Final Post: Reflection

For a very long time I was very fast to undermine what I learned from films. For so long I saw film as strictly an art form and nothing more. I felt it to be something to enjoy, mere entertainment. But now as my mind has surpassed that, I see film as an often beautiful story with a valuable lesson attached. I still do consider film to be art a lot of the time, but as I'm going on a massive blog binge here I am seeing how much I've learned from all the films I've watched in Art of Film and in life. In retrospect it's really remarkable all that I have learned. The comparison I am about to draw is kind of intense I guess, but I feel like learning what one does from a film is like learning things from the bible. In both mediums life is sort of deconstructed to focus on one small aspect. I feel like the lessons learned in film are so much more relevant in terms of today, but please let's not get religious. I would say that I really do value film more than I thought I did. When I look back on my blog and see how much I've learned from film, it really is remarkable. I like the fact that film is so open ended and that you don't need someone to tell you what it means. I believe that what one chooses to see in a film is what they need see. What I mean by this is that they will choose to focus on one aspect of a film when there are so many other prospective things to look at. I really commend the work of directors and their ability to make such beautiful, true to life films. I thought for a little while that I wanted to be a director because I would love to make films for people to love and learn from and talk about. But now that might be beyond me. I do find a passion within in myself for good cinema. I appreciate this class, and Mr. D, I'd like to thank you for all you have brought to my attention about film. This was easily one of my most memorable high school experiences.

Cinema Paradiso and Foreign Films

Okay, so this movie was cute, it really was. I'm not sure I loved it, but it was interesting none the less. I'm not sure I could say I was entertained by it really, but I did enjoy it, and once again I have learned something from watching it. I think one word to adequately describe this movie is precious. The story of Toto and Alfredo is really beautiful. I mean I just feel like so much of this film was typical, but all the while unique and enjoyable and worth my while. I really liked the end of this movie when Toto was watching the film Alfredo made him. It was symbolic on so many levels and and really touching actually the way Alfredo remembered all those little film strips Toto claimed his since he was a child. Being that I am a student of Italian I understood most of this film (and by this I mean without the subtitles), which was exciting I guess.





Being that this was a foreign film, and because what I am about to write is too small for a whole entry, I'd like to devote a part of this entry to my passion for foreign films. I always wondered why foreign films were so much better than the American ones I always see, but there is a simple reason for this, and that is because only the best make it to America. I mean some of my favorite films are foreign films. They are just so beautiful and unique and they are something I cherish. I find a lot of foreign cinema to be a bit more risky than American cinema. I really am not a fan of predictable movies that play it on the safe side so it's obvious why I enjoy foreign films. I've said the words "foreign film" too much in this entry. But all in all I would really, pretty much, choose a foreign film over an American film any day. They're just so much more fresh.

JELLYFISH

Over winter break I saw this beautiful Israeli movie called Jellyfish. This movie was rather odd, but at the same time it was so cute and special and enlightening. This movie reminded me a lot of Chungking Express in the way that it connected the lives of completely random people. There was so much attention drawn to this too. The fact that random people were connecting with each other who had no relationship what so ever just seconds before they meet. It's really cool to think about. And the more I think about it, the more it appears to be like Chungking Express. There are three separate groups of people and within those groups there are very unique individuals. It is interesting to see these groups interact. They interact in small random ways, just like in Chungking Express. For example they will just pass each other in the street, or bump into one another, or something small and insignificant like that. But when I think about these small interactions, the relevance of them becomes obvious. I think the director is trying to show the viewer that when you encounter someone in your life, even if it just for a moment, they have something going on within them self and you are completely unaware of. I mean again, it's kind of an obvious concept, but at this point I've realized that a lot of the concepts in movies are obvious and overdone at times, but it is the way these familiar concepts are portrayed that makes them so wonderful and profound and unique.

