Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow...

A Simple Plan starts out with an enormous amount of symbolism, between the snow and the crows.  The snow obviously indicates the isolation and joylessness throughout the movie, and the birds are constant reminders that something bad is going to come any minute now.  They are constantly reminding us that death and bad luck are coming for our main characters.
Now, I don't know about you, but I'm confused as to why every person in the film(and our class) acts as if it would be the obvious decision to leave or question the money.  Maybe I'm a bit rash, but I would take that money if I found it.  It's funny how people would act different when they are actually in a situation, rather than just discussing it.  This is exemplified by Sarah's behavior, flipping from the innocent housewive to the greed-crazed criminal mastermind!!  The greatest shot in the movie for me thus far is the smirk that appears over her face once she lays her eyes on the mound of cash on her diningroom table.  It sums up the cunning that will soon surface in her and other characters.

The Real DaVinci Code/Lying Hussies/A Single Man

Before discussing Memento, I just want to make one final comment on Dark City that no one brought up.  I found the shot of John tied to the round table very intriguing in its likeness to DaVinci's Vitruvian Man.  The director definitely did this on purpose, and it represented the exploration into humanity that the Strangers were attempting.  


Now, for Memento...
The greatest aspect of this film is the mixed up sequence of scenes.  It causes us to feel the film in the first person perspective of Leonard and his condition.  Like Dark City, I realized that the theme of Femme Fatale is an important one.  The only woman present in the film is Natalie(who we immediately are given a suspicious feeling about), and she is further revealed to be the main character who manipulates and uses him.  Leonard's wife is the other woman who is mentioned contuinuely in the film, and she seems to be the reason for his condition and all the trouble is going through.  So, you can see why these women(as well as the prostitute shown briefly) are leading to his destruction.


Nolan may also be sending the message that you can't trust anyone in the world, even yourself. Obviously Leonard can't trust or believe any of the other character's in the film, but we begin to question if he should even trust himself.  His notes and tattoos could be deceitful, or he could even be schizophrenic.  Nolan really does a fantastic job at hinting at the larger truth without allowing us the luxury of seeing it.  This keeps your interest and forces you to wonder what will happen next(or, what has happened already).




On another note, I'd like to tell you about one of my favorite movies.  It's "A Single Man," directed by Tom Ford(2009).  The movie's based off of a Christopher Isherwood novel from the early 1960s, and it truly does it justice.  It's set in 1960s Los Angeles, and is about an English college Professor who has recently lost his partner of 19 years and is planning on committing suicide at the end of the day that the film begins with.  I don't want to give too much plot away, but the film has an amazing story and is shot very carefully.  The entire movie is in a dull, almost gray tone; but whenever our main character, George, encounters a person or experience that shows his some of the beauty and meaning in life, vibrant color spreads across the screen and the entire tone changes.  In addition to that, every single shot in the film could be stopped and used as a photograph, like you mentioned about the amazing cinematography in The Seventh Seal.  It's a very thought-provoking film that deals with the ideas of growing older, allowing people into your life, and finding new meaning in life .  If you can, you should watch A Single Man as soon as possible! *I know that it's currently available On Demand with Fios and Time Warner.

Noir Ville

Dark City is probably the most entertaining film we've watched in class so far.  The way the director has used Film Noir techniques to show a sci-fi plot is very interesting.  The best example of this is that the entire movie is very dark, yet that aspect is actually expained as being due to the aliens.
The most obvious theme in this film is We Have No Control Over Our Lives.
There's not a single character in the film who is able to control their fate in the direction they would like.  Murdoch can't remember who is hem, get to Shell Beach, or control the abilities he has, so he's constantly searching for the answers he wants.  His 'wife' is trying to get him back and figure out if he's a killer.  The Doctor is being manipulated by the aliens to do their work on the humans.  And, even the aliens themselves are trying to gain control of their lives through the humans.  The whole purpose of this "city" in the movie is for the aliens to find an answer to prevent the extinction of their species.
This theme is portrayed several times through the symbolism of the maze.  Dr. Schreber is first shown toying with mice in a lab maze, and this image is mirrored later with the wide shot of the entire city's labyrinth design.  Of course, this leads us to the idea that all the characters lives are being controlled by something larger.
Mr. Bennett mentioned in class when we started watching Asphalt Jungle, that all film noir films deal with characters who have siutations much bigger than themselves.  So, it's appropriate that the theme of a modern Film Noir-influenced film like Dark City should be the lack of Control Over our Fates.

