Screening Notes: Children of Men

Having seen this movie before, I knew that plot line and I was able to look for subtleties in the story and on camera.

The moment I choose to describe is when Theo and Kee were in the building when it was being shelled. Theo ran into the building to search for Kee and her baby. There is constant shelling and firing between the military and the resistance. Finally, Theo finds Kee in a room and does his best to protect her. They run into Luke, however, and exchange a few reflective words, and then they try to escape. In the process Theo is shot, but one cannot tell too much because it isn't the focus of the shot. They proceed down the hallway after Luke is killed, and all the people in the building become still and reach out to touch Kee and/or the baby. Then Theo and Kee descend the stairs and run into a series of military men. All of them, once they see the baby, stop in awe and everything is still and silent. Once Theo and Kee are outside of the building and passed all of the troops, the fighting begins again. For a short moment, the violence ceased because life had begun.

Screening Notes: Hugo

This movie is visually very stunning and easily captivates its audience. At the onset of the film, I was a bit weary because I thought it would another orphan story done ad nauseum in Hollywood today. Further into the film, however, I began to admire it and enjoy it.

The first 'moment' that I had within this film was in the opening sequence. When Hugo was descending the staircase within the clock room, the shot used was an incredibly well executed tracking shot. Once I saw this shot I immediately checked to see if 'Hugo' won the Oscar for cinematography - which it did. The shot was so fluid and well constructed, it really engaged the audience well.

Another 'moment' that I had in the movie was when Hugo had his dream about going down onto the train tracks and finding the key. A train was approaching, and in order to miss hitting our main character, the train went off the tracks and into the station. Aside from being very neat in effect, when the train was approaching Hugo, I was reminded of the film 'A Train Arriving at a Station'. But here, instead of the audience being afraid of the the train in 2d as was when the Lumiere brothers showed there film, director Scorsese made it appear in 3d to scare the audience. This is a direct commentary of the innovation that Scorsese and other directors wish to take in the new 3d world of film.

A third 'moment' I had was when the Inspector had a romantic moment with his love interest. He built up the courage to go talk to her, and was bumbling over his words and didn't really know what to say, but it worked out well regardless. Aside from the way this scene plays into the plot, I thought it was very interesting being the audience is encouraged to take sides with the Inspector; up to this point he had been a sort of antagonist or enemy. This event and the connection the viewer had with the Station Inspector foreshadows the humanity of his character and makes it more believable that he would allow Hugo to go.

Overall, a really enjoyable movie!

Screening Notes: A Single Man

Upon first reading the summary of A Single Man I was a little weary of it's content, but decided to go into it with an open mind. When my instructor informed me that this film's director (Tom Ford) was formerly and architect and a fashion designer, I knew the film was going to be beautiful to look at, and it was.

I had a great cinephilic moment towards the beginning of the film with all the architecture within Colin Firth's home. The home was built perfectly for the purpose because all of its lines and design were framing Firth's character, George. This moment was cinephilic for me because I know about framing and line designs through film classes. The railing and the sculpture all focused my eyes onto Colin Firth, and I knew that this was the director's intention. The house used was architecturally gorgeous, so immediately I was actively searching for ways that it could play into direction, which it did in focusing solely on George, who was alone. This was Tom Ford's purpose: to have the audience see George all by his self, without his partner. George stands out as the only living thing in the beautiful house.

What is the significance of this film and its relationship to others?

The Prestige is a film that is particularly interesting film in the way it mirrors the subject material at hand. In essay or other critical forms of writing, the strongest writers can reflect the topic therein discussed in their own reflection on the subject material. Christopher Nolan, the director, takes the material of magic and topos of deception in the subject of the magicians at hand, and reflects it in his movie directive style. Within The Prestige, the magicians aim to deceive their audience by sleights of hand, dropped curtains, and many other means. In many ways the magicians – Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale – make their living off of deception. They are so committed to deception that they severely alter their lifestyles; Christian Bale’s character, Borden, goes to such an extreme point as having himself and his twin become one person in order to keep up an illusion trick seen in the ‘Transported Man’. One brother has to even cut off parts of his fingers to keep the chimera going; one twin is always dressed up in the form of Fowler to conceal his true identity. Christopher Nolan, as the auteur, mimics this subject of deception because he hides the truth from the viewer- i.e. we are unaware the Christian Bale has a twin. The film audience is easily likened to the audience in the magic shows because both are present to be deceived and entertained. Nolan really wanted to drive home the theme of deception in the magicians’ lives that he furthers it in his style of point of view and intentionally leaving out information that he could have revealed to his audience. The significance of this film is the commentary that it gives on the idea that directors need to aim to reflect the subject material analyzed within the film in his or her own directing style.

