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.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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.
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.
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