Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mise En Scene Legends of The Fall

Legends of the Fall directed by Edward Zwick is a drama about betrayal, family and corruption. This film is a modern tale of the misery of life and the absense of any truth to which the Ludlows can cling to. Legends of The Fall has a great cast that really engages you in the film. This film stars Brad Pitt, Aiden Quinn, Anthony Hopkins and Julia Ormond. Legends won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography and rightfully so because the cinematography in this film is one of the reasons this film is so great and a work of art. John Toll, Cinematographer of Braveheart, was the cinematographer on this film. John Toll was able to truly portray life on a Montana ranch in this film. There is alot of symbolism used in this film that John Toll is able to showcase. When Samuel Ludlow dies on the Barbwire and Tristan trying to save him, it represents him not being able to escape his fate. Also when Tristan tries unsuccessfully to save the calf that is tangled up in the barb wire, it represents him not being able to save his baby brother samuel. The scene in which Susannah goes to visit Tristan during his thirty day incarnation, Toll shot the scene to imply that both Tristan and Susannah are imprisoned people. The cinematography in this film is what truly makes this film a work of art.

1 comment:

J. Schneider said...

Kyle,
In order to serve your education I am not going to pad my response to this post. This is totally inadequate and phoned-in. Here is why.

- The first half of this post contains factoids about the production that one can look up on imdb. It was not your assignment, nor does it serve your education, to merely report on who directed the film, awards it received, etc etc.

- You include vague statements without backing them up, without convincing the reader why such and such thing you claim is true. For example, "John Toll was able to truly portray life on a Montana ranch in this film." Okay...how

- This is perhaps the closest you get to a thesis statement, though it is buried in the post (you should place your main thesis at the beginning) "There is alot of symbolism used in this film that John Toll is able to showcase." Okay, fine. There are moment where dramatic moments connect to broader themes. That's not necessarily symbolism. But as a thesis statement, this thesis is vague and uninspired. It is kind of like saying "Many shots and angles were used to create this film." Why is this interesting? Is it interesting to you? I doubt it. I do not believe you are applying yourself to the task. I do not believe that you lack ideas or insights. What interests YOU about this film?

- "The cinematography in this film is what truly makes this film a work of art." Are you getting what is inadequate about statements such as this? This is an evaluation - an opinion, and you know what they say about opinions. You are not assigned to give vague opinions that you don't back up. Your assignment is to think critically, to break something apart, to analyze and then synthesize your observations into an argument you find interesting.

You MUST work harder, Kyle.