THX 1138 - Ideology

   The left-center -right model has long been used by political scientists to distinguish differing political ideologies. The model uses social institutions and value systems to differentiate between political extremes. In the same way, the ideology of a film can be identified by these values and how the characters relate to them, although as in films such as THX 1138, the difference is not always clear cut.
   George Lucas' initial film making effort is set in a 25th century underground totalitarian society, where privacy is non existent, emotion is outlawed, and a rigid conformity is enforced at all times. Everyone dresses the same, lives in the same quarters, has shaved heads to maintain similar appearances. Emotion, especially sexual urges, are held in check by continuously medicating the entire population. This conformity is enforced by a robotic police force, ironically assembled by the citizens to maintain their own enslavement.
   The film is leftist in the sense that it emphasizes the similarities among the population; there is no individuality, people have numbers instead of names and fatal accidents are taken in stride - human life is cheap. Cooperation among the population is universal, the is no free enterprise system. However, it has a right wing slant in two ways; in it's total submission to authority, which reinforces the leftist characteristics, and in the characters awakening individuality which leads them to rebel. In the same way, it shows the conflict between environment, which enforces conformity to a social standard, and inborn human traits such as emotion. The society that THX rebels against is rightist in the sense that it holds its citizens to an absolute standard of behavior, whereas the characters re-awakening emotions leads them to desire greater self expression, a leftist point of view. The religious views in the film are right wing in the sense that the society has an official religion for everyone to adhere to , but with a twist: the individual seeks the blessing of the state instead of a deity. A final point of the film is in it's depiction of the future; the leftist view of the future is optimistic, based on the idea of continual improvement, where the the right tends to be more pessimistic. In that sense the film might be regarded as right wing. The real genius of Lucas was to point out that improvement can be many things to many people, the characters in the film have all their material needs provided, but at a terrible cost.The society that THX and his female roommate LUH ultimately try to escape from represses the very qualities that make them human.
   That is maybe the most subtle point of the film - any ideology carried to an extreme becomes indistinguishable from its opposite. With overtones of both Orwell's "1984" and Huxley's "Brave New World", George Lucas' cautionary tale is as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

A Kick-ass adaption

   Kickass, the 2010 film adaption of the 2008 graphic novel, illustrates the consideration that a film maker must have when adapting a comic to the medium of film. The story of a high school geek and comic book fan who sets out to become a superhero because "no one has  ever tried it before", is a dark comedy with a well intentioned, but incompetent hero. In his quest to make a difference in the world, he finds himself involved with not only hardcore criminal elements but a pair of more ruthless ACTUAL superheroes.

   The most important issue in adapting a comic to film is how close to the original spirit of the comic the film is going to be. This film could probably be categorized as a faithful adaption rather than a loose or literal one. Although the film has tried to stay true to the content of the book, certain differences are apparent. The language in the film, even though rather crude, (similar to teenage films such as" American Pie") is nowhere near the intensity of that in the comic, probably for audience considerations. Likewise, the scenes of violence in the film are nowhere near as graphic as they are in the comic. For the sake of brevity, many scenes, such as the one where Kickass (Lyzewski)'s dead mother appears at his hospital bed, in the book were left out of the film. The costumes were also somewhat different: in the movie, Hit Girl wears a  dress, in the comic she she wears more practical ( for an assassin) attire. Other elements that were changed include the character  "Red Mist", who is much more ruthless in the comic than the film, and "Big Daddy", who burns to death in the film ; in the comic he is shot in the head. Overall though, the film adaption was relatively faithful to the comic.
   This was an enjoyable film that manages to be both a parody and a serious piece of film making at the same time.

