Elegy

David Kepesh: 'I think it was Betty Davis who said old age is not for sissies. But it was Tolstoy who said the biggest surprise in a man's life is old age. Old age sneaks up on you, and the next thing you know you're asking yourself, I'm asking myself, why can't an old man act his real age? How is it possible for me to still be involved in the carnal aspects of the human comedy? Because, in my head, nothing has changed'

Elegy, directed by Isabel Coixet (2009) follows character David Kepesh (Kingsley) in his struggle to commit to love untill it is too late. He begins a love affair with his student Consuela Castillo yet he is too afraid to commit to her and refusing to visit her family is the last straw for Consuela. However their love lingures on trough the next couple of years and it is David that Consuela goes to for help after the discovery of her breast cancer.


There are a few strange moments in the film that I can not enplane such as when Davids best friends is dying (Dennis Hopper) and gives him a big kiss. Perhaps this is due to David being the most important person in his life the one person who knows all his secrets.

I know that the film is a 'mournful poem' as the title suggests however I felt that it was too drawn out and had many unexplained moments. I found myself getting tired of seeing Kingsley's face as he was on screen for the majority of the film. Though his performance was exceptional I started to pick out the acting in his voice due to being on screen for so long, which frustrated me. Acting by David's son Kenny (Peter Sarsgaard) was terrible and took away from what could have been a nice side plot of relationships between father and son.


One scene that I though was quite beautiful was when the couple are walking along the beech during a winters day. I think this scene really explains what love is. The film brings up many issues and one in particular is the controversial love between people of different ages and nationalities. As this scene shows, though a cold winters day they can still see the beauty in the beach. It should not matter how old you are or where your from if your in love thats fantastic.

However I could not sympathize with David as he was set up to be too much of a dirty old man, having seduced his students in the past, accepting his friends affair and also continuing his own affair (Patricia Clarkson).


One MAJOR COSTUME FLAW in the film was the use of thin lined tailored jackets. The major NO NO in costuming is not to use thin stripes as they static on camera. It was highly noticeable in a fair amount of scenes, though the style of jacket was appropriate. Cotuming was quite minimal and literal which was ok as it did not take away from the characters did not add any unnecessary symbolism.

Cast:
Penelope Cruz
Ben Kingsley
Dennis Hopper
Patricia Clarkson
Peter Sarsgaard

Three Kings

Troy Barlow: 'Hey, I don't know if I can do this. I got a family. If I'm gonna shit in a bag for the rest of my life because I got shot after the war was over, that would pretty fucking stupid wouldn't it, Major?


Three Kings (David Rssell, 1999), is a comedy war film with a hint of western genre, set in the aftermath of the Gulf War. It is a film where the audience want the 'baddies' to succeed, it is strange that no matter how much we personally would never steal or conduct acts of violence, yet we find entertainment in watching it and back up the bad guys.


As with Bonnie and Clyde who basically were two people doing the wrong thing and are glorified for their actions. Maybe it is a good thing as although we sympathize with their characters we are not so disheartened when they eventually are killed and their is a lesson to be learned, that you will be punished for your wrong doings.

Clooney, Wahlberg and Cube steal a map to lead them to the treasure and find themselves caught up in the war.

Though a comedy there is an underlying message against war. Russel heightens the reality in the film with use of slow motion as bullets enter actors as with Bonnie and Clyde which was the first film to show such violence so graphically after the censorship rules were loosened. Lets just say that violence in film has come along way to those earlier works, with directors having a lot more leniency with violence such as rape and murder being shown in almost too much detail, audiences today have become desensitized to the brutality of violence. I believe cinema has had a major influence on the violence of the world.

CAST:
George Clooney
Mark Wahlberg
Ice Cube
Spike Jonze
Nora Dunn
Jamie Kennedy
Mykelti Williamson
Cliff Curtis
Said Taghmaoui
Judy Greer
Liz Stauber
Holt McCallany

Director: David O. Russell

State Of Play

”When people read this story, they should have newsprint on their hands,”- McAdams’ (State of Play)

State of Play, directed by Kevin Macdonald begins with a fast paced action filled killing spree one after the other however it fails to excite the audience as much for the remainder of the film.

