F.W. Murnau's The Last Laugh features many elements of mise en scene, even though he was only trying to show the kammerspiel element of German Expressionism. I noticed in the film that there were a lot of setting elements that were simply amazing. The entire setting was a built set, which looked amazing. For example, when day changed to night, you could see light as if the sun was really rising and setting. Also, in the beginning of the film, it was given the impression that it was raining heavily, and it really looked as if was actual rain falling down on the crafted streets, there was even water pooling around the gutters as if thery were real sewers. Very impressive in my opinion. Every set detail was elaborate, and made to look realistic, made to make you believe in it. Murnau did a good job in making the set look true to form, from the streets, to the buildings, to the vehicles on set.
Another element was the characters, props, and acting. The main character was a proud doorman, who did his job well, and he was a bit vain, which showed. He had a big elaborate doorman's coat, which added to his vain personality. When he is demoted to bathroom attendant it is like he loses a bit of power as well, which is represented by a flimsy white coat that replaces his doorman's coat. When in his new enviroment, his behavor changes to more feeble gestures and movements, and none of the gentlemen he tends to treat him with much respect. The first time he is sent to his new workspace, the area beyond the glass doors down the steps to the bathroom is completely dark as if he's descending into hell, hell meaning in this sense, a place where he really doesn't want to be.
Whenever you see any of the main character's faces, they are brightly lit, so you can see their expressions and figure out what is going on. The close ups are an ideal choice to me, because you can see everybody's faces clearly, instead of from a distance. The lighting is done sensibly this way, and beautifully as well making it a nice asthetic choice. In the first ending of this film, the main character is rejected by his family and wastes away in the bathroom of the hotel. These few end scenes for this ending are dark, with a sad overcast, and his facial expressions are forlorn and lonely, which really makes you feel bad for the poor guy. Once he strikes it rich in the alternate ending, his demeanor changes once again, and he is back to the happy jolly vain person he once was and we see him dining, surrounded by things only the rich can afford--baked alaska, prime rib, etc. He is smiling, happy, and the lighthing is bright again, which shows the new lighthearted mood for the film.
The beauty about the whole thing? This is a silent film, with no title cards or subtitles, but you can still tell what is going on by way of the actors, the set, and the props, which means Murnau did his job in helping the audience understand the film.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
JAWS
Chief Brody's costume changes help convey his position of authority.
Chief Brody, the films protagonist, has a hard time confronting this public of the enemy due to his fear of drowning. Throughout the film, his attire suggests his capabilities of dealing with the public, the politicians and the shark.
The film begins in a setting that puts all of the elements against the intended victim; it's dark outside, she is in deep water far from land and there is no one near her to rescue her. Unfortunately for her, this damsel is in digest. Directly after the attack, he is in his uniform - this shows us he is in a position of authority and control.
However, after backpedaling his idea of shutting down the beaches by the mayor, he then finds himself in shorts on a beach when the Kitner boy finds a puppy. This near nakedness of Chief Brody helps convey the feeling of his incapability to rescue the child and the loss of his own authorial power. Then, cut to City Hall, and he is back in his uniform and he is answering questions and giving orders (he has regained his power).
While he remains in his uniform, he is in complete control, but after a long day of dealing with fisherman he returns home, changes into civilian clothes, and is again helpless to do anything. On his first outing with Matt Hooper on his boat, he wears his civilian clothes and a life jacket. He doesn't want to drown and, as far as he knows at this point, this attire will save his life.
After all of these wardrobe changes the film comes to it's second pinch. Previously, each outfit that Chief Brody wore helped convey that when he wears the uniform he is in control. Now comes the part when the shark, acting as sharks really do, performs a dine and dash. Even though Chief Brody has excersised the full extent of his authority - Coast Guard, helicopters, watchtowers, a swim line, patrols on and offshore - he still can not fulfill his role as a protector of the community.
Finally, on the Orca, after Chief Brody has dawned on a sailoristique style of a costume and he sheds the lifevest after Quint's Indianapolis story, he has finally reached that moment in his character arch where he can finalize his authorial capabilities.
The rest of the characters do not go through such an adverse costume change as he does: the mayor is still the mayor no matter where he is, Hooper is a well dressed scientist and Quint is a roughian in all of their scenes.
This films use of a changing attire not only moves a viewer through it's changing scenes, but also adds to the protagonists characterization of how he is or isn't capable of completing some task.
Chief Brody, the films protagonist, has a hard time confronting this public of the enemy due to his fear of drowning. Throughout the film, his attire suggests his capabilities of dealing with the public, the politicians and the shark.
The film begins in a setting that puts all of the elements against the intended victim; it's dark outside, she is in deep water far from land and there is no one near her to rescue her. Unfortunately for her, this damsel is in digest. Directly after the attack, he is in his uniform - this shows us he is in a position of authority and control.
However, after backpedaling his idea of shutting down the beaches by the mayor, he then finds himself in shorts on a beach when the Kitner boy finds a puppy. This near nakedness of Chief Brody helps convey the feeling of his incapability to rescue the child and the loss of his own authorial power. Then, cut to City Hall, and he is back in his uniform and he is answering questions and giving orders (he has regained his power).
While he remains in his uniform, he is in complete control, but after a long day of dealing with fisherman he returns home, changes into civilian clothes, and is again helpless to do anything. On his first outing with Matt Hooper on his boat, he wears his civilian clothes and a life jacket. He doesn't want to drown and, as far as he knows at this point, this attire will save his life.
After all of these wardrobe changes the film comes to it's second pinch. Previously, each outfit that Chief Brody wore helped convey that when he wears the uniform he is in control. Now comes the part when the shark, acting as sharks really do, performs a dine and dash. Even though Chief Brody has excersised the full extent of his authority - Coast Guard, helicopters, watchtowers, a swim line, patrols on and offshore - he still can not fulfill his role as a protector of the community.
Finally, on the Orca, after Chief Brody has dawned on a sailoristique style of a costume and he sheds the lifevest after Quint's Indianapolis story, he has finally reached that moment in his character arch where he can finalize his authorial capabilities.
The rest of the characters do not go through such an adverse costume change as he does: the mayor is still the mayor no matter where he is, Hooper is a well dressed scientist and Quint is a roughian in all of their scenes.
This films use of a changing attire not only moves a viewer through it's changing scenes, but also adds to the protagonists characterization of how he is or isn't capable of completing some task.
In the Mood for Love--Ricky Leighton
The editing and the shooting structure of In the Mood for Love is different then typical three act structure. It helps to emphasize the mundane and repetitive aspects of the lovers failing marriages by reiterating specific monotonous actions. Specific scenes are seen more than once and occasional conversations will be shown only with greeting and departure.
The fact that the film focuses on the people being cheated on brings several distinct qualities to the picture. Since they are the ones that are being left for someone else, there must be something wrong with either them or the relationship from their point of view. The possibilities could range from being boring, uneventful spouses to a lackluster sex life.
Judging the work life of the male character, he has a tendency to work hard and really late. This would leave his wife at home or out to do things by herself. The male character is shown constantly smoking which tells the audience that his bad habit is also a bad routine. He smokes while working and traveling, to enhance this even further the film shows something as simple as lighting the cigarette but in other situations refrains from depicting conversations. Towards the end of the film, he decides to finally write the martial arts stories. Something he never had the creativity to do in his previous relationship. Therefore, he had lacked such exciting qualities.
