Screening report on "Wild"

Wild is an American biographical drama based on Cheryl Strayed adventurous life and her 2012 memoir, called Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. It was released in December 2014. As we could figure out from the title, the movie depicts her 1,100 mile long solo journey on the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Oregon,during which she got a chance to rediscover herself.

First of all, the film was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, the famous Canadian film director, and written by Nick Hornby. Its runtime is 115 minutes, and the main characters are played by Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Thomas Sadoski, Keene McRae, and Michiel Huisman but it was definitely Witherspoon, who made this movie so memorable as she played against her cheerful character that we got used to in movies like Legally Blond or Sweet Home Alabama. Furthermore, critics said that in this challenging role depicting drug use and casual, she managed to deliver her finest performance in years. It is told mostly from her point of view so what the protagonist saw and heard was exactly what we got, as well.

I would like to elaborate on one of the movie’s most powerful scenes portraying a beginner hiker at presumably her lowest point during her three-month long unbelievable travelling. The death of her mother, Bobbi, played by Laura Dern, prompted Strayed’s personal crisis. Overwhelmed by grief, this lead her way into heroin addiction and court sex with strangers and it eventually destroyed her marriage with a loving and caring husband. Then, she started her heart-rending hike, dedicated to her loving mother, with an unwieldy backpack, which symbolized her heavy heart and sufferings. We could see that she carefully examined her injured feet and tried to remove her battered nail from her big toe. She screamed really loudly in frustration and because of the unbearable pain and then, she tossed her boots down the steep cliff. As a result of this scene, the viewers could already be filled with concerns for Strayed because she is all alone in the wilderness without a proper footwear. During the movie, we could see plenty of flashbacks to happier times, showcasing Bobbi as a survivor, as well.

To sum up, in my opinion what made this movie great is the brutal honesty with which the story was told mixed with a kind of hard-bitten sarcastic humor. It showed us the whole journey in a way that it also suggested that we are also a part of it.

Psycho screening report

Psycho is a 1960 American thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It stars Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, and John Gavin. The screenplay was written by Joseph Stefano, and it is based on Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho. The movie received mixed reviews first, but eventually turned out to be a great success and earned four Oscar nominations. It is also regarded as one of the best movies of all time.

 The story begins with Marion (Leigh) leaving Phoenix with $40.000 that she stole from her employer’s client, so she can start a new life with her boyfriend. One night she arrives at the Bates Motel where she is later brutally murdered. In the following, this screening report will examine the famous shower scene where Marion is stabbed to death.

Interestingly, there is no actual stabbing shown in the scene, because showing such violence on screen was taboo that time. There are, however, around 70 shots in only 45 seconds, which makes the whole scene quick, intense, and terrifying (it took seven days to shoot that scene, and Leigh worked only three weeks on the movie altogether). In an interview, Leigh said that showing nudity also needed to be avoided so she and the costume designer of the production had to come up with a special kind of tape, and they also used a nude model in order to find the perfect camera angle and to see how transparent the shower curtain is. What is more, Leigh said that the sound of the stabbing was achieved by stabbing melons. Also, since the movie is in black and white, the color of the fake blood did not matter: so they used chocolate syrup in the scene when the camera shows the circling down the drain of the tub. There is also an urban legend that they used cold water in the shower scene to make the scream more authentic, but Leigh denied this, saying that the crew was very concerned about the right temperature of the water.

All in all, Psycho had a great influence on the American movie industry. It made violence and sexuality more acceptable on screen, it is said to be one of the best Hitchcock movies, and it has become a classic.

Bram Stoker's Dracula screening report

Bram Stokers's Dracula

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an adaptation of a vampire novel. The film came out in 1992 and was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Due to another company owning the rights on Dracula they had to call it Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The film was very well received by the general public and is regarded as one of the most famous Dracula adaptations.  It stars Gary Oldman as Dracula, Winona Ryder as Mina Harker, Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker, and Anthony Hopkins as Professor Van Helsin.

