Screenings & Analysis

Viewed, studied, discussed.

Dec. 01, 2024

The Maltese Falcon

John Huston
1941

The first Hollywood Film Noir

The Maltese Falcon sets the standard for film noir with its story of greed, betrayal, and moral ambiguity. Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of private detective Sam Spade epitomizes the noir hero. He’s cynical, tough, and operates on a personal code of ethics. The film’s shadowy visuals, intricate plot, and the presence of a femme fatale (another common element of film noir movies) showcase the essential elements that would define the genre.

Lots of shadows, smoking, fedoras and a femme fatale.  Sets the standard for film noir  The only trope it's missing is the voice-over narration.

• Made young John Huston a major director
• Made Humphrey Bogart a major Hollywood star.

Great dialogue "patter":

"You always have a very smooth explanation ready, don't you?"
"What do you want me to do, learn to stutter?"

" We didn't exactly believe your story, Miss O'Shaughnessy, we believed your 200 dollars. I mean you paid us more than if you had been telling us the truth, and enough more to make it alright." 

Nov. 24, 2024

La Jetée

Chris Marker
1962

A "Photo Roman"

Told in stills, this film is experimental because of its non-conventional use of still shots.  Consider this technique as a reflection of the film's narrative about time and memory.  We, as an audience, are allowed to consider each moment as a series of frozen still- we can examine each frame more deliberately than in conventional moving images.

There weren't graphic novels back when this film was made.  It's possible that they attempt to bridge the same gap between cinema and literature as La Jetee.  Just a thought.

Plus it's only 29 minutes- you can watch a French experimental classic for that long...

Production information at IMDB.com

Nov. 17, 2024

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Michel Gondry
2004

Fall in love 

It's funny and it's romantic.  So is it a romantic comedy?  There's something messy about this movie- the mise-en-scene, the relationships, the lighting– that makes it feel "realistic", despite its sci-fi imagination.  Somehow it avoids the glitz and glam of a major Hollywood production even with two big movie stars.

The special effects are partially or completely in-camera.  It's pretty cool to see how imaginative filmmaking can be.

That time thing again

Since Joel is getting his mind erased from the most recent memories to the most distant, we get to see his relationship with Clementine in reverse order --> we start with the bad times that led to their breakup and work backwards to the initial spark that makes them such a good fit for one another. 

Are they a good fit?

Do you remember how it turned out the first time?


la·cu·na
/ləˈk(y)o͞onə/
noun
• an unfilled space or interval; a gap.
• a missing portion in a book or manuscript.

And that poem snippet that Mary recites written by Pope Alexander, er Alexander Pope?  Here it is in its entirety,  published way back in 1717.

Oct. 28, 2024

Alien

Ridley Scott
1979

Suspense becomes run-for-your-life...in space

After its rise and heyday from the 40s-50s, film noir had become a tired trope-driven genre.  There weren't many being made, and little new was developing from the genre.  It was dead until Roman Polanski made this 1974 classic- set in 1940s Los Angeles.  

An accidentally feminist movie

The original script did have a clause stating that all the characters were unisex and could be played by either gender… but the screenwriters admitted they never imagined their heroic lead as anything but a man.

Director Ridley Scot had this to say about the casting: 

"“I don’t see it as that revolutionary to cast a female as the lead in an action picture. It didn’t boggle me then, and it doesn’t boggle me now. My conception from scratch was that this would be a co-ed crew. I thought there was no reason you had to adhere to the convention of the all-male crew anymore.”

Amazing visual imagery

Check out this link to HR Giger's alien design and defining of the entire look of aliens to come in film, television, video games, art media...


Oct. 16, 2024

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Daniels
2022

Genre Bending

I've Heard this called an “absurdist science fiction comedy-drama”.  That's good enough for me.  

Form follows theme

Co-Screenwriter and Filmmaker Daniel Kwan says:

"The internet had started to create these alternate universes.  We were for the first time realizing how scary the internet itself was, moving from this techno optimism to this techno terror. I think this movie was us trying to grapple with that chaos."

The content of the movie doesn't directly address this point, but the form of the film- the onslaught of verse-jumping chaos and entertainment echoes the experience we have in the tech-wired 21st Century.  

This is a great film for analyzing how theme and message can be echoed in production form: every edit, every angle, every stark or crowded shot, the art direction, the sound- they all work to deliver a theme based on Kwan's experience with the internet...

...and it works because it feels so honest.



ni•hil•ism
/ˈnīəˌlizəm,ˈnēəˌlizəm/
noun
the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless.

Sept. 30, 2024

Run Lola, Run
(Lola Rennt)

Tom Tykver
1998

Two Reasons to Watch

1) It's a foreign film with subtitles, yet very watchable for those unaccustomed to that.  Consider the mix of media- this movie is shot on film, video and uses some animation as well.  Why?  How does the medium inform the storytelling?

2) Technique.  You'll be looking for how the director emplys your "film convention" so you can analyze it and use the example in your video essay.

Although it was cutting edge in it's time...

It doesn't seem very "new" today.  Here's an article on how it was important in the context of 90's films.  And here's an article about its "staying power" after all this time.


Director Tom Tykver on one visual choice
"To accomplish this we followed a consistent pattern: each level has its own 'look.' The sequences with Lola and Manni are shot on 35mm. The others, where Lola and Manni are not involved, were shot on video – in kind of a synthetic, artificial world. That places Lola and Manni at the center of their world, in which miracles can happen just like in the movies. The film image is true, and the others are untrue, as it were. So when Lola runs through a video image, it becomes film."

Sept 6, 2024

UP

Pete Docter
2009

Nothing in a film is an accident

We start with animation because it's easy to see that every pixel is placed there deliberately.  Mise-en-scene.  Precise planning and coordination of image and sound with plot and emotion are the keys to giving the audience a real entertainment experience.  Moement of the frame mimics a "camera" dolly, zoom, tracking shot as well, giving the mise-en-scene of most Pixar animation the "feel" of a conventionally shot film.

Suspension of Disbelief

How do you connect with characters with really big heads, disproportionate bodies, flying through the air on helium baloons? We suspend our disbelief when we are emotionally involved in a film. PIxar is great at setting up the rules of a "world" and sticking with the logic of that "world", while engaging our emotions through the characters.

Go to Google Classroom for instructions for watching it.

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