The female character is repetitively shown retrieving rice and soup and returning back to her room to eat it by herself. She goes out nightly just to see a movie by herself. This tells the audience that perhaps her husband does not share the same interests and they might not have anything in common. We see her through out repeat these same motions except it progresses and is usually further in the future.
Over the course of the film, a majority of events are cut out of the narrative. Events that are usually considered essential to those circumstances such as conversations and sexual encounters. However, this films structure relies on the repetitive actions of characters, the mundane details in order to tell a compelling and unique love story.
The fact that the film focuses on the people being cheated on brings several distinct qualities to the picture. Since they are the ones that are being left for someone else, there must be something wrong with either them or the relationship from their point of view. The possibilities could range from being boring, uneventful spouses to a lackluster sex life.
Judging the work life of the male character, he has a tendency to work hard and really late. This would leave his wife at home or out to do things by herself. The male character is shown constantly smoking which tells the audience that his bad habit is also a bad routine. He smokes while working and traveling, to enhance this even further the film shows something as simple as lighting the cigarette but in other situations refrains from depicting conversations. Towards the end of the film, he decides to finally write the martial arts stories. Something he never had the creativity to do in his previous relationship. Therefore, he had lacked such exciting qualities.
The female character is repetitively shown retrieving rice and soup and returning back to her room to eat it by herself. She goes out nightly just to see a movie by herself. This tells the audience that perhaps her husband does not share the same interests and they might not have anything in common. We see her through out repeat these same motions except it progresses and is usually further in the future.
Over the course of the film, a majority of events are cut out of the narrative. Events that are usually considered essential to those circumstances such as conversations and sexual encounters. However, this films structure relies on the repetitive actions of characters, the mundane details in order to tell a compelling and unique love story.
the structure of the film "slacker"
The film "Slacker" was an independently produced film made in Austin, TX back in 1989. It was made through the director maxing out his credit cards and using wedding money from his parents, and being that he wasn't getting married he was able to raise over $30,000 to make this uniquely structured film. The film is a "kitchen sink" type film that compiles several different attitudes, characterizations, short moments of humor, moods, feelings, and the abstract but still moving the viewer along in a linear mode. While there is no sense of the age-old 3 act structure or standard narrative plot of any kind, the film's seemingly random set of events actually serve to immerse the viewers into the role of the passive observer. Another effect of this film's narrative style is similar to the way dreams work in your head, especially dreams where you're not necessarily yourself but you're still witnessing a whole lot of different events and characters. Whether or not this was the director's intention is irrelevant to the fact that this type of immersion, if you're a active viewer and not a close minded fool, further helps to perpetuate the feeling that you're present in the narrative (oblique as it may seem) on summer day stroll around Austin, TX circa 1990. The film is largely episodic and takes you from one set of characters and events in one part of the physical space of Austin, then tangents into another episode when either one of those characters or a passerby strolls past the scene and we're taken into a new, entirely different and unrelated scene with new characters and events. This happens over and over again, with each scene capturing specific people and their characteristics, themes, and concepts. Again, the effect this narrative structure had on me was that i felt like this could have been a dream with the variety of different locations, characters and events.
PORCO ROSSO
Hayao Miyazaki is hailed for his many popular animated films such as Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, but the filmmaker has many other works that have sadly gone under the radar. Porco Rosso is Miyazaki’s romance story about an Italian World War 1 pilot who so strongly considered himself a pig, that he actually became one. The film, while animated and staring an animal, is remarkably human. It’s a tale of a pig who now flies for himself and not his country, as post WW1 Italy had become fascist. This is a love story however, so naturally our hero, Porco Rosso (lit. ‘Red Pig’ in Italian), must not only do battle in the skies, but also overcome his pig-like ways in order to woo his love interest. It’s a beautiful film with wonderful Adriatic locales, fierce dogfights, and a story of love.
The film begins, post WW1. Porco is now a pilot for hire and flies his seaplane over the Adriatic foiling pirates and the like. This all changes once the American fly-boy Donald Curtis arrives and tries to move in on Porco’s love interest. Rivalry ensues in somewhat typical fashion, and the story stay on a fairly believable track. While most of Miyazaki’s moves contain a supernatural element, Porco Rosso keeps the surreal to a minimum, other than the initial curse that turned the protagonist into a pig, that is. There are no dream worlds and no monsters and because of this the film is more straightforward. This adds meaning to the piece as a whole because the film takes an outlandish premise but still sticks to a classic formula and shows it can still be done. To make up for the lack of the unreal spectacle, there are numerous shots of the sea, mountains and clouds. All of which are beautiful.
Eventually Porco even finds the beauty in himself. Even after his low point of being shot down by Curtis, Porco bounces back and redeems himself in what is easily the most haphazard and silly dogfight I’ve ever seen. The film is a classic adventure into character development and transformation and is highly recommended.
BY SAM FRIEDMAN
The film begins, post WW1. Porco is now a pilot for hire and flies his seaplane over the Adriatic foiling pirates and the like. This all changes once the American fly-boy Donald Curtis arrives and tries to move in on Porco’s love interest. Rivalry ensues in somewhat typical fashion, and the story stay on a fairly believable track. While most of Miyazaki’s moves contain a supernatural element, Porco Rosso keeps the surreal to a minimum, other than the initial curse that turned the protagonist into a pig, that is. There are no dream worlds and no monsters and because of this the film is more straightforward. This adds meaning to the piece as a whole because the film takes an outlandish premise but still sticks to a classic formula and shows it can still be done. To make up for the lack of the unreal spectacle, there are numerous shots of the sea, mountains and clouds. All of which are beautiful.
Eventually Porco even finds the beauty in himself. Even after his low point of being shot down by Curtis, Porco bounces back and redeems himself in what is easily the most haphazard and silly dogfight I’ve ever seen. The film is a classic adventure into character development and transformation and is highly recommended.
BY SAM FRIEDMAN
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Ghost
The last film I watched, Ghost, was created with a lot of interesting and sensible choices. Sam Wheat, the main character of the story was the good guy, or the protagonist. His "friend", Carl, is the antagonist. We can tell that Sam is the protagonist not only because the story revolves around him, but because even in the afterlife he is still trying to protect his girlfriend Molly. He spends the entire movie trying to get people to help him bring Carl down, namely Oda Mae, a psychic who can communicate with the dead.
Now, the director could have taken a completely different turn with this film, choosing to have Sam try to communicate with Molly in different ways, maybe ways that would unintentionally have frightened her. Even when he uses Oda Mae, Molly is still skeptical, up until the point where he drags a penny up the front door of her loft. She is no longer frustrated or angry, nor scared after this, and finally believes that Sam is trying to communicate with her. The director could have just had Sam disappear into the afterlife after dying, but I understood that he was not completely gone yet because there was a purpose he needed to fufill. By doing what he thought was just protecting someone he loved, he also earned his way into Heaven by the end of the movie, showing him walking into a light after telling Molly goodbye and saving her.
Another interesting standpoint is how the director portrayed evil, and bad spirits. After people with bad spirits died in the film, they'd come out of their bodies as ghosts, and then dark, scary shadows would come and carry their soul away. I believed that this was a bit vivid for the tone of the film, but I understood what it meant and what it represented. Overall, both representations of good and evil in the film were clear and understandable, andmade sense to me and hopefully other viewers watching.
