Don Juan DeMarco

“We cannot be sure of having something to live for unless we are willing to die for it.”- Che Guavara

Don Juan DeMarco (Jeremy Leven- 1995) is the story of a man who believes to be Don Juan, the ‘greatest lover in the world’. Dressed in his cape and mask he is hospitalized and undertakes psychiatric treatment with Dr. Jack Mickler. Despite Dr Mickler believing Juan to be delusional he has an effect on the hospital staff and causes the Dr to rekindle the romance in his marriage.

The film is fun and light hearted about reality and fantasy, love, romance and creativity, and will make the audience stop and think about the romance in their own lives. Johnny Depp is exceptionally cast as Don Juan and does an equally good job at playing him. His attractiveness and sexy accented voice reinforce the heart throb image of Don Juan’s character. Marlon Brando may not be the heart throb he once was however he still delivers a believable performance as Dr Mickler as he rekindles his love with his wife played by Faye Dunaway.

The narrative is structured in flashbacks as Don Juan tells his story of how he became the greatest lover in the world. The sets of Mexico and costumes really extenuate the romance in the story, and along with Dr Mickler, the audience is left wanting his stories to be true. The films soundtrack features Bryan Adams song ‘Have You Ever Loved A Women?’, the lyrics have been used for some of Depp’s dialogue, it is a more then appropriate song that underlines the mood of the film.

Overall Don Juan DeMarco is a fantastic love story different to your average romance film with its light humor and great cast that expresses cheeky themes that will awaken the minds of the audience.

Inkheart

Narrator: 'Since the dawn of time, storytellers have enchanted audiences with their words. But there is an even rarer gift. There are those, who by reading out loud, can bring characters to life. Out of books and into our world. Most of these Silvertongues, as they are know prefer to keep their skills a secret but some do not even know this gift is theirs, until it is too late'


Inkheart (Iain Softley, 2009) is a fantasy story that encompasses many mythical creatures of many favorite stories such as Toto and the twister from the Wizard of Oz, Arabian Nights and Little Red Riding Hood. These characters have been used time and time again and has become a little corny and the 'easy way out' in story telling today, I want to see something original and new fictional characters emerge from cinema not just using the same characters over again no matter how great they are.

The concept of characters coming out of the books, literally coming to life on the pages is quite interesting. The fact that they have the words tattooed over their faces is very visually interesting and a nice idea. It also helps the viewer to differentiate between the characters in the mythical world and those of the 'real' world. From a costumers perspective i really enjoyed it, however they seemed a little literal with the costumes which can be forgiven due to the fact that the film is based on historical stories with quite 'set in concrete' visuals. The whole film was quite predictable.



There were a lot of special effects used in the film ie to simulate the shadow. While effective it is nothing we have not seen before in these kinds of fantasy films. I couldn't help but thinking of the money that has gone into the costuming, special effects, characterization etc and how it seems such a waste for something that is not the greatest film ever made and does not present us with anything more entertaining then what we have seen before, perhaps I am being a little overly expecting of todays film industry.

That said I really enjoyed the sets and locations of the film. There was something nice and magical about them and really worked well for the story. It is a cute mystical film that can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages and not necessarily young children.

Dirty Dancing

'Nobody puts Baby in a corner'- Partick Swayze

Dirty Dancing (Emile Ardolino- 1987) is a classic, coming of age dancing romance set at a ritzy resort The Kellermans in 1863. It is every girl’s favorite and results in repeated viewings, I can not count how many time I have seen the film. Eleanor Bergstein's script is a stab at the close-minded attitudes of high class society and shows the different views between resort staff and customers.

‘Baby’ discovers the after hours goings on of the resort staff and develops and interest in their provocative dancing, a far cry from her straight edge life where she believed she would never ‘find a guy as great as my daddy’. She finds herself mixed up in the life of troubled dancer Penny and tries to help by agreeing to dance at the Sheldrake hotel. During her lesson she finds a controversial love in resort entertainer Johnny Castle.

Each character has been cleverly written by Eleanor Bergstein to obtain a depth that most romance films overlook. Each one has a life, an opinion, and logic behind their actions. Dirty Dancing explores themes of family acceptance and reconciliation between different classes of society. It uses styles of dance and music as a metaphor for the different opinions of the social groups being represented. During rehearsals before the soundtrack was chosen, 1945 classics were played, composer Jimmy Lenner decided to keep these songs and had them rewriten. Patrick Swayze sang 'Shes like the Wind' especially for the film. The film made these songs popular again and caused an 'oldies' music revival.

The film uses montage to show Baby’s progress in learning to dance as well as her change in personality, shown through her costumes and makeup. The sexuality of the staff members is shown through dance however is emphasized through close ups and soft lighting in scenes such as the dancing in the staff quarters and in Johnny’s bedroom. Overall though most shots seem quite basic which may be an influence from 80s film making.

Although set in the 60s, costumes have a definite 80s vibe to them, with Baby’s oversized cardigans and the costumes of the staff dancers. This is so for many 80s films however, for example Grease was filmed in 1979 and is set in the 60s giving 80s elements in the costumes. I find the mix of styles very appealing.

Dirty Dancing ends maybe too neatly and overly romantic, however I believe this was the cause of its success. It is a passionate story that entices every woman’s desires.

Funny Girl

'Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally'- David Frost

Funny Girl (William Wyler-1968) is a semi biography based on the life of Broadway and film star Fanny Brice and her marriage to gambler Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif). The film was a great success and brought Barbra Streisand to stardom after winning an Accadomy Award for Best Actress.

