To Kill A Mocking Bird

To Kill A Mocking Bird

 "To Kill A Mocking Bird" is an American Drama from 1962 that is based off of Harper Lee's Novel of the same name. The film was directed by Robert Mulligan and is centered around the Atticus Family in a small town, the conflict arises when a local girl, Colin Paxton ("Mayella Ewell") is raped and a black man, Brock Peters ("Tom Robinson") is immediately blamed for the crime. Gregory Peck plays a great role as "Atticus Finch" in being an honest lawyer and family man (with the absense of a wife) to his two kids Mary Badham ("Scout") and Phillip Alford ("Jem").

This film includes numerous themes throughout its running time. "To Kill A Mocking Bird" is set in a community that still remains racist. The Art of Watching Films concludes that the theme is created to convey an idea or a statement to the film's viewers. I believe Harper Lee was attempting to soften racial tensions and address the social inequality especially for Blacks in the United States justice system. When "Tom" and "Atticus" lose the case the viewer gets the feeling of moral responsible to keep watching and to ensure the criminal is brought to justice. 

The title, "To Kill A Mocking Bird" is very important in this movie and novel. For years people have said its been a sin to kill a mocking bird and "Atticus" states to his children that it is a sin because all mocking birds do is make beautiful music. The symbol takes on an alternate meaning when "Tom" is killed. Not only was "Tom" innocent, but when he was found guilty on the wrong charges he peacefully tried to escape or in a sense "fly away", and was killed. 

This film will remain to be a well-known film in the genre of movies-based-on-novels. The Art of Watching Films states that "a genre film is a film based on subjects, themes, or styles that have become familiar because they have been used often". This film is a good example of this for the depth it lacks in comparison to the novel it was based on. It has been a few years since I have read or watched this film, but I noticed that "Boo Radley's" character was less developed and an ironic interpretation of a mocking bird was avoided most likely due to lack of time. The symbol I'm referencing is of "Mrs. Dubois's" character, who becomes addicted to morphine after her doctor prescribes her it, but decides she wants to end the habit before she dies. The irony of the situation is she will eventually die for ending her addiction, but if she continues the addiction she will live. In a sense "Mrs. Dubois" was an example of a mocking bird because all she wanted was to live a normal last couple years, but passed away early. 

Another central theme of this film is that all people have different perceptions. When "Scout", "Dill", and "Jem" first hear of "Boo" they think of him like a superstition, but this slowly changes as they slowly realize who fixed "Jem's" pants and gave them gifts. "Scout" and "Jem" became dynamic characters toward the end of the book because "Boo" saves them from "Mr. Ewell's" attack. This theme re-emphasizes that you shouldn't judge people based on what you hear, but should develop your own perceptions based on the content of their character. 

The Cider House Rules

The Cider House Rules

“The Cider House Rules” is an American Drama set at an orphanage in Maine. John Irving wrote the story and screenplay and the film was directed by Lasse Hallström. Protagonist, Tobey Maguire ‘Homer Wells ‘ grows up at this orphanage and never gets adopts, but doesn’t let his life go to waste. The doctor and unofficial father of this orphanage, Michael Caine ‘Dr. Wilbur Larch’ teaches him the tricks of the trade until he finally decides it is time to move away from the orphanage and discovery a new career, love, and numerous ethical dilemmas.

The Art of Watching Films concludes that: “the humanistic approach focus[es] attention on the statement the film makes because the best films are built around a statement that teach us something.” The film “The Cider House Rules” had numerous themes of moral, philosophical and social significance. Throughout the movie’s screenplay ‘Dr. Wilbur Larch’ and ‘Homer Wells’ are faced with the moral dilemma to complete abortions or to not complete them and risk the mother getting harmed or killed. I believe ‘Homer’ is a dynamic character because he develops from knowing what’s right and wrong about abortions to knowing what’s better for the good of people, in example: giving Erykah Baduh (Rose Rose) an abortion.

The director did a tremendous job of incorporating the humanistic approach of social significance through  ‘Dr. Wilbur Larch’s” character. This supporting actor takes a fall from grace when he becomes addicted to the same drug that he gives all of his patients as an anesthesia, Ether. This could be interpreted as a symbol that drug addiction can happen to the greater people of a society and possibly that a more accepting culture could have prevented the secretive and accidental overdose of this character.