Now, the director could have taken a completely different turn with this film, choosing to have Sam try to communicate with Molly in different ways, maybe ways that would unintentionally have frightened her. Even when he uses Oda Mae, Molly is still skeptical, up until the point where he drags a penny up the front door of her loft. She is no longer frustrated or angry, nor scared after this, and finally believes that Sam is trying to communicate with her. The director could have just had Sam disappear into the afterlife after dying, but I understood that he was not completely gone yet because there was a purpose he needed to fufill. By doing what he thought was just protecting someone he loved, he also earned his way into Heaven by the end of the movie, showing him walking into a light after telling Molly goodbye and saving her.
Another interesting standpoint is how the director portrayed evil, and bad spirits. After people with bad spirits died in the film, they'd come out of their bodies as ghosts, and then dark, scary shadows would come and carry their soul away. I believed that this was a bit vivid for the tone of the film, but I understood what it meant and what it represented. Overall, both representations of good and evil in the film were clear and understandable, andmade sense to me and hopefully other viewers watching.
Red Eye - Kathryn Warburton
My most recently view movie, "Red Eye", with Rachel McAdams fits the frame of a traditional three-act structure. The first act being the entire time McAdams is trying to get on the plane, the second act being the time she is on the plane, and the third being the time off the plane.
In the first act, the main character is introduced, Rachel McAdams, along with the rest of the main characters, her father, her co-worker, and the antagonist. The audience finds out all their basic information about Rachel McAdams within the first act. You find out that her grandmother just passed away, she has a close relationship with her father, she’s great at her job, and she is a very important person in her field. You meet the antagonist, although you don’t know yet that he is the villain. The inciting incident occurs when you discover that the man is the antagonist and is trying to use her to carry out an assassination.
In the second act, you follow Rachel McAdams and her struggle to find a way out of helping the antagonist. She reaches her low point when she finally is able to make the call to her co-worker to move the politician to the room where the antagonist wants him to be. The protagonist and the audience are supposed to believe that Rachel McAdams has failed. At the end of act two, she stabs the antagonist and is able to escape and the third act begins.
In the third act, Rachel McAdams is able to fairly quickly warn and save the politician, and then she has to go to her father to make sure he’s safe. She has a highpoint when she reaches her father and kills the man that was about to kill him, but then the antagonist returns and continues to chase her. In the end, you think she might be defeated, but then her father kills the antagonist, and everyone is happy.
In the Mood for Love
Compared with the conventional narrative structure, "In the Mood for Love" did fresh trial of the narrative structure by using some tricks, coincidence, rehearsal, and music as motif.
First, there are so many coincidences in the overall movie. Strictly speaking, it doesn't make sense to the conventional narrative to intensify cause and effect.
In the beginning, coincidence starts from the house moving of two family, in relation with liaison, that is, they love cross another member of the family, not their own spouse. Besides, two people left in the family realized the liaison of their spouse of at the similar time and were shocked to the fact. And they meet in the same noodle restaurant for several times by chance and have opportunity to know each other. This makes them link a strong bond naturally. And then the love story related to them begins. Thus, coincidence takes very crucial role to narrate the melo story in the movie.
Second, movie shows unique character representation by doing rehearsal about the situation of imagination. After getting shocking the news, left two people guess how their spouses love each other and represent the situation by themselves.
These rehearsals go on until the climax. We can't guess the current feeling of them well because rehearsal punctuate like a mask so, they can hide their feeling through it whenever they want. When do they say to each other "I love you" directly? The power to wait for the answer about the question exists in the movie.
Third, music repeated in the important turning point. Apparently, this movie emphasizes the change of mood and music takes a essential role as motif.
Think of each scene. First meeting with members of same floor after moving, first personal meeting in front of the noodle restaurant, Second personal meeting in the restaurant after finding out each spouse's cheating. Even though the same music emerges every the scene, each effect suggests different feeling. As the movie nearly arrives at the end, the music implies irresistible love and pity about love not to come true between two people in comparison with fascinating sentiment in the beginning.
As mentioned above, this movie has extraordinary method in that it unfolds the dramatic story and conflict with some tricks, coincidence, rehearsal and music.
Although it was a little bit far from conventional narrative structure, it was so novel and unusual experience.
First, there are so many coincidences in the overall movie. Strictly speaking, it doesn't make sense to the conventional narrative to intensify cause and effect.
In the beginning, coincidence starts from the house moving of two family, in relation with liaison, that is, they love cross another member of the family, not their own spouse. Besides, two people left in the family realized the liaison of their spouse of at the similar time and were shocked to the fact. And they meet in the same noodle restaurant for several times by chance and have opportunity to know each other. This makes them link a strong bond naturally. And then the love story related to them begins. Thus, coincidence takes very crucial role to narrate the melo story in the movie.
Second, movie shows unique character representation by doing rehearsal about the situation of imagination. After getting shocking the news, left two people guess how their spouses love each other and represent the situation by themselves.
These rehearsals go on until the climax. We can't guess the current feeling of them well because rehearsal punctuate like a mask so, they can hide their feeling through it whenever they want. When do they say to each other "I love you" directly? The power to wait for the answer about the question exists in the movie.
Third, music repeated in the important turning point. Apparently, this movie emphasizes the change of mood and music takes a essential role as motif.
Think of each scene. First meeting with members of same floor after moving, first personal meeting in front of the noodle restaurant, Second personal meeting in the restaurant after finding out each spouse's cheating. Even though the same music emerges every the scene, each effect suggests different feeling. As the movie nearly arrives at the end, the music implies irresistible love and pity about love not to come true between two people in comparison with fascinating sentiment in the beginning.
As mentioned above, this movie has extraordinary method in that it unfolds the dramatic story and conflict with some tricks, coincidence, rehearsal and music.
Although it was a little bit far from conventional narrative structure, it was so novel and unusual experience.
The last of The Mohicans
This film takes place during the French and Indian war and is about the dying tribe of the Mohicans in which their are only two left as well as one adopted white man. (Daniel Day Lewis) The Mohicans save the daughters of a British officer and Hawkeye falls in love with one of the daughters. While this love story is taking place, the French and Indian war continues.
In Act 1, we are introduced to our Protagonist, Hawkeye and we learn that the English want the Mohicans to enter into their militia. In Act 1, we are also introduced to our Antagonist Magua who wants to take revenge on the English for murdering his family. When Hawkeye saves Coura Monroe from Magua, we have our inciting incident. Hawkeye and the Mohicans decide to escort Coura back to Fort William Henry clearly because Hawkeye is falling in love with Coura and that is our first plot push. During Act 2, Coura and Hawkeye make love and Hawkeye has made the decision to stay with her. When Hawkeye is captured for helping his friends escape, we see how Coura has truly fallen for Hawkeye and their love in this film is the most important aspect. When Coura is captured by Magua in Act 3, The Mohicans make the decision to go after her. The Climax of this film is the most important and the art direction of the last twenty mintues of the film is what makes this a beautiful film and a must see. Daniel Day Lewis and Madeline Stowe are truly captivating in their role and the cinematography along with score make this film a masterpiece
By: Dominic Lee
In Zack Snyder's 300, a movie which follows the historic spartan 300 storyline, each act follows a generic pattern but at the same time allows for a good buildup to the sequence of the movie. The first act allows for the introduction of the protagonist as a child in spartan life, and, the very abrupt appearance of the antagonist King Xerxes at the same time by use of a 4 min spectacle, in which the hero King Leonidas meets the Persian messenger and commits an act of revolt by kicking the messenger into a pit yelling "This is Sparta" and in the process killing the messenger's escort. This incites the Persian army to wage a war on the spartan province, and in effect brings the audience into the preparation for the imminent battle via the spartan way in those times.
