Casablanca

What a beautiful movie. What a wonderful classic! I really enjoyed this film. I've tried to watch it twice before and I just couldn't get into it. I was pretty disappointed though because it was supposedly an AMAZING classic that everyone loves. I had high expectations. This time, in Art of Film, I was forced to watch it. Turned out to be a good thing. I suppose I had lower expectations but that doesn't make this movie any less beautiful. It was so full of moral conflict and compromise, making the decisions Rick was often faced with that much harder and his decisions that much more powerful. This movie was as much an allegory of the time as it was a story. The more I think about it, the more intricate the allegory becomes. I'm not that highly educated about World War II so I had a little trouble drawing all the parallels, but when they were pointed out they were that much more amazing. I must say though that I valued this movie much more for its beautiful love story and the honor and devotion that was constantly showing through every aspect of this film. My favorite part of Casablanca was easily the end. It was so perfect really. The entire movie was really encapsulated in these final seconds of Casablanca. Ilsa leaves Rick, again, perhaps for the last time, he talks about letters of transit, and money, and the weather exudes the theme of the film, that gloomy, upsetting mood which kind of resonated through out the film, or at least obvious aspects of Rick's personality. It seems to be a revolutionary realization for Rick that he needs a friends, that alcohol and women and money can't fill his "whole." That quote: "This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Final scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0_S2J9c2H4

king of california

I work at the library and as I was shelving DVDs I came across this film. I am often drawn to products, movies especially, by their outward appeal. The case of this movie was rather different from most I've seen, so I decided to give it a try. So essentially this movie, King of California, was about a crazy man and his daughter who has been self-sufficient for most of her life because of her father's problems and her mother's absence. In this film the crazy father ignites an expedition to find treasure. If I say much more I fear that the movie will be ruined. But all in all this was the epitome of a feel good film. It was funny and sweet and the ending entails a brilliant twist, something completely and utterly unexpected. Through out this movie, particularly in the beginning, the girl's crazy father Charlie kept talking about these naked Chinese men landing on a beach in California and pulling clothes out of plastic bags and putting them on. His daughter looked at him like he really lost it, but at the end of the movie the most glorious thing happened. She pulled her beat up car next to the beach somewhere and low and behold these Chinese men start parading out of the water. I thought this was so witty of the director. It proved to much in the sense that the impossible isn't always impossible after all. And I loved that. I feel as if there was nothing too extraordinary about the cinematography of King of California, it was just a movie to be enjoyed by the armature eye, I suppose you could say. Of course there are no implications of me being an "expert" viewer, but I just feel like there was nothing special in that department. There's nothing wrong with that though, sometimes it's good to enjoy a film for the sake of the story, well quite often that's the purpose.

DO THE RIGHT THING

I guess this movie was pretty decent. It was the first Spike Lee joint I've ever seen (I think) and for that I enjoyed it. His filming style is pretty interesting, really unique. I feel like in some sort of way it was armature, but at the same time really really interesting. He used such a wide array of angles that I began to feel like a lot of it was experimental. I kind of enjoyed that element of it though. I feel like Spike Lee did a lot with Radio Raheem and the camera. He was often shot with the camera looking up to him or he was shot on a drastic angle. This gave him an air of intimidation. I really liked the way Spike Lee had objects zoomed in on. Most of the time they were important, but other times it was just for effect. I was recently watching the movie La Haine and I saw this exact effect utilized, and later I heard the director say that he sought some inspiration from some of the Spike Lee films he has seen. One of my favorite parts of this movie was when each ethnic group started dissing each other. They were talking directly to the camera. It was as if their internal monologue was being exposed to the viewer. It was pretty interesting that there was this completely random commentary centered around hatred and disdain for each other. I mean it wasn't completely spontaneous because much of this movie was centered on racial tension, but Spike Lee could have conveyed these emotions so many other ways but this option was pretty different. There are so many deeper things to be contemplated in this movie, things like racial issues and doing the right thing (hence the title of the movie) in different social situations. After watching this movie I feel as if it is better for the lessons that can be learned rather than for the actual story. Perhaps I would see it again to delve deeper into those lessons, but I could kind of take it or leave it.

La Haine

The first time I saw this movie I really really love it. I've been ranting about it a lot lately and when I was thinking about why I loved it so much, I wasn't exactly sure. So the other night I decided to watch it again. This time I watched it with the intent of discovering my love for it. I did. Firstly, the entire movie was shot in black and white. Sometimes I veer away from that, and I'm sure that holds true for many people, but the black and white enhances this film so much. It gives it a touch of agelessness, it leads the viewer to think that what is being shown in the film is not only true for the time that it is taking place, but for always. There is so much about this film that really infatuates me. Mathieu Kassovitz was truly brilliant in everything he did with it. There were so many small features of La Haine that I never would have noticed had they not been pointed out, but at the same time they were so brilliant and when I noticed them I became so excited because I'm starting to notice that it's the tiny parts of a movie that make it stand out from all the rest. For example, before each of the three main characters are introduced (Said, Vinz, and Hubert) their names are shown in a unique, really subtle way. In learning this I also learned that Mathieu Kassovitz used the techniques of other directors. After just watching a Spike Lee film I could see some techniques borrowed from him (zooming into an object and dutch angles just to name a few). There are a few really pointless things that go on in La Haine, they are mostly stories that people are telling to Said, Vinz, and Hubert. The actual meaning of each story has utterly no point, but that's the point. Mathieu Kassovitz puts this pointlessness into the air to show off the meaningless life these people of the ghetto lead. For me, La Haine is so much more about the cinematography than it is anything else. There is no real solid, cohesive plot line, but that's kind of the beauty of it. There is a tremendous political meaning to this film. At the time it was made there were many riots in Paris about the death of a young man, he died due to police brutality, so consequently this film kind of has an underlying anti police sentiment. Perhaps you wont be able to understand what I'm about to say unless you've seen the movie, but it should be said. Mathieu Kassovitz does not want people to have the underlying feeling that all black people are drug dealers, that's why he makes it very blatant that some black characters in this film do not touch drugs. He attempts to do the same for police men. He does not want the viewer to come out of this film thinking all police men are "pigs," that's why he places two very obviously good police in the film. There is so much more I could say about La Haine. I could go on and on about how beautiful and innovative it is, but I will not, partially because I really can't do this movie justice and partially because this is getting too long. I will instead encourage anyone who craves something different to see this masterpiece.

