The Maltese Falcon, Touch of Evil, and Chinatown were all black and white films. They all have many similarities within the Film Noir “genre.” All relatively old, there are always murders and a major twist in the story. The movie Brick is a new kind of Film Noir movie because it’s more recently made and it’s in color. All four of these films have a femme fatal and/or a damsel in distress. Watching these four movies had all the stylistics in Paul Schrader's Notes on Film Noir on page 235. "Like all film movements, film noir drew upon a reservoir of film techniques, and given the time one could correlate its techniques, themes, and casual elements into a stylistic schema." All these films were mostly set in the night time because it makes it more mysterious. Touch of Evil (1958) and the Maltese Falcon (1941) was made around the time of WWII which were dark crime thrillers for people to watch to get their minds off the war and what was happening in reality. People wanted to think about other problems rather than their own to get their mind off the times they were going through.
The lighting was dark for the most part in all four of these film noirs. Brick (2005) was different because it was mostly set during the day because many scenes were filmed at a high school. The main character Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a high school student trying to solve a murder mystery of his ex-girlfriend. Like all film noir main characters, the point of view is with a hero and intelligent investigator trying to figure things out alone with no police or government involved. These aspects of Brendan are similar to the character JJ Gittes (Jack Nicholson) in Chinatown (1974). They both also fell for the ‘femme fatal’ character. Brendan fell for the suspicious Laura (Nora Zehetner) and Gittes has a strange relationship with Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway). However, the style of the femme fatal character changes throughout the movie in Chinatown because I think Mulwray became the damsel in distress in the end. There’s always an important female character in every film noir that is always beautiful and up to something.
The theme of film noir has a lot to do with moral ambiguity. One character always must decide what to do whether if it’s ethical or not, right from wrong; keeping important information to yourself and figuring things out on your own. They always take it upon themselves to get the job done. Corruption is common in film noirs. There’s always someone you can’t trust. There’s always someone being dangerous and destructive. It normally is the case with each character having an aspect of danger. In Touch of Evil, the lead detective, the obese Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) becomes the bad guy in the film. There is always betrayal involved in a film noir.
In Paul Schrader’s notes on film noir he discusses the compositional tension that is preferred to physical action in Film Noir. The cinematography is more aware and the actor’s area of surroundings stands out more than the physical action that the actor is making. The scene is controlling the action. As dramatic as the action would be the composition is more artistic rather than gory and brutal to watch. Normally there isn’t an extreme close up of the action, just a general long shot or medium shot of the action taking place because the background is usually important in the style of film noir.
I think that film noir is a bunch of genres all mixed in one and it originated in the 1940s and 1950s. Just because it’s history starts in that generation doesn’t mean all film noirs have to be in black & white and have mostly dark lighting. I think Brick is a new form of film noir that involves the more recent generation of film. It’s based off of what was defined as a film noir back in the 40s and 50s but it is more modern-day crime and mystery. There doesn’t always have to be trench coats and fedoras in a film noir, but there sure always is cigarettes! Props in these kinds of movies stood out a lot more to me while watching this area of film.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Chinatown (1974)
Chinatown (1974) by Roman Polanski
Chinatown starred Jack Nicholson as a private detective named “Jake Gittes” who is hired to spy on Hollis Mulwray, the chief engineer for the city’s water department, by an imposer who comes into his office and claims to be Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray. (She thinks he’s having an affair.) Once Gittes starts spying on Hollis, he snatches pictures of him with a young blonde and another time with an old man that looks like they are in a heated argument. Later we find out who the young blonde is, and the old man is Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross (played by John Hutson). The real Evelyn Mulwray comes into Gittes’s office and proclaims she is going to sue him if he doesn’t stop following her husband. However, once Hollis ends up killed, a huge investigation breaks out and Gittes tries to figure out why this man died and who killed him.