Slumdog Millionaire

I saw this film a few weekends ago with two fellow art of filmers. This movie was by all means good, I don't know if I'd go so far as terrific, but it was certainly good. The one unfortunate thing about this film was that it was really really built up. I was expecting this epic, thrilling film that probably would change my life, but really, that's not what I got at all, which was okay, but all the while disappointing. What I saw was still quite appealing and wonderful, but at the same time it wasn't what I had expected which I think to some degree diminished the value of this film. The movie was really bitter sweet. There were a lot of really wonderful things happening while some of the main characters were falling into self-destruction and getting killed. I liked how some of this movie was in a foreign language while other parts of it were in English. The transitions were very random, but still the idea was pretty cool. The music in this movie was really, I don't know if I'd say fitting, but it was cool. The beats were fitting , but not so much the words all the time. Or if they were they fit in a very literal sense. There were a few songs by MIA, who is from Sri Lanka. Her voice was perfect because they were in India. I started cracking up when I heard Paper Planes by MIA. I mean it is basically a song about drugs, but for some odd reason it fit. She has a wonderful sound, so it doesn't much matter. Haha. At the end of this movie I told the people I was with that I really wanted to cry. But I didn't. I feel that when a movie evokes that kind of honest, raw emotion it is that much better. There were plenty of really sad parts in this movie, but none of them made me cry. I don't know why I want to cry so badly? I really liked the way this movie was divided into three parts: the present, the recent past, and the distant past, which also served as explanations. I don't really want to go into that much detail regarding this because it will most likely ruin the movie. But I thought this was a very interesting choice in portraying every event of this film. The words "it is written" resonated through out this movie and I find those three words to be very true and encouraging. I find myself often drawn to fate as the cause when I seek explanations for things. And I think this movie focuses a lot on that. Very interesting.

Run Lola Run!

wow. i watched this a while ago. but i think i can aptly remember the important aspects of this film. i felt like this film was more a lesson than it was a story. eventually what lola had to do became irrelevant but how she did it was what was important. i mean i know this statement i am about to make is obvious, but that still does not take away from its relevance. once you do something it is done. in real life there is no way to go back in time and fix what you already screwed up. lola could, but thats because she was in some trippy movie that really made no sense in terms of reality. but in that sense this film was beautiful. it would be so ideal to be able to back in time once you realized you screwed up really badly. there are so many countless times in my life that i wish i could have changed things, even if it was just one thing that lasted the span of a second or two. this movie kind of taught me the importance of understanding your decisions and the weight of them and why you make them and all of that unfortunate stuff. i wonder whether or not lola was capable to remembering every little event of the past episodes. she obviously remembered what not to do, but did she remember the little details, like the fact of her father's affair and the fact that she was not his daughter. i am not sure if there really is a way to determine this. but it is an interesting consideration. aside from the lessons to be learned from this beautiful german film, the cinematography was wonderful. it was really original. i began to seek the differences in the shots each time she re-did her actions of the day. it was just so interesting, and i would dare to say symbolic, the way each sequence of events was shot. it was very appealing. i would love to know the directors thoughts as he created this film. i am curious to know what his personal thoughts on the issues i discussed above are. i enjoy the music choices made in this movie. all the peculiar techno stuff was very fitting and interesting. the way lola appeared was very interesting. you have to wonder why she has wild bright red hair. it is odd but at the same time it is appealing and familiar.

chungking express

It took me a while, but I'm finally writing about this. I hope I remember it all clearly.

All in all this film was so unique. It resonated with this fresh tone, it really was like nothing I've seen before. I'd say that I'm really not always one for the conventional movie, and with that statement it's pretty obvious that this film was perfect for me. There was no clear cut story line, no characters to follow through out the entire movie, and no real apparent understanding of where everything would end up. That's probably why I loved it though.



First of all, I really loved the way this movie was filmed. I felt as if each second of this movie could have been freeze framed and looked at as an individual photograph, one that bears much significance and tells an important story relative to the film as a whole. The colors that were primarily used in this film gave it so much more deep meaning, and the constant racy backgrounds added so much to the main notion of this movie (which I'd dare to say has something to do with the speed of life, maybe).

