, by the Germans, to save bullets. They both fell into the river. The weight of the body of the one who died pulled the other one underwater to drown. Tania is the object of the love triangle between Danilov and Vassili. Tania loves Vassili and at one point risks her life trying to find him. Their lovemaking takes places between the other sleeping soldiers.
Vassili and Major Konig hunt each other through the ruins of Stalingrad. It seems like they are fighting their own personal war at times, but we are reminded of World War II through the bombs, the fires, and the tanks in the background. Sacha, played by Gabriel Marshall-Thomson, aids both of them. His loyalty lies in chocolate bars and his own country, which is Russia. The most shocking scene in this film is when Sacha is found hanging mid-air after being hung by Major Konig.
The movie ends with Danilov sacrificing himself as a target for Major Konig. So that Vassili knows where he is to shoot him. Vassili waits for him to come out of his sniper spot, waits for him to take off his hat, and kills him. Vassili and Tania are reunited. And, of course the allies win World War II.
Annaud uses Vassili and Major Konig to demonstrate the strategy of war for us. There are no rules as we can see from all the corpses covering the ground. We see a glimpse of hope as the two lovers are reunited and the war ends. This vivid portrayal of the insanity of war is a film all should see to remind us of how lucky we are.
La Bete Humaine
La Bete Humaine (The Human Beast) is a film directed by Jean Renoir based on one of Emile Zola’s novels. This film was first released in 1938. The film stars Jean Gabin as Jacques Lantier, the train engineer who struggles on the edge of madness. Simone Simon stars as Severine Roubaud who is his lover. She is also married. The film brings Emile Zola’s novel to life through its dispassionate speed. We sense the urgency in the film by the speeding train which is captured in several frames, yet we also sense that the fate of the characters is beyond their control. It is in their nature to act as they have.
The film begins with a close up shot on the train’s engine. It is a scene of a blazing fire. For this to be the first shot in the film we can only guess that the main characters will experience this fire in terms of violence or disruption in their lives. We then are introduced to Jacques Lantier and his assistant, Pecqueux who are running the train. Rapidly in a succession of edits we are brought outside the speeding train focused on the wheels, then to the tracks ahead, and back into the train. This is repeated so we get the feeling of the immense speed they are traveling and the danger.
The film is shot in natural daylight with extra lights to illuminate the faces of the characters. In the scene where Jacques goes to visit his godmother, her face looks very bright. This may be to symbolize the intimate knowledge she has of his illness.
Jacques Lantier teeters on the edge of madness. We witness his madness when he visits his godmother’s daughter, Flora. While Flora and he are embraced he suffers a blackout and starts to strangle her. Only does he loosen his grip when a loud train passes by. It appears that trains offer some comfort to his madness. This may be because the danger and speed they exhibit is parallel to the disturbances in his brain.
We first meet Severine Roubaud in the film while she is in front of a bright window holding a fluffy white cat. The look on her face is that of a soft femme fatale. She has full knowledge of her beauty but uses it over men in a cute, helpless manipulating manner. Cats symbolize mystique so we can assume that the cat is symbolic of her personality and there will be surprises concerning her in the film.
Jacques and Severine meet and he is so smitten by her he covers for her and her husband after witnessing the murder they commit. Throughout Jacques and Severine’s affair they are encased in darkness. The darkness represents how forbidden, dangerous and hopeless the affair is. Only when the husband, Roubaud, acknowledges the affair to his wife do we next see the lovers bathed in light. We sense the absence of secrecy and acceptance through the lighting. Murder is proposed by Jacques to Severine to end the nuisance of her husband forever. She agrees on that solution. We next see the lovers in darkness again. The sinister plot has thrown them back into hell and its darkness.
Renoir places his characters carefully in each of the frames. An example of this is while the lovers are in bed together they confess personal details of their lives to one another. When Jacques is confessing he is on top in the frame and while she is confessing she is on top. This is symbolic of dominance.
The film begins with a close up shot on the train’s engine. It is a scene of a blazing fire. For this to be the first shot in the film we can only guess that the main characters will experience this fire in terms of violence or disruption in their lives. We then are introduced to Jacques Lantier and his assistant, Pecqueux who are running the train. Rapidly in a succession of edits we are brought outside the speeding train focused on the wheels, then to the tracks ahead, and back into the train. This is repeated so we get the feeling of the immense speed they are traveling and the danger.
The film is shot in natural daylight with extra lights to illuminate the faces of the characters. In the scene where Jacques goes to visit his godmother, her face looks very bright. This may be to symbolize the intimate knowledge she has of his illness.
Jacques Lantier teeters on the edge of madness. We witness his madness when he visits his godmother’s daughter, Flora. While Flora and he are embraced he suffers a blackout and starts to strangle her. Only does he loosen his grip when a loud train passes by. It appears that trains offer some comfort to his madness. This may be because the danger and speed they exhibit is parallel to the disturbances in his brain.
We first meet Severine Roubaud in the film while she is in front of a bright window holding a fluffy white cat. The look on her face is that of a soft femme fatale. She has full knowledge of her beauty but uses it over men in a cute, helpless manipulating manner. Cats symbolize mystique so we can assume that the cat is symbolic of her personality and there will be surprises concerning her in the film.
Jacques and Severine meet and he is so smitten by her he covers for her and her husband after witnessing the murder they commit. Throughout Jacques and Severine’s affair they are encased in darkness. The darkness represents how forbidden, dangerous and hopeless the affair is. Only when the husband, Roubaud, acknowledges the affair to his wife do we next see the lovers bathed in light. We sense the absence of secrecy and acceptance through the lighting. Murder is proposed by Jacques to Severine to end the nuisance of her husband forever. She agrees on that solution. We next see the lovers in darkness again. The sinister plot has thrown them back into hell and its darkness.
