6 ‘Look Both Ways shows that life is always worth living.’ Do you agree with this interpretation of the text? ‘Look Both Ways shows that despite life’s trials, happiness is possible.’ Discuss. Happiness is one of the main themes explored in Sarah Watt’s award winning film Look Both Ways. The concept of being happy is an abstract one in a film preoccupied with other more powerful and overshadowing themes such as death and fear. Every character in the film is exposed to some form of these ‘trials’, random chance events that have the power to destroy lives.
The main character, Leonard, is a man who cannot make new memories since the rape and murder of his wife, and who has devoted his life to attempting to get revenge for his wife’s death. His character is played by Guy Pearce. The other main characters in the film are Leonard’s friend, Teddy, played by Joe Pantoliano, and Natalie, a woman helping Leonard in his quest, played by Carrie-Anne Moss. The acting is all very convincing, especially that of Leonard, which significantly adds to the feel of the movie. Much as Inception confused the viewers by taking the characters into dreams-within-dreams, Memento confuses its viewers by telling two separate parts of the story at once, one part in reverse chronological order in color, interspersed with forward chronological shots in black and white.
These characterizations work both to immerse the reader into the setting through the eyes of a frightened boy and also to highlight the stark contrast between the perceived salvation of young Langston versus the deceptive nature of his actions. The guilt he feels when he decides to follow Westley’s lead that he’d “better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come” is punctuated with a “sea of shouting” and “waves of rejoicing” where “women [leapt] into the air” (70). These two features - the characterizing imagery and careful use of contrast - work together to weave a bleak and sobering story of youthful desperation and
Jena Malone plays Donnie’s love interest in the film. Gretchen Ross is just as much a confused teenager as Donnie is, if not for different reasons. Gretchen and Donnie are like magnets, in the fact that they are drawn together by a malevolent force, that leads to a tragic conclusion. The story begins at the end, showing an unexplainable event that happens in the lives of an all American family. At the start of the film the camera smoothly sweeps across the
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Our memory organizes information, knowledge, and experiences within a complex internal library. We tend to think of this facility as an accurate historian or a safe storage vault — but it isn't. Think of our memory as a wandering novelist who constantly edits the past and assembles interesting bits of knowledge, information, and experience in new storylines. The movie is an interesting psychological drama that proficiently explores the emotional uproar of love and loss. Joel Barish is a confused and stunned young man who swept off his feet by a romance that takes him to places he never dreamt of going.
When Andy finds a way to prove his innocence, the Warden soon suppresses the opportunity as he realizes the true worth of Andy and his activities. In reference to the films tagline, ‘Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free’, recurring messages of hope are conveyed in different circumstances in this film, mainly between Andy and Red. Andy refuses to give up hope, whereas Red has surrendered to the notion that ‘hope is a dangerous thing’. These contrasting beliefs and the adversities they experience throughout the film help the characters to bond a lifelong friendship. It is one of my personal favorite films because of its simple, but provoking storyline, wich director Frank Darabont managed to pull off in a classic style, making it feel like a timeless piece of cinematography.
Following Oscar Grant as he performed his daily routine made it very easy to sit back and pay attention to what was occurring and the inevitable that would happen in the end. Another good observation Turan makes is how the director was not afraid to portray the flawed parts of the main character. "As much as "Fruitvale Station" makes no attempt to hide these things, it is also insistent that they do not define the man"(Turan 2013). Although this was not something I realized to be true until after reading this critic, I had to concur with Turan once again. Throughout the film we are continuously shown that Oscar Grant is not a perfect
However complex the writing of Alvy Singer it’s the writing of Annie Hall which mellows of the serious tone that’s being expressed. Woody Allen’s direction for this movie is superb. His ability to create a dialogue with the audience and provide deep character development makes the movie worth seeing. Allen’s use of the breaking character and scene by talking to the audience to dig deeper into the mind of Alvy Singer and offers a glimpse of the marvelous writing that Allen has brought to the movie. These moments allow to further understand the character of Alvy Singer as he fights with his neurosis.
Cecily tells Lady Bracknell how she is engaged to Algernon and after much questioning gives her consent to the marriage. There is a common theme of love in this section with both Algernon and Jack revealing their true love for Gwendolen and Cecily. One aspect of comedy that Wilde has perfectly placed in this section is Algernon’s contradiction of views on marriage. This links with earlier in the play, when he expresses how there is nothing romantic in a proposal of marriage; whereas now he has found love, his view has completely changed. Wilde constantly contradicts the direct speech from the characters.
Rob’s Got Issues: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity High Fidelity as a title is an interesting play on words as a title. It indicates both the dysfunctional and immature main character's love for music and the high end stereo equipment that comes with an almost unhealthy obsession with pristine audio and also his lack of faithfulness and commitment to his various romantic partners throughout his life. While that may sound rough, I like to think that Rob Fleming has seen the light, so to speak, by the end of the novel and begun on a long journey out of the pit of problems he has been digging himself into for more of his life. Problems that include both a severe fear of intimacy stemming from his root fear of death and therefore abandonment as well as his many personal insecurities caused in part by societal pressures to be a certain way as an adult male in society. The book begins with Rob airing out the dirty laundry of his past by enumerating the five worst break-ups of all time in his own life.