This film really was beautiful in the way that each being introduced had some connection with another seemingly random character. I'd love to see this movie again to gain an accurate understanding about everything (because there is much to be confused about), and to better connect the characters that do appear. It's interesting that most of these main characters do connect with one another, even if it is in a "six degrees of separation" kind of way. You'll have to forgive me because I don't recall all the characters names at this point, but the connection for some characters happened when you saw one in the background of a scene about the main character being focused on at a certain time. Other times it's something like one character is with another character who sees a third character and thus the first and third characters are connected. And for my least confusing example, several times in this film, a main character takes the role of a main character from another string, if you will, in the complex web of this movie's story line. For example, Faye becomes a flight attendant, and that guys ex-girlfriend was a flight attendant. And again this occurs with the series of "police" people. There's the women in the blond wig (I'm not sure she really is a police women, but she is an enforcer of sorts), and the two men. There are also two women that have the same bright blond wings. Yes, of course, how odd. But it's generally pretty obvious that all of this happens for a reason and it should be carefully looked at for deeper connections.

After viewing this film you could say I had an epiphany, but it's really not that exciting. Rather, I realized that we all have a lot to do with the lives of the people around us, whether we dare to recognize that or not. I feel that so much of what we do has a rather strong potential to effect the outcome or decisions of others. But a fact that the film brought out was this: yes, we do have a lot to do with one another; there is a lot of intertwining of lives, but in the end, in the very end, will we ever remember? Will we necessarily see the connection between ourselves and the stranger on the other side of the street? No, chances are we wont, and perhaps I'm trying a little too hard to see what I want to see, but I think that is what this film is trying to prove to the audience in some capacity.

Oh, and as for the song below (which isn't working for some reason, so pretend it's there) (Califorina Dreamin' by The Mamas and The Papas), everytime I hear it now, it reminds me of this film, but most primarily Faye who reminds me of being rash and having hope and seeing the beauty in the most obsure situations.

Jesus Camp

I saw this movie when it first came out in 2006 and at that time I wasn't prepared to make religious decisions for myself so I was just offend that a negative light was shone upon Christianity because after all I am basically a Christian. But in my second viewing of this film I found myself irate and frustrated. As I watched this documentary all I could think about was: my children will never ever be like this. I never want to force my children into something so forcefully. I do not want them to see religion as this epic dividing factor that can essentially destroy nations and start wars. It bothered me that these Evangelicals thought that everything they spoke was the complete and utter truth. They were so ignorant. Or rather they were portrayed in such a painfully ignorant light (but the "potential" bias of this film is a whole other story). They seemed very obsessed with this idea of church and state melding perfectly into one. But perhaps they don't see that so many other religions have that same right to push their religion onto the government and in turn carry tremendous weight when it comes to national decisions. There were so many actions these people took that made me detest organized religion. From what I know it is supposed to be more about your "personal" relationship with God.

I am all for freedom of expression and I would never condemn these individuals for practicing a religion they put so much faith and passion into, so it is perhaps more the way this movie was made that bothered me. In an interview with the Washington Post the directors of Jesus Camp said that they spent over 10 months editing this film so no bias would appear. But I fear I cannot believe this. There is this one scene in the movie when Becky Fischer asks "Do you believe God can do anything?" to a group of children. Then this mother grabs her sons arm and lifts it up sure to be seen. Then there is the music that is played during moments of prayer, and the camera angles they choose to portray this give speaking in tongues this ominous, mystical sensation. To be bias is natural , but this is a documentary that has so much, maybe too much, power to tarnish a religion and ruin the reputation of a church, or rather a camp, and its pastor.