Renoir places his characters carefully in each of the frames. An example of this is while the lovers are in bed together they confess personal details of their lives to one another. When Jacques is confessing he is on top in the frame and while she is confessing she is on top. This is symbolic of dominance.
Stanno Tutti Bene
Stanno Tutti Bene, (Everybody’s Fine), is a film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The film was released in 1990, which was two years after his award-winning film, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso. Stanno Tutti Bene’s main character is Matteo Scuro, who is played by Marcello Mastroianni. He is a seventy-four year old widower, who talks aloud to his dead wife, Angela. He sets out from his home in Sicily, Italy to visit his five children who are scattered throughout the mainland Italy. His children have failed to come to Sicily this year where he has rented five bungalows for them by the coast. He would like to have all his children around his dinner table again for just one night. He named his children all after opera characters. Their names are: Guglielmo, Alvara, Norma, Tosca, and Canio. The theme of this film is loneliness in modern Italy. Tornatore uses a blue-filter, mise-en-scene, and dialogue to convey the theme of loneliness. I will show how each of these contributes to the theme of this film.
Tornatore uses a blue filter to represent the theme of loneliness. The first set of frames that he uses a blue filter on is the ballroom scene. Matteo goes on a day trip with other senior citizens, which begins on the coast and ends in a ballroom. We sense loneliness as they waltz around the blue-lit ballroom. Even the dialogue fills us in on their isolation. Matteo gets winded and his dancing partner helps him to a seat at a table. There she tells him about her children and how they have placed her in a nursing home. She states that they have grown apart from her. Close-ups of their faces allow us to see their sadness. The blue filter and music heightens our sympathy for these two characters.
The second time the blue filter is used is after Matteo leaves his daughter’s Norma’s house and wanders through the blue night with his suitcase in hand. He has just overheard Norma’s husband say that he wished Matteo would leave. He looks forlorn in the darkness as he waits for a train to come along. A homeless man, who is trying to sleep in a cardboard box, calls to him. He tells Matteo that the train will not come till the morning and points to a cardboard box where he can sleep. The homeless man represents loneliness. There in the blue-lit darkness of a cardboard box we see Matteo’s face and glasses close-up. He looks vulnerable as he whistles. He hallucinates that his children are standing before him.
Matteo first sees his daughter Norma as a little girl as she comes out of a blue mist. She approaches Matteo and reveals her secret, which is that she does not live with her husband anymore. Then he hears several whistles as each of his other four children appear in the mist and approach him. They all reveal their secrets to him except for Alvara, who appears only in flashbacks because he died before the time in which the story takes place. All during these blue-filtered frames Matteo is peering out at them from his cardboard box.
Mise-en-scene and dialogue are both used to convey loneliness in the dinner scene. Matteo manages to get Guglielmo and Canio together to have dinner with him at a restaurant. He has a table set for all his children, but they are the only ones to come. We view them from the end of the table, which appears ten feet away causing us to feel Matteo’s desperation. Guglielmo and Canio tell Matteo that Alvara committed suicide by rowing out to sea, where he died. We see the back of Matteo’s head and his sons’ profiles, but are not brought forward to see Matteo’s expression until they finish. In defiance, Matteo scolds them for believing such nonsense. He says that he does not believe that anyone can die of loneliness in modern Italy. It is inconceivable to him because there are telephones, computers, and mass transit. The audience is left in amazement, because it is so apparent that Matteo is lonely. How can it be inconceivable to him that a person could die of loneliness?
In the final scene, we see Matteo at Angela’s grave. We are shown a close-up of her tomb, which contains a photograph of her. Matteo tells Angela that the kids “are just fine”. He kisses his hand and places the kisses on her photograph as if she were fragile. This scene shows us how lonely Matteo is without his wife. He has chosen not to move on.
Tornatore’s film, Stanno Tutti Bene, takes us on a journey with a lonely, yet proud older man. We feel his loneliness through the blue filters. These are his blue moods. The mise-en-scene allows us to see his sadness through the camera lens and the dialogue haunts us. In this modern world, with all of its technology, are we just increasing our distance to each other? Let us hope not.
Tornatore uses a blue filter to represent the theme of loneliness. The first set of frames that he uses a blue filter on is the ballroom scene. Matteo goes on a day trip with other senior citizens, which begins on the coast and ends in a ballroom. We sense loneliness as they waltz around the blue-lit ballroom. Even the dialogue fills us in on their isolation. Matteo gets winded and his dancing partner helps him to a seat at a table. There she tells him about her children and how they have placed her in a nursing home. She states that they have grown apart from her. Close-ups of their faces allow us to see their sadness. The blue filter and music heightens our sympathy for these two characters.
The second time the blue filter is used is after Matteo leaves his daughter’s Norma’s house and wanders through the blue night with his suitcase in hand. He has just overheard Norma’s husband say that he wished Matteo would leave. He looks forlorn in the darkness as he waits for a train to come along. A homeless man, who is trying to sleep in a cardboard box, calls to him. He tells Matteo that the train will not come till the morning and points to a cardboard box where he can sleep. The homeless man represents loneliness. There in the blue-lit darkness of a cardboard box we see Matteo’s face and glasses close-up. He looks vulnerable as he whistles. He hallucinates that his children are standing before him.
Matteo first sees his daughter Norma as a little girl as she comes out of a blue mist. She approaches Matteo and reveals her secret, which is that she does not live with her husband anymore. Then he hears several whistles as each of his other four children appear in the mist and approach him. They all reveal their secrets to him except for Alvara, who appears only in flashbacks because he died before the time in which the story takes place. All during these blue-filtered frames Matteo is peering out at them from his cardboard box.
