Screening Notes - Rear Window (Hitchcock)
Movie set in one area the entire time. Starring Jimmy Stewart as a photographer-peeping-Tom following a car accident that left him with a broken leg.
Minor characters involve his girlfriend (G Kelly), maid, cop friend, and all of the people across the courtyard who he 'knows' through their window activities.
Big part of this film is the disconnect between what we (and Jeff [main character]) can hear versus what we can see. This sort of information duality is what spurs most of the action in the film.
Different from typical scary film. We go back and forth thinking a murder has and has not been committed. Questionable evidence at some points, definitely some reaching done by Jeff. Ends up being correct (oops - spoiler alert). Lack of any real tension until towards the very end made it kind of boring at some parts.
Time period actually made some of the parts that were meant to be scary and ominous instead laughable and unrealistic. Giggling was audible throughout the viewing audience.
*****************************************************************************************
Screening Notes - Movie: Atonement
Sound: Sound and Music played a very prominent role in this film. The most noticeable one for me, and the one that I feel had the largest effect on the mood/setting, was the typewriters. The director probably emphasized this since Briley is a writer, even at an early age, and much of the movie's action is driven by a misunderstood (and never to be seen, in theory) letter. The most interesting part is how the sound of keys clicking is incorporated into the music, with varying tempos depending on the mood the scene is trying to elicit.
Sound also played a big part between scene switching. This can be seen in the shots where the girl dives into the fountain, and then the guy pulls his head out of the bathtub. Transitions like this were vital since a lot of the time we were being switched back and forth between two different points of view, and being consciously aware of the fact is vital to understanding some of what is going on during the movie.
Costuming: Costuming also had a big role to play in this movie, since it was set in 1935 England. Two main purposes were served by the choices made in this regard; first, it helped to set the time and the setting (old style clothes were consistent with the period, and army uniforms for example were used to let us know that he had been shipped off to war in France), and we were also privy to where people stood in society. This can be seen through such choices as a butler/servant contrasted to the aristocratic population of the Tallis house, and when the two girls became nurses during the war (as opposed to perhaps where they should have ended up, having once attended/having dreams of attending Cambridge).
******************************************************************************************
Screening Notes - Movie: Breathless
Some film by some French guy. Made a decision to shoot it in black and white, despite color being available at the time.
Entire movie is fueled by a murder that was, by all accounts, fully unnecessary. He shot a cop to avoid getting in trouble for stealing a car? Yeah, not buying it. Also driven by his love/lust/infatuation with an American girl doing Journalism of some sorts in Paris.
I actually enjoyed this movie, but I am not sure if it is because I found it good on its own merit or if it is because I had low expectations going in due to knowing that it was a foreign, black and white film, with subtitles – the perfect storm for me not enjoying approximately 2 hours of my life. The actor who played Michel was also talented as well as amusing, something that I found pleasantly surprising. Really my only gripe is that he shot a guy for no reason. The actress was also good looking, something that I did not expect for an older film. I also enjoyed the very blatant editing wherein the conversation would flow seamlessly but you could tell time had passed by the position of the speakers or surrounding objects.
The key moment would certainly seem to be the part where the girl calls the police on him after sticking by his side the entire film. He said he had no reason to live without her, and when he realizes she has betrayed him so close to the point where they were going to run away to Rome, his heart is clearly broken. The adrenaline from this is probably what fueled his 200 yard limp-jog after getting shot. She makes him puke!
****************************************************************************
Screening notes for Hurt Locker
Follows a month and a half rotation of 3 soldiers overseas who are part of an EOD unit.
Handheld cameras make for a more realistic viewing experience - most war footage we are exposed to these days (since Vietnam basically) are shot in this style. Also adds to realism by alluding to and explicitly referencing youtube. Camcorder during the bodybomb scene in front of a foreign flag contributes to the setting.
Arguments made both for war and antiwar motivations of director Kathryn Bigelow. Truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, as both sides of the coin appear to be impartially portrayed.