Ordinary People

I recently went to my sisters acting school to see her do an end of semester performance and one of the scenes done was from the play Ordinary People. My family and I decided that the story as described was so compelling that we bought the movie after we returned from the city and proceeded to watch it that night. It sort of reminded me of Good Will Hunting in the way that the main character was really distraught and by the end of the film they were so transformed and brought to a place of excellence. But I found Ordinary People to be far better. It was so powerful. The tag line is so true: "Some films you watch, others to feel." I fell as if any viewer could connect to Conrad (the main character). I mean yes, he did face a horrible tragedy that people typically don't have to endure in their day to day, but the emotional turmoil of anything really is prevalent in many people's life. The power comes with this: that he didn't let the violent emotions be his demise as it was his friend Karen's. It was beautiful and encouraging to see that. I'm not sure if what I just wrote made sense. I believe it would be far more understandable if the movie is seen, but hopefully it is at least coherent. I think one big reason for this movie being so powerful because the casting was perfect. My sister first stated this and I've thought about it and it's a very valid assessment. Every single character was excellent, even the tiny supporting actors. I clearly have a thing for movie endings, because this movie was made ten times better by the fact that I had no idea what was to come at the end, and when it finally did end it was so bitter sweet. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or mortally destroyed for Conrad. He spent so much time trying to repair this relationship with his mother but she leaves him, but at the same time the closing shot repairs any of the sorrow that goes with that loss. And since I can't find a picture it's this shot that's slowly panning out of Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton embraced in this powerful father-son hug.

M.

Ahh, irony at its best. This movie was so perfect. Aside from it being visibly ironic, the end was so unpredictable. It was sort of maddening and shocking, and I must say, I did love that. There were so many brutally ironic elements in M, and I'd like that to be the prime focus of this entry. So much was revealed through the irony about the movie's characters and also Germany at the time. I recall this one scene where Peter Lorre has chalk on his back and the little girl tells him he's a mess. First of all, shouldn't she feel worried that some random man has been stalking her (for lack of a better word), I suppose not. This small girl is treating the murderer like a child. The way she cleans him and even hands him his knife back are all very naive, but at the same time rather ironically mature. Peter Lorre is trying to take advantage of the children but they are being a matronly figure to his disheveled self. Another blatantly ironic element is the way the criminals are taking the police's position as law enforcers. They obviously have their own motives, but it's so irresistibly ironic the way they search for him and catch him and even have some twisted form of a trial. Their proceedings are parallel to that of the polices, but perhaps even a bit more acceptable. (And here lies my theory of the police being more like brutes than enforcers at that time and this is therefore a reflection of German society at the time, but this is merely a prediction of mine). At the end of the trial the man who is trying to do good by defending this clinically insane child murderer gets his way by pulling a gun out on the crowd. It's ironic because you'd perhaps expect him to be a pushover of sorts, or at least a gentle man who would resist such action. I really really enjoyed this movie. I wouldn't venture to say that it was well made or even that interesting, but M had this element of being completely insusceptible. The end was really superior to many I've seen. It was almost sort of corny, but I didn't expect that outcome at all, and I loved that.

Good Will Hunting

So I have a thing about predictable movies: I hate them. I'd almost rather them end really awfully than really happy all the time. But I suppose this isn't a uniform statement because I did actually like Good Will Hunting. But I'm not sure if it's for more than the fact that it was a sincerely excellent "feel-good" film. In every sense this movie was predictable. There was a bad fella, his excellence was unlocked, he fell in love, he gets help, and oh, he ends up with the girl. Of course he does. There's nothing wrong with being predictable, but of late I feel like a lot of the movies I have been seeing bear that unfortunate element of: "Okay, this is so obvious, I could walk out now and know the ending." Well, aside from that, I feel that I should perhaps focus on the movie I've titled the blog with. The acting in this film was supreme, really great. I'm a big fan of Robin Williams, especially when he plays those more serious roles. A lot about this movie was really beautiful. I liked the way Will Hunting sort of humbled himself to become something. I'm totally down with that: when those people who tend to be a bit cocky and macho get over themselves and do something great. I feel that Will Hunting had to do a lot of that in this film to become what he did. Despite the painful predictability this movie was a viewing pleasure.