The film begins by introducing Vlad Tepez, a member of the order of the Dragon, who won the war in Turkey and is returning home to his wife. However, the Turkish army sends a letter to his wife saying Vlad is dead and she commits suicide. Enraged, Vlad denounces religion, stabs a cross in the church and declares that he will rise from the grave. These elements make Dracula more human like instead of just a vampire. The film pays close attention to the romance between Mina and Dracula and sentimentalizes Dracula’s character. The final scene of the film with Dracula dying and Mina trying to save him looks more like a tragic love story than a gothic film.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been more faithful to the novel, than any of the previous adaptations. Most adaptations do not follow the story line and omit the character of Lucy. Coppola did all the justice to her character as a Victorian beauty and has preserved Lucy’s sexuality and homoerotic brutality.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is very erotic, as it contains number of sexual and explicit scenes. However, most of the nude and sex scene are rather morbid, such as nymphs trapping Keanu Reeves and feeding of an infant or Dracula’s and Lucy’s intercourse scenes.

The whole film is rather dark and most of the setting happens at night. Light plays a crucial role in Dracula’s castle. The creepiness is accomplished by dim light and a lot of shadows. Also, light and weather foreshadow the intensity of the scenes. The most intense and climaxing scenes are accompanied by rain, thunder and lightning. 

Screening Report on Filth

Filth is a 2013 film directed by the Scottish Jon S. Braid and was based on a popular Irvine Welsh novel. Even though the poster, the trailer and the first couple of scenes might suggest that we are in line for one and a half hour of comedy, the truth is, in fact, that it is a moderately though piece of cinema with black humour, crime and dramatic elements.

The main character on whom the whole film concentrates on is Bruce Robertson who is a rather corrupt and drug-addict cop from Edinburgh trying to gain promotion by all means. In order to achieve his plan he is willing to lie, cheat, steal and manipulate his colleagues. These scenes, at first glance, are quite funny but as the story goes on we become aware of Bruce’s inner struggles and of how much he is incapable to cope with the loss of his family, the addiction and last but not least, with himself.

The narrative structure is non-linear and it could almost be regarded as circular since the beginning and the first part of the ending are the same but the twisted final scene breaks the cyclical nature of the film. The frequent use of point of view and close-up shots from low or eye-level angles is one of the movie’s characteristics and it is an effective way to lay emphasis on the dramatic, dominant or ominous characters, thus conveying their emotions through the screen.

                The most significant element of the film is the nature of the protagonist. Regarding the people surrounding him, such as his colleagues or so-called friends, he appears as a quite trustworthy and generous man who is always ready to help. Bruce’s point of view, and also the audience’s since we get to know his story by his own narration, is completely divergent. As a first-person narrator the story is delivered directly by him, though often unreliably, and due to the use of asides, when he stares into the camera and speaks directly to the audience, the effect is more persuasive. He sacrifices and risks everything just to get something that he has already lost. The major difficulties and conflicts are brought to the surface by Bruce himself so we can also say that he is not only the protagonist of the film, but also the antagonist or villain. The twisted situation, his dream-like visions and disorder makes him descend into insanity and also causes his death. Consequently, this two-sidedness has a great impact on the audience as well since the film evokes ambivalent emotions: we find him piteous and miserable as well as a lonely and sick person who needs help.

                Jon S. Braid’s Filth is a movie that undoubtedly lives up to its title. By demonstrates the depths of human depravity and wickedness it establishes the mere duplicity of humanity. The film starring James McAvoy is a catchy one if one is wishing to see something ambiguous and tangled or simply something extraordinary. 

Young Adam screening report

Young Adam is a 2003 film by David McKenzie, based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi. Its runtime is 98 minutes and the main characters are played by Ewan McGregor, Tilda Swinton, Emily Mortimer and Peter Mullan. The film’s beautiful score was composed by David Byrne. Young Adam is a drama or a modern noir. It’s not a typical melodrama or character study as there aren’t really good or bad people in the film and the characters’ actions are never proved to be right or wrong.

