Dehumanizing and Rehumanizing of Dexter When most people think of cinema today, the immediate overall picture that comes to mind is that of moving images, audio-visual effects and gimmickry of an unprecedented magnitude in human history. Missing, however, is the coherence of storytelling, of vital emotional output — genuine sentiment — and the essences that inform, that regulate human existence. Even so, a great number of people enjoy cinema for its escapist quality, their sole demand being to become at once removed from the Herculean task of having to bear too much reality. As a result, the average film operates on an entertainment level, one that is more accessible to a mass audience than perhaps any other medium. This is important; however, if cinema pretends to communicate any worthwhile truths about the human condition.
INDEPENDENT FILM DISTRIBUTION: HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESSFUL END RUN AROUND THE BIG GUYS by author Phil Hall SYNOPSIS: Everybody talks about mainstream cinema. Consequently, they pretty much seem to have an idea as to how the big Hollywood-produced movies are distributed and appreciated. And there's also the understanding that independently-made films are the second-class citizens to the big-budgeted, highly-touted features that emerge from the West Coast. Over the years, independent films (whether on a big or small scale) have struggled to gain acceptance in the consciousness of the average moviegoer. And the effort has paid off somewhat handsomely because independent films have made the stride gradually to entice giddy film fans while artistically capturing their imaginations.
The Dark Knight, for example, is one of the greatest movies of our time in part thanks to the astonishing visual effects but more thanks to the extraordinary relationship and conflict between the Batman and the Joker. So instead of only seeing movies focused purely on the best looks, we are still seeing films in which the protagonist and antagonist conflict takes center stage. This is thanks to the fact that directors like Nolan have taken what has worked throughout cinema history and implemented it into there new, and visually improved, films. This is especially true for recent movie villains, like the Joker. The directors have kept in mind that what makes a successful villain is that they look the part, be insanely brilliant, and push the protagonist to the edge.
Double Indemnity: The Creator of the Cliche Double Indemnity is a taut movie, with no wasted motion and where every word spoken and hand gesture has a purpose. Double Indemnity is a film noir and, despite the fact that several people do not even acknowledge film noir as an actual movie genre, this film is one of the most perfect examples of it. Discussing this film with fellows has brought on complaints that the movie is rife with clichés. However, from where I am standing, between the year of it’s making and looking at what other film works were being put out there, Double Indemnity wrote the clichés. My main focus when watching this film was the relationship between Phyllis Dietrichson and Walter Neff’s characters.
Film has the power to create real emotion attachment between the viewer and the characters on screen. The simple convenience of film draws many away for libraries and into theatres as well. There is even a certain ritual fulfillment provided by “going to the movies” that more casual media experiences cannot fulfill. The human mind has always sought out entertainment, from the Roman Coliseum to the stage and written word. Film is the greatest evolution of entertainment to date; it can capture the senses and heart of the subject more completely than any other form of media.
House of Flying Daggers, lacking a Western genre equivalent and referencing very specific Chinese cultural tropes, found global success anyway because of the artistry of the film, certainly, but also because of a Western predilection for exotic portrayals of ‘the Orient’. Mark Cousins praises the film’s “combination of such cinematic modernity with martial arts choreography, photographic splendor and…Zhang’s enigmatic performance.” Indeed, we must not discredit Zhang (Yimou); House of Flying Daggers is an amazing film which deserves all of its accolades. However, we must also consider the “Orientalist overtone” of Cousins’ praise, which describes Asian films as “tapestry-like
It started with non-talking films and just expanded from there to talkies to color films to today’s film market of action packed films. While most of us look for movies we can relate to we still feed off of a film that can keep us on the edge of our seats. Take horror and thriller movies, we thrive on the scare factor we can get from a film. I personally enjoy the scare factor to me this sells me faster than the comedy or love films. But I do miss the actual research and truth in films and visual media.
The 1948 film Rope by Alfred Hitchcock is a strange one to place in the director’s canon of iconic films. Granted the film contains a decent amount of the elements crucial to a Hitchcock film (A great performance by regular player Jimmy Stewart, innovative camera work, a playful director’s cameo, and a wonderful reinterpretation of how a director can use tension), but still, the film comes across as a wholly individual departure for someone who makes films iconic for a few other reasons. Hitchcock himself has stated the film was an experiment, and with that said, I believe it is how the film should be thought of when watched. The film does not disappoint by any means, but that being said, it lacks a couple of crucial elements needed to make a Hitchcock spectacular. The great French director Francois Truffaut once said: “You respect him because he shoots scenes of love as if they were scenes of murder, but we respect him because he shoots scenes of murder like scenes of love.” While it was a playful statement by Truffaut, he makes a good point.
Charlotte Bronte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ is a highly influential and well-known classic worldwide. Particularly scrutinised and analysed is Jane Eyre’s relationship with Mr Edward Rochester, a soul deep and impossible connection in the era in which the novel is set. The fame of Bronte’s novel resulted in the creation of a number of films, the most recent of which being Cary Fukunaga’s 2010 adaptation, and Franco Zeffirelli’s 1996 adaptation. Directors aimed to capture the film realistically, however, as in all adaptations, some changes were made and therefore, meaning is both conveyed differently and lost. The nature of Eyre’s encounters with Rochester are particularly emphasised in both films, drawing from the novel.
For the most part, she merely listens and reacts, but with Fellini's connivance, Masina "steals" the scene”. [1] Fellini's skilfully places the silent Masina at the centre of the action, SFRUTTANDO her ability as an actress and her expressive face, which the actress said is the reason why “I can hide nothing. I exalt feelings. I make them explode"[2]. This scene is one of the many examples of the successful working relationship between Federico Fellini and Giulietta Masina, who created together some of the most unforgettable film characters of all time.