The Class -

Director - Laurent Cantet - 2008


I think the fact that it isn't compulsary to wear uniform in the school holds a major reference to the power element of "The Class" because of the fact that the children see this not wearing uniform as a freedom if you like. The thing is you'd think by letting the children wear what they please, it would also reduce conflict, in this case it does not because it just shows the vast amount of diversity in the classroom.

Race is also a very big issue because that too creates conflict. Like for example they call they Wei, Jackie Chan because he is chinese. Obviously you could see this as a power dominance because although Wei doesn't seem to mind this sort of seemingly inocent nickname, but the fact that its racial, brings up the point that he had no choice in the matter of his nickname based on the power of the other students because Wei is the only person of chinese nationality in his class. Therefore he could be seen as weaker in that way. Making him a target.

The cinematography is important because of the certain angles that the camera's produce. There are alot of high angle shots of the pupils, looking down on them sort of making their authortity seem below that of the teacher but at the same time the high angled shots were shown with the teacher showing that he too, didn't have complate authoritive power over the class. I think the importance of this is simply to present the question of who exactly has the power in this movie.

Its a bit ironic that at some times it seems that the teacher is the one being schooled, especially when he is not in the classroom. Its good to see that the pupils are automatically more powerful when they are in their territory. Its like although he is trying to teach the pupil about his world, they are also trying to give him an insight into their's something which it seem sthe teacher finds hard to grasp based on his response to the pupils questions.

There is alot more, im just trying to get what im trying to say, out in a fairly understandable fashion. I think the fact that I wasn't overly fond of the film really effected my judgment, but whilst thinking about it, I can see certain issues behind the film.

Film Idea. Creative coursework

Okay, well im not 100% on what exactly I am going to do yet but im thinking it would be best to focus on something that I can relate to really well. Im thinking about drifting more towards the horror side of genre seeing as these are the movies I enjoy watching. Something that gets the heart beating. I am going to use a couple of films for inspiration, as well as the knowledge I already have of what is involved with a scary film.

Im thinking about maybe the old school American type of horror such as "The Candy Man". I think this would be great because it is resonably acheiveable, It could be of the same storyline although i would add my own twist on it, such as instead of a mirror and saying "candy man" 3 times, there could be like a dark ritual that they think is a joke, along with quigi boards and so forth. I think this would work really well with teenages too because its something that alot of young people are curious about.

Another thing is that i could with this story make the audience jump which is something that I would love to do. It would be a great acchivment for me personally.

I think its almost certain that with the go ahead i could have a really good go at this and I know that i could be sucessful with what i want to acchieve.

Gomorrah -

I found this film to be quite strange. Although i felt involved i didnt feel emotionally attatched to any of the characters what so ever. I think the main reasons for this were simply the fact that we never met the characters for a long enough period of time. The cinematography worked well with this because we were always looking over the characters shoulders in every scene almost overlooking what they were doing. Also the fact that when anyone was killed, we never really saw them being shot, we only saw the aftermath. Apart from in the begining when we saw each individual in the tanning place get shot, I think the reson for this though was to instantly show the audience explicitly, what the film was about.

Because we were never fully involved with the characters, I didn't personally feel anything when they died which could possibly be giving a deeper insight into how the characters and people where they live thought about eachother. Seeing eachother as more like "meat" or just property. This was shown when one of the characters who i assume is very high up tells the "money carrier" that he will have to pay for his life. It seemed that the money hold the most power in the film because whatever action is taken, its always related back somehow to money which could be showing the theme of poverty in the film.

I found it really interesting the way that children were exploted in the way that they were, and especially the chinese in the sewing factory. Again i think this comes down to money because the higher up people realise that they dont have to pay them as much as they would have to if they were either adults or of the same race. Being that crime is such a big theme in the film, it wouldn't suprise me if the chinese were in fact illegal immigrants.

Film Response - Goodbye Lenin

Goodbye Lenin, internationally released in 2003, I found to be quite an unusual fim based on its narative. It has been labeled as a Tragic comedy which is quite an odd combination to have in a film. Tragedy and comedy. Sort of like an oximoron of the film world.

When the mother (Christiane) is shown at the very beginning of the movie, with the rest of the family including the father, the family are all shown as being happy and loving the life they have together. Then the mother is taken ill and it shows a complete contrast showing that the mothers life has fallen apart due to the fact the the father left the family. Gradually the mothers condition grows worse and she has two heart attacks.