The film is in narrative style and it is well-constructed,  but the storytelling is not always coherent; there are throwbacks from Joe’s past without warning, so the meaning of events and the connections are not always clear. Young Adam plays after the Second World War in Scotland. Most of the scenes are take place on the river Clyde and other waterways around Glasgow during the fuel rationing. MacKenzie draws a picturesque, nostalgic picture of the landscape and shows us that the dusty, foggy atmosphere of the riverside has a visual beauty too.

The film’s protagonist is Joe, a barger, who works with Les, and they live in a barge with Les’ family; his wife, Ella and their child. Les and Joe find a half-naked woman body in the river. They call the police, who start to investigate the case. Joe starts a relationship with Les’ wife and other married or widowed women. We can see in his flashbacks that he actually knows the dead woman, who was his ex-girlfriend, Cathie and later on, we find out what happened to her. Joe fears of being charged with murder by the authorities so he doesn’t tell the police what happened to Cathie and lets them another man. His only regret during the film is that an innocent man is going to die because of him. Joe is the only person in the film, who has real story and deep characteristics. 

Young Adam basically is a character study of Joe as he tries to overcome his grief with sexual encounters. There are several sex scenes and on-screen nudity in Young Adam. These scenes are imaginative, but mostly look joyless; there is a lack of emotions and passion. In the United States some parts of the film were censored, because of the pornography they contained. The director said, that “[i]n Young Adam (2003), sexuality is not really romantic - it comes from an inner place or a need that has to be fulfilled. It's not motivated by romance or the traditional things.”

The performances were expected high, as most of the actors are famous and acclaimed. Maybe Tilda Swinton has the best performance. Her role could be seen as quite daring and against the considered norm. Peter Mullan hadn’t got a big role with a multiply character, but he did a great job playing the cuckolded husband, Les. Ewan McGregor played several types of characters of different genres over the years and he is perfect for Joe’s role. He is just enough of a quiet contemplative edge and we could relate with his character and the questions of the characters’ social outsider status.

Screening Report on Zoltán Huszárik’s Szindbád

             Szindbád is a 1971 film based on the Szindbád- short stories by Gyula Krúdy. It was directed by Zoltán Huszárik with the cinematographic work of Sándor Sára. This was the director’s first feature length film, and gained recognition both among critics and the audience.

            As Krúdy’s style in literature shared the characteristics of several literary movements such as secession, surrealism, late romanticism, impressionism, symbolism and realism, his works combine associations with time, moods, feelings and strong impressions without an elaborate plot.

            The film genuinely reflects these features of the writer’s style and without a particular plot it rather plays with the writer’s poetic prose concerning the dialogues and the monologues in the film. The fragmented language of the film is transferred from the several short stories about Szindbád’s adventures. Thus the dialogues and monologues might be confusing and distinct from one another as they are not part of the sequence of the plot. There is no chronological order that develops the narrative. The line between life and death are blurred, time becomes elastic and past and present collide in the visions of Szindbád.

            The film is built on impressions that stimulate the senses. The films is a visually gripping experience that employs close ups and macros of food, flowers, raindrops. It was mainly shot in Czechoslovakia with beautiful and authentic places which honestly preserved their 19^th century looks. The elegance of old times, saturated colours, imaginary pictures and tale-like scenes greatly give back the impression of Krúdy’s works.   The vintage mood of the films is not only reflected in the visuals but also in the nostalgic, melancholy nature of the film which features and old man meditating on his life and memories on the brink of death.

            Huszárik’s film is rightly regarded as a masterpiece in Hungarian cinematography. The success and masterly nature of the film are also owing to the cast. The role of Szindbád was cast on iconic actor Zoltán Latinovits, and the main female characters were Éva Ruttkai, Margit Dayka and Anna Nagy. All in all, the film is a treat for the senses with its painterly pictures and its poetic language. 

