Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding is a film about the multitude of problems that arise during a traditional Punjabi wedding in India. The story centers around a father, trying to plan an extravagant and expensive wedding for his only daughter to a man that she barely knows. He has arranged for her to marry this man, as is common in  Indian tradition, but she is in love with another man. Also common within the Indian tradition, the extended families of both the bride and groom come together for the wedding with a multi-day celebration. But with all of the Verma family for what most likely is the first time in a very long time, there comes a great deal of tension and conflict that adds to the stress of planning a great, big Indian wedding.

I loved watching this film, and found myself thouroughly entertained and captivated from start to finish. The planning of the wedding at the events that occured during the process were so real and I was able to relate to the feelings of heartache and pain and frustration that the characters were experiencing, and identify with the characters that the actors represented. Even though this was a Bollywood film and a portion of it was in subtitiles, I found that both the lingual and cultural barriers were very minimal. There were many subplots that were integrated into the main overall plot of the wedding, but the narrative was constructed in a way that wasn't confusing, but rather clear and cohesive. Overall, I thought this film was so interested and quite the change of pace from what we've been watching. After not liking the past couple films, watching Monsoon Wedding was a breath of fresh air.

Daughters of the Dust

Daughters of the Dust is a film about the Peazant family, a multi-generational African American family living in Ibo Landing on Sea Island, off the coast of South Carolina, and their difficult transition to a new life on the mainland. The film depicts the struggles that these Gullah women have gone through living on the island, and their apprehensions and expectations about their new lives. The plot centers around different relationships within the Peazant family and the tensions that are at play within those relationships. Eula Peazant, whose husband is Eli Peazant, is pregnant with a child as a result of being raped by a white man. Eula tries to protect Eli by refusing to tell him who raped her, but her secrecy only results in driving Eli crazy. Interestingly, most of the film is narrated from the perspective of their unborn daughter, who is shown randomly as a five or six year old girl throughout the film. Yellow Mary Peazant, Trula, and Viola Peazant have arrived back from the mainland, and are real life examples to the rest of the Peazant family about how their lives will change once they move to the mainland. Nana Peazant is the head matriarch of the Peazant family, and is against the family's move to the mainland and plans to stay in Ibo Landing on her own, alone with her longheld traditions and the remains of their ancestors.

I found it very difficult to follow this film, due to the native dialect used by the Peazant family and the unusual narrative style. I lost interest before the film was even halfway over. I tried to keep an open mind and was working to give this unconventional film a chance, but I couldn't engage with the plot or any of the characters. I thought the plot was scattered, and I also found it hard to understand what they were saying most of the time. I'm not sure what type of narrative style was used in this film, but I strongly disliked how it influenced and shaped the plot, progression, and the characters within the film.

Casablanca

Casablanca is a love story set during World War II, in the unoccupied French area of Morocco called Casablanca. This town is filled with refugees who are waiting for exit visas to the United States, and German military whose job is to keep people from leaving. Rick is the owner of Rick's cafe, a popular meeting spot in Casblanca. He is a jaded, mysterious and unopinionated man who is always looking out for himself over anyone else. We meet many people in Rick's, anyone from high profile military men to common criminals always looking to make a buck off of someone else. Then we meet Victor Laszlo and Isla, who come into Rick's seeing exit visas so they can finally be safe. Victor is a leader of the French resistance, and is wanted by the Nazis, and Ilsa is his seemingly loving and devoted wife. They meet Rick, but Rick already knows Ilsa. And while Victor is trying to get them out of Casablanca, Ilsa is rekindling her romance that she has with Rick back in Paris which Victor was trapped in a German concentration camp and thought to be dead. We find out that Ilsa broke Rick's heart, and that she is the cause of his cold and distant demeanor. The rest of the film centers on Victor trying to get a hold of stolen (but missing) exit visas for himself and Ilsa and evading the Nazis, while Ilsa tries to choose between her love for Victor and the love that she still has for Rick.