Screening Notes: The Prestige

Every time I watch this movie, I gain something new from it. Seeing as though I haven't viewed The Prestige in a few months, my mind had time to settle matters and revisit them this time. This is one of those films that is never the same, each time you watch it because the story is very complex and has many detailed parts that can only be perceive having seen it a few times.

This time in particular, I paid special attention to the interactions between Christians Bale's characters (Alfred Borden and Alfred Borden) and the two love interests (Olivia and Sara). The first time viewing the movie, Alfred Borden seems to be the textbook example of a cheating husband who lives a double-life and would do anything to keep it this way. This is bolstered by serious events within the move i.e. when Olivia leaves him and when Sara kills herself. All of these things made me originally detest Borden's character. Even watching the movie a second time, I still considered Bale's character evil. This time, however, I noticed that Bale's individual characters (Borden and Borden) were each very true to his respective love interest, and accordingly I gained more respect for his character.

The dialogue between the two Alfred Borden's and the two love interests are written in order to deceive the audience, just as the magic act, until the prestige, or ending. When Borden is fighting with Sara, he implores her to believe him that he is uninterested in Olivia, but all logic and reason make her and the audience believe otherwise and write him off as a liar. Christopher Nolan mirrors the style of deception used in magic tricks wonderfully in his directing style.

Screening Notes: Melancholia

• Opening sequences are in super slow motion.
• Film starts in media res and story development takes a long time to come about.
• The movie doesn't give any background story, which is pretty annoying.
• Melancholia is utterly depressing - Kirsten Dunst lies to everyone that she is happy and then makes extremely rash and crazy behavior (like sleeping with a stranger). Regardless of the acting or how well extreme depression is depicted, the film is so depressing to watch that I could hardly stand watching the whole thing.
• Visually, the film was interesting- it had a good use of CGI, especially related to the planet Melancholia.
• The concept of another planet, basically named Depression, colliding with Earth and destroying it is pretty interesting. It is a great analogy for depression colliding with humans and destroying them.
• The acting is strong, Sutherland is great until he kills himself and even the parents are strong.

Screening Notes: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is a movie that I've seen a few times and every time that I have seen it I have tried to like it. Try as I might, I still cannot get past the sense of hopelessness that it portrays and the depressing tones that Bigelow creates while depicting war. This being said, I do believe that The Hurt Locker does depict war scenes and death uniquely that other films do not do- it does not glamorize war, and shows only the negative effects.

In the scene in which a little boy is made into a body bomb is extremely emotional. Jeremy Renner thinks that it is a boy he had once befriended, and instead of blowing up the body, like what the crew assumed would happen, he removed the bomb from inside the body. Renner contemplates what he needs to do, and his actions reflect this extremely well. He walks out of the 'room' made by walls of a plastic sheet and curses. The audience can tell what is going through the actor's mind because he is trying to make a decision of what to do, especially because he believes he knows the victim.

In the scene where our trio finds the mercenaries (or bounty hunters), they are attacked by an Iraqi sniper team. It seems that one by one, characters that we were barely introduced to are killed off, and the audience does not feel closure. The shots do not focus on the people that are killed, just on the people trying to survive. Because of this, the audience feels detached from those who are killed, creating a sense of 'survival of the fittest' and that the living should do anything to survive. This is a sad concept, but in war, as Bigelow shows, it is necessary.

Following the scene where Renner removes the bomb from the child, Colonel Cambridge is killed by an IED. When the bomb goes off, the camera is inside the Humvee, separated from the incident - protected. In one shot, it shows Cambridge standing, and within the same shot, he is consumed by the blast and smoke, and then he disappears. This shot is powerful because it shows the ephemeral nature of life when in war, even if the person is not a warmonger. In one shot, a life can be taken.