There is a very important theme of this film that I believe passive viewers could easily miss. From the beginning of the film the audience knows the title is “The Cider House Rules”, but through half of the film the orchard isn’t even mentioned. When ‘Homer’ finds the cider house rules and begins to read them, he is interrupted by Delroy Lindo (Arthur) who exclaims that those rules were written by an outside source and don’t apply to them. The hostility of his voice makes the audience aware that racism is still alive, but I believe the meaning is deeper than that. The social significance of not following those rules serves as a symbol to create your own rules, especially when the rules are not written to your benefit. The apple-pickers were, in a sense, excluded from society, were not taught to read, and most-likely suffered from low wages. Even though not all characters had those standards of living, the symbol of creating your own rules can be applied to ‘Dr. Wilbur’ who risked losing his license by doing abortions to benefit pregnant woman from going somewhere else and being treated in less desirable conditions.

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

The Cove

The Cove

"The Cove" is a touching documentary that addresses problems associated with the global slaughter of whales, more inclusively at its root in a Japanese harbor. Director Louie Psihoyos teamed up with ex-Flipper star, Richard O'Barry to bring a stop to the senseless killing of bottle-nosed Dolphins, which are drastically more similar to humans than most would expect. Throughout this film the cast plans, places, and completes a video recording of the many secrets behind the dolphin-catching industry that even the general Japanese population are oblivious to.

The Art of Watching Films announces that, unlike other types of movies, social problem films enjoy a long life if they are unsuccessful. "The Cove" covers topics that range from human and dolphin similarities, the mismarketing of dolphin meat as whale meat to Japanese residents, and the top-dollars that aquariums are paying for bottle-nosed Dolphins. The film addresses that dolphin meat has about 20 times the amount of lethal mercury advised for consumption and before the end of the film, positive results are shown by ridding the Taiji public schools of the meat. To my surprise I hadn't heard of this film before I was required to watch it, which made me realize that the campaign against slaughtering dolphins is working. Last year, the amount of dolphins killed in Taiji dropped from 2,000 to 800, which may explain why I haven't heard of this successful social-problem documentary.

"The Cove" is an emotional documentary that pushes its viewers to act out against the cruel whaling industry. The Art of Watching Films states that, "the stronger the emotional or sensual experience provided by the film, the better the film is." Before watching this film I hadn't made the connection that not only are dolphins intelligent but possibly smarter than humans. Even so, I was unaware of the many health concerns (such as: ulcers) that have been affecting dolphins at places like Seaworld. The auditory pieces of this film were great triumphs of Louie Psihoyos. I really enjoy how he incorporated the hammering of poles, with the crying sonor sound of the distressed dolphins to show the helplessness of this amazing creatures. 

Additionally, The Art of Watching Films mentions that: "film may reflect a varity of political stances." The film uses interviews with Taiji police, the Japanese government, and the general population to show the politics behind the matter of killing dolphins. When the film showed what poor countries had joined the whale coalition in support of Japan, it made me feel like these cultures are being forced into supporting something they don't want to. These feelings make the viewer want to make a change to the current system and I believe its the reason behind the success of this documentary.

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

http://www.takepart.com/cove

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine

"Little Miss Sunshine" is a comedy-drama from 2006 that follows the road trip of a dysfunctional family to California for a beauty pageant. Married directors, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris team up to bring viewers a testament into the busy lifestyle of many American families. The story is centered around the well-mannered, hard-working, little girl "Olive" (Abigail Breslin). Unlike most dramas or comedies this one doesn't solely focus on a protagonist or antagonist, but focuses on the personalities and problems associated with each character. 

One major aspect of "Little Miss Sunshine" is its brilliant music score. Throughout this film the composers matched the emotion of the scene with music that coincided. In the book, The Art of Watching Films, it states that music is used to enable the director to express feelings that cannot be expressed verbally or pictorially. In the movie the Directors, Dayton and Faris, use music to strengthen the positive feelings regarding the family. Most of the music used on the road trip had pop and live bands (Example: Chicago by Sufjan Stevens) that help the viewers realize the family is becoming stronger and that dysfunctionality doesn't mean there isn't love in a family.