When the son (Alex) hears that his mother must not receive any bad or exiting news he almost seems to go into overdrive and becomes really protective of her. I find this a bit ironic in the way that one what he is doing to her is wrong in the sense that assuming she did survive, she would eventually have to know that the whole world outside her room has changed. which could lead to another heart attack on quite possibly a bigger scale.

There was a breif moment in the film that i didnt really understand, one was when you saw through the window Alex's girlfriend talking with the mother explaining that germany's east and west side was now one. Personally i got the impression that maybe the girlfriend got sck of leading this double life and just decided it was in the mothers best interests to tell her about what was happening, But then we see the father and Alex explaining not to say anything about what was going on. I got slightly confused but it didn't seem to effect the narative, so i wasn't put off at all.

Other then a few minor comic points in the film, i didn't really see how the movie could be perceived as a comedy. Maybe it could have been due to the fact that we were learning the movie rather then just watching it because none o0f us were really aware of the facts that were shown in the movie. A Point that was brought up in a discussion.

City Roles - Honey

In the film Honey, I feel that the city plays a huge role in the narative because although this movie quite possibly could have been based in a different city and still have the same effect, the fact that it needs a city to progress makes it a relitivley good choice to analyse.

The narative shows certain choices that the children of new york are forced to make in a bid to be safe, on top and even just to survive. The drug abuse they wittness on a daily bases also had a role in the film because it allows the narative to take a bad situation and create some form of hope.

Jessica Alba (Honey) sets herself the challenge to build a dance studio in order to help some kids she met have a better life, and to keep them out of trouble. One of the kids however is so involved with this drug dealing that he has it rough trying t get out of the situation. I think the city has a huge role in this particualr childs life because without the decision he was forced to make to get into the drug dealing in the first place as a means of survival he would be okay and not in need of the help he received as a result of choosing this life style.

Once the child gets out of the situation with the help of "Honey" he shows talents that were unseen before hand. By showing his talent he becomes quite sucessful and is shown for the first time the love of his mother. I think the fact that the city forces children to take up this lifestyle as a means of survival is really shown in this movie. And the true nature of a life like that is brought to light showing the violence, crime, neglect and depth of emotions that some people really go through living a life like this.

Amores Perros -

Personally I found Amores Perros drew mixed emotions from me. With the dog fighting, crimes, love affairs, deception ect ...
I think all over its quite a negetive film that shows Marxism in the way that it shows how society gives people a certain attitude towards life. With Valaria being a modle, modlers expect perfection on a great scale and to be in a car crash and end up with a huge scar on her leg, she naturally feels like her life is over, then when she finally appears to come to terms with that aspect of her life that now may be over, she then has to have her leg amputated which then quite literally appears to kill her inside, being so perfect before hand.

Next the way that octavio and his brother are together, so much hatred between them both. Himself and susana having what appears to be an affair behing his brothers back, another affair is between Daniel & valaria, although Daniel eventually told his wife that he was leaving her. Then the dog fighting with the shoot scene at the end. I never quite knew what i was meant to be feeling.

I did however like the way that all three stories linked together so well. The car crash being a result of Octavios escaping, which led to valaria injuring her leg, then the bum tried to help save them, it all just linked perfectly without fault.

Amores Perros just seemed to be disturbed and negetive however it caught my attention and at many points i coulod not turn away from the screen dispite the fact that i didn't like what i was seeing. It was a really good film.

Adam Sandler Coursework.

Ok in my coursework im am going to be looking at Adam Sandler and how his screen persona has developed throughout his career. I'll be looking at the film "Going Overboard" in which Adam Sandler Played his first Star role, taking notes and observing his screen persona at that time in his carrer.

Next i'll take a film from the mid of his carrer, "Mr.Deeds" which will be my focus film in which i will look at how his screen person is at that point, how it has changed, what has remained the same.

I will then take Adam Sandlers most recent film "funny People" and observe how his screen persona is shown in this movie.

I will then make comparisons between the three, and based on my findings i'll be able to create a good presentation on how Adam Sandlers Screen persona has developed with age. and developed much like the way he and his personality have developed from boy to man.

Adam Sandler Research.