Act 2 begins with the first pinch/ intensify cause and effect, as the protagonist is faced with the choice of disobeying his countries oracles or doing what he felt best. He chooses the latter and in this act the mood is set as a imminent sense of danger. This is invoked by the scene of a village slaughtered by the Persian army and there gruesome remains and the merging of an allied army lead by Daxos of the3 Archadians. In the final act the 2nd pinch occurs when the Archadian army disbands from the 300 Spartans and retreat leaving their numbers sorely cut. This forces the king to make his most difficult decision and he dies by setting an example and sparking the spartan army to action. The cinematography is mostly CGI and costume work, but combined with a list of good actors and an excellent editing team; a movie worth watching.
In Zack Snyder's 300, a movie which follows the historic spartan 300 storyline, each act follows a generic pattern but at the same time allows for a good buildup to the sequence of the movie. The first act allows for the introduction of the protagonist as a child in spartan life, and, the very abrupt appearance of the antagonist King Xerxes at the same time by use of a 4 min spectacle, in which the hero King Leonidas meets the Persian messenger and commits an act of revolt by kicking the messenger into a pit yelling "This is Sparta" and in the process killing the messenger's escort. This incites the Persian army to wage a war on the spartan province, and in effect brings the audience into the preparation for the imminent battle via the spartan way in those times.
Act 2 begins with the first pinch/ intensify cause and effect, as the protagonist is faced with the choice of disobeying his countries oracles or doing what he felt best. He chooses the latter and in this act the mood is set as a imminent sense of danger. This is invoked by the scene of a village slaughtered by the Persian army and there gruesome remains and the merging of an allied army lead by Daxos of the3 Archadians. In the final act the 2nd pinch occurs when the Archadian army disbands from the 300 Spartans and retreat leaving their numbers sorely cut. This forces the king to make his most difficult decision and he dies by setting an example and sparking the spartan army to action. The cinematography is mostly CGI and costume work, but combined with a list of good actors and an excellent editing team; a movie worth watching.
Schizopolis
“In the event that you find certain sequences or ideas confusing, please bear in mind that this is your fault, not ours, and you will need to see the picture again and again until you understand everything,” actor, writer, director, auteur Steven Soderbergh addresses to the audience before a movie theater screen at the beginning of his unconventional, nonlinear, bizarre Dadaist film, Schizopolis. Soderbergh achieves this wacky Dadaist tone in the narrative by breaking the fourth wall, playing out his character’s infidelity to his wife and his wife’s infidelity to him from three different perspectives (two of which are his) in three totally different languages/modes of speech, intercutting between an amateur film crew interviewing someone and struggling to make their indie film (a wink at indie filmmaking), and cinematography that insinuates what’s reality and what’s a daydream, amongst a handful of other techniques and devices. In one of the first scenes where we meet Soderbergh’s speech-writer character for a self-help faith-healing demagogue, Fletcher Munson, he listens to a woman tell him how his religion changed her life, and in the middle of the scene, it cuts to a grainy underexposed Bolex-style shot where he pounces on her and kisses her so hard that he sucks a tooth out of her mouth. When it cuts back, it’s apparent with no explanation at all he was daydreaming. Even Soderbergh’s blasé narration accentuates just how dull and fundamentally human his character is; he spans the entire life of his protagonist, beginning with his memory of being born, an out-of-body experience he has playing right-field when he’s nine (three runs score), and when he’s fifteen, comprehending his own mortality--all this before the credits. When one of his coworkers lights a cigarette and Soderbergh tells him he shouldn’t, we leap into the future when the coworker literally coughs himself to death in a hospital bed. The first time we meet Munson’s wife, Soderbergh writes all subtext out and his characters speak almost on a hypertextual level; his wife makes a move in bed--Munson: “Ooh, really well-rehearsed speech about workload and stress. Genuine sorrow. Truthful sounding promises of future satisfaction.” As the narrative unfolds from the perspective of Munson’s dentist doppleganger also played by Soderbergh, Jeffrey Korchek, we learn that he is having an affair with Munson’s wife (Soderbergh expresses that he can’t believe he’s cheating with his own wife). After Korcheck coerces her into leaving her husband--Munson--the movie starts over from the beginning, except this time Munson’s dialogue is in Japanese, proving Soderbergh’s point that it doesn’t matter what he is saying, we’ve heard it all by now. It then skips to the end where after Munson’s wife decides to move in with Korcheck, Korcheck breaks if off with her for one of his patients--in Italian.
Cut between this central narrative are wacky transitional narratives involving a pantsless man getting chased by male nurses, a very dry interview with a man who comments on the immaturity of the filmmakers taping him, fake breaking-news bits commenting on news coverage of nonsensical bureaucratic issues, and a weird narrative about Soderbergh directing this incredibly self-aware parody of indie films where his lead actor who spouts non-sequiturs is snatched up by agents. Soderbergh leaves gaping holes in his plot that he either returns to or references--sometimes tongue-in-cheek--later on, or in the case of his doppleganger that somehow has an omniscient point of view of everything that’s already happened in the life of his counterpart, doesn’t explain at all. He does this to successfully achieve a movie about a simple affair that transcends most other films about affairs. This narrative is barely told to us even once through between all three points of view of the situation, and yet because so much is left out, he puts it to our imaginations to connect the dots and fill in the blanks. Most of his chracters don’t even have names; one is simply refered to as a joke as “Nameless Numberhead Man,” and that name sticks for the duration of the film. It’s almost as if his character is such a blank slate that any one of us could substitute in for him in his dilemmas. He uses compression of time before the inciting incident of the narrative to boil down the entire life of his protagonist up to that point to a few simple moments, and after the film to explain the silly details of the rest of his character’s seemingly incidental life. Meanwhile, the other hour and twenty minutes are spent expanding time as we scrutinize a pretty normal, somewhat depressing, very human story about two men (both Soderbergh) who fantasize about the women they can’t have at their boring jobs, who don’t want the woman who at one point or another was in love with both of them--told in self-aware gibberish, from the perspective of a doppleganger, and dubbed over in Japanese and Italian. Not only does it establish Soderbergh as an auteur with an inventive flair for the absurd, it also achieves an off-the-wall, Dadaist tone that advances the comedy and really makes the punchlines zing. He also makes a movie that is almost incomprehensible after only one viewing, but that still has narrative progression that washes over you.
Mike Curcio- Irreversible
Gaspar Noe’s backwards revenge epic, Irreversible, plays and distorts with the notion of time and past time to create post-irony. The aforementioned technique wrangles the audience’s complete attention.
Noe starts the film by showing two men conversing about the events of the night. Their conversation leads the audience backwards in time by using a 720 degree camera trick to show another pair of men, one in a stretcher (Vincent Cassel) and another in handcuffs, leaving a BDSM gay club known as the Rectum. The scenes in the movie continue to happen in reverse showing the story unfold backwards from a chase, a rape, and a party. The movie ends where it chronologically begins, at the dawn of the day when Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci wake up together and talk about their plans for the night.