The Asphalt Jungle

Although I didn't know the name of the genre before Monday, I always thought that Film Noir was very cool and interesting.  Like westerns, without seeing a film noir movie ever, I still know what it should be like: black and white, dramatic, in a city, with gangsters and "tricks."  The Asphalt Jungle is very captivating from the beginning, and there isn't even much plot until you get further into the film.  It's the characters that make the movie so great, with there vices and flaws in abundance.
Emmerich reminds me of Kane in many ways, especially his relationship to his wife.  Like in Citizen Kane, Emmerich has this large house with servants, but his wife is sitting there bored and neglected.  In that way, I think Emmerich may be the anitthesis of Louis.  Louis is a total family man and can't help but brag about his baby and wife.  However, Emmerich is trying his hardest to ignore and cheat on his wife, seeing her as little as posisble.

Unforgiven

There was only one thing that I noticed in this film that wasn't said in class.  There were many similarities between it and All Quiet on the Western Front.  The first scene I realized that in was when Will shot Davie(I think that was his name), and he layed there dying and crying out for water.  They all watched as he slowly died and Will demanded his friends bring him water.  Also, when Schofield Kid kills the guy in the outhouse, his guilty response and hesitation in murder reflected that of the young soldiers in World War I.  These similarities show that both films contain the theme that murder is a horrible event.  Whether it's in a war, or done by a cowboy-hitman, no man can bare to take the life of another.  Here you have some of the "meanest, rootin, tootin, sons of bitches," yet they can't even kill a man without reveal their human emotion.  Only in the final scene do you see Will kill without feeling, but that is "justified" by his revenge for Ned.

Unforgiven

So far, Unforgiven has proven to be the most exciting film we've watched in the class!  The cowboys, guns, and prostitutes remind me of the Old West I know from my childhood(okay, maybe not the prostitutes).  However, the prostitutes are very important to this film, and in the opening scene we are introduced to the underlying misogyny with them.  There's something very parallel about the men's opinion of animals and woman in the film.  For example, once Little Bill realizes that Skinny only thinks of the women as property he no longer wants to whip the men, but he just wants a payment of horses.  "Property, for property" is what he calls it I think.  After that scene when all the women are in the bedroom, Alice says that "they're whores not horses".  She made that same distinction to Little Bill right before that when he explains that the men who cut up Delilah weren't "bad men," and she said something like "no, they're not wicked like us whores?"  All of these aspects of the film point out that women, especially the whores, are constantly objectified by men.  
Once we are introduced to Bill Munny he repeatedly talks about how his wife had reformed him from the evil ways of his "old life."  When Bill tries to mount the white horse for the first time and keeps falling he says that he used to mistreat animals often and that's why this horse and hogs treat him badly(he kept falling in the mud, chasing after the hogs).  The animals and women are both disrespected by these "wicked" men of the West like Bill, until he was changed by his wife(obviously a woman herself).  
Schofield Kid  is like a younger version of Bill, or at least a wanna-be.  We know that Kid is a liar immediately, since he exaggerates how Delilah was cut up and refers to her as "a lady."  It's also implied that he gave himself the nickname "Schofield Kid" and that he hasn't killed many people at all.  However, he's able to get Bill back into his old ways for the sake of earning money.

Closing up the Seventh Seal

Since I never made my final thoughts on The Seventh Seal I'll do so now.  
The film's events are further reflected by the chess game when Block begins to be successful for the first time after the milk and strawberries scene.  That scene was the first time that Block forgets about his struggle with Death and just enjoys life, so it seems that this is the only time anyone can truly "get ahead of Death"(even though it can only ever be temporary).
Also, in the final scene we see the silhouette of the 6 characters who died, being lead up a hill.
The lighting in the scene seems to suggest that the characters are about to embrace some new light or revelation by following death.  This amazing shot fully embodies the mysterious distance that the process of dying holds for us.