Cinematic literature - the complexity of language

Although many people believe that language in films cannot be as expressive as that in literature, this is an incorrect assumption based on a misunderstanding of just how flexible the cinematic medium really is. While it is sometimes true that written words can convey details that film cannot, in some respects, the spoken word, in conjunction with the character's body language, can be far more expressive.
   The film " District 9 " by Neill Blomkamp, provides numerous examples of this. Dealing with the relocation of a group of alien refugees to a government internment camp, the film utilizes language to illustrate the tensions between not only the aliens and their human hosts, but also between the differing human characters.The dialects of the human characters serve to define the film's South African location, a country with a long history of seperating others who were "different". Paul Smit, the government bureaucrat who orders the relocation , is a man of obvious education and refinement. His tone of voice, choice of words and body language, however, show a ruthless disregard for others that would be difficult to convey through any other medium. The lives and well being of humans and aliens alike mean nothing to this man. The military contractors tasked with carrying out the evictions, use language that is more direct and substantially coarser, as might be expected. The use of slang terms to reflect the humans attitude toward their unwanted guests harks back to films such as " Alien Nation." In that film, the aliens are called "slags", in this one they are referred to as "prawns", a reference to their crayfish like appearance - both are terms of derision. The speech patterns of the family members of the protagonist, Wikus van de Merwe, reflect their greater emotional involvement with the unfolding events as well as their confusion about what is really happening. And lastly, changes in the language of the main character himself, illustrate the metamorphosis, both physical and mental that he undergoes after exposure to an alien fluid. His language and mannerisms become increasingly coarse throughout the film, conveying the subtext of his transformation from a pompous official who views the aliens with contempt, to a fugitive human/alien hybrid stripped of reputation, social status and family, with Christopher Johnson,one of the aliens he despised, as his only ally. At the end of the film, his words and body language reflect not only his degradation but his new found empathy with the plight of the aliens.
    All in all, the uses of both verbal and body language were the perfect vehicle to emphasize a tale about transformation, and as befits a movie about the unending process of change, we are left to guess at the ultimate fate of the main characters. One of the best films dealing with intolerance to ever come out of the sci - fi genre

Donnie Darko - symbolic uses of light and darkness

A disturbing fantasy thriller from Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko is the story of a brilliant but troubled teennager who becomes immersed in a series of bizarre events that may or may not be real.
     The teenager, Donnie Darko, begins to have visions where Frank, a man in a demented looking rabbit costume, tells him that the world will end in 28 days. In each further appearance, Frank urges him to commit various acts of vandalism because "he can't get caught". He also lectures him about time travel, adding to his confusion. Donnie's attempt to unravel the meaning of his visions and avert the end of the world are the central plot of this movie, which is a sci-fi update of the film noir classics of the 1940's. In common with such films as Double Indemnity, Donnie Darko uses light and darkness to symbolize elements of the film and the characters in it. Whenever Frank appears, the surroundings seem to dim with the only light on him, symbolizing the fact that he seems to exist in a world that only Donnie can see. His appearances are also dark in the sense that they usually precede something bad happening. The opposite is true when Gretchen, his love interest, appears - most of the scenes are brighter, symbolizing the hope and optimism he feels around her. The film uses both light and darkness not only to set the tone of the film, which is basically pessimistic (and paranoid), but also to symbolize the uncertainty about what is actually going on. We are never completely sure if the events of the movie are actually occurring due to time travel paradoxes or if they exist only in the main character's head.
     I gave this movie a thumbs up, even though I was never completely sure of what was really happening in it. The " what is reality" theme was actually the movie's strong point, giving it an aspect that some other films of this type don't have.

Pan's Labyrinth: Realism or formalism?

The design of a movie set can communicate a great deal of information about the theme and characters in a film. Set design; the location, costumes, decor and all other visual effects, tends to impact the viewer on a subconscious level and is also useful for classifying a film as either realist or formalist. Although all sets lean toward one style or the other, most sets are a blend of both.
   Pan's Labyrinth, from Guillermo del Toro uses the realistic setting of Fascist controlled central Spain in the 1940's as a backdrop for an elaborate fantasy film. Ofelia, a young girl fascinated by fairy tales, encounters a strange insect in the forest. Following it, she dicovers an abandoned labyrinth inhabited by fantastic creatures that only she can see. Encountering a fuan who tells her she is the long lost princess of the underworld, she is given three tasks to perform to demonstrate her worthiness. Her struggle to fulfill these tasks and achieve her birthright are the central theme of the film. The sets in the various scenes serve to illustrate the differences between the two worlds she inhabits.
 The harsh world where Ofelia and her pregnant mother live in the daytime is exemplified by the military camp where they live, surrounded by armed soldiers commanded by her ruthless stepfather - a stark contrast to the fantasy world she escapes to at night. The abandoned labyrinth and the dark woodland suggest elements of mystery by themselves. The array of mythological creatures she encounters within, insects that become fairies, a fuan who gives her tasks to perform, a giant toad and the Book of Crossroads she is given, all border on the fantastic. Many of the fantasy characters were created using nothing but costume design and makeup, with minimal special effects. The action in the final scenes uses set design to reinforce the difference between fantasy and reality on a symbolic level.Tragedy in the squalid labyrinth of the real world is offset by triumph in an ethereal castle in the fantasy world.
   I found this film surprisingly enjoyable. The skillful blend of the mundane and the fantastic along with its use of an authentic (if little known) historical backdrop reminded me of a darker version of "Alice in Wonderland. Thumbs up.