Mise-en-scene and dialogue are both used to convey loneliness in the dinner scene. Matteo manages to get Guglielmo and Canio together to have dinner with him at a restaurant. He has a table set for all his children, but they are the only ones to come. We view them from the end of the table, which appears ten feet away causing us to feel Matteo’s desperation. Guglielmo and Canio tell Matteo that Alvara committed suicide by rowing out to sea, where he died. We see the back of Matteo’s head and his sons’ profiles, but are not brought forward to see Matteo’s expression until they finish. In defiance, Matteo scolds them for believing such nonsense. He says that he does not believe that anyone can die of loneliness in modern Italy. It is inconceivable to him because there are telephones, computers, and mass transit. The audience is left in amazement, because it is so apparent that Matteo is lonely. How can it be inconceivable to him that a person could die of loneliness?
In the final scene, we see Matteo at Angela’s grave. We are shown a close-up of her tomb, which contains a photograph of her. Matteo tells Angela that the kids “are just fine”. He kisses his hand and places the kisses on her photograph as if she were fragile. This scene shows us how lonely Matteo is without his wife. He has chosen not to move on.
Tornatore’s film, Stanno Tutti Bene, takes us on a journey with a lonely, yet proud older man. We feel his loneliness through the blue filters. These are his blue moods. The mise-en-scene allows us to see his sadness through the camera lens and the dialogue haunts us. In this modern world, with all of its technology, are we just increasing our distance to each other? Let us hope not.
The Seventh Seal
The Seventh Seal is a film directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film was first released in 1957. It stars Max Von Sydow as a medieval knight named Antonius Block. The film is about the knight’s struggle with his faith in the face of death. The black plague is killing thousands. The silence of God is a motif that runs throughout this film.
The Seventh Seal begins with a shot of the cloudy sky. This is a representation of heaven. In the left part of the frame is a glimmering light and then thrust upon us is a bright light from the right of the frame. After the frame has been completely lit up we see the silhouette of a dove soaring in the cloudy sky. Then we are brought to a serene shot of a coastline with two horses at rest. During these frames the narrator reads a passage from Revelations 8: 1-6.
We meet the main character, Antonius Block, on that coastline with his squire, Jons. We also meet death. He is dressed as the grim reaper in a black cape but he has a human face rather than a skeleton face. His face is stark white and throughout the film we are drawn to look at it because of its contrast to the grays and blacks in the background. We are also drawn to Antonius Block’s face. His face and hair are stark white and appears to have an angelic glow due to Ingmar Bergman’s use of frontal, high contrast lighting. In the face of death, we see Antonius Block as our only hope even as he struggles with his own faith.
Death has come for Antonius Block. The knight invites death to play chess with him so he has more time to take care of some personal business. We see death on the left of the frame and Antonius Block on the right with the chess game placed in the middle of the frame, which signifies its dominance at this part in the film. Behind them the ocean roars. We are led to believe that the personal business Antonius Block has to take care of is spiritual, because we are then brought to a church.
The confession scene is one of the most significant scenes in the film. It gives us more of an idea of Antonius Block’s character. It begins with a long shot of the knight at the altar. We see the crucified Christ above him. Then there is a close up shot of Jesus’ face, which is spotlighted. At this point the editing of the next scenes bring us back and forth between Block’s confession and the crucifix with Christ on it. This establishes God’s presence in Block’s consciousness even if he is silent. The camera focuses on the priest. He is revealed to us and then to Block. The priest is death.
There is a character in this film that sees visions. His name is Jof and he has a wife, Mia, and a son, Mikael. Jof and Mia are entertainers. He sees a vision of the Virgin Mary walking a small child. In the background we hear a hymn. We come to realize later in the film that the Virgin Mary is actually protecting their son from death. Death desires the child as he divulges that thought to Block during a chess game. When this family is together the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it is a pastoral scene. We do not feel death lurking when we are with them till they are in the forest. Jof sees Block playing chess with death and they escape while death is deep into the game. Antonius Block also creates a diversion by knocking over the chess pieces. Jof is at the reigns as we see the family escaping in their wagon. There is a storm raging. Jof stops their wagon to let the angel of death, which is hovering above pass over.
Antonius Block, Jons, and their acquaintances reach the knights castle. It is very dark in the castle. There is a small fire in the fireplace where Karin (Block’s wife) stands. Antonius and Karin are reunited and they all have a meal together. It is still dark inside the castle. Karin reads the same passage from Revelations as was read in the beginning of the film, but she gets further. She reads 8: 1-11. In the background we hear a pounding. Jons checks and sees nothing. The archway is then lit up. We see death then off to the right standing in the darkness. They all approach him. The camera pans to each character as they introduce themselves. In the background, with bright lighting is Antonius with his head in his hands. He then begins to pray.
The film ends with all of the characters who were in the castle now hand in hand on a hilltop. They are in silhouette as death leads them. He has “invited them to dance”. Then we are brought to Jof and his family in a bright, sunny day. It is a pastoral scene once again. Jof sees the others in a vision and tells Mia, but she laughs it off.
I enjoyed this film. It is a film about complex subject matter that we all struggle with. I felt the film was done in good taste. Death and Antonius Block are good opponents in their game of chess, but who can escape death when he calls?
The Seventh Seal begins with a shot of the cloudy sky. This is a representation of heaven. In the left part of the frame is a glimmering light and then thrust upon us is a bright light from the right of the frame. After the frame has been completely lit up we see the silhouette of a dove soaring in the cloudy sky. Then we are brought to a serene shot of a coastline with two horses at rest. During these frames the narrator reads a passage from Revelations 8: 1-6.