Noe uses story structure to show post-irony (or pre-irony in this case) during the course of the night. For example, Monice Bellucci’s character’s receives a brutal ten minute raping. In the next scene, which is previous chronologically, the viewer discovers that she ends up alone in the subway station because she leaves Vincet Cassell’s character at a party because he’s too messed up for her taste. Also, more twisted irony reveals itself when the first scene of the movie chronologically (the last in the order) shows that Monica Bellucci’s character is pregnant, thus making her rape more excruciating in retrospect. Noe presents another ironic incident by using the reverse timeline when he shows the death of Bellucci’s rapist. Bellucci’s character’s ex-boyfriend bashes her rapist’s face into wet mushy pieces with a fire extinguisher in club Rectum towards the end of the night, which is the beginning of the film. When the rape scene occurs, the audience discovers that the man that was killed for the rape earlier in the movie is actually the wrong man and Cassel’s rampage of revenge is in vain.
Jennifer’s Body, the new film from Academy Award winning writer Diablo Cody and director Karyn Kusama, is interesting to say the least, but falls flat on several levels. However, the story structure is worth examining more closely as it is an example of three-act structure with a few minor modifications.
Jennifer’s Body is a story about “Needy,” an unassuming and nerdy high school girl and her more popular and outgoing best friend, Jennifer. Act one, like any structurally sound three-act film, is about getting to know the characters and sets up the rest of the film. In act one of Jennifer’s Body, Needy is currently in a mental institution, where she recounts the events that ultimately put her there. We first learn about Jennifer and Needy’s relationship. We understand that although she is more popular, Jennifer is very insecure and Needy has accepted herself, partly to thank to a healthy relationship with boyfriend, Chip. After Jennifer drags Needy to a bar to see local indie rock band, Low Shoulder, the bar burns down, but the duo escapes. Jennifer, who previously flirted with the lead singer and hinted that she may be a virgin, leaves with the band in their van. After Needy returns home, Jennifer arrives bloody and beaten. As Needy tries to determine what is wrong with her, Jennifer’s animalistic instincts take over. She barks at Needy and vomits a black substance. Clearly, the story is set in motion at the end of act one. We have been introduced to the characters and are curious to solve the dramatic problem in act two: What is wrong with Jennifer?
In act two, Jennifer murders and eats the boys in her high school to sustain herself. Needy tries desperately to figure out what is wrong with her best friend and in one scene, after she suddenly stops having sex with her boyfriend because she sees Jennifer eating another boy, she returns home to find Jennifer in her bed. Jennifer explains that the band sacrificed her that night, but because she was not a virgin, she is now only a demon. Needy studies Jennifer’s “condition” and learns that she must be a demon who eats boys to stay alive. In order to save her boyfriend, Needy decides she must drive a stake through Jennifer’s heart in order to stop her. In act two, the stakes rise and the action continues, which takes us all the way to act three where Needy, the protagonist, makes a new decision.
In act three, instead of trying to help Jennifer or let her continue to get away with murdering high school boys, Needy takes an active role in trying to stop her. Needy and her boyfriend break up because Needy’s obsession with stopping Jennifer has taken over her life. At prom, Jennifer kills Needy’s boyfriend, which leads into the final climactic sequence between the best friends, where ultimately Needy kills Jennifer by driving a box cutter through her heart. The story then returns to Needy in the institution, who later breaks out and attempts to exact revenge on the band that sacrificed her friend.
Overall, the film falls flat in several areas, like dialogue and humor and is unsatisfying in terms of how scary it is. However, Jennifer’s Body is a classic example of three-act structure. In act one, we are introduced to the protagonist and antagonist and a dramatic problem is set up. In act two, the problem is explored and ultimately made worse. In act three, the problem is solved when the protagonist and antagonist have their final showdown. Jennifer’s Body follows this structure closely, but with a few minor adjustments, like changing perspective between Needy and Jennifer, flashbacks and flash forwards and the use of epilogue as Needy narrates the story from her cell at the mental institution. Overall, a disappointing and unsatisfying film, but worth studying because it follows classic three-act story structure closely.
Steven Soderbergh's Schizopolis
Steven Soderbergh’s “Schizopolis is a movie structured rather outside the norm for most modern films. While the film can be broken down into three acts or segments, they are all different perspectives on the same story. The nature of this structure precludes a linear storyline and instead gives us different parts of the overarching plot of the film through the lenses of different characters. The first segment shows us the life of Fletcher Munson, who, already disconnected from his wife, accepts a promotion at work that leads to even more domestic problems and a furthers the distance between them. The second segment shows us, and apparently Fletcher, the life of his doppleganger, the man who is revealed to be having an affair with Fletcher’s wife , a dentist named Jeffery Korchek, but he too eventually leaves Mrs. Munson. Finally we are shown the entire sequence of events up to this point through the eyes of Mrs. Munson. Although there are some that argue that the structure of the film is simply weird for the sake of being weird and that the film lacks apparent meaning, (indeed there are several jokes in the film itself regarding this) the film and, by extension its strange structure deal with the theme of communication and interactions between people, and the consequences of being unable or unwilling to do so.
The first segment shows us perhaps what is the most iconic scene of the film in which, rather than speaking their actual dialogue Fletcher and his wife exchange lines like “Generic greeting!” and “Generic greeting returned.” In the third segment, all of the dialogue save Mrs. Munson’s is spoken in different languages, without subtitles which forces the viewer to either rely on their knowledge of earlier scenes or extrapolate the meaning from Mrs. Munson’s dialogue if they do not understand the languages being spoken. The structure of the film itself also serves to further this theme, jumping without indication from one segment to the next and often interspersing, within the segments themselves, other bits of plot, effectively creating a lack of communication between the viewer and the film that makes it difficult to follow where and when we are in the film, and which characters we are following. This idea is accompanied by a “Ten Commandments”esque introduction by Soderbergh that warns the viewer of the coming confusion, claiming that it is through no fault of their own and that the viewer they will have to watch the film again and again until the events are understood, again showing us an unrepentant lack of communication on the part of the filmmakers.
The first segment shows us perhaps what is the most iconic scene of the film in which, rather than speaking their actual dialogue Fletcher and his wife exchange lines like “Generic greeting!” and “Generic greeting returned.” In the third segment, all of the dialogue save Mrs. Munson’s is spoken in different languages, without subtitles which forces the viewer to either rely on their knowledge of earlier scenes or extrapolate the meaning from Mrs. Munson’s dialogue if they do not understand the languages being spoken. The structure of the film itself also serves to further this theme, jumping without indication from one segment to the next and often interspersing, within the segments themselves, other bits of plot, effectively creating a lack of communication between the viewer and the film that makes it difficult to follow where and when we are in the film, and which characters we are following. This idea is accompanied by a “Ten Commandments”esque introduction by Soderbergh that warns the viewer of the coming confusion, claiming that it is through no fault of their own and that the viewer they will have to watch the film again and again until the events are understood, again showing us an unrepentant lack of communication on the part of the filmmakers.
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête; Jean Cocteau 1946)
Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête; Jean Cocteau 1946) is a story that everyone knows, or presumes they know. Unlike Disney’s bawdy color cartoon version, Cocteau is not interested in justifying characters actions or explaining the peculiar fairy tale magic that occurs on and off. Cocteau’s characters drift through the film under a strange magnetism, things go unexplained simply because they are, making every frame of the work pure and utter poetry, and probably the closest and most accurate interpretation of a fairy tale ever put to the screen.