This movie was a film noir because it had a big investigation about a murder that needed to be solved. The black and white made it more of a cinematic feel to it. I didn’t understand why that lady impersonated Evelyn Mulwray and who hired her to do that. I didn’t understand why they wanted him to be spied on and why the impersonator lady turned up dead in her apartment later on in the film. I understand the overall point of the film, just not that particular detail. The movie was pretty good, it definitely had the film noir aspects to it. It was a mystery with one character trying to solve the problem without getting the cops involve because of course, they ruin everything. The moral of the story was that something bad always happens whenever Gitte is in Chinatown. The entire movie was not set in Chinatown expect for the end of the film where something horrible happens! And that’s the point is that good things don’t come out of being in Chinatown. Horrible things will always happen there!
Chinatown starred Jack Nicholson as a private detective named “Jake Gittes” who is hired to spy on Hollis Mulwray, the chief engineer for the city’s water department, by an imposer who comes into his office and claims to be Mrs. Evelyn Mulwray. (She thinks he’s having an affair.) Once Gittes starts spying on Hollis, he snatches pictures of him with a young blonde and another time with an old man that looks like they are in a heated argument. Later we find out who the young blonde is, and the old man is Evelyn’s father, Noah Cross (played by John Hutson). The real Evelyn Mulwray comes into Gittes’s office and proclaims she is going to sue him if he doesn’t stop following her husband. However, once Hollis ends up killed, a huge investigation breaks out and Gittes tries to figure out why this man died and who killed him.
This movie was a film noir because it had a big investigation about a murder that needed to be solved. The black and white made it more of a cinematic feel to it. I didn’t understand why that lady impersonated Evelyn Mulwray and who hired her to do that. I didn’t understand why they wanted him to be spied on and why the impersonator lady turned up dead in her apartment later on in the film. I understand the overall point of the film, just not that particular detail. The movie was pretty good, it definitely had the film noir aspects to it. It was a mystery with one character trying to solve the problem without getting the cops involve because of course, they ruin everything. The moral of the story was that something bad always happens whenever Gitte is in Chinatown. The entire movie was not set in Chinatown expect for the end of the film where something horrible happens! And that’s the point is that good things don’t come out of being in Chinatown. Horrible things will always happen there!
Monday, November 16, 2009
BRICK (2005)
Brick (2005)
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Brick is a detective story set at a high school, which is very surprising to me because I never once saw any of the characters attend class. When Brendan Frye (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets a desperately frightening phone call by his ex girlfriend Emily (Emilie de Ravin), he immediately makes her business, his business. With the help of his friend he calls The Brain (Matt O’Leary), he figures out a crime investigation to why he found Emily’s body dead in a sewer tunnel two days after her phone call. Throughout his journey, Brendan gets beat up plenty of times to the point where he should not be standing, but pushes to find who his ex girlfriend’s murderer is, and why she died. The investigation has to do with an eccentric drug lord they call “The Pin” (Lukas Haas) and the femme fatal character is Laura (Nora Zehetner). The twist to this movie is rather striking. The damsel in distress would be Emily in this movie. Brendan starts off trying to figure out the investigation with the words “brick” and “pin.”
I enjoyed this movie. It definitely fits into the film noir genre because it has a lot of crime, violence, drugs, and love story attached to it. It’s very entertaining, however very confusing to follow, because it’s a fast pace and you need to catch every word in the dialogue to understand Brendan’s next move. A better understanding and more appreciation of Brick would be advised if watched a second time. Brendan’s character is hard boiled and very tough. He knows what he wants and he does his best to get what he wants. He is a very intelligent boy who strives for the answers, and achieves his goals. The twist is amazing! I was not expecting the ending, which was unpredictable, which I love about movies and is what makes movies a hit!
Touch of Evil (1958)
Touch of Evil (1958) directed by Orson Welles was an older film and a classic film noir. It’s an American film about an investigation that involves both United States and Mexican police force because it happens near the borderline of both countries. A Mexican detected named Vargas (Charleston Heston) and his new wife (Janet Leigh) who hears a loud explosion from afar, realizing it’s a car that just blew up near the border that had a bomb implanted in it. The newly wed couple was supposed to be on their honeymoon but instead, Vargas decides to inspect this investigation. Captain Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) is in charge of the American police investigating this situation. He is not the friendliest man and seems to be very suspicious. He claims to stand up for the law, yet he tries to blame the investigation all on a young Mexican man. Vargas tries to fight against this because it is a false accusation, and he gets into a lot of trouble, meanwhile his wife is held captured back at the motel where they are staying by a man by the name of Grande. As the plot develops, it becomes very clear that Vargas cannot trust Quinlan because he is corrupt. Vargas then has to prove that the heroic head investigator or the American police is really making things worse than better.