We meet the main character, Antonius Block, on that coastline with his squire, Jons. We also meet death. He is dressed as the grim reaper in a black cape but he has a human face rather than a skeleton face. His face is stark white and throughout the film we are drawn to look at it because of its contrast to the grays and blacks in the background. We are also drawn to Antonius Block’s face. His face and hair are stark white and appears to have an angelic glow due to Ingmar Bergman’s use of frontal, high contrast lighting. In the face of death, we see Antonius Block as our only hope even as he struggles with his own faith.
Death has come for Antonius Block. The knight invites death to play chess with him so he has more time to take care of some personal business. We see death on the left of the frame and Antonius Block on the right with the chess game placed in the middle of the frame, which signifies its dominance at this part in the film. Behind them the ocean roars. We are led to believe that the personal business Antonius Block has to take care of is spiritual, because we are then brought to a church.
The confession scene is one of the most significant scenes in the film. It gives us more of an idea of Antonius Block’s character. It begins with a long shot of the knight at the altar. We see the crucified Christ above him. Then there is a close up shot of Jesus’ face, which is spotlighted. At this point the editing of the next scenes bring us back and forth between Block’s confession and the crucifix with Christ on it. This establishes God’s presence in Block’s consciousness even if he is silent. The camera focuses on the priest. He is revealed to us and then to Block. The priest is death.
There is a character in this film that sees visions. His name is Jof and he has a wife, Mia, and a son, Mikael. Jof and Mia are entertainers. He sees a vision of the Virgin Mary walking a small child. In the background we hear a hymn. We come to realize later in the film that the Virgin Mary is actually protecting their son from death. Death desires the child as he divulges that thought to Block during a chess game. When this family is together the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it is a pastoral scene. We do not feel death lurking when we are with them till they are in the forest. Jof sees Block playing chess with death and they escape while death is deep into the game. Antonius Block also creates a diversion by knocking over the chess pieces. Jof is at the reigns as we see the family escaping in their wagon. There is a storm raging. Jof stops their wagon to let the angel of death, which is hovering above pass over.
Antonius Block, Jons, and their acquaintances reach the knights castle. It is very dark in the castle. There is a small fire in the fireplace where Karin (Block’s wife) stands. Antonius and Karin are reunited and they all have a meal together. It is still dark inside the castle. Karin reads the same passage from Revelations as was read in the beginning of the film, but she gets further. She reads 8: 1-11. In the background we hear a pounding. Jons checks and sees nothing. The archway is then lit up. We see death then off to the right standing in the darkness. They all approach him. The camera pans to each character as they introduce themselves. In the background, with bright lighting is Antonius with his head in his hands. He then begins to pray.
The film ends with all of the characters who were in the castle now hand in hand on a hilltop. They are in silhouette as death leads them. He has “invited them to dance”. Then we are brought to Jof and his family in a bright, sunny day. It is a pastoral scene once again. Jof sees the others in a vision and tells Mia, but she laughs it off.
I enjoyed this film. It is a film about complex subject matter that we all struggle with. I felt the film was done in good taste. Death and Antonius Block are good opponents in their game of chess, but who can escape death when he calls?
The Matrix vs. the Crucible
The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves as Neo who is a software programmer by day and a computer hacker at night. He believes there is a conspiracy about the Matrix. He does not know what or who the Matrix is. Morpheus who is the leader of the free people seeks Neo out. He believes Neo is the Messiah who will lead people away from the Matrix and into the real world. Morpheus believes that Neo will save them from the machines that are now controlling people’s lives.
The Matrix is a virtual reality world that the machines created to keep humans in their place. Humans are no longer born, but are grown in machines and in rows that resemble mechanical cornfields. The machines need human energy to survive off of. They have killer agents known as the Sentient Agents in the virtual reality world to kill off any free humans.
The Sentient Agents interrogate Neo for the location of Morpheus. Morpheus is their most dangerous free human. Neo joins ranks with Morpheus and his gang of rebels, because of his desire for the truth and justice. There are battles in virtual reality. Morpheus sacrifices himself so Neo can get away. Neo and Trinity save Morpheus. Neo is left behind and battles the dreaded Sentient Agents. The Sentient Agents get the best of him and he almost dies but has the will to survive and kills the agent. The film ends with Trinity and Neo kissing on Morpheus’s spaceship.
There are three heroes in this film, who are: Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity. They are willing to sacrifice their lives to live in a true world rather than virtual reality. They do not want to be slaves to the system. They want to destroy it. They are the liberals.
The villains are the Sentient Agents whom attack and kill any free human. They are conservatives. They dress the same. They are programmed to move and think the same way. They were created by the system.
Despite the fact this film is set in the future, its theme is similar to The Crucible. Instead of the young girls leading the town astray, it is now the machines. The machines create an illusion with virtual reality as the girls did with their tales of how the town’s people sent spirits to them. The machines are self-motivated like Abigail is in The Crucible. Free persons or “unfriendly” witnesses are persecuted by the Sentient Agents like the witnesses who would not confess to Satanism. The machines are crucifying the humans as the judges did with the town’s people in the witch trials. This time there is no court, only executions.
Leo is not allowed to continue working unless he abides by the system. If he continues to be a hacker he will lose his job and maybe his life. He is interrogated by the Sentient Agents for the location of Morpheus. He refuses to speak and they make his lips melt away into his face. They also plant a bug in him. This is similar to the treatment of unfriendly witnesses at the witch trials. The judges wish to control their minds and tongues as the Sentient Agents desire to do with Neo.
Morpheus undergoes an interrogation by the Sentient Agents when he is caught. They drug him and ask him for the location of Zion, which is a sanctuary for free humans. They want the location to destroy the free humans so they will not free other humans. Morpheus never gives in, but he survives unlike the unfriendly witnesses in The Crucible. He is willing to die as John Proctor is for the higher good of all.