Cocteau understands that this is a film ruled by dream logic and actions hard to understand if encountered in real life or time. He decidedly sooths the audience with an extradiegetic device at the beginning of the film, a disclaimer written by Cocteau himself, explaining that to watch this film requires a bit of child like simplicity, and to take in “Childhood’s secret open sesame, “Once Upon a Time….”
The exposition of the film is a stunning one. The film begins with an arrow being shot by two men, missing a target and going through the window, almost killing an incredibly yappy and fruffy dog, owned by non other than two very fruffy looking sisters who instantly begin arguing with the two boys, one of them being their brother. We instantly understand that we are being introduced to a very dysfunctional household with a great deal of problems. In a few moments, we see a bedraggled but beautiful looking girl cleaning the floor, our protagonist no less. Of course, any reader of fairy tales can instantly recognize that this is the beautiful sister who is punished for being just that by her wicked sisters ala Cinderella. “Even the floor longs to be your mirror!” exclaims Avenant, an obvious love interest from the start as he stares at her longingly. He quickly asks for her hand in marriage but she refuses, for she wants to stand by her family and take care of her father. Her brother comes onto the scene and a fistfight ensues. Here we instantly understand an important aspect of the narrative and the main character (Belles) inner conflict and the main obstacle she will face through out. Will she choose love over family, or to choose family over love? Its no surprise that Jean Marais plays both Avenant and the Beast, mirroring Belle’s own confusion about what love truly means.
Of course, cause and effect is shown in its simplest form throughout. When Belles father is convinced his ships are returning and filled with cargo, he asks his daughters what they want, Belle wistfully asks for a rose. When the father chances on a magical castle on a stormy night, in effect, he plucks the rose and angers the beast, which in return wants one of his daughters or the father’s life. It’s really no surprise that Beauty and the Beast operates under a traditional three-act structure, considering its origins are from the most traditional of fairy tales. Cocteau had a strong background in theatre and this film is rampant with dramatic, symbolic shifts into one act after another with utter theatricality. The first act ends when Belle decides to sacrifice herself over to the Beast in exchange of keeping her father alive, even though he forbids it. Once Belle whispers in the magic horses ear, “Magnifique, go where I am going, go! Go! Go!” We shuttle into the second act, where she becomes the love interest of a shy and sensitive beast, which asks her again and again “Will You marry me?” Where she wistfully replies, “No, my Beast.” Here in this second act we grow to understand that the beast is not savage but hugely misunderstood, and we grow to comprehend his strange and magical castle, a reflection of his own tormented soul and Belle’s uncertain feelings of love. Eventually, Belle begs to visit her family one last time. The beast makes her promise to visit for only three days. We are instantly shuttled into the second act of the film when Belle puts on a magic glove and is transported to her own home. Though we clearly understand our heroes and villains within a first act, they carry out their actions within the second. The sisters plot and cheat to steal Belle’s magic key and Avenant and Ludovic plot to murder the beast. Much conflict ensues and Belle realizes she has broken her promise to the Beast and frantically returns to the castle, where Avenant and Ludovic try to break into a magic pavilion, where they are trapped and immediately cursed, shifting us into the third act where we see Ludovic transformed into the face of the beast. Belle finds the beast with the face of Ludovic, who is an enchanted prince no less and they live happily ever after.
Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast is a peculiar example in the idea that a film can contain much surrealism and poetic visuals while still withholding an incredibly traditional three-act structure.
Cocteau understands that this is a film ruled by dream logic and actions hard to understand if encountered in real life or time. He decidedly sooths the audience with an extradiegetic device at the beginning of the film, a disclaimer written by Cocteau himself, explaining that to watch this film requires a bit of child like simplicity, and to take in “Childhood’s secret open sesame, “Once Upon a Time….”
The exposition of the film is a stunning one. The film begins with an arrow being shot by two men, missing a target and going through the window, almost killing an incredibly yappy and fruffy dog, owned by non other than two very fruffy looking sisters who instantly begin arguing with the two boys, one of them being their brother. We instantly understand that we are being introduced to a very dysfunctional household with a great deal of problems. In a few moments, we see a bedraggled but beautiful looking girl cleaning the floor, our protagonist no less. Of course, any reader of fairy tales can instantly recognize that this is the beautiful sister who is punished for being just that by her wicked sisters ala Cinderella. “Even the floor longs to be your mirror!” exclaims Avenant, an obvious love interest from the start as he stares at her longingly. He quickly asks for her hand in marriage but she refuses, for she wants to stand by her family and take care of her father. Her brother comes onto the scene and a fistfight ensues. Here we instantly understand an important aspect of the narrative and the main character (Belles) inner conflict and the main obstacle she will face through out. Will she choose love over family, or to choose family over love? Its no surprise that Jean Marais plays both Avenant and the Beast, mirroring Belle’s own confusion about what love truly means.
Of course, cause and effect is shown in its simplest form throughout. When Belles father is convinced his ships are returning and filled with cargo, he asks his daughters what they want, Belle wistfully asks for a rose. When the father chances on a magical castle on a stormy night, in effect, he plucks the rose and angers the beast, which in return wants one of his daughters or the father’s life. It’s really no surprise that Beauty and the Beast operates under a traditional three-act structure, considering its origins are from the most traditional of fairy tales. Cocteau had a strong background in theatre and this film is rampant with dramatic, symbolic shifts into one act after another with utter theatricality. The first act ends when Belle decides to sacrifice herself over to the Beast in exchange of keeping her father alive, even though he forbids it. Once Belle whispers in the magic horses ear, “Magnifique, go where I am going, go! Go! Go!” We shuttle into the second act, where she becomes the love interest of a shy and sensitive beast, which asks her again and again “Will You marry me?” Where she wistfully replies, “No, my Beast.” Here in this second act we grow to understand that the beast is not savage but hugely misunderstood, and we grow to comprehend his strange and magical castle, a reflection of his own tormented soul and Belle’s uncertain feelings of love. Eventually, Belle begs to visit her family one last time. The beast makes her promise to visit for only three days. We are instantly shuttled into the second act of the film when Belle puts on a magic glove and is transported to her own home. Though we clearly understand our heroes and villains within a first act, they carry out their actions within the second. The sisters plot and cheat to steal Belle’s magic key and Avenant and Ludovic plot to murder the beast. Much conflict ensues and Belle realizes she has broken her promise to the Beast and frantically returns to the castle, where Avenant and Ludovic try to break into a magic pavilion, where they are trapped and immediately cursed, shifting us into the third act where we see Ludovic transformed into the face of the beast. Belle finds the beast with the face of Ludovic, who is an enchanted prince no less and they live happily ever after.
Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast is a peculiar example in the idea that a film can contain much surrealism and poetic visuals while still withholding an incredibly traditional three-act structure.
Y Tu Mama Tambien
In Alfonso Cuaron's controversial road movie drama Y Tu Mama Tambien, it mimics a classic three act structure. While there is some plot and action driving the story, it's the characters and their deeply rooted backstories really moving the narrative along. Specifically, one of the primary structural elements of Cuaron's film that makes it unlike any other is the lengthy narration that occurs while the scenes are happening. Rather than having the audience guess as to where these characters come from and what their personalities reveal about them, he just flat out tells us in the narration; from their college degrees to what their parents do for a living. And since the movie lacks quick cuts and is shown almost entirely in long takes, it makes us focus more on what the characters and the narrator are saying, rather than what's going on around them. This is effective because what the main characters, Tenoch and Julio (having just graduated high school), say and do to one another reveals a great deal about the relationship they have with each other.