Screening report on "The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain"

The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain is a Welsh comedy written and directed by Christopher Monger in 1995. It is based on a story that the director’s grandfather told him about the existing village of Ffynnon Taf (‘Taff’s well’) and the nearby Garth Hill.

The film is set in 1917, during the First World War in a small fictional Welsh village of Ffynnon Garw (‘Rough Fountain’ in Welsh).  Two English cartographers, Mr. Garrad (Ian McNeice) and the young Mr. Anson (Hugh Grant), visit the small village to take records and measure its ‘mountain’, the Ffynnon Garw. When it turns out that it is not high enough to be considered a mountain the villagers burst out in great indignation. The originally conflicting Morgan the Goat (Colm Meaney) and the Reverend Mr. Jones (Kenneth Griffith) start a movement in aim of raising the hill to be high enough to be a mountain. Consequently, the villagers have to delay the departure of the cartographers, and make them measure their mountain again.

The Welsh identity takes a quite important place in the film. Not only the director and the location, but the atmosphere is also typically Welsh; the beautiful environment, the language, the people and the mentality are very characteristic. The characters use some words from the Welsh dialect, such as be'chi'ngalw, from the scene where the mechanic explains the two English meant that he had to remove a part from their car. In English it is the same as “whatchamacallit”, so a thing that one cannot remember. The villagers have ginger hair, and they have a unique personality: they are not really hospitable, but they are honest and helpful towards each other. They work a lot and they live their own life, but when it comes to saving the honour of their symbolic mountain, they pull every string to achieve it. 

Absurd and lifelike elements are both present in the film; moreover, light comedy and serious issues also appear. For example, the clue that Morgan the Goat was the father of most of the babies in the village, because of the same hair colour, is difficult to decide if it was true or just a joke. It would be very outrageous if it was true, although it might have had a realistic background, because the men of the village did have to go fighting during the war. The fast and successful raising of the mountain, the way in which all the people worked so hard for the same reason, and that they could  hide it so cleverly from the English men is also quite extraordinary and amazing. On the other hand, the arguments of the Reverend and Morgan, the Innkeeper, are very realistic. The representation of the boy who fought in the war and got mentally hurt is also lifelike, and the scene where he got shock on the mountain in the storm was really touching.

Christopher Monger’s film entertains, makes the viewers think about history and nationality, and mixes funny and absurd elements in only one, 99-minutes-long comedy, in The Englishman Who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain. 

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112966/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Englishman_Who_Went_Up_a_Hill_But_Came_Down_a_Mountain

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/whatchamacallit

Screening report on Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" by Farkas Eszter

A Clockwork Orange is Stanley Kubrick's most famous film directed in 1971. The film is based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novella and is a dystopian crime film by genre. In this screening report, I will examine briefly the narrative and composition of the film generally and on the example of the scene when we first enter into Alex's home and see his room (16:00 - 26:00).

Narrative: The state of equilibrium in this mildly futuristic dystophia is that Alex, a charismatic and handsome young sociopath played by Malcolm McDowell tortures and robs whatever he pleases without any moral boundaries. This is how he and his droogs spend the evenings besides drinking Milk plus dencrom in the Korova bar. Alex is the narrator and protagonist of this movie. He speaks on a partly made-up slang language called “Nadsat”, and addresses the audience often, for example, when he calls himself “your friend and humble narrator” in the third person. The equilibrium is disturbed when Alex is tricked by his “friends”, and sent to prison for 14 years, which only happens after 50 minutes of the movie. Afterwards he is chosen to be a test subject of the new Ludovico technique during which they turn Alex averted seeing violence or sexuality. The slightly different equilibrium at the end is, of course, achieved by Alex becoming the same old him but also a victim of the society, getting a place in it. Therefore, the twist separating this film from most of the others regarding narration is that in the end it is a deceit that Alex goes through a personal development while he stays exactly the same as he was at the beginning. It is his role and appreciation in society that really changes, and that he lost his friends; only him and the audience are able to see his real character.