There is a traitor in each of these films that gives the heroes or unfriendly witnesses away. In The Crucible it was Abigail but in The Matrix it is Cypher. They are at first confidents then they become traitors. If Neo and John Proctor are the Messiahs then Abigail and Cypher are the Judases. They are not satisfied knowing the truth, because they can not accept it. They try to change the world around them instead of the world inside themselves.
The Matrix was released in 1999. This was a time when the Y2K bug was most feared by Americans. Americans feared that it would screw up all the computers that were made prior to the new programming for the millennium turnover.
The Nation is dependent on computers and this might have resulted in many business miscalculations. Virtual reality games were introduced in the mid-to-late nineties also. They were very popular with Americans.
The film and production studio that produced The Matrix is Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers formed Vitaphone and had developed the sound on disk process where a recording could be played alongside a film and synchronized with it in 1926.
They first used the Vitaphone system during musical numbers in The Jazz Singer in 1927. Then in 1928, they released their first all talking feature entitled, Lights of New York. It is only natural that they would release a film on the cutting edge like The Matrix because they were always ahead of the other film studios.
The film was written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski. This is their second film. Their first film is entitled, Bound, and it did well at the box office. They are known for their perfection and special effects in their films. They give Americans what they want to see which are violence, battles, and special effects. They are new directors so they tend to be more experimental of subject matter.
The Matrix is an attention grabbing film. It is easy to watch because it is visually entertaining with all its special effects. The plot is an old plot of conspiracy. If you are not for us then you are against us. It mirrors the historical struggles that have persecuted people based on their religion (Spanish Inquisition and Salem Witch Trials), race (Nazi Germany), and their politics (HUAC hearings in Hollywood). It is the new technology of Virtual Reality based on an old theme of injustice that will continue unless society changes on a whole.
The Matrix is a virtual reality world that the machines created to keep humans in their place. Humans are no longer born, but are grown in machines and in rows that resemble mechanical cornfields. The machines need human energy to survive off of. They have killer agents known as the Sentient Agents in the virtual reality world to kill off any free humans.
The Sentient Agents interrogate Neo for the location of Morpheus. Morpheus is their most dangerous free human. Neo joins ranks with Morpheus and his gang of rebels, because of his desire for the truth and justice. There are battles in virtual reality. Morpheus sacrifices himself so Neo can get away. Neo and Trinity save Morpheus. Neo is left behind and battles the dreaded Sentient Agents. The Sentient Agents get the best of him and he almost dies but has the will to survive and kills the agent. The film ends with Trinity and Neo kissing on Morpheus’s spaceship.
There are three heroes in this film, who are: Morpheus, Neo, and Trinity. They are willing to sacrifice their lives to live in a true world rather than virtual reality. They do not want to be slaves to the system. They want to destroy it. They are the liberals.
The villains are the Sentient Agents whom attack and kill any free human. They are conservatives. They dress the same. They are programmed to move and think the same way. They were created by the system.
Despite the fact this film is set in the future, its theme is similar to The Crucible. Instead of the young girls leading the town astray, it is now the machines. The machines create an illusion with virtual reality as the girls did with their tales of how the town’s people sent spirits to them. The machines are self-motivated like Abigail is in The Crucible. Free persons or “unfriendly” witnesses are persecuted by the Sentient Agents like the witnesses who would not confess to Satanism. The machines are crucifying the humans as the judges did with the town’s people in the witch trials. This time there is no court, only executions.
Leo is not allowed to continue working unless he abides by the system. If he continues to be a hacker he will lose his job and maybe his life. He is interrogated by the Sentient Agents for the location of Morpheus. He refuses to speak and they make his lips melt away into his face. They also plant a bug in him. This is similar to the treatment of unfriendly witnesses at the witch trials. The judges wish to control their minds and tongues as the Sentient Agents desire to do with Neo.
Morpheus undergoes an interrogation by the Sentient Agents when he is caught. They drug him and ask him for the location of Zion, which is a sanctuary for free humans. They want the location to destroy the free humans so they will not free other humans. Morpheus never gives in, but he survives unlike the unfriendly witnesses in The Crucible. He is willing to die as John Proctor is for the higher good of all.
There is a traitor in each of these films that gives the heroes or unfriendly witnesses away. In The Crucible it was Abigail but in The Matrix it is Cypher. They are at first confidents then they become traitors. If Neo and John Proctor are the Messiahs then Abigail and Cypher are the Judases. They are not satisfied knowing the truth, because they can not accept it. They try to change the world around them instead of the world inside themselves.
The Matrix was released in 1999. This was a time when the Y2K bug was most feared by Americans. Americans feared that it would screw up all the computers that were made prior to the new programming for the millennium turnover.
The Nation is dependent on computers and this might have resulted in many business miscalculations. Virtual reality games were introduced in the mid-to-late nineties also. They were very popular with Americans.
The film and production studio that produced The Matrix is Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers formed Vitaphone and had developed the sound on disk process where a recording could be played alongside a film and synchronized with it in 1926.
They first used the Vitaphone system during musical numbers in The Jazz Singer in 1927. Then in 1928, they released their first all talking feature entitled, Lights of New York. It is only natural that they would release a film on the cutting edge like The Matrix because they were always ahead of the other film studios.
The film was written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski. This is their second film. Their first film is entitled, Bound, and it did well at the box office. They are known for their perfection and special effects in their films. They give Americans what they want to see which are violence, battles, and special effects. They are new directors so they tend to be more experimental of subject matter.
The Matrix is an attention grabbing film. It is easy to watch because it is visually entertaining with all its special effects. The plot is an old plot of conspiracy. If you are not for us then you are against us. It mirrors the historical struggles that have persecuted people based on their religion (Spanish Inquisition and Salem Witch Trials), race (Nazi Germany), and their politics (HUAC hearings in Hollywood). It is the new technology of Virtual Reality based on an old theme of injustice that will continue unless society changes on a whole.