The film does follow a chronological story. The inciting incident of Act One immediately lets us know what's in store for us: Julio, Tenoch, and their love interest (Tenoch's cousin through marriage), will embark on a road trip that's bound to change their lives in some way. Cuaron gives special attention to the setup in Act One of the film because it distinguishes rather clearly who these people are. Tenoch comes from a wealthy family, whereas Julio does not. Their friendship is rooted on competition in every way, but they still care for each other. This rings especially true in the scene in which they are racing in the pool. Julio falls behind and for a few seconds, Tenoch stops what he's doing to look back at him and make sure he's okay. It's these small, minute details that reveal character.
Another way Cuaron manipulates the structure is with the character of Luisa. After the party where she meets Tenoch and Julio, we first see her waiting nervously in the doctor's office. We then see her crying in bed. And after her fiance calls and tells her he cheated on her, she breaks down. Thus, her decision to immediately call Tenoch the very next day and ask to join him and Julio on their trip to the fictional place Heaven's Mouth, shows that she needs to get away from whatever's worrying her. And for those who know the ending of the film would say that embarking on this journey ends up being the best decision she's ever made in her life.
The structure of this road movie works for a few reasons. For one, it's not an episodic road trip where a series of unfortunate events occur that stop Julio, Tenoch, and Luisa from getting to what they want. In fact, there wasn't much at stake for them. All they wanted was an experience, and their journey to "Heaven's Mouth" helped them find this experience, rather than hinder them. Also, we didn't have to see every road they turned down or every hotel they might have stayed at along the way. What was important was the interactions between the characters (i.e. Luisa sleeps with Tenoch and Julio gets jealous, Luisa says goodbye to her fiance for the last time over the phone, the group meets a family of fishermen that gives them insight about life). The structure seemed to flow naturally while still maintaining the initial story at hand. Without making it too obvious, Cuaron was able to successfully create an arc of change in each of the characters just by simply putting them in a car and having them drive endlessly, talking about anything and everything.
The film does follow a chronological story. The inciting incident of Act One immediately lets us know what's in store for us: Julio, Tenoch, and their love interest (Tenoch's cousin through marriage), will embark on a road trip that's bound to change their lives in some way. Cuaron gives special attention to the setup in Act One of the film because it distinguishes rather clearly who these people are. Tenoch comes from a wealthy family, whereas Julio does not. Their friendship is rooted on competition in every way, but they still care for each other. This rings especially true in the scene in which they are racing in the pool. Julio falls behind and for a few seconds, Tenoch stops what he's doing to look back at him and make sure he's okay. It's these small, minute details that reveal character.
Another way Cuaron manipulates the structure is with the character of Luisa. After the party where she meets Tenoch and Julio, we first see her waiting nervously in the doctor's office. We then see her crying in bed. And after her fiance calls and tells her he cheated on her, she breaks down. Thus, her decision to immediately call Tenoch the very next day and ask to join him and Julio on their trip to the fictional place Heaven's Mouth, shows that she needs to get away from whatever's worrying her. And for those who know the ending of the film would say that embarking on this journey ends up being the best decision she's ever made in her life.
The structure of this road movie works for a few reasons. For one, it's not an episodic road trip where a series of unfortunate events occur that stop Julio, Tenoch, and Luisa from getting to what they want. In fact, there wasn't much at stake for them. All they wanted was an experience, and their journey to "Heaven's Mouth" helped them find this experience, rather than hinder them. Also, we didn't have to see every road they turned down or every hotel they might have stayed at along the way. What was important was the interactions between the characters (i.e. Luisa sleeps with Tenoch and Julio gets jealous, Luisa says goodbye to her fiance for the last time over the phone, the group meets a family of fishermen that gives them insight about life). The structure seemed to flow naturally while still maintaining the initial story at hand. Without making it too obvious, Cuaron was able to successfully create an arc of change in each of the characters just by simply putting them in a car and having them drive endlessly, talking about anything and everything.
I'm in the mood for love.
“I’m in the mood for love” has a constant theme of repetition. Through out the entire film the couple always meets in the same locations such as the noodle store and the alleyway under the window close to the corner of a building. Not only do the characters do things in repetition but also the film makes repeated use the same two songs, a song of plucking and a song with Spanish lyrics. The song that is in Spanish is translated to “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”. The Spanish song always played when the situation seemed neutral between the two characters. When I say neutral I mean that the characters wanted to act upon their feelings for the other character but could not because they wanted to remain faithful to the spouses even though there spouses were not faithful to them. The plucking song is always played once we see a character is changing in some way. The plucking song was played when one of the characters was changing the way they were or we falling for the other character. Not only was the songs repeated but the characters also were repeating these feelings through out the film. This was shown by the use of the music. The use of the same music represents the character’s change that is why the filmmaker used the same music so that the audience could understand (even though there was a language barrier) that the characters were changing.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Jennifer's Body-Structure
The new comedy-horror Jennifer’s Body seems to follow a typical three act narrative structure. The film also uses a first person narration by the character of Needy who opens the film by recalling the tragic events that happened to her. The exposition of the film opens with Needy, a teenager who is in an insane asylum. She begins to explain why she is in there and then the film flashes back to previous events, thus beginning Act I.
In Act I the main characters are introduced as well as the dramatic problem. Needy attends a bar to see a local band with her friend Jennifer. There is a deadly fire and after they escape Jennifer gets in a van with the band members. When she returns that night she is beaten and bloody and something is definitely wrong with her but Needy isn’t sure what. This leads to the second Act and major turning point, that Jennifer is now possessed by a demon after the band members try to sacrifice her to Satan after the show and she must feed on boys. This causes a major complication for Needy who wants to keep her fellow classmates and especially her boyfriend Chip, safe.
In Act 2 the main conflict is Needy trying to prevent Jennifer from eating boys. The film is structured mostly from Needy’s point of view since it’s her story with the exception of showing it from Jennifer’s perspective when she is feasting on her male classmates. Jennifer eats two boys and then Needy realizes she must take matters into her own hands and destroy the demon that is now Jennifer. After Jennifer kills Needy’s boyfriend at prom, this leads to Needy’s Act three decision and into the climax.
In Act 3 Needy and Jennifer have a final battle and Needy murders Jennifer by stabbing her through the heart with a box cutter. After this the film flashes back to Needy in the insane asylum, which provides book endings. Needy also provides a direct address in describing how the story ends. Needy states she is able to escape and then hunts down the indie band that tried to sacrifice Jennifer.
I'm in the Mood for Love
I’m in the Mood for Love [Kar Wai Wong] is, at the very least, an interesting directorial take on narrative structure. Kar Wai Wong used a style of cinematography that could easily be described as a photo album of the secret lives of two characters from an outside and unseen observer. This photo-by-photo style does a lot to accentuate is surreptitious nature of the relationship between Chow Mo-wan [Tony Leung Chiu Wai] and Su Li-zhen [Maggie Cheung] and the inner conflict the two of them struggle with.