I have seen this movie before, and it is one of my all time favorites. Yes, some of the love scenes and reactions that Ilsa has are corny and overexxagerated but that's what distinguishes this movie as a romantic and emotionally riveting classic. I identified with the characters, and their feelings of love and loss and trying to leave the complacency that is Casablanca. It highlights the real nature of war, and how it destroys lives and relationships, but also how it brings people like Ilsa and Rick together, even if it is only for a few days. It is a classic love story, and a film that I don't think that I could ever get tired of watching.

Another look...Bonnie & Clyde

One of the main themes of Bonnie & Clyde that is highlighted and illustrated through the use of editing is the awkward sexual tension between Bonnie and Clyde that is overtly present through most of the film.

When we first meet Bonnie, she is in her bedroom. The first shot of the film is an extreme close-up focusing on Bonnie rubbing her lips together. This functions as an establishing shot, and after watching the film I believe that it establishes the notion that Bonnie functions as a sexual character in the film, especially in relation to Clyde as we see later on. Then the camera cuts to Bonnie looking at herself in the mirror, and slightly smiling while studying her reflection. Then, there is a cut on action as she stands up, looks around the room, and then fall down, somewhat dramatically, onto the bed where the camera focuses on her laying there and then hitting the bed in what seems to be frustration based on how the camera gets a close-up of her expression. Then we see her over by her dresser, reaching for a dress while we see her naked back in the shot. She sighs in boredom, and then the camera cuts to a shot of Clyde standing outside her window by her mother's car. The camera cuts back to Bonnie, who walks over to the window still naked and sees Clyde outside. He can obviously see that she is naked through the window, and she can obviously tell that his intention was to steal her mother's car. The camera cuts back and forth between Bonnie and Clyde, illustrated with cutting on action and camera movement, until she gets dressed and goes outside to confront him.

This scene establishes the sexual tension that is present between Bonnie and Clyde throughout the rest of the film. When Clyde first shows Bonnie his gun, the camera focuses on both the gun and Bonnie's expression in a way that suggests that his gun represents a phalic symbol that represents his manhood and the attraction Bonnie feels towards him. This representation doesn't last long however, because the sexuality between them becomes awkward and strained because Clyde is impotent. Without this use of editing to illustrate the sexual tension and awkwardness between the Bonnie and Clyde, I don't think I would have caught onto it as quickly as I did while watching the movie.

Bonnie & Clyde

Bonnie & Clyde is a film about Bonnie Parker, a small town woman who is unhappy living her mediocre life as a waitress who meets Clyde Barrow, a seasoned criminal who is looking for a parner, both in crime and in life. They begin to commit crimes all around the South as partners, starting with small petty crimes and eventually moving onto bank robberies all throughout Texas, all the while falling in love. They recruit others to join in their efforts throughout the film: a gas station attendant named C.W., and Clyde's brother and sister-in-law, Buck and Blanche. Together, they were known as the Barrow Gang and are hunted by the police wherever they go.

Bonnie & Clyde frustrated me because I felt like it didn't go anywhere. I felt as though the plot was dull and lifeless, and that every robbery was awkwardly staged and boring. The Barrow Gang, although violent at times, is the worst bunch of criminals that I have ever seen portrayed in a film. The monotonous and dull plot, combined with the bleak and empty backdrop of Texas bored me to the point where I was just wishing that Bonnie and Clyde would be shot and that the movie would be over. All together my frustration with the dynamic between Bonnie and Clyde, my frustration with the annoying nature of Buck and Blanche, and the story that never seemed to end made me feel so grateful that I never have to see this movie ever again.

Another look...Run Lola Run

The use of editing in Run Lola Run makes this film a unique story of different pieces and techniques that are interwoven to create a cohesive illustration of the real life and vivid emotions that both Lola and Manni are experiencing as they face against the clock to try and save Manni's life. In my opinion, the first scene when Manni is calling Lola to tell her what happened sets the stage for the rest of the film and the editing in this scene sets the tone for the rest of the film as well.