Absolute Power
Absolute Power was released to American audiences in 1997. The main character of the film is Luther Whitney, who is played by Clint Eastwood. Luther is an accomplished jewel thief who witnesses a murder during one of his heists. This is not an ordinary murder, because it was committed by the Secret Service to protect the President after he attempted to murder one of his lovers. His lover had gotten the upper hand in their tryst when she was killed. Unaware that Luther is hiding in the vault in the room where the murder has taken place, the President’s Chief of Staff and the Secret Service scrubbed the crime scene so clean that there is no evidence left. They all exit the mansion where the murder has taken place except for Luther.
The weapon is a letter opener with not only the victim’s blood and prints on it, but also the President’s. In the Chief of Staff’s haste, she left the opener in the mansion where Luther finds it and takes it home along with all the jewels that he has stolen. That is after a chase with the Secret Service, which continues through out the film. The President never admits an ounce of guilt. In the end, his oldest, best friend, Walter Sullivan, who is also the mourning husband of the victim, kills the President. It is made to look like a suicide, which leaves the nation astounded that the President would commit suicide. Luther had told Walter Sullivan what had really happened the night his young wife was murdered. Mr. Sullivan sought revenge on the President not only for his wife’s murder, but also for his betrayal to him.
The hero of this film is Luther Whitney, even though he is also a criminal. He is the hero, because he confronts the corruption instead of running from it even though he could be killed. He returns the jewels he has stolen and redeems his character in view of a larger corruption then his own petty crime. He is also the hero, because of his intelligence in how he handles the situation. He tells Walter Sullivan the truth, because he knows that he is the one who would be able to bring about the justice that is needed in dealing with the President. After all if it were not for Mr. Sullivan, the President would not be in the White House. He is aware that Mr. Sullivan will confront the situation, but unsure about whether he will extract any revenge.
The villain in this film is the President. The President is not only a corrupt philanderer, but also a murderer. He may not have killed Mrs. Sullivan, but he orders a hit on Luther Whitney’s daughter to be carried out by the Secret Service. His rough sex with his best friend’s wife is the reason she was murdered by the Secret Service also. He apparently lacks the conscience of any morally sound human being as he addresses the nation in his desire to help solve the murder that he has just committed. There is nothing likeable about his character in this film and he is representing the President of the United States.
The Secret Service and the Chief of Staff are the villains along with the President. This film portrays them like they are puppets to the President. The President in the film does appear to have the absolute power until the end of the film, when the civilians take control. He seems to be able to bark a command and his staff is anxious to carry out any of his heinous crimes.
The overt message of this film is that power in the wrong hands corrupts. Mr. Sullivan is rich and powerful, but he is not corrupt. He has arisen to his status in life through hard work and has attempted to help others, but the President is a backstabbing whore who is loyal to no one or any country. The implied message to the American people is that the current President may have some skeletons in his closet. The 1993 death of Vince Foster, Jr. (former White House deputy counsel) in a Virginia park may not have been a suicide. It may have been a cover up by the Secret Service for President Clinton.
Absolute Power was released during the time when President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were both under investigation for the Whitewater Scandal. There is a hotel in the film called, The Watergate Hotel, which represents scandal. Whether it is Watergate or Whitewater, the audience can assume that it is associated with the corrupt manner in which our politicians conduct themselves in today’s society.
The philandering President reminds the viewer of President Clinton also. The 1990s was a decade of numerous women coming forward to claim either sexual harassment or affairs with the President. The Chief of Staff covers up for the President in the film, but in reality it was Clinton’s wife Hillary who covered up his affairs by ignoring them and standing by her politically, morally corrupt husband.
The motion picture and television production company that produced this film is Castle Rock Entertainment. Castle Rock Entertainment is a fairly young company. It was formed in 1987, and then bought by the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. in 1993. Due to the fact that Castle Rock Entertainment is a new company, they are more likely to take chances with controversial subject matter, such as confronting some controversial issues with American politics. By being a new company they are just forming their reputation and do not feel the need to live up to one, because they are just creating it. They see it as an instrument to voice their opinions on an important subject to the American public.
Absolute Power clearly reflects the political atmosphere of the White House during its time of release. The fact that there were so many older, reputable actors that starred in it implies that the attitude Hollywood had towards politics at that time was not a favorable one. The petty thief is the hero and the President and his staff are the villains. This makes a statement to the American public that the true villains to watch out for are not the apparent thieves, but the political representatives of this country. The politicians can do much more harm than any petty criminal can do and on a broader scale. The very forces that Americans have appointed for their own security also protect the corruption that exists in the political system.
The weapon is a letter opener with not only the victim’s blood and prints on it, but also the President’s. In the Chief of Staff’s haste, she left the opener in the mansion where Luther finds it and takes it home along with all the jewels that he has stolen. That is after a chase with the Secret Service, which continues through out the film. The President never admits an ounce of guilt. In the end, his oldest, best friend, Walter Sullivan, who is also the mourning husband of the victim, kills the President. It is made to look like a suicide, which leaves the nation astounded that the President would commit suicide. Luther had told Walter Sullivan what had really happened the night his young wife was murdered. Mr. Sullivan sought revenge on the President not only for his wife’s murder, but also for his betrayal to him.
The hero of this film is Luther Whitney, even though he is also a criminal. He is the hero, because he confronts the corruption instead of running from it even though he could be killed. He returns the jewels he has stolen and redeems his character in view of a larger corruption then his own petty crime. He is also the hero, because of his intelligence in how he handles the situation. He tells Walter Sullivan the truth, because he knows that he is the one who would be able to bring about the justice that is needed in dealing with the President. After all if it were not for Mr. Sullivan, the President would not be in the White House. He is aware that Mr. Sullivan will confront the situation, but unsure about whether he will extract any revenge.