One soldier loves war and is a prime example of the "war is a drug" quote that the movie opens with, while another hates it and can not wait to go home for good. Another still wants to simply make peace with his life, start a family.
Slight commentary on death and acceptance between the two sequences where Thompson and James are sent in to defuse a bomb. While we do not know much about Thompson, we see him simply running away from the blast area as his fellow soldiers try to get him out safely, and when the bomb explodes his back is to it and he dies. In stark contrast, James develops a reputation as somewhat of a swashbuckler and constantly puts himself in questionable positions. When he is running away from the bomb, he turns around at the last second to face it before it explodes and somehow manages to live through it. The parallel between these two is also made by the fact that Thompson looks to the sky before he gets to the bomb (because he is not ready to go to whatever version of Heaven he believes in? who knows) but James looks to the sky after surviving the blast (perhaps because a part of him wishes he did not make it through the explosion) and these 2 moments both are given to us through the viewpoint of each soldier himself.
*****************************************************************************************
Screening notes for Capturing the Friedmans
Very disturbing subject to do an entire documentary on. Not uncommon to feel tense during most of the film's duration.
Present day footage mixed with old home movies was a great way to contrast different viewpoints. Many times a character would say something, and we would see that years prior on a home video he said something else. This was a wondrous effect for the director's aim of ambiguity and impartiality (which turns out to not be his true viewpoint).
(Spoiler alert) The camera work that is done leading to the big reveal at the end of the movie was in poor taste. It is one thing to introduce one piece of evidence after another, which is what was done for a while, but a completely other to deliberately hide Howard's life partner who is sitting next to him in the interview room until the end where the shot is wide enough to see him. This almost makes a rewatching of the movie a necessity as you are forced to consider everything in a new light; not just because you learn that Howard who denies being raped by Arnold as a child is gay but also because the judgment of the director is severely called into question.
The mother is the only character who comes out of the movie and can be seen positively. Jessie is shown to be a liar, Arnold admits to several things (though none of what he is charged with) while flat out lying at other times, and David is in complete denial which is evidenced clearly during the home videos. He comes off as looking like even if his father admitted to any and everything, it would still not be true in his mind. The children who attended the classes are split on whether or not such heinous acts took place, and those who claim they did seem confused as to the actual details.
While interesting points are raised by both sides of the story, the only conclusion that I am able to come up with is that Arnold and Jessie are both guilty as hell. Of what? Not sure, but if a guilty guy is in jail then I don't really care if he was charged with EXACTLY what happened, so long as he repays his debt to society appropriately.
*********************************************************************************************
Screening notes for A Single Man
Lots of focusing on people's eyes, very strange thing to be focused on.
Not sure exactly what the point was, and it was never directly mentioned by any character.
Parallels drawn between the older professor and the younger student - both felt misunderstood, both slept with a girl previously and did not have any desire to do so again.
Despite what your movie review class Professor might tell you, the ending was brilliant. Guy spends the entire film plotting his own suicide before having a beautiful moment of clarity and deciding against it, only to have a heart attack (which we are shown he is prone to by camera focuses on his apirin regimen)!? Nice to see something that finally mimics the absurdity of real life.
Obviously some intentional moments meant to cause the audience some discomfort. Lots of sexual tension scenes, as well as focusing on the male body which is not usually done, causing even further discomfort after the fact that it is a movie about homosexuality. Some room left open for debate as to whether or not that is the reason that the movie did not receive any outright critical reviews.. allegedly.
**********************************************************************************************
Screening notes for Gosford Park
Film is set in 1930s. Very stereotypical set up with regards to everyone going out to a large mansion out in the country for a shooting party which devolves into a comical case of whodunit. Not due to a slew of witty one liners, but more in the sense of a comedy of errors, where the humor comes from a misunderstanding that we, as an audience, see coming moments before the characters realize anything.
