Memento

This movie... I actually rather enjoyed it, even though it broke my brain multiple times. I really liked the idea of keeping the viewer just as clueless as Lenny by moving backwards through the events.

Oddly enough, the plot struck me as linear in a very strange, very convoluted way. It starts at the end of the chain of events. A dead guy, Lenny standing over him with the gun, photo in hand. I suppose the best way to describe the way the story moves is by saying that it "ratchets" back through the timeline, overlapping events slightly and slowly -- very slowly -- revealing the events leading up to each incident. By the time we reach the end -- or the beginning, as the case may be -- we find that Lenny isn't as innocent as he may appear.

To be honest, it's never quite certain just how guilty anybody was, aside from the fact that Lenny is obviously a dangerous man who used his disorder to trick himself into killing Teddy. None of the information we recieve can really be trusted. Was Teddy lying during his whole explanation in the end (or beginning)? Did Lenny kill John G already? Did he kill his wife? Was Sammy Jenkins real? Or was he a figment of Lenny's imagination, made to reassure Lenny and convince him that it was Sammy, not Lenny, who killed their wife with insulin?

This array of uncertainties mirror the human memory; over time, memories become warped and may distort facts to assure the person that they are in the right. The entire movie demonstrates the uncertainties of human memory, the most obvious example being the main character himself.
Moreover, the movie seems to be designed to confuse the viewer, leaving them unsure of what to think. The backward movement of the plot is not only meant to mirror Lenny's uncertainty about past events, but to leave the viewer disoriented. The question of whether Lenny is the protagonist or merely the main character is another tool to confuse the viewer. The sudden knowledge that Lenny planted the information that led to Teddy's death leads the viewer to further confusion over the morals of each character.

Over all, an extremely well-crafted and fascinating movie, but I'm not sure that I would want to watch it again -- my head hurts too much already.

Dark City

We just started watching it today, and already I find that I'm completely fascinated -- if a bit creeped out -- by it. The quick-cutting camera, strange lighting and camera angles, and just the fact that you have no idea what's going on all create a very unnerving, disorienting effect. I think the best way to describe my reaction at the moment is that my mind has been blown.

Also, I noticed something in the list of victims... Whether it actually means something or I'm just analyzing too obsessively (I honestly don't think the latter is very likely) I suppose we'll find later. Anyway, the first letter in the first name of each victim spelled out "MASKSB." "Masks" might add to the idea of things being hidden or concealed, while I'm not sure what the "B" means (yet).

Overall, even just from the ten or so minutes we saw, this movie is very, very interesting.

The Asphalt Jungle

To be honest, I'm not a fan of the Film Noir genre. I tend not to like the dark themes, and I can't stand being able to see the trainwreck approaching (it's inevitable, after all, that they'll all most likely get caught or die by the end). Even so, I've found that I am quite enjoying this movie.

What I find truly fascinating is that there are no true 'good guys' or 'bad guys'. Everybody is a shade of gray, and even most of the criminals have a very human side to them. Louis, with his beloved family; Dix and his desire to go back to his ranch and be with the horses; they each have something that makes them more than just cardboard-cutout mobster-types.

Although I freely admit to liking the cliched good-versus-evil fantasy or sci-fi type stuff (usually with a happy ending), I find that the most interesting stories involve characters that you can never quite figure out. I like the cliched fantasy stuff for when I just want to watch something for fun, and don't want to have to think about it, but I still do love movies like The Asphalt Jungle for when I want something that will make me think and that has a more in-depth, interesting plot. This movie involves various shades of gray to match with the black-and-white film. You're actually made to care about each character, and to feel for them when they're caught.

Of course, there are a few that you don't care so much about. Emmerich, for instance, seems to be a greedy, selfish man. Of course, he's desperate because he's broke, but there are many things that make him less than likeable. Cheating on his wife, for instance, and plotting to steal all of the jewels. He almost feels like Charles Kane; the powerful but heartless, scheming man.
Also, I find Doc Riedenschneider (try saying that three times fast) to be quite repulsive. A brilliant man, but selfish and creepy. There are some nice things about him (helping out in the jail library) but overall I get the impression of a guy who's something of a creeper. The way he was mesmerized by the girl as she danced to the music skeeved me out. Of course, it's probably meant to.

This has been a very intriguing movie, and I once more find myself very glad I decided to take this class. This is the second or third film that I've seen and very much liked, which I would never have seen otherwise.

Unforgiven

Unforgiven -- both a very interesting movie and what I should probably be for neglecting my blog for so long.

This movie reminded me in several ways of Runaway Train. However, I found that I just didn't like this film quite as much as Runaway Train. It may just be that I loved Runaway Train so much that I was thinking "Eh, not good enough." Don't get me wrong, I did still quite like Unforgiven.