This film was kind of confusing at times because it was all over the place. I had problems following the plot and where exactly it was going. Once I kept found out information a little bit at a time it all came together at the end. I think a lot of people in this film are not what you expect them to really be towards the end of the film. I didn’t enjoy watching this movie. It was too old for me and it didn’t grasp a lot of my interest.
This film was kind of confusing at times because it was all over the place. I had problems following the plot and where exactly it was going. Once I kept found out information a little bit at a time it all came together at the end. I think a lot of people in this film are not what you expect them to really be towards the end of the film. I didn’t enjoy watching this movie. It was too old for me and it didn’t grasp a lot of my interest.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Maltese Falcon (1941) Review
This film was written and directed by John Huston. It stars Humphrey Bogart as private investigator Sam Spade, Jerome Cowan as Miles Archer, his partner in investigation. Mary Astor as Brigid O' Shaughnessy, Spade's femme fatale client, is a suspicious liar throughout the film and she becomes the suspect in the investigation of Mile's Archer's killing. The maltese falcon is a statue that is what the entire movie's fuss is all about, which in the end turns out to be a fake anyways. What was the significance of the Falcon in the first place?
The Maltese Falcon is known to be the first film noir ever created, because it is filled with crime, drama, romance, and mystery. With three scoundrels all trying to get their hands on the falcon statue, which has a great significant value and trade a lot of money for it. Ms. Shaughnessy is a curiosity to the audience throughout the movie because she doesn't explain her full story until Spade figures it out in the end. I didn't really understand the relationship between Ms. Shaugnessy and Spade, and Mile's wife and Spade. Was he just a ladies man? He randomly kept kissing each of them even though he seemed like he had no attraction to either one. This film was eventful and a knockout for 1941, however, I didn't enjoy it too much because I never grasp the concept of what the big deal was about this falcon statue in the first place!
The Maltese Falcon is known to be the first film noir ever created, because it is filled with crime, drama, romance, and mystery. With three scoundrels all trying to get their hands on the falcon statue, which has a great significant value and trade a lot of money for it. Ms. Shaughnessy is a curiosity to the audience throughout the movie because she doesn't explain her full story until Spade figures it out in the end. I didn't really understand the relationship between Ms. Shaugnessy and Spade, and Mile's wife and Spade. Was he just a ladies man? He randomly kept kissing each of them even though he seemed like he had no attraction to either one. This film was eventful and a knockout for 1941, however, I didn't enjoy it too much because I never grasp the concept of what the big deal was about this falcon statue in the first place!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Casablanca, Daughters of the Dusk, Monsoon Wedding..Analytical BLOGGGYBLOG
Analytical Blog for Casablanca, Daughters of the Dusk, and Monsoon Wedding
Casablanca (1942) is a classic Hollywood film with classic film narrative because it presents a close relationship between the individual lives of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). The setting is based on the main social history that was occurring after World War II. Daughters of the Dusk has an alternative film narrative because it focuses on a large group of individuals that live their lives by traditional patterns and they’ve been living that way for so many years because it’s been the history in their family for years way back to their first ancestors. The characters all live on an island and most of the family wants to move north and leave the island to start a new life. Monsoon Wedding challenges Hollywood convention as well as Daughters of the Dusk because it is also an alternative narrative that has cultural differences since it’s a “bollywood” film.