The villain in this film is the President. The President is not only a corrupt philanderer, but also a murderer. He may not have killed Mrs. Sullivan, but he orders a hit on Luther Whitney’s daughter to be carried out by the Secret Service. His rough sex with his best friend’s wife is the reason she was murdered by the Secret Service also. He apparently lacks the conscience of any morally sound human being as he addresses the nation in his desire to help solve the murder that he has just committed. There is nothing likeable about his character in this film and he is representing the President of the United States.
The Secret Service and the Chief of Staff are the villains along with the President. This film portrays them like they are puppets to the President. The President in the film does appear to have the absolute power until the end of the film, when the civilians take control. He seems to be able to bark a command and his staff is anxious to carry out any of his heinous crimes.
The overt message of this film is that power in the wrong hands corrupts. Mr. Sullivan is rich and powerful, but he is not corrupt. He has arisen to his status in life through hard work and has attempted to help others, but the President is a backstabbing whore who is loyal to no one or any country. The implied message to the American people is that the current President may have some skeletons in his closet. The 1993 death of Vince Foster, Jr. (former White House deputy counsel) in a Virginia park may not have been a suicide. It may have been a cover up by the Secret Service for President Clinton.
Absolute Power was released during the time when President Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were both under investigation for the Whitewater Scandal. There is a hotel in the film called, The Watergate Hotel, which represents scandal. Whether it is Watergate or Whitewater, the audience can assume that it is associated with the corrupt manner in which our politicians conduct themselves in today’s society.
The philandering President reminds the viewer of President Clinton also. The 1990s was a decade of numerous women coming forward to claim either sexual harassment or affairs with the President. The Chief of Staff covers up for the President in the film, but in reality it was Clinton’s wife Hillary who covered up his affairs by ignoring them and standing by her politically, morally corrupt husband.
The motion picture and television production company that produced this film is Castle Rock Entertainment. Castle Rock Entertainment is a fairly young company. It was formed in 1987, and then bought by the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. in 1993. Due to the fact that Castle Rock Entertainment is a new company, they are more likely to take chances with controversial subject matter, such as confronting some controversial issues with American politics. By being a new company they are just forming their reputation and do not feel the need to live up to one, because they are just creating it. They see it as an instrument to voice their opinions on an important subject to the American public.
Absolute Power clearly reflects the political atmosphere of the White House during its time of release. The fact that there were so many older, reputable actors that starred in it implies that the attitude Hollywood had towards politics at that time was not a favorable one. The petty thief is the hero and the President and his staff are the villains. This makes a statement to the American public that the true villains to watch out for are not the apparent thieves, but the political representatives of this country. The politicians can do much more harm than any petty criminal can do and on a broader scale. The very forces that Americans have appointed for their own security also protect the corruption that exists in the political system.
Apocalypse Now
Apocalypse Now is a film set during the Vietnam War. A Special Forces Captain Willard is sent on a mission by the United States Army to assassinate an insane Colonel Kurtz, who has set up camp in Cambodia. Colonel Kurtz has become a God in the eyes of the natives who guard him and execute any of his commands. Kurtz ordered the assassination of three Vietnamese men and one woman. He also carried out Operation Archangel without clearance from the United States Army. The US Army considered him dangerous, because he had become a renegade fighting his own war and not theirs. Despite that his judgment on carrying out those missions was correct, the US Army still saw him as a danger to the war effort.
Captain Willard journeys up the Congo in a boat with four officers, who are all young with one foot in the grave, because they are in Vietnam. On his way up the Congo, he meets another Colonel, who is not wrapped too tight. His name is Colonel Kilgore and he enjoys the smell of napalm in the morning, loves to surf, and sees killing as an ordinary job that someone has to do to maintain the peace.
By the time Captain Willard makes it to Kurtz’s camp, he has lost two of the four officers that were on the boat with him. The enemy killed them. We are taken into Colonel Kurtz’s bizarre, maddening mind while we see him only in shadows. It appears that he has become monstrous and that he is aware of his own horror. One more officer is killed. Kurtz decapitates him. Captain Willard carries out his mission by bludgeoning Kurtz with a machete. The film ends with Captain Willard and the last surviving officer exiting the camp.
Francis Ford Coppola directed this film. He based it on the 1902 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The film went over its budget by 19 million dollars and took several months to shoot instead of weeks. Coppola had had success with Godfather I and Godfather II previous to the filming of Apocalypse Now. His concern in making this film was that he portrays the subject matter in its true light. To present it in its true light the film crew, actors, and Coppola himself had to experience their own madness while in its production.
Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 by MGM studios. The Deer Hunter and Coming Home were two films about Vietnam that were released in 1978. The closing of the decade signaled reflection on the Vietnam War by Americans. It was safe to do so now, as the film studios were all releasing their films about Vietnam. This was also a time when Americans were disillusioned with the government. It was a time after Nixon had been impeached due to the Watergate scandal.
The overt message in Apocalypse Now is that war is filled with horror and madness. Not only is war filled with horror and madness, but also it is sheer madness to execute a war knowing that innocent lives will be sacrificed. This film questions if there is a method to the madness or if it is not sheer terror that is the goal. The terror is to produce dominance over one another. That is not the goal of a sane person or country.
The implicit message is that the soldiers were sacrificial lambs for the US government like the cow is for Kurtz and his followers near the end of the film. They will devour that cow like the United States has devoured its youth to serve their own purpose and not the good of all involved.
Kurtz has set himself up in a camp in enemy territory to become a God just like the intervention of the United States into foreign affairs that have no concern to them. The United States has achieved God-status with foreign countries. Kurtz did not belong in Cambodia and the United States did not belong in Vietnam.