Composition: Kubrick uses several techniques to reach the absurdness of the film, as fast-forwarding when he invites the two girls up to his room and they have sex, slow motion when they are walking in the marine with his droogs, and unnatural or rare camera stands, for example when during the police investigation we see the policemen from his viewpoint, and in the first scene in the prison the camera is behind the two policemen registering him. Kubrick also uses several techniques to guide the spectator towards the emotions and realizations that he wants us to achieve, he does not leave too much freedom for the audience to look around. However, he leaves plenty of room for the interpretation of the story and the shown images. For example, when we enter Alex’s room for the first time, from object to object, Kubrick uses close-ups to show us what the important things in the room are, as the Beethoven poster, the two drawers one with money and watches and the other with an alive snake in them, and finally, the camera spends half a minute showing tiny fragments of the little grotesque statue depicting four dancing Christs. Moreover, we often see Alex’s inner thoughts as slide shows of pictures, first when he is in his room listening to Symphony 9, we can see a slide of horror (accidents, murders, bombings and deaths) and we can see on his face the joy these images cause to him. Later, in the prison library as he’s reading the Bible, we can see similar images, only in biblical context, and these are moving images. We see Christ suffering and Alex being the Roman soldier hitting him, and also when Alex turns into a rich Roman aristocrat lying among half-naked women slaves.

We also get to know Alex's parents in the home-scene, but from a very absurd viewpoint being mostly Alex's and only fragments from a diegetic point of view that can also be interpreted as something that Alex might hear or see. We also get to know Alex's post-corrective adviser, Mr Deltoid, who is seen from Alex's point of view as a ridiculous and too-intimate shallow person. Right at the end of the scene he gets what he deserves for bothering Alex as he drinks from a glass of water with a dental prosthesis in it.

Music is also a very important part of the movie as it is in Alex's life, it is inseparable from it as it often plays part in the narration itself. The soundtrack reaches a very strong emotional effect in the audience. As Alex’s favorite music is classical music, mostly Beethoven, during the whole movie whenever there is violence (because that is Alex’s other favorite thing), classical music is playing either in the background as intra-terrestrial music, or as extra-terrestrial one. Actually, the two kinds are barely separable, they are mostly raveled. Later on, within the story, Alex is trained to avert violence with music and so loses his two favorite things at once. He often whistles, as well, whenever he is happy, and sings "Singing in the rain", which later also has important role as part of the plot. 

-screening report-

The intro of Into the Wild from a road movie-perspective

Usually, road movies depict a journey of the main character (or a family/some friends) both inside and out by the means of actual physical travelling and psychological development. Into the Wild is a typical example of this genre. The plot is about Christopher McCandless, who, after graduating, donates his fortune to a charity organisation and hitchhikes to Alaska to live in the wilderness. During his journey, Christopher encounters several characters that all shape and add to his life. In this screening report I will examine the first two and a half minutes of the film.

The movie opens with a quotation by Lord Byron:

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, 
         There is a rapture on the lonely shore, 
         There is society, where none intrudes, 
         By the deep sea, and music in its roar: 
                  I love not man the less, but Nature more…”

With the power of words, the future journey of the young Christopher is foretold. Byron himself is famous about his wanderings and this poem is particularly about the man leaving society to find peace in nature. That’s the path what Christopher also follows.

            
            After this, there is a short shot of his mother waking up from an intense dream about Chris returning home. This makes the narration metafictive as here we get a bit from the future, however after this shot comes another –longer– bit from the present: A famous song of Eddie Vedder’s is being played about journeys, of course. Meanwhile, we get a sequence of typical establishing shots about travelling with captions from a postcard, written by Chris to a friend. Behind these texts, firstly a hitchhiking man, then open roads, trucks, passing cars, landscapes can be seen.