The narrative point of view was different in all three of these movies. In Daughters of the Dusk, there were so many main characters but not all of them I fully understood. For example, I felt like the audience didn’t get a chance to be emotionally attached to a particular character because the narrative point of views kept changing from one person to the next. For instance, we see the point of view of Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce) in the beginning of the film when she is returning from the mainland, and right away I thought the focus was going to stay on her. Then it ended up being Yellow Mary (Barbarao)’s perspective since she was returning home in what looked like a wedding dress. We also hear the Unborn Child (Kai-Lynn Warren)’s narrative point of view when she runs through the island watching over her parents. It was interesting to see how the film jumped from one person to the next. There’s also a side love story between Iona (Bahni Turpin) and St. Julien Lastchild (M. Chochise Anderson) which seems unimportant until the very end of the film when Iona decides to stay behind on the island with him as her family moves to the mainland. I don’t see parallelism in all these combing characters except for the fact that they are all in the same family.
In Monsoon Wedding, the narrative was extremely bilingual using various subtitles to understand the Indian language. Many characters were very important to the plot. It had several parallel romantic situations between many members of the Verma family and even between their housemaid and the wedding planner. The film showed how traditional Indian weddings would occur and the many traditional engagements that occur before the wedding like woman gathering for rituals to put henna on their hands.
Both these movies challenge the conventional Hollywood films because they are not focused on one or two main characters. There are several narrations and the western style is not based on social historical events. The classical Hollywood narrative focuses more on the times between and during World War II and the alternative narrations are focused more on cultural narrations. Daughters of the Dusk and Monsoon Wedding create a visible distinction between the classical Hollywood film Casablanca. The love triangle between three characters in Casablanca form an emotional attachment to the characters especially the ending when Rick makes a decision because it was the safest way since certain historical events were taking place. Daughters of the Dusk avoids concentrating on the motivations of a single character. Monsoon Wedding lets the audience get to know certain characters, like the father of the Verma family. For example, he was very emotional when he found out about his niece being sexually abused by his in-law and was now doing the same to his youngest (daughter?) We see how much it impacted him because he makes the decision to not let his in-law take place at the wedding anymore. These films have nontraditional narratives that vary between the cultural aspects and traditions. Daughters of the Dusk was portraying an African American family lifestyle, Monsoon Wedding was portraying a lifestyle in India, and Casablanca was a typical American movie that portrayed Caucasian lifestyle during the particular time and generation.
Casablanca (1942) is a classic Hollywood film with classic film narrative because it presents a close relationship between the individual lives of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). The setting is based on the main social history that was occurring after World War II. Daughters of the Dusk has an alternative film narrative because it focuses on a large group of individuals that live their lives by traditional patterns and they’ve been living that way for so many years because it’s been the history in their family for years way back to their first ancestors. The characters all live on an island and most of the family wants to move north and leave the island to start a new life. Monsoon Wedding challenges Hollywood convention as well as Daughters of the Dusk because it is also an alternative narrative that has cultural differences since it’s a “bollywood” film.
The narrative point of view was different in all three of these movies. In Daughters of the Dusk, there were so many main characters but not all of them I fully understood. For example, I felt like the audience didn’t get a chance to be emotionally attached to a particular character because the narrative point of views kept changing from one person to the next. For instance, we see the point of view of Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce) in the beginning of the film when she is returning from the mainland, and right away I thought the focus was going to stay on her. Then it ended up being Yellow Mary (Barbarao)’s perspective since she was returning home in what looked like a wedding dress. We also hear the Unborn Child (Kai-Lynn Warren)’s narrative point of view when she runs through the island watching over her parents. It was interesting to see how the film jumped from one person to the next. There’s also a side love story between Iona (Bahni Turpin) and St. Julien Lastchild (M. Chochise Anderson) which seems unimportant until the very end of the film when Iona decides to stay behind on the island with him as her family moves to the mainland. I don’t see parallelism in all these combing characters except for the fact that they are all in the same family.
In Monsoon Wedding, the narrative was extremely bilingual using various subtitles to understand the Indian language. Many characters were very important to the plot. It had several parallel romantic situations between many members of the Verma family and even between their housemaid and the wedding planner. The film showed how traditional Indian weddings would occur and the many traditional engagements that occur before the wedding like woman gathering for rituals to put henna on their hands.