The cutting back and forth between Lola and Manni during their phone conversation made the scene a lot more suspensful, and conveyed to me the amount of pressure they are both under, and the fear the both have of Manni being killed for his mistake. It illustrates the contrast between Manni's irrational and scared demeanor with Lola's more sensible and composed state. To me, it depicts what the dynamic most likely is within their relationship. As we can see, Manni relies on Lola to be a constant in his life. He relied on her to pick him up like she usually did and he is relying on her now to get the money that will save his life. Manni seems to be the risktaker and the provider in the relationship, and this was his one chance to make it big and now he has to deal with the possibly consequences of his negligence.

The flashbacks that occur while Manni is explaining what happened that day to Lola add more depth to the story that he is telling, and made the whole scene more real. You can see the progression of his actions, and how tedious the different steps that he had to go through were and that one mistake could ruin the entire operation. You see how Manni is out in the middle of nowhere, and that not having a ride back comprimises his task. You see the camera focus on the bum on the train, which made me curious as to what role he was going to play since the attention paid to him made him seem important within the scene. You see Manni's horrified reaction when he realizes that he forgot the bag on the train, and how his boss reacted to the one time that he forgot to return his cigarettes. It shows the audience how serious this mistake is, and if Manni's boss reacted that violently to a small mistake, that Manni is not going to live a second after 12:00.

The camera also moves around Lola's apartment and focuses on different objects that are around her while she is on the phone with Manni, adding to the chaos and insanity of the scene. You see Lola screaming and the glasses on top of her TV shattering at the sound. Then the camera cuts to the slanted window coverings, to the picture of Manni and Lola on the wall, to the dolls sitting on the table, and the turtle slowly crawling across the floor. In the background of all these shots, all you see is clutter and mess, a scene symbolic of their life and the ordeal that takes place throughout the movie. The scene that Lola is in reflects how she is feeling, overwhelmed and crazed at the thought of having to get Manni this money in 20 minutes. And then you see a long shot of Manni in the phone booth, with the scene seeming empty and less cluttered around him. Then the camera cuts into a close shot of Manni in the phone booth, looking towards the Rolle store. This editing is symbolic of the fact that Manni feels like the world is closing in on him, and that he is running out of both time and options. So he looks towards the store, and sees it as his saving grace and plans to steal money from them to get the $100,000 he needs.

Overall, the editing in this film was truly unique and created a sense of immediacy and heightened emotions that stuck with me throughout the film. I felt as though I was right there the entire time with Lola, and that time was running out to save the man I love from imminent death.

Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run is a uniquely creative and artsy German film, about a girl named Lola who is racing against time to try to save her boyfriend, Manni's, life after he makes a terrible mistake. Lola faces many obstacles during her rush to get $100,000 for Manni in 20 minutes, and interestingly enough each time she faces an obstacle in the film there is a flashforward which depicts how that encounter affected the course of the other person's life. But when you think that these obstacles have prevented Lola from making it to Manni in time, and that there is no hope, we are sent back to the beginning where Lola has another chance to save Manni from death by drug lord.

To me, watching this film was an interesting experience. I have seen films and television shows where they use flashbacks and flash forwards before, and have used them to replay the same scenes over and over again and show how all the actions involved have contributed to and affected the outcome of the plot (ex. Grey's Anatomy this past week- I know at least one person in class will be able to relate to that example). I found the film, especially the editing used to make it so unique, drew me into and made me relate to Lola: how many times in our lives do we wish that we could go back and do something just a little bit different, and maybe the outcome of a situation would have changed for the better. Run Lola Run illustrates this perfectly. The flashbacks, flashforwards and the real time action made this movie enticing, both aesthetically and cinematically. And it wasn't too long =) all in all, it was a unique but interestingly pleasing viewing.