Crashing the barriers

 The movie "Crash" from director Paul Haggis, is a complex drama about racial tensions and stereotypes in Los Angeles. Opening, appropriately enough, at the scene of an accident in which the two female drivers, one Hispanic, the other Asian, trade racial insults, the films central theme is expressed by Graham Waters, a black detective with the LAPD. A passenger in one of the vehicles, Waters muses that people are so separated by society that they need to crash into each other to compensate for it. The film then flashes back through the previous two days, portraying  the events leading up to the accident. The interactions between the various characters, an Iranian shopkeeper and his daughter, a Hispanic locksmith, a racist cop and his idealistic partner, a black television producer, two carjackers, and a District Attorney and his neurotic wife, serve as a backdrop to this unifying theme.
  The film also offers a striking example of the contrasts between film and theatre. Although the acting in the movie is excellent, and the cast first rate, the director is very much the driving force in this film. A movie such as this with it's flashback sequences and concurrently developing plot lines would be difficult to pull off convincingly in the theatre, where the acting takes place in real time and the theme is reinforced by each successive scene. In contrast to the relatively short scenes in the movie, on stage, the actors would have to sustain their intensity throughout the play, not an easy task in a movie of this type. A crucial factor in the theme of the film is the ethnicity of the characters, a distinction that would be difficult to make beyond the first few rows of seats in a theatre.The various dialogue sequences, such as the one where Daniel Ruiz(the locksmith) gives his daughter an invisible cloak, or the back and forth between the two carjackers, would have to be executed differently in a theatre, where the actor's voices must clearly reach all members of the audience. The movie also utilizes numerous close up shots to convey subtle details that assume greater importance later in the movie. The box of blank bullets mistakenly purchased by Farhad (the Iranian shopkeeper) and his daughter play a vital role later in the film, as does the St. Christopher statuette carried by Peter, one of the carjacker's. In addition, many of the emotional reactions of the characters can best be shown up close. Examples of this are the scene in which Christine Thayer, wife of a black TV producer, is molested by John Ryan, a racist police officer, as well as the later scene in which he pulls the same woman from a burning car. Much of the impact of scenes like this would be lost if viewed from farther away. After all, one of the primary needs of the stage actor is to be seen and heard clearly by the audience. This film is a classic illustration of the differences between the two acting venues.

  I gave this film two thumbs up for it's gritty and realistic portrayal of ethnic stereotyping and the problems that go hand in hand with it. Although the overall tone of the film is cynical, it also shows the possibility of understanding and reconciliation. Complex and just a little unpredictable, much like human beings themselves are.

The symbolism of placement

 

The placement of objects and characters in a scene is a subtle method that is used to reinforce the overall tone of a film. This is especially true in a film as rich in both symbology and visual elements as Dr. Parnasus.

   The characters in this scene reflect the overall content of the movie, in which Dr. Parnassus, representing higher ideals and enlightenment, converses with his nemesis Mr. Nick, who symbolizes willful ignorance and despair, the dark sides of human nature. Utilizing the rule of thirds, the protagonist is placed at the center of the frame with his rival directly beside and behind him, occupying the last third of the frame, symbolic of how the different aspects of human nature are simply opposite sides of the same coin. The characters are lit in quarter turn profile from the left, but whereas Dr. Parnassus entire body is visible, as expected in a long shot like this, Mr. Nick's facial features are the only part of him that are clearly discernible. The rest of him seems to blend with the darkness outside the frame, giving the impression that the surface appearance is only a small part of what he truly is. The camera angle is neutral, giving a glimpse of the character's at eye level. Both lighting and color reinforce the contrast between the characters. The lighting in the frame is fairly low key, but with high key spotlights on Dr. Parnassus, his clothes are likewise more brightly colored than that of his nemesis, who is not only dressed almost entirely in black, but cloaked in shadow. The image is composed of two depth plains with the main characters occupying the foreground, and a vast, forbidding landscape stretching off to a vast distance in the background , suggesting the vast potential of the human imagination for good or ill. And finally, the characters are perched on a cliff, overlooking the entire panorama below, symbolizing both the  movie title and main character's name - in Greek mythology, Mt. Parnassus was the peak where the Muses lived, anyone encountering them could find either enlightenment or despair.