From looking at my research of Adam Sandler my conlusion is simply this.

I think Adam sandler's screen persona has aged along with him. To be honest i think that the humour in his films arent intentionally put into the films. I think its just expected because of Adam sandlers personality. For example when Sandler married his wife, he made his dog Meatball, the best man at his wedding, dressing him in a tux, and even letting the dog have the responsibility of taking care of the rings. (insane)

In earlier films such as 'Going Overboard' and 'Shakes the clown' Sandler showed a real childish, punky teenager approuch in all of his humour. But with such films as 'Funny people' It seems to have matured and devoleped into adult humour, but more relaxed as if its simply Adam himself playing himself in a film. It doesnt appear as him acting.

This is also proven in my research where sandler made a statement saying when he played as zohan in 'Dont mess with the Zohan' After he finished filming, he said because of the type of humour within the film, it made him feel dirty knowing his children were going to one day see this side of their father. A side he didnt like to show anymore with valgaur language, and highly 'Blue' comedy.

Also, before hand, Sandler made a statement about how money is everything. Clearly as he has grown, his opinion of money has changed seeing as he consistantly donates to charity, in one case he donated over $1,000,000 to the 'Boys and Girls charity' in his hometown. I think this is also shown in his more recent movies when he simply appear to play as himself, and doesn't ''TRY'' to be funny. He just well, is.

In the first 10-12 films that Sandler Starred in, He sort of seemed to develop this 'voice' that was like a childs voice, especially shown in ''Billy madison'', ''Mr.Deeds'' & ''Happy Gilmore''. They all showed this sort of childish, really immature side of Sandler with his voice and scripts and even the roles themself. It seemed as if the director cast him for these roles because of the fact that they knew he could be childish. But it just didn't seem right him parading around like a child, talking in a ridiculous voice. I think at this point Sandler himself started to realise this because after these films in particualr his humour seemed to take a different approuch. A more adult way of doing things whilst still remaining funny.

In his early carrer he made a breif attempt at becoming a stand up comedian, and his humour then, being yound, was in fact childish which is why i suppose he found it nessasary to continue his childish personality in his films. Because he realised people enjoyed watching him be this ...child. Although i think it grew tiresome not only in his movies, but with him as a person. Having children and getting married possibly made him realise he had to grow up for his wife and children. Although he still maintained the humourous side to his life with his dog meatball as his best man at the wedding.

Most of this was from my own knowledge, other the the fct that a few minor things such as his donation to a charity was found on wikipedia under the search "Adam Sandler"

400 Blows (Les Quatre cents coups)

In the opening scene, there were a few key clues as to the general mood of the film. These included the natural low lighting and the gritty, dirty scenes of the city of paris.

The child, Antoine, on first appearance is just show to be a bit of a Delinquent in school, the joker of the class. Just a bit further in the film however shows a deeper side of his life. His mother clearly is very hard on him whether its because she dislikes him or just cant be bothered to deal with him shows that maybe he misbehaves for the attention he receives as a consiquence. His mother also seems to use the child as a deflect for her own guilt, often when she is put under pressure for her own actions she brings up something about Antoine to shift the pressure from herself onto him, shown in the scene after he see's the afair when she claims to have been driven home by her boss. When clearly its obvious she is having an affair.

There are alot of long shots showing lonliness and how this child who appears so hard on the outside really feels about his life. He has one friend in the beginning who almost seems to guide him in his "quest" for freedom. Ironically, he gets taken to a behaviour correction facility which is ironic because in his jouney for freedom he is actually locked up.

During the film towards the missle, the two parents switch roles of authority, the father at the beggining appears to be more on the childs side rather then the hard mothers, yet there comes a point in the film where the father enters the childs school and slaps him in the face for "bunking off school". From that point forward the mother almost seems to love the child unconditionally defending his every action. Whether this was to protect herself from the deception she has been involved with from her husband is another matter.

At some points during the film there were a few "mismatched" or music which seemed unappropriate. For example when the child was being taken away, the music seemed more happy and giddy then depressing which the scene clearly was.

There seemed to be quite a few reaction shots or close ups, when the child seemed unphased by what was happening around him. When his mother was telling the father to place the child under the care of an orphanage, there was a close shot of the child and the child facial expressions didn't seem to change at all, they just seemed like his usual miserable same expression.