The music score was not only used to produce positive feelings about the cast, but to add depth into the plot. In the film, "Dwayne" (Paul Dano) realizes that he is color-blind, while the VW horns blast repeatedly through traffic. Now to most people that seems like enough sound to capture the audience's attention, but the music score includes background noises that are sharp and distinct and add to the russel and bussel that is associated with this scene. The Art of Watching Films states that, "music functions in an important way by providing transitions or bridges between scenes." I believe this scene is a perfect example of musical transitioning because it is a life-changing moment for "Dwayne" and until then he was silent in the movie. After this major event "Dwayne" breaks down emotional and begins to talk again. 

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

The Full Monty

The Full Monty

"The Full Monty" is a british comedy that is set in the steel town of Sheffield right after a steelworker lay off. After seeing the success of a male stripper show, Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and his fellow steel worker crew decide to plan a show of their own. If this show goes well the steelworkers will finally be able to move away from their working class lives and Gaz will have a chance for custody of his son. Meanwhile, the crew is forced to practice in fears of being spotted and things get interesting when Gaz makes the unfavorable decision to go for the "full monty".

This film was a major success, in my opinion, because of the diversity of the cast. Director, Peter Cattaneo, created a cast full of working-class steelworkers, but each one had his or her unique problems. The book, The Art of Watching Films states that these characters who play roles closely resembling themselves in personal appearance and personality are called interpreters.  One supporting actor in this film is an interpreter named "Dave" (Mark Addy). Dave is a heavy-set male stripper who is constantly questioning whether he should strip or not because of his weight issue. The director adds depth to the plot by having Dave in the movie and manipulating his acting between strip practice and his security job. At the end of the flick, Dave comes to the stripshow and has a generally positive attitude. I believe Dave stands as a motivational character and as a dynamic character.

Throughout "The Full Monty" there are numerous themes that are discussed through the diverse characters. Unhappiness is a central theme in this film through characters who are suffering from problems such as attaining rights as a father to Erectile Dysfunction. The way Cattaneo addressed these problems was brilliant. He interwove these problems into the screenplay, but refuses to give an explicit answer to his thoughts through the dialogue. Cattaneo also used irony to discuss these problems in a light tone, such as when the audience may think "Horse"(Paul Barber) is a term describing a man's large genitals, but indeed Horse suffers from Erectile Dysfunction.

The musical score for this film matches the scenes almost perfectly. In The Art of Watching Films, it states that: "music is often employed as a kind of emotional punctuation for the dialogue, expressing the feeling underlying what is said." One example of this, is the scene from the movie where "We are Family" is played right after the steelworkers have a sense of closure regarding the male stripping event. It's comedic that a song talking about family is used for a group of unrelated male strippers. Furthermore, I believe the composer used this song in the video to bring about even more emotion about how family-like this group was becoming.

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight

The film The Dark Knight is an unforgettable sequel to the Batman comic-book series and is directed by Christopher Nolan. In this movie Batman (Christian Bale) begins fighting his usual criminal culprits, in this case the mafia. This drastically changes when a string of corporate banks are robbed by the sinister, Joker (Heath Ledger). When Batman is forced to combat an evil force that has no conscious and isn't afraid of death, major decisions need to be addressed within Gotham's Police Department, whether Batman is supportive or not. 

All characters, Batman included, played authentic roles in this action flick. However, Heath Ledger's role as the Joker was my favorite to watch in this film. Ledger not only used action acting, but used dramatic acting. The Art of Watching Films, states dramatic acting is: "sustained, intense dialogue with another person and requires an emotional and psychological depth seldom called for in action acting." Ledger, in my opinion, is faced with the toughest role in the whole film; to make everyone hate you. The Joker's character is unique to the film because unlike most characters who are directed to react naturally to most situations, Heath Ledger's character was instructed to do the opposite with a smile on his face. One example of Heath Ledger's brilliance is when Batman tosses him off a roof to his death and the Joker keeps a smile on his face, as if he was looking forward to death or that he didn't think it was his time for death. The development of the Joker's character was a good call on Director Nolan's behalf because it adds depth to the plot and asks viewers psychological questions while the crime plot is unraveled.