Starting with how Kar Wai Wong manages to pull off this third person perspective, one can note that the camera is extremely static whenever the characters are in the cramped apartment building or in their work places. This simulates the idea that the audience member is a resident/co-worker involved directly with the plot. Such a technique also amplifies the proximity of these characters from start to finish.
There are also a few times when the camera does manage to dolly and move about more freely. However, this only happen when the camera has ample room to move and/or when one of two music tracks play. These music tracks are important marks. They literally map out when the character arcs are changing and when the perspective changes from the third person perspective to omnipresence. This still accomplishes the idea that the audience is watching them, just without the characters being aware of anyone’s presence. The audience is essentially spying them on.
When these elements of cinematography are incorporated into the narrative structure, the question of “Why shoot it this way” becomes clearer. This picture-by-picture style of direction, cinematography, and writing leaves you in an obstructed view of what is occurring. Things in the movie only become clear when they become clear for the characters themselves. Even then, Kar Wai Wong leaves small bits of important information up for the audience to piece together.
The next issue is picture order. Some shots may seem a bit out of order at first, but then you realize they are actually repeated. The alley is where these always occur. However, it is quite simple to see what is happening. The director is providing the inner conflict and motives for each character independently. Mr. Chow will share his view on the matter, and then rewind, and Mrs. Chan shares her view on the matter. These are physical representations of both characters’ inner struggle during their affair.
This idea links directly to the mise en scenes. The alley in which they expose their innermost thoughts is completely neutral colors with one faded red line. If you can’t see the reference here, then get glasses. The red line symbolizes the “line” the two characters have crossed by cheating on their spouses. However, the line is faded which raises the question “Should they care about the line?” The neutral coloring of the alley supports the faded line’s purpose. Neutral colors symbolize the neutrality of their relationship. They both are aware that their spouses are having affairs, so what does it matter that they have an affair? The end result of every spouse cheating on each other is a neutral outcome.
Kar Wai Wong could have just focued on the other spouses and their relationships and told it in a linear fashion. However, such a choice of direction would have only meant a rather unoriginal take on Archplot structure. I’m in the Mood for Love is a creative directorial interpretation of the other side of adultery, “the victims.” For the movie to emulate a photo album, the audience is told to think actively about the ultimate theme, The End of an Era. Instead of directing a typical Archplot, Kar Wai Wong successfully lands the story between the realms of Minimalism and Antiplot.
Starting with how Kar Wai Wong manages to pull off this third person perspective, one can note that the camera is extremely static whenever the characters are in the cramped apartment building or in their work places. This simulates the idea that the audience member is a resident/co-worker involved directly with the plot. Such a technique also amplifies the proximity of these characters from start to finish.
There are also a few times when the camera does manage to dolly and move about more freely. However, this only happen when the camera has ample room to move and/or when one of two music tracks play. These music tracks are important marks. They literally map out when the character arcs are changing and when the perspective changes from the third person perspective to omnipresence. This still accomplishes the idea that the audience is watching them, just without the characters being aware of anyone’s presence. The audience is essentially spying them on.
When these elements of cinematography are incorporated into the narrative structure, the question of “Why shoot it this way” becomes clearer. This picture-by-picture style of direction, cinematography, and writing leaves you in an obstructed view of what is occurring. Things in the movie only become clear when they become clear for the characters themselves. Even then, Kar Wai Wong leaves small bits of important information up for the audience to piece together.
The next issue is picture order. Some shots may seem a bit out of order at first, but then you realize they are actually repeated. The alley is where these always occur. However, it is quite simple to see what is happening. The director is providing the inner conflict and motives for each character independently. Mr. Chow will share his view on the matter, and then rewind, and Mrs. Chan shares her view on the matter. These are physical representations of both characters’ inner struggle during their affair.
This idea links directly to the mise en scenes. The alley in which they expose their innermost thoughts is completely neutral colors with one faded red line. If you can’t see the reference here, then get glasses. The red line symbolizes the “line” the two characters have crossed by cheating on their spouses. However, the line is faded which raises the question “Should they care about the line?” The neutral coloring of the alley supports the faded line’s purpose. Neutral colors symbolize the neutrality of their relationship. They both are aware that their spouses are having affairs, so what does it matter that they have an affair? The end result of every spouse cheating on each other is a neutral outcome.
Kar Wai Wong could have just focued on the other spouses and their relationships and told it in a linear fashion. However, such a choice of direction would have only meant a rather unoriginal take on Archplot structure. I’m in the Mood for Love is a creative directorial interpretation of the other side of adultery, “the victims.” For the movie to emulate a photo album, the audience is told to think actively about the ultimate theme, The End of an Era. Instead of directing a typical Archplot, Kar Wai Wong successfully lands the story between the realms of Minimalism and Antiplot.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Baader Meinhof Complex
A wonderfully, twisted and an extremely tense movie - you are gripped with this film from the start to it's final ending.
This is not your typical movie where there is a set protagonist. Instead, this film follows the Battleship Potemkin style with a dash of modernism - the storyline does not follow any specific character, it follows the beginning, middle and end of the RAF. This, in film speak, is an unbelievably well structured story.
In the first act of this film, you almost unquestionably want to take up arms and fight along with them to help win the war for their specific cause. War is bad. Imperialism is bad. America and the thirst for oil is terrible. The images that portray this starves the audience into having a hunger for joining their cause. And then the second act begins....
The second act of this film takes the viewer into the terrible depths of their actions where they go from freedom fighters to actual terrorists.
And, as I have said before, it has no specific protagonist... but, the story of it and our own ideas of how stories are told makes one think that Meinhof is the stories protagonist... but again, as this movie progresses very aggressively, one can see that this film is not about one person at all... it's about everyone who had anything to do with the RAF.
The movie is a mindblowing experience into our histories past and it portrays the outright cruelty of the insanity that is the terrorist all most too horribly perfect.
This movie is a must see.
Except, of course, the beginning really needs better choice edits.
To further talk about the structure, I will say this this film adds and drops characters as needed to only further the story of the RAF. People come and go so quickly in this film and it makes the average film consumer wonder exactly who this film is about. But, by structure and directorial choice, it is not about any one person - it is about the group.
Excellent film.
This is not your typical movie where there is a set protagonist. Instead, this film follows the Battleship Potemkin style with a dash of modernism - the storyline does not follow any specific character, it follows the beginning, middle and end of the RAF. This, in film speak, is an unbelievably well structured story.
In the first act of this film, you almost unquestionably want to take up arms and fight along with them to help win the war for their specific cause. War is bad. Imperialism is bad. America and the thirst for oil is terrible. The images that portray this starves the audience into having a hunger for joining their cause. And then the second act begins....
The second act of this film takes the viewer into the terrible depths of their actions where they go from freedom fighters to actual terrorists.
And, as I have said before, it has no specific protagonist... but, the story of it and our own ideas of how stories are told makes one think that Meinhof is the stories protagonist... but again, as this movie progresses very aggressively, one can see that this film is not about one person at all... it's about everyone who had anything to do with the RAF.
The movie is a mindblowing experience into our histories past and it portrays the outright cruelty of the insanity that is the terrorist all most too horribly perfect.
This movie is a must see.
Except, of course, the beginning really needs better choice edits.
To further talk about the structure, I will say this this film adds and drops characters as needed to only further the story of the RAF. People come and go so quickly in this film and it makes the average film consumer wonder exactly who this film is about. But, by structure and directorial choice, it is not about any one person - it is about the group.
Excellent film.
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