Honestly this is not my kind of film however Russel Crows who plays journalist Cal McAffrey, gives an impeccable performance allowing for the plot to be forgiven. He is a very believable character, though i wish i could say the same for Ben Affleck who plays Rep. Stephen Collins.



The characters seem a little stereotypical to me, yes they need to be recognizable, though I am still yet to see a film that stretches the stereotypes I think it could be really interesting for further depth put into the costuming of characters in film making today.


CAST:
Russell Crowe Cal McAffrey
Harry J. Lennix Donald Bell
Robin Wright Anne Collins
Rachel McAdams Della Frye
Jeff Daniels
Jason Bateman Dominic Foy
Helen Mirren Cameron Lynne
Ben Affleck Stephen Collins
Taylor Wane DOMINATRIX
Wendy Makkena Greer Thornton
Katy Mixon Ronda Silver
Robert Benedict Milt
Maria Thayer Sonia Baker
Robin Wright


CREW
Tim Bevan
Producer
Kevin MacDonald
Director
Peter Morgan
Writer
Paul Abbott
Executive Producer
Eric Fellner
Producer

Rain

'You are your child's keeper
until she's mature enough to keep herself' ~ Laura Ramirez


Rain, by Cristine Jeffs, is a coming of age film that deals with issues of family breakdowns and sexual awakening. Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki plays Janey, her performance is what makes the film remotely good, during the scene of the death of her brother the desperation in her voice and body language is incredible, the audience knows what she is thinking just in her facial expressions.


Another brilliant and impressive actor is one who plays Jim, Aaron Murphy, he is so young yet his performance is remarkable. The two youngest in the film deffinatly out show the older actors and actresses. Even though the long pauses between conversation is probably a director trying to be arty, it makes it seem as though the actors have forgotten their lines and I lost interest in the dialogue.


There are a number of interesting shots in the film however they dont seem to merge or match together very well. They almost seem to be there for the sake of having some inbteresting shots and show off some artistic style. The shot of mother Kate (Sarah Peirse) walking through the shallow waters to the shore from the boat has a really interesing angle and great view, however it seems as though she is walking along the water for such a long time and for what reason?? They even used this image on the front cover of the DVD... they must have just really liked it theres no otheer reason for it to go on for so long. The next scene just doesn't go on from that, like when she is washing lemons in the sink, it becomes a slow motion moment of her hands brushing over the lemons??

The characters were not set up very well for example i dont think we got a grasp as to the kind of person Ed was and then all of a sudden he was kissing Janey after having slept with her mother, it just doesnt seem realistic. I think most of the attention was spent on the two youngest Janey and Jim as their characters and acting is actually quite good however if only they cared to focus a bit more attention on the otheer characters and less attention on the way the story was shot it might have worked.

Natural Born Killers

Mickey: "The media is like the weather, only it's man-made weather"

Natural Born Killers by Oliver stone, is a twisted love story in a horror film genre. It is shot using many animations and images to show the devil of the two lovers as they go on a killing rampage. It shows horrific murderous scenes in a humorous way, almost taking the mickey out of social problems and scenarios, such as domestic violence and rape, as in the scene at Mallery's house with her fathers violence and inappropriate sexual advances on his daughter. These very heavy issues are shown as a comical studio shot TV series with candid laughter at very inappropriate moments. We have all experienced the annoyance of candid laughter that always seems to occur during moments that we do not find remotely entertaining.

The story seems to have been inspired by the Arthur Penn film 'Bonnie and Clyde', which follows two lovers on a saga of killing and steeling and ultimately leads to their death.

The images splashed on the screen at random such as in the car window enforce the unstable minds of the two murderers, drawing the audience into the psychotic mind set of a murderer and drug addicts. It is at times quite silly and becomes more unbelievable as the story goes on or as Mickey and Mallery become more brainwashed in their addiction to killing. The prisoners escaping prison with a whole TV crew and the fact that the TV crew members become murderers themselves is a little unrealistic, however this works for the film giving the message that the media are the devils and influences our minds and are essentially killing us. Stone comments on the stupidity of the human race and society.

As reviewer John J. Puccio says
"He utilizes overkill to criticize overkill. Then he has the gall to suggest that love can overcome everything". (published Jun 11, 2008, http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/natural-born-killers/6001).