            These two and a half minutes clearly establishes the road movie genre. Poetry, quotes from the postcard are for the mind, the traveller’s anthem is for the ears and the establishing shots are for the eye at the same time. The audience is perfectly prepared for “the journey”. 

Screening report on "The Judge"

The Judge – A Family Drama

The Judge (2014), a film directed by David Dobkin is a family drama which presents to its audience the tension between son and father. Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is a successful defense attorney in Chicago and who has been estranged from his family. His father, Joseph Palmer (Robert Duvall) is a judge in a small town in Indiana, although he takes his position because of veneration. Many years had passed since they talked to each other and even a family tragedy is not able to calm the tension down between them. As Hank goes back to his birthplace to take part in his mother’s funeral, hatred and bitterness reaches its peak. One day, a mysterious murder takes its place in the flow of events. Joseph is accused of having run over a young man with whom he has had a trial before. By this unexpected turn, the judge becomes the defendant who needs a strong proof of his innocence. However, it would be difficult to prove this, as he has committed the murder. Hank believes that he would be able to help his father to avoid getting into prison and Joseph accepts his benevolence, though unwillingly. From the defense’s point of view, there is only one fact that can make Hank’s work easier: his father is under constant medical treatment that could have influenced his discernment at that night. Although their victory is not complete, the son and father end up in the state of agreement and kindness towards each other. Finally, they have learnt how they can trust in family members and that there is place for reconsidering family values.

The film itself raises several questions of everyday life. The events taking place in it can be present in anybody’s life, concerning family, profession, reconsideration, or identity. The Judge is structured in a way that the answers to these issues appear when nobody would expect them. Sudden and unexpected turning points throughout the movie make it more coloured, and as a result, the tension does not decrease in the viewers’ senses. It is constantly there. The audience cannot really decide whom to support or sympathise with, which makes them paying continuous attention to the film. True to the genre, this drama has a solution at the end that calms everybody down by a happy-ending, though.

Prometheus

Prometheus. Review of a review by Philip French

Gusiachkin Anastasia

22^nd March, 2015

            The review is academically well structured and divided into three parts, which are the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. The introduction part opens up with familiarizing the reader with the movies’ director, Ridley Scott, and his success with the Alien series. It carries on by shorty summarizing the plot of the Alien, however, without spoilers and emphasizes the importance of a female protagonist appearance, “first in succession of strong women in Scott’s movies” (French).

            It slowly mixes up with the body part when French writes that Riddley Scotts has always been thinking about sort of a pre-story for the Alien, since there were no answers within the series neither about the origin of the Xenomorph, nor the nature of its hostility. This is what we get in Prometheus, “an ingenious, well-worked-out exploration of the source and nature of the creature that caused havoc on the Nostromo” (French). For those who are not familiar with the movie series, Nostromo is an inter-stellar cargo vessel that responds to an SOS signal coming from another space ship and, by investigating it, dooms itself. The review explains these details as well, along with an effective summary of the key events. French then concentrates on the beginning of the Prometheus, mainly the clues gathered by the explorers on Earth, which later brought them into space. French introduces the readers to the main characters of Prometheus, both protagonists and antagonists. He briefly describes the situation on board of the space vessel. I specifically like how he draws reader’s attention to similarities between the two films, he sort of points at the “Easter eggs” within the movie. By “Easter Eggs” I mean indirect along with direct references to the Alien series, such as, for instance, an android on board of the ship, or suspicious-looking eggs in the discovered cave.

            French pays just as much attention as needed to the description of the characters and their interaction; personally, there is nothing too much or too little in his review. I also like an objective conclusion which does not promote any specific reception of the film. Even though the conclusion includes personal experience, it does not enforce itself, it is just there.

Works Cited

French, Philip. “Prometheus - Review.” The Guardian. The Guardian UK, 3 June 2012. Web. 22    Mar. 2015