The Seventh Seal

Already having an affinity for all things Swedish, I of course love this movie so far.  The balance of dark comedy and seriousness is done very tastefully, and proves that comedy can portray deeper meanings.  
I also think the fact that Death isn't this entirely horrifying character(although he is one super ugly dude), tells us that Bergman thinks death isn't a completely scary thing and we should be able to laugh at it sometimes.  Nonetheless, he's still Demonic and we know that'd we stay away from him if we saw him walking down the street. 
In the first beach scene we see our protagonist[?] "baptize" himself and then drop to his knees, praying.  I think the fact that after doing this he walks right up to death and challenges him to a game is symbolic for the thinking of religious folk.  He thinks that because he has God on his side, he will be able to escape death or "make a deal with him" as he tries to do.  But, we see that death ignores his attempts at negotiations and just goes on playing the game.  Also, the scene in the Church reveals that the protagonist will not be able to cheat death for long, and death will always be listening in, one step ahead.


As for those merry gypsy people, Mary and Joseph immediately reminded me of...well, Mary and Joseph(of the Bible).  However, Joseph seems very intent on finding meaning in life and seeing symbols, whether they are present or not.  Mary, on the other hand, is more skeptical and seems to be the rational one.  That other big dude they live with might be the existentialist of this film, but I'm not sure yet(I think I remember him having one line that hinted at that, but I can't remember it).


Overall, this promises to be a very interesting film, artistically and thematically!

Runaway Train

Although Runaway Train has a ton of messages throughout the film, one of the greatest one's I noticed was that we live in an "every man for himself" world.  This is obviously one of the key existential beliefs, that we are all alone throughout life and we will die alone.  That idea is exemplified the most in the scene where Buck is trying to climb onto the top of the train.  We see this wide shot of him, a small man, on this huge, fast train(that could symbolize life?) and he's holding on for all he's worth, yet he keeps slipping.  As much as he keeps loosing his grip on the train, nobody else is there to help him but himself.  The isolation here is portrayed so well, since he is out in the cold, and then on top of that Manny won't let him in without a fight when he wants to give up and go back inside.  

Another place where this existential idea of isolation is shown is in Manny's line that was something like: "One must count on one's self, nobody else...There's no miracles in life!" 

That line is possibly one of the most important to the film because it sums up not only the point that we are all lonely, self-dependent creatures, but other existential ideas also.  It has the idea of no higher power or meaning to life, and the acceptance of a somewhat hopeless reality. 

Michael Jackson Syndrom

One of the most prevelant themes in the film Citizen Kane is the loss of innocence.  You can see this most clearly at the end of the film when the mystery behind "rosebud" is revealed.  Here you have this powerful, important man who was surrounded by influencial and famous people, as well as a huge fortune, but all he cared about in the end was his sled called Rosebud.  This speaks volumes about what he needed the most in life, and that was his childhood and true home which was taken away from him at a very young age.   Kane's personality seems similar to that of some child stars in our society today.  I think the mystery behind rosebud also came from another message the director wanted to send, in saying that it's the smaller sentimental things in life that really give it meaning.

Kane Caged

In the scene after Kane's second wife leaves him, we see him very dramatically and violently trashing their room.  He trips around like an animal who is in a cage much too small and is throwing a tamtrum.  This situation is emphasized by the director's use of low camera angles that make Kane into a menacing giant with a low ceiling above.  After he destroys everything in the room, the effect of a "caged beast" is added to by that fact that he is being view by an audience of the servants from the palace.  It's almost as if he is an attraction in a zoo or circus that is being gawked over.

Germans, Shmermans!

I don't think the fact the soldiers are Germans, being watched by an American audience, matters much to the film.  The director did an excellent job at focussing more on the humanity of the characters rather than their national allegience while fighting America.  However, I still feel that if the war was WWI rather than WWII, Americans would have a difficult time sympathizing with German soldiers(reguardless of how much they aren't "Nazi-like"). 

Existentialism: Who Cares?

 Milestone's use of existentialism in All is Quiet on the Western Front is great because he lays it out to us so frankly, and this in turn adds to the message of war's shocking reality.  He tears you out of any protected world or ideas you had and kills any hope you may have held on to.
 I feel like these existential ideals were necessary, however, in portraying the merciless brutality of war.  After all, if people have the idea that God will be able to help them no matter what, war won't seem so scary.  For that reason, I appreciate what he did in the film, regardless of if I agree with it.