A nice moment to look at is when one of the guests is playing the piano while the others play Bridge, and leading up to the murder. The way that the camera switched back and forth between the aristocrats and the valets was essential to drawing out the effect of the piano to really show just how clear the line is between the two groups of people. When we are with the aristocrats the music and singing is loud and clear, and when we are looking at shots of the house workers it is distant and not as emphatic. The shots of the house workers also help because they are all over different places of the house, yet can still hear the music, which shows us just how big the place really is as we listen to the echoes.
Unlike a lot of movies that take this format, the ‘reveal’ was pretty brilliant. In a story that has one secret after another trying to be kept under wraps, it would be easy for a director to botch the only one that matters, but Clive Owen being found out for who he really is (and furthermore, how he actually relates to several of the people in the house) was well worth the VERY slow pacing of the 2nd half of the movie.
************************************************************************************************
Screening notes for Shark in the Head
Interesting foreign film depicting a man with schizophrenia
Almost entire movie takes place right outside main character's window.. world passing him by?
Ties into recurring themes of day and night (clear headed and crazy), this can also be seen with the window blinds. 2 windows and one pull down blinds thing. Correlation between how many we see him opening/shutting and his current mental state.
Also interesting is his interpretation of what he sees on the television. Led to believe that he is actually watching real tv shows when it appears to him that they are cartoons and only giving a few choice words - propaganda charged ones at that.
All in all, this is a movie I would only recommend if someone asked me how they could confuse themselves in the most boring way possible for 75 minutes. It struck no emotional chords at all with me, as even the hollywood chick flicks do, and told almost no story at all. If the point of the film was to make a tongue in cheek critique of how unrealistic many of the best movies are - stuff of the Tarantino, Coen Bros, Tim Burton variety - then I think it was a massive success, because many people live their lives in just as boring of a manner as the protagonist from Shark in the Head.
However, if the film was attempting to be a good movie for the sake of its content, as we are led to believe due to the German Expressionism influences it supposedly has, then all I can really say is that I think it failed massively.
*******************************************************************************************
This is a quick rundown of the Hermeneutic Code Enigma for the 1960, Alfred Hitchcock movie Psycho
Question: Will Marion/Sam and the 40,000 dollars live happily ever after?
Formulation: She steals the money, lots of internal dialogue going on that we are privy to revealing her mindset.
Promise of an answer
She steals the money
Having the 40,000 will allow her to leave her job and runaway with Sam
Fraud
She drives all the way up until she is 15 miles away from where Sam lives
The cop who was following her seemingly stops
Blocking
The "mother" murdering her prevents her from leaving in the morning
Partial Answer
We see her murdered, but the money is put in the car that gets dumped in the lake
Sam resolves to figure out what happened
Sam seems a little TOO friendly with Marion's sister
Suspended Answer
Sam mentions money a few times to Norman... Will he realize what he has done and go back for it, blowing his cover!?
Sam is knocked out.. is he gonna get the Mama Bates treatment?
Disclosure
Sam subdues Norman Bates and makes it out alive but alone - though you wouldn't be able to tell based on his demeanor
The car, containing the 40,000 dollars, is shown being dragged up from the lake as we end the movie
**********************************************************************************
Screening Notes: FMJ
Full Metal Jacket is not the typical movie, and almost by definition it has adopted a non-typical way to present itself to conform with this. A conventional narrative strategy is one that – among other things - is clear about the time, space, events, and character motivations, invites viewer identification, and has closure. At the end of watching a movie, an audience member should be able to fully explain things of this nature.
Full Metal Jacket leaves a lot of room for interpretation about the motivation of some characters, such as Leonard. We have absolutely no idea why someone like him would join the military based on what we can figure out about him as a person from his actions. Furthermore, after turning into a killing machine, we are left wondering why he decided to shoot his C.O. instead of going to war – he could have done that before. While some of the movie invites viewer identification, this is simply a character that the audience can by and large not relate to. Finally, we are left without closer; all that is given is a shot of soldiers walking along singing the theme song to the Mickey Mouse Club. Did they win the battle? Get recalled home? We have absolutely no idea.