Pan's Labyrinth

This movie was ridiculous. In the best sense. I've seen this movie a couple of times and this time I was begging to understand every centimeter of it. I've watched it so many times because I love the plot line. I love the fantasy mixed in with the inevitably real. I love the devastation and hope all melded into one. It was so beautiful the way so many things fell apart but came back together in an utterly different but sometimes far brighter way. This time when I saw the movie I was relatively infatuated with two things: the parallels between The Captain and Ofelia and whether or not the fantastical element was real, of just a pigment of Ofelia's imagination. I was rather immersed in the search through out the film for these parallels. They were subtle and I suppose I discovered a few, but in the spirit of not ruining the film, I encourage you to search for any parallels at all between these two vital characters. I was also very involved in my search for truth in the fantasy world of Pan's Labyrinth. To say I now know the answer would be a fallacy, but my search did lead me to deeply study the film. I watched the establishing shot a few times over and I also watched what Guillermo del Toro, the director, had to say about anything relating to this film in hopes of obtaining an answer. I did not. In accordance to my own judgment I decided that all that was not entirely possible was fake. The fantasy was not a reality but rather the result of Ofelia's overactive imagination, an imagination to escape her fate. I could rant on and on about my theories on that, but rather than waste the time I'd simply ask the viewer to hold this question to a high regard and consider it. All in all I was utterly captivated by Pan's Labyrinth and all the rich detail it had to offer.

thedivingbellandthebutterfly

I have wanted to see this movie for quite some time, and after hearing so much about it I knew the summary on the back of the DVD case couldn't do it justice, so I decided to finally see it. I was glad I finally did. In short, I was rendered speechless after this film. Everything oozed with perfection: the soundtrack, the cinematography, and of course, the story. What a beautiful story. It was so moving. I was in tears for most of the movie, and when it comes to movies it takes a lot to make me cry. It is undeniable that I was deeply influenced by this film. There was one part where Jean-Do explains the remorse he has for not loving his children more and for not being kinder to their mother. I was kind of jolted at these words because I noticed that anything fatal could happen at any time. To anyone. I am often one who takes it all for granted, treating people however the hell I want to. And in retrospect it isn't right, that's obvious. But when there's that chance that you could be ripped away from everything so quickly, unable to make a menze it's scary, and potentially very real. The first, I'd say 15 minutes of this film were shot through the eyes of Jean-Do. How brilliant! I felt a bit anxious because of my inability to see everything. I imagined that Jean-Do felt quite similar to that, I'm sure he felt inhibited and anxious because of the confusion so prevalent in the opening scenes. A most powerful part of this film was when there was a montage of pictures of Jean-Do from all different aspects of his life. They portrayed him as this lively human being, bursting at the seem to live and experience all he could. Then it's his current face, a face permanently distorted. No more expression to be seen there. It was devastating but powerful and harsh. It was so painful to see such a young being destroyed at the prime of his life. But to say he was destroyed would sacrifice much of what he did, so perhaps he was merely inhibited from pursuing his life to the fullest extent. It is incredible that this man wrote a book. It goes to show that despite his body being a complete vegetable, his mind was bustling with thought and beauty of imagination. Remarkable really.

Rushmore

There is not much for me to say besides I really just didn't like this movie. I'm not even sure of any good thing I could say about it. Actually, the soundtrack was terrific. But otherwise, I found it so typical and bland. I feel as if I could have seen hundreds of movies of this nature. There was a clear effort to make this movie intriguing but I missed that somewhere along the way. Perhaps the one element conveyed to me in "Rushmore," a theme you might say, is that there is beauty in being ridiculous and living for what pleases you no matter how outlandish it is. It's kind of a lovely truth, and I guess I could benefit from the lesson learned there. I guess I did learn something from this, but I simply did not enjoy it.

ELEPHANT

This film was well... interesting. I delighted in the cinematography, I found it brilliant and rather unique. I enjoyed the lack of words and the conclusions that had to be made by the viewer. I feel as if Gus Van Stan tried rather diligently to connect his audience to each and every character in the film, but oddly enough i lost that connection. He displayed their names before they were explored by the camera, trying to acquaint each character to the audience as much as he could without a true arsenal of dialogue. He strived to reveal the character by the way they were filmed, and he did, but i feel as if the emotional connections were simply not deep enough. There is no doubt that what he was attempting was rather beautiful and of course innovative, but I lost that somewhere along the way. I knew that if I felt this connection as genuinely as I was supposed to I would have cried at the sight of their death, but I did not. I merely thought that the actions were sad and horrible to the highest degree, not something that deemed tears and deep sorrow. I almost feel as if this film was better for no more than its cinematography. While I was watching it I thought I loved it for more than the filming, but for the storyline as well. But in retrospect the most valuable element of it was the filming, but sometimes a film does not need to be much more than that.