Originally a stage production, Funny Girl shows Fanny Brice’s rise to stardom, from being turned down at every theatre company to being one of the top theatre company’s, Ziegfeid, most recognized stars. Her success ultimately led to the failure of her marriage to Arnstein who struggles with a gambling addiction and refuses help from fanny and evidently is jailed for fraud.

Streisand and Sharif actually fell in love during the making of this film which is evident on screen, their chemistry works for the film. Other than this chemistry I do not believe Sharif was the right choice to play Nick as he is too rugged and has a mystery about him. His character is a sensitive man who the audience is supposed to sympathize with when he is jailed however his character gives off a ‘bad guy’ vibe and you get the feeling right from his first appearance on screen that something bad is up with him. Sharif actually was not the first choice to play Nick with Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson, Tony Curtis, Marlon Brando and Gregory Peck turning down the part.

The film defiantly shows off Streisand’s amazing voice, which is emphasized with panning close-ups of her face when she really is belting out in song. At the end when she sings on stage, everything around her is black and Streisand is highlighted in a spotlight, her emotion and passion is clearly portrayed in this way to the extent that the audience can see her neck muscles contracting.

In 1975 brought the sequel, Funny Lady. The film shows the life of Fanny after her divorce from Nick, she has lost her stardom and money, however with her knowledge from the past she is able to regain her status finding love in her director Billy Rose (James Caan). Keeping with tradition as most sequels do, it is more an ‘afterthought’ then another great film.

Bicycle Thief

"If you ever have any doubt about the power of movies to affect change in the world...then study the example of neo realism"- Martin Scorsese

The Bicycle Thief (1948- Vittorio De Sica) is a film from the Italian neorealism period which represented everyday life through reality and documentary aspects. After WW2 the Italian film industry could not afford actors, script wrights and grand sets, which brought neorealism where they shot on location, employing people off the streets rather then actors, used real story lines with natural dialogue and shot in documentary style.

The Bicycle Thief tells the story of a poor man who finds a job posting flyers on a bicycle which gets stolen. The film shows the man searching the streets of Rome for the stolen bicycle. This interesting and emotional plot shows everyday lower class aspects of society which was not often seen on screen. An emotion connection is developed early on in the film with the selling of the family’s sheets in order to purchase the bicycle which reinforces the heartache once it is stolen.

The realistic elements of the film support the themes of loneliness, individualism and the groups in society and allow the audience to connect to the protagonist and empathize with his emotions. It is an important film that has influenced further films in cinema history with its new approach to realism, winning many awards and was placed sixth in the greatest films ever made in the latest director’s poll in 2002.

Citizene Kane

'Cinematography is infinite in its possibilities... much more so than music or language'- Conrad Hall

Citizen Kane (1941- Orson Welles) is such an influential film in cinema history it is a must see. It has been labeled ‘The Greatest Film of All Time’ and has influenced the way film is directed even to this day. It is the ‘Birth of a Nation’ of it’s time in its innovative filming techniques and narrative structure.

Cinematographer Greg Toland uses film as an art form to communicate his view of life, he combines many various forms of filmmaking. His use of deep focus puts the background, foreground and objects in-between in sharp focus with experimenting with lenses and lighting. At times when the whole set could not be in sharp focus background and foreground was shot simultaneously then layering on top of each other.

Many low angled shots were used and for the first time in film the ceiling was visible. Due to the sets being in a studio, that have no ceilings, on occasion the ceiling had to be mimicked using fabric with the boom hidden above it.

Director Orson Welles uses expressionistic techniques such as flashbacks, montage and a non-chronological narrative in order to control the reaction of the audience. Welles also introduced to Hollywood formally German expressionistic or horror film techniques such as back and side lighting, unusual camera angles and extreme close ups.

Citizen Kane brought new special effects in make-up, by Maurice Seiderman, who believably aged the cast over the course of the story.

As Tim Dirks says it "is an acknowledged milestone in the development of cinematic technique."

Milk

"I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, a gay activist, becomes the target or the potential target for a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed with themselves." Harvey Milk

Milk is a daring film of the political and the personal issues of gay rights and partly a documentary of the San Francisco gay movement of the 1970's. It focuses on the actions of America’s first open gay activist Harvey Milk who was murdered in 1978.

The film is very pro gay and is a definite protest piece for gay rights which are still relevant today despite gays being more accepted then the past there is still a lot of angst toward them. The government still does not recognise gays with the fact of gay marriage still being illegal in Australia.

Cinematographer Harris Savides, has used real footage from the error such as news reports and also recreated some of the real footage to create a very realist work. Therefore some of the footage inhabits that grainy look form the time. The fact that it is documentary style is also a realist direction. Perhaps the director wanted to tell Milk's story exactly how it was without discussing any detail, to get the issues of gay rights out to the audience. Use of on location shooting, San Francisco, also adds to the realist style as many of the events actually happened there. Audiences get a sense of place while watching the film


Crew
Director:Gus Van Sant
Writer: Jstin Lance Black
cinematographer: Harris Savides

Cast
Sean Penn - Harvey Milk
Emile Hirsch - Cleve Jones
Josh Brolin - Dan White
Diego Luna - Jack Lira
James Franco - Scott Smith
Alison Pill - Anne Kronenberg
Victor Garber - Mayor George Moscone
Denis O'Hare - State Senator John Briggs
Joseph Cross - Dick Pabich
Stephen Spinella - Rick Stokes
Lucas Grabeel - Danny Nicoletta
Brandon Boyce - Jim Rivaldo
Howard Rosenman - David Goodstein
Kelvin Yu - Michael Wong
Jeff Koons - Art Agnos