Film Review: Mary & Max (Australia)

      Mary and Max is a stop motion clay animation created by Adam Elliot and released in 2009. Australian born Elliot, is also known for his animation 'Harvie Krumpet' which is also stop motion. Along with some other animated shorts he certainly has rustled up a pretty unique style. His stop motion technique most probably arised from his combined studies of painting, photography and pottery. The film's style is really interesting and I like the use of tonal environments; Mary lives in Australia and favourite colour is brown so when the animation is focusing on Mary, everything has a slightly warmer hue than when the viewing is targeted at Max. When film is interacting with Max's life, everything is more washed out and dull. This is because he leads a very monotonous lifestyle working in factories where it's the same boring routine and he doesn't socialise. The audience learn that Max has Aspergers syndrome and high anxiety which makes it harder for him to live a normal lifestyle and engage in new situations without becoming stressed. The greyscale colour scheme could also come from the fact that he lives in New York with many intimidating building that make him feel uncomfortable or vulnerable. Elliot keeps quite a morbid sense of humour about the film, there is lots of attention to detail and characters the audience have empathy for.

      Mary struggles with making friends at school in Australia, she gets bullied for the birthmark on her face that is "the colour of poo" and has a hard life at home with her alcoholic mother. When she is at the library she picks a name at random from the book to write to and hopefully make a friend. She chooses 'Max Horowitz' who lives in New York and starts to write him letters along with other miscellaneous items. When Max receives the letters he gets really nervous and starts to have a panic attack as his mental condition doesn't allow him to react normally. When he calms down he manages to write back to her. Viewers follow their journeys through the exchange of their letters, becoming strangely attached to each story and their unlikely relationship.

     I think Adam Elliot was trying to raise the awareness of many things including bullying, alcoholism, anxiety disorders and cultural differences. He did achieve this, some themes more subtle than others. The stop motion technique was definitely well put together as it runs smoothly and you can watch it with ease, very well thought out script and editing. I thought it was successful and well worth a watch! I give 3/5 stars.  

The Shining - Film Review

The Shining - Film Review

Film Review: Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands Review

La Belle et la Bête - Film Review

From the start of this film I was captured and wanted to follow Beauty and her story, treated as a slave in her home, the audience already begin to feel sympathy towards her. Set in a small village with old stone cottage-homes and cobbled streets, the residents travelled by horseback. The “credible French country landscape contains not just the realistic home of Beauty but also the weird, enchanted domicile of the Beast." (Malcolm, 1999). When Beauty’s father sets off one day through the mystical and enchanting forest he stumbles upon the Beast’s Lair and after trespassing through his private dwelling and picking a rose from his garden, the Beast confronts him and threatens to kill him. The Beast lets him free on the condition that one of his daughters takes his place, when he returns home, Beauty sacrifices herself. She arrives through a big, arched door; wooden, with lots of bolts, bewildered by her surroundings. It is clear to see how much Disney was influenced by Cocteau’s creation when they remade the film in colour animation in 1991, “From the long corridor of candelabra, held out from the walls by living arms, (Figure 1) to the glittering temple of Diana, wherein the mystery of the Beast is revealed, the visual progression of the fable into a dream-world casts its unpredictable spell.” (Crowther, 1947). Disney’s Lumière character (Figure 2) was one of the ideas that were most obviously kept from the original film and I also thought that the re-made animated Beast still looked fairly similar (Figure 3).  

As Beauty dined in the Beast’s castle, she sat in a chair that was like an intricately detailed throne; with beautifully carved patterns and it seems very ironic to me how such an ugly beast could acquire such an enchanting and magical home. It is juxtaposed as two extremes to great effect and his home is made out to be his main power in gradually charming and winning over Beauty as she is not used to such kind treatment. At one point, Beauty is walking about the castle’s gloomy hallways and there are some very thin, kind of curtains by the window that slowly move with the wind and brush against her (Figure 4). I feel that many of the elements of the Beast’s luxury lair are representative of Beauty and as if she has always been part of his surroundings.

There was a certain shot in the film that I really liked and thought was quite cleverly done but unfortunately I can’t find an image for it, it was when Beauty first encountered the Beast and fainted in shock. The camera changed from being in the scene outside to then inside the castle and looking out through the window at them. What I liked about it in particular was that the window had a kind of ‘lattice’ style design and one of these squares in the window was being used to frame what was going on outside and aim at a point of focus for the audience. It also made the connection with Beauty and the Beast seem more intimate as he carried her away to safety.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Quotes;


Crowther, B. (1947) La Belle et la Bete (1946) THE SCREEN IN REVIEW at
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B03EFD71E3EEE3BBC4C51DFB467838C659EDE 

(Accessed 4/11/12)

Malcolm, D. (1999) Jean Cocteau: La Belle et La Bête at http://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/01/1 

(Accessed 4/11/12)

Images;

Figure 1 – Corridor of candelabra
 http://www.whitecoffeemagazine.com/2013/classic-la-belle-et-la-bete/
(Accessed 4/11/12)

Figure 2 – Disney’s Lumière and Beast
http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-greatest-animated-characters/default.asp?film=39
(Accessed 4/11/12)

Figure 3 – Cocteau’s Beast
http://reelmusicreality.wordpress.com/
 (Accessed 4/11/12)

Figure 4 – Curtains in hallway
http://www.mondo-digital.com/orpheus.html
(Accessed 4/11/12)

2001: A Space Odyssey - Film Review

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – Film Review.

Although many parts I didn't quite understand, I enjoyed watching this film. As the film didn't have much of a storyline I think it's meant to be very open to interpretation and probably has many different meanings, like George D. DeMet says "When audiences first saw "2001" in the spring of 1968, many were baffled. The film lacked a traditional plot structure, contained almost no dialogue and had an ending that many found confusing." (D. DeMet, George) 
The film starts in a prehistoric time in a canyon-like setting with vast space inhabited by hominid creatures (Figure 1). Kubrick makes great use of perspective filling the screen with foreground, middle ground and background space and there is a monochromatic night time shot using different shades of blue which contrasts effectively against warm setting previously. 

 The scene ends by focusing on one of the apes playing with the bones of a prehistoric corpse (Figure 2); he picks up one and starts smashing it against others whilst the film’s theme tune plays at the moment of his realisation of finding a weapon in which he uses to attack another enemy hominid.  The transition from this beginning of the film to the next section was really well put together. As the ape finally releases the bone-part into the air, the camera follows it as it then cuts into the outer space scene where there is a satellite of similar shape navigating slowly. Within 20 minutes of the film we are at the peak of human evolution.

Whilst the audience watch the futuristic objects floating in space, there is classical music by Johann Strauss playing alongside which gives a sense of peacefulness and grace.

The exterior texture of the spacecraft reminded of a circuit board and once the viewers are introduced to the inside of the spacecraft, they can see how futuristic the interiors are, very white / clinical and the unique shaped red seats stand out against the light walled interior (Figure 3). The ‘too-clean’ looking space and low ceilings that give a cramped and claustrophobic feel might make the audience feel a little uncomfortable – especially at the time of the film’s production as this was a type of world that they were not used to. 

As man hadn't actually been to the moon when this film was made, it was a very accurate portrayal of the moon, surface very open and vast again, very canyon-like and with craters.

In a scene in one of the space cabins there is a very obvious