Throughout the movie Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent) serves as an important developing character. Eckhart at first plays a District Attorney concerned with stopping crime and for awhile I even questioned if he would transform into Batman's character. The irony of this situation is that Eckhart's life is drastically altered when his life is ruined by a severe scar cutting his face into a good and bad side. I believe Eckhart flawless fulfills his role in transitioning from a major player in stopping crime to an estranged "2-Face" seeking revenge against all characters. 

One of the most enjoyable features for me about this Batman movie is all of the puzzles to solve. The very first scene does a perfect job of catching the audience off guard. I really enjoy how Nolan emphasized the preciseness of The Joker's plan to rob the corporate banks, but to make sure he is the only one who gets the money. Also, Nolan intensifies the Joker's brilliance by not showing the Joker's identity until he had the money, using Joker masks for the operation, and using a school bus for the get-away in a uniform pattern. 

One of the most interesting symbols that I found in this film was the 2 headed coin. At the beginning of this film the coin may stand for the good luck of Harvey Dent, but after the accident Harvey Dent quickly becomes the villain "2-Face" and as this occurs the coin changed in color on one-side to dark. I believe this change in color represents Harvey's jump from the good side of crime to the bad one. I also believe the coin can symbolize the hot-topic of post traumatic stress disorder for military veterans. This is because Harvey was a lucky man before the explosion in oil, but afterword he lost his normalcy of life. The normalcy of life Harvey lost could be similar to veterans with PTSD because he didn't die in a life-changing experience, but lived through it and is forced to live a normal life with an altered state of mind. Finally, the Joker serves as a symbol of Irony. When playing cards, a Joker is not the highest card, but can pleasure the King and Queen. In the opposite light, the Joker in this film uses sick-psychological jokes, displeases society, and for a majority of the movie seems like the highest ranked card.

Amelie

Amelie

The film "Amelie" (2001) is a romantic comedy that tells the tale of "Amelie"(Audrey Tautou) who has had very little social interactions during her lifetime, but carries a blooming imagination. Amelie's daily routine surprisedly changes when she finds a small box of knick-knacks that a previous apartment tenant had. She decides if his response is positive with the box returned she will continue doing favors for people. During this process she helps plenty of people in her community including: her widowed father, an old brittle artist, and potentially-- the love of her life, Nino (Mathieu Kassivitz).

"Amelie" is filmed in Paris and gives its viewers a close look at the city through a closer lens. The book, The Art of Watching Films, states that, "[setting's are] an essential ingredient in any story and makes an important contribution to the theme or total effect of a film. When watching this film viewers may experience temporal factors of France during the late 1990's. One recurring event portrayed in "Amelie" was the death of Princess Diana. I believe the Director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet used the death of Princess Diana as a temporal symbol in not just explaining the era of the film, but to foreshadow the kindness that "Amelie" will do when she looks away from the TV. I believe  this was a good way for Jeunet  to connect with his viewers by using an event fresh in our minds, but not too fresh to cause agony.

Throughout this film, the viewer not only follows the plot, but gets thrown off the ride on occasion. Unique to this film I noticed the social theme of being told too much of the wrong information. When Amelie first starts looking for the box owner she visits her neighbor, who goes into great depth about her personal love life, and then states a one sentence response about Amelie's question. I believe this theme is a cultural symbol of developed nations, who as societies have become so focused intra-personally that even basic questions are sometimes reinterpreted to be about one's self.

 The theme of intra-personalism can also interpreted to be about Amelie as a character. Amelie grew up in a house that gave her the resources to get educated, but gave her little opportunity for social exploration. When Amelie is going around Paris looking for clues to help people out, she is rarely given a definite answer and usually just a clue after a story has been told. I interpret the symbol to be Jeunet's way of showing the viewers what it could be like to grow up away from a social environment, become an adult, and then be successful with people that have been socialized their whole lives. For example, a person from a closed-childhood environment will most likely take longer to make friends in a high school setting than a person who has attended public schools their whole life.

Boggs, Joseph, & Petrie, Dennis. (2012). The Art of watching films. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill College.