Stone was not concerned with capturing the reality of the life of a murderer rather the psychology behind their intentions and reasonings. The film encompasses quite an extensive and famous cast which does justice to it such as Woody Harrelson who plays Mickey Knox who actually does come from a violent background, with his father having been in jail etc, he is likable in a disturbing way. Juliette Lewis plays Mallery Knox, their chemistry on screen is believable. Even though their love moments happen during shooting riots and scenes of death the audience can identify with the love and their devotion to each other, we want them to escape and be together.


Stone asks us to enjoy the violence and draw out our own psychotic minds. Stone captures the crazyness with use of a crazy mixture of techniques such as coloured filters; out-of-focus lenses; MTV editing; grainy, handheld, home-movie sequences; camera shots from every angle; mixed black-and-white and colour photography; animated cartoons; fast and slow motion; multiple flashbacks; laugh tracks; voice-overs and film-overs to name a few... It is a mix of every film technique and has elements of other films in cinema history such as film noir.

Bonnie and Clyde

'This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks'

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1966) is one of the first films of the French New Wave which became known as the New Hollywood era of the 60s and 70s. It incorporates genres of gangster, comedy, love, sex and violence. Censorship was loosened during this era allowing for more graphic details of sex and violence on screen.




Bonnie and Clyde broke many conventions and started the trend of filmmakers being more open with sex and violence. The film was released in 1966 however it was critically shamed and re-released in 1968, and led to the winning of many academy awards.

The film is based in the true story of Bonnie and Clyde who were two bank robbers of the united States during the Great Depression. The graphic detail of the violent scenes with blood and gun shots is counteracted with scenes of humor and laughter so as to not fully horrify the audience. The realism of the riot scenes is further portrayed with use of on location sets. This also allows us to engage with the characters as they are real people who have got themselves into a situation they can not get out of and we feel upset when they eventually are killed. When they are finally shot their last moment of looking at each other makes the audience feel sorry for the characters who really did want the saga to end, we want them to escape. the use of slow motion here dramatizes the event.

I really enjoyed the costuming in the film. Although set in the 1920's you can see the 1960's feel coming through in the costuming which is really visually pleasing. Attention to detail is not really an issue if you want to be pedantic ie the clothing always looks brand new and are never broken down to seem old and worn (Bucks overalls as he works in a gas station need to be more dirty). Continuity of Bonnie's hair is pretty bad, however they are shot in quite windy and high movement scenes it would be hard to keep her hair the same.

Bonnie and Clyde is full of action and violence that is balanced nicely with romance and comedy. It is a fun yet serious film that has influenced other films of the New Hollywood era and into contemporary film such as Oliver Stones 'Natural born Killers'.

Persona

'Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls'- Ingmar Berman

Swedish man, Ingmar Berman is one of the most known non-Hollywood directors. As Bergman says of his film Persona (1966) it is a 'poem in images' which makes for quite a confusing film that could be interpreted many ways and sits between reality and dreams. Though confusing it does not need to be understood to be appreciated.

The opening sequence of random and disturbing images explanes this idea of visual poetry and dreams, however the shots of film reels tell the audience they are about to watch a film. Two women are isolated from the world in order to free seemingly mute patient Elisabet and leads to the deconstruction of nurse Alma. Alma's persona is revealed and two women get caught up and lost within each other.


The film comments on how destructive the human will can be and what is reality?. Berman uses the camera to tell the story, with extreme, tight close-ups and minimal camera movement so the audience can fully study the characters faces and look deep into their persona.

Breathless

“Photography is truth. And cinema is truth twenty-four times a second” -Jean-Luc Godard


Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard (1960) is a film that helped launch the French New Wave of cinema history. The New Wave aimed to break European conventions howver it lacked artistic techniques. The techniques used in the Wave were location shooting, improvised dialogue, and a loose narrative form.


Breathless gained publicity due to its new editing style typical of the French New wave that broke many conventions with use of these techniques as well as jump-cuts. Jean-Luc Godard deliberately mismatches scenes and cuts he also makes many references to the cinema, art, and music of history.