Captain Willard did not see any method to Kurtz’s madness. The United States lacked method when fighting the Vietnam War. Captain Willard’s quest up the Congo was to assassinate one of his own. The United States quest in Vietnam was to do the same.
There were parts of Apocalypse Now that appeared to be a spectacle, rather than a narrative. When Colonel Kilgore is commanding a squad of choppers to raid a Vietnamese village, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkynes is playing through the loudspeakers on the choppers. It is repulsive to see them glorifying their slaughtering of the Vietnamese peasants. It is not a positive statement about the United States war effort even though the Vietnamese killing of American soldiers is not shown.
Colonel Kurtz is also a spectacle. He is always shown in the shadows like some beastly creature. When he first reads from his poem book he appears to have some sanity, but that is fleeting as he decapitates Captain Willard’s crewmember. After that happens, it becomes necessary for Kurtz to be assassinated and any sympathy or understanding is thrown aside due to the fact that he appears to be a serial killer not in control of himself any longer.
The spectacle continues when we see Captain Willard prepping himself for the murder by taking a swim and arising with war paint on his face. He sneaks through the shadows. It appears that he, like Kurtz, has broken away from the program in his bludgeoning Colonel Kurtz to death with Kurtz’s full knowledge of the coming attack.
Apocalypse Now is a film that not only shows a portrait of the Vietnam War, but also the psyche of its soldiers who fought there. It is considered one of the greatest films of all times. It also shows us the politics that went on within the United States Army during the war. The images of fire and smoke across the landscape arise like a phoenix in the midst of a savage jungle. The film questions whether the vast loss of life and bombed out landscape was a means to peace or the means to dominance. War is a moral horror and it is to be feared or made friends with as Colonel Kurtz states.
Captain Willard journeys up the Congo in a boat with four officers, who are all young with one foot in the grave, because they are in Vietnam. On his way up the Congo, he meets another Colonel, who is not wrapped too tight. His name is Colonel Kilgore and he enjoys the smell of napalm in the morning, loves to surf, and sees killing as an ordinary job that someone has to do to maintain the peace.
By the time Captain Willard makes it to Kurtz’s camp, he has lost two of the four officers that were on the boat with him. The enemy killed them. We are taken into Colonel Kurtz’s bizarre, maddening mind while we see him only in shadows. It appears that he has become monstrous and that he is aware of his own horror. One more officer is killed. Kurtz decapitates him. Captain Willard carries out his mission by bludgeoning Kurtz with a machete. The film ends with Captain Willard and the last surviving officer exiting the camp.
Francis Ford Coppola directed this film. He based it on the 1902 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The film went over its budget by 19 million dollars and took several months to shoot instead of weeks. Coppola had had success with Godfather I and Godfather II previous to the filming of Apocalypse Now. His concern in making this film was that he portrays the subject matter in its true light. To present it in its true light the film crew, actors, and Coppola himself had to experience their own madness while in its production.
Apocalypse Now was released in 1979 by MGM studios. The Deer Hunter and Coming Home were two films about Vietnam that were released in 1978. The closing of the decade signaled reflection on the Vietnam War by Americans. It was safe to do so now, as the film studios were all releasing their films about Vietnam. This was also a time when Americans were disillusioned with the government. It was a time after Nixon had been impeached due to the Watergate scandal.
The overt message in Apocalypse Now is that war is filled with horror and madness. Not only is war filled with horror and madness, but also it is sheer madness to execute a war knowing that innocent lives will be sacrificed. This film questions if there is a method to the madness or if it is not sheer terror that is the goal. The terror is to produce dominance over one another. That is not the goal of a sane person or country.
The implicit message is that the soldiers were sacrificial lambs for the US government like the cow is for Kurtz and his followers near the end of the film. They will devour that cow like the United States has devoured its youth to serve their own purpose and not the good of all involved.
Kurtz has set himself up in a camp in enemy territory to become a God just like the intervention of the United States into foreign affairs that have no concern to them. The United States has achieved God-status with foreign countries. Kurtz did not belong in Cambodia and the United States did not belong in Vietnam.
Captain Willard did not see any method to Kurtz’s madness. The United States lacked method when fighting the Vietnam War. Captain Willard’s quest up the Congo was to assassinate one of his own. The United States quest in Vietnam was to do the same.
There were parts of Apocalypse Now that appeared to be a spectacle, rather than a narrative. When Colonel Kilgore is commanding a squad of choppers to raid a Vietnamese village, Wagner’s Ride of the Valkynes is playing through the loudspeakers on the choppers. It is repulsive to see them glorifying their slaughtering of the Vietnamese peasants. It is not a positive statement about the United States war effort even though the Vietnamese killing of American soldiers is not shown.
Colonel Kurtz is also a spectacle. He is always shown in the shadows like some beastly creature. When he first reads from his poem book he appears to have some sanity, but that is fleeting as he decapitates Captain Willard’s crewmember. After that happens, it becomes necessary for Kurtz to be assassinated and any sympathy or understanding is thrown aside due to the fact that he appears to be a serial killer not in control of himself any longer.
The spectacle continues when we see Captain Willard prepping himself for the murder by taking a swim and arising with war paint on his face. He sneaks through the shadows. It appears that he, like Kurtz, has broken away from the program in his bludgeoning Colonel Kurtz to death with Kurtz’s full knowledge of the coming attack.
Apocalypse Now is a film that not only shows a portrait of the Vietnam War, but also the psyche of its soldiers who fought there. It is considered one of the greatest films of all times. It also shows us the politics that went on within the United States Army during the war. The images of fire and smoke across the landscape arise like a phoenix in the midst of a savage jungle. The film questions whether the vast loss of life and bombed out landscape was a means to peace or the means to dominance. War is a moral horror and it is to be feared or made friends with as Colonel Kurtz states.
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