Opinions aside, Unforgiven is a very intriguing movie, with many themes running through it. It was a Western, but it also took each stereotype of a Western movie and turned it on its head. The first thing I noticed is that, unlike most Westerns, killings aren't just forgotten in favor of focusing on the heroic gun-slinging, horseback-riding action. When people are killed in this movie, it's actually dwelt on somewhat. The two cowboys aren't just killed and BAM, that's it. The Schofield Kid is traumatized by the fact that he killed a man, realizing that it's not as glorious as it seems. This ties in to the theme of exaggeration that is prevalent throughout the movie. Delilah had her face cut up by the cowboy, but she honestly didn't look that bad at all. And yet the event is blown up to huge proportions -- the Schofield Kid tells Munny that the cowboy cut her fingers and breasts and all sorts of things that didn't actually happen.
Finally, the realistic approach to the Western genre. No fancy, impractical swinging saloon doors. Considering that it's raining in many of the scenes involving the saloon, that would be awfully messy. Also, in the final scene, Munny fires six shots from a six-shooter. I have seen some other Westerns that have the hero shooting left-and right -- always with excellent accuracy -- and never running out of bullets.

A final note -- when Munny takes a drink from the whiskey bottle, I honestly didn't even notice that he had done it until after he put the cap on. I think that's the best way it possibly could have been done, as it reflects how little it took for Munny to revert to his old ways, even briefly.

The Seventh Seal

Okay, I'll be frank -- I'm really not connecting to this movie very easily. I think it may just be that, after the emotional high of the end of Runaway Train, Seventh Seal starts slowly and forces me to slow down to match it when I'm left wanting more of something like Runaway Train. Maybe in the future it would be better to set it up so you have something different right after Runaway Train? I don't know, I'm rambling. I'm sorry.

Anyway, though I'm not feeling much of a connection with Seventh Seal at the moment, I can't deny that it is an interesting movie. One thing I've noticed is that it seems as if the idea of black and white is a theme; Black and white film, of course (though it's not like they had anything else at the time), the black and white chess pieces, the Black Death, and the stark black-and-white credits. Also, the character of Death himself has a very pale face, in stark contrast with his black cloak.

The squire (I think his name is Jons?) is a very interesting character. I find myself connecting to him much more easily than to Block. Jons is a more lively character, while Block just seems very distant and cold.

I wish I could connect with this movie, because I know that it's fascinating and I should be getting a lot out of it. I guess it's just not my style though. I think my parents Netflixed it at some point and I walked out because I didn't like it. Oh well. Here's hoping I enjoy the rest of the movies we watch more.

Film and emotional reactions

It's a very interesting thing, isn't it? When you get down to it, a film is just a bunch of people pretending to be other people, reciting very carefully worded lines and performing pre-set actions in an effort to tell a story, which is often (though, of course, not always) completely made-up.

And yet, even knowing this, we often find ourselves profoundly affected by movies. For example, the very end of Runaway Train that left me speechless. Or a movie like Apollo 13 that has me crying (no matter how many times I see it) at the end when the radio silence finally ends and the crew is okay.
How can this be? How is it that one can be left in awed silence, in tears, or with chills running down one's back, or -- well, you get the idea -- if we know that it's just a bunch of people playing a very complex game of make-believe?

I think it all comes down to human nature. Our brains -- the most advanced nervous system in any animal, allowing us conscious thought and emotion -- don't care that it's not actually happening. Our ability to see a story and be emotionally affected by it is one of the wonders of the human mind. It doesn't matter that Manny and Ranken and the train are all figments of our imagination, that they're just actors pretending to be a convict and a prison warden on a prop that's not actually going to kill them. It's a story, and those characters are brought to life by the actors and by our imaginations, allowing us to percieve them as real people in a real situation.

Runaway Train

We just finished this movie on Friday. I have to say, I was thoroughly blown away by the very last scene of the movie. Just that image -- Manny standing on top of the train, arms outstretched, fading into the distance, toward certain death -- really gave me chills. He's about to die, but he's free. What's interesting is that the positions of Manny and Ranken are reversed; before, Manny was in his cell which was welded shut, while Ranken had the power and the freedom. In the end, it is Ranken who is handcuffed to the spot in the train while Manny exults in his freedom, standing atop the train.

A major theme throughout the film is the idea of 'Man or Beast'. In the very beginning, Ranken says that the inmates are all animals. As the movie progresses, this is referred back to -- in Manny responding to Sarah's accusation of him being an "animal" by saying "Worse -- I'm human."; in Ranken's hunt for Manny and Buck, acting like a hunter on the trail of some wild animal; and when Sarah bites Manny's hand. Biting is something of an animal instinct -- a very primitive method of self-defense or attack. Humans have mostly evolved past the use of biting as anything other than a means of eating, but this action reveals just how close all of us are to animals. Sarah's character is shown as an innocent woman, a figure we would hardly expect shouts of "Kill him! Kill him!" to come from. She is there to truly illustrate the theme of animal vs human in this movie.

Over all, I'm very happy that I saw this movie in this class. Honestly, it's a movie that I would never give a second glance otherwise. The violence and the rawness are features that I generally avoid in a film, yet this movie truly blew me away. I think it may even be among my favorite movies now. I just loved the symbolism and all the hidden meanings hiding just under the surface. And, of course, the final scene. I know, I've been going on and on about it through this whole post, but I can't get over just how breath taking I found it. You don't even need to see what happens to the train -- it honestly doesn't matter at all. All you need is the image of Manny, being truly free at last. Applauding at the end just felt like the natural response to such a stunning ending.