Double Identity

“If film noir males are destroyed or nearly destroyed by fate, the noir woman is fate's emissary, a siren leading the man to ruination”- Jack Nachbar quotes

Double Indemnity (1944-Billy Wilder) is an example of a classic film noir film. A crime story of greed, murder, violence, betrayal and suspicion told with a voice over, complete with femme fatale which keeps the audience intrigued.


Influenced by expressionism, film noir films have a dark gloomy feel due to the dark visuals and atmosphere created during filming and the techniques used. In this film Film Noir techniques are expertly used such as black and white photography, night settings, low-key lighting, high contrasts, close-ups, and extreme camera angles. Today many of these techniques may seem cliche to many viewers as they have been used time and time again, however Film Noir was reasonably new at the time and an exciting style for film making. The techniques have influenced so many films and have been adapted throughout cinema history.


"A world of obsession, alienation, corruption, deceit, blurred identity, paranoia, dementia, weak men, cold- blooded femme fatales, and inevitably murder. Its style consisted of looming close ups, oblique camera angles, and crowded compositions that produced a sense of entrapment. The film's narratives were rarely straightforward; they contained frequent flashbacks and voice-overs." "Characterized by sexual insecurity, aberrant psychology, and nightmarish camera work, film noir depicted a world of threatening shadows and ambiguities." (Digital History)

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

'To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower: Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour'- William Blake


What a shocking film. I will admit I am quite the baby when it comes to sad stories, I cry my eyes out normally in film, though this film was so horrific I was left in shock and did not even shed one tear. I had not heard anything about the film before viewing it, so I did not know what to expect. I felt helpless watching the ending, you knew that they were all going to die yet you could not do anything. The shocking thing is that it is so close to reality. I feel so angry at the world and the inhumanity of people. The fact that there was no closure after the Jews are killed gives the film its reality, this really happened Jews were killed in numbers, and they really were thought to be evil.

The two child actors were amazing; I always wonder how they get children to play such emotional parts. The innocence of the boys makes the film even more horrific. You can really identify and understand with Bruno when he does not admit that he gave Schmalz the food.



It is a massively juxtaposed film right from the word go. The scene of Bruno running around the streets of Berlin like aeroplanes with his friends while people are being pushed onto carts, and the difference in living arrangements between the Jews and soldiers.

How could people actually live like kings when there were others out there living between dead bodies. People are still at war killing others without any moral. The film shows a huge difference in the two sides, such as the beautiful gardens surrounding the house and the dead, empty camp as well as the high fashions of the soldiers family compared to the ‘pyjamas’ of the Jews.


I believe the film was put together perfectly; the audience are able to connect with the relationship between the two boys and there innocence. At a point where you did not know where it was going to go, Bruno decides to enter the camp. It is at this point where I felt I needed to protect them and warn them. The following events happen so fast and you know what is going to happen.


I am glad to have seen this film as it has given me a different perspective on war.

The Reader

“Forbidden pleasures alone are loved immoderately; when lawful, they do not excite desire”- Marcus Fabius


The reader is a story about Michael Berg who has a love affair over a summer at the age of 15 with Hanna Schmitz who is twice his age. Michael is devastated when Hanna disappears one day without warning, however some years later when he is studying at law school he stumbles across her during her trial for murder. As said in the review at http://www.screenwize.com/archives/383 The Reader ‘is an intriguing journey – love story without love, war story without war’.

It asks the question how far would you go to protect a secret? As Hanna does not want to admit that she is illiterate even at the cost of her life and justice.

It is quite an arty film with a very interesting opening scene of Michael as an older man making breakfast for the women he has just seduced. The camera spans across the kitchen bench and focuses on the cup and saucer yet you can see the teapot in the background as he puts it down.

The locations show a beautiful side the Germany during a time of ugly NAZI war. There actor’s faces are lit in quite a dull manner maybe as a way to reflect the ugliness of war events going on at the time.


The film almost rationalises many socially unaccepted issues such as love between an adult and a minor and also the murdering of the Jews during wartime as Hanna asks the judge during her trial ‘Well what would you have done?’ to which there is no answer. The film portrays Hanna not as a murderous monster yet as a social outcast who is misunderstood.


Although The Reader is a sombre film it has an element of humour and is more realistic then it would have been if Hanna did not kill herself and if she and Michael had rekindled their love.