Both these movies challenge the conventional Hollywood films because they are not focused on one or two main characters. There are several narrations and the western style is not based on social historical events. The classical Hollywood narrative focuses more on the times between and during World War II and the alternative narrations are focused more on cultural narrations. Daughters of the Dusk and Monsoon Wedding create a visible distinction between the classical Hollywood film Casablanca. The love triangle between three characters in Casablanca form an emotional attachment to the characters especially the ending when Rick makes a decision because it was the safest way since certain historical events were taking place. Daughters of the Dusk avoids concentrating on the motivations of a single character. Monsoon Wedding lets the audience get to know certain characters, like the father of the Verma family. For example, he was very emotional when he found out about his niece being sexually abused by his in-law and was now doing the same to his youngest (daughter?) We see how much it impacted him because he makes the decision to not let his in-law take place at the wedding anymore. These films have nontraditional narratives that vary between the cultural aspects and traditions. Daughters of the Dusk was portraying an African American family lifestyle, Monsoon Wedding was portraying a lifestyle in India, and Casablanca was a typical American movie that portrayed Caucasian lifestyle during the particular time and generation.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monsoon Wedding-film review
Film Review- Monsoon Wedding
The director Mira Nair of Monsoon Wedding created a colorful film that was set in India. It was a gathering of the Verma family, as their daughter Aditi, accepts a marriage with a man that her father arranged for her. The groom is an Indian living in Texas, and once they are married they plan on moving to America. At first Aditi is confused because she has a subtle affair with her ex lover, a married TV producer. However, that ends quickly and she makes her decision and realizes that she wants to be with the man her father picked for her. The engagements and arrangements for the wedding last for a couple days, while Dubey, the wedding planner, is a bit behind in his work. He falls in love with the family’s housemaid, Alice. All relatives from both families come to this wedding from distant places like Australia, USA, and all over India. Some family conflicts occur, Ria, a cousin to the bride, is scarred from an in-law who sexually abused her, and speaks up when she notices that he is doing the same to another young girl of the family. Once the chaotic planning and setting up for this huge event is over, it turns out to be a happy wedding with everyone dancing in the rain to the exotic Indian music.
There is a lot of romance in the air between so many people in this film. It seems to be a very important aspect of the Indian culture to get married. Why does Dubey always eat flowers? That was one of my main concerns throughout this film…it struck me as strange. This movie has a different narrative because it’s a western style that includes old traditions of the Indian culture. It has several main characters all having problems; it reminded me of a soap opera. It presents parallel stories between romantic couples. The culture of India and it’s old traditions is shown clearly in this bollywood film. I thought it was humorous at times as well as depressing, exciting, and fun. I enjoyed the music and all the jewelry and outfits the woman wore!
The director Mira Nair of Monsoon Wedding created a colorful film that was set in India. It was a gathering of the Verma family, as their daughter Aditi, accepts a marriage with a man that her father arranged for her. The groom is an Indian living in Texas, and once they are married they plan on moving to America. At first Aditi is confused because she has a subtle affair with her ex lover, a married TV producer. However, that ends quickly and she makes her decision and realizes that she wants to be with the man her father picked for her. The engagements and arrangements for the wedding last for a couple days, while Dubey, the wedding planner, is a bit behind in his work. He falls in love with the family’s housemaid, Alice. All relatives from both families come to this wedding from distant places like Australia, USA, and all over India. Some family conflicts occur, Ria, a cousin to the bride, is scarred from an in-law who sexually abused her, and speaks up when she notices that he is doing the same to another young girl of the family. Once the chaotic planning and setting up for this huge event is over, it turns out to be a happy wedding with everyone dancing in the rain to the exotic Indian music.
There is a lot of romance in the air between so many people in this film. It seems to be a very important aspect of the Indian culture to get married. Why does Dubey always eat flowers? That was one of my main concerns throughout this film…it struck me as strange. This movie has a different narrative because it’s a western style that includes old traditions of the Indian culture. It has several main characters all having problems; it reminded me of a soap opera. It presents parallel stories between romantic couples. The culture of India and it’s old traditions is shown clearly in this bollywood film. I thought it was humorous at times as well as depressing, exciting, and fun. I enjoyed the music and all the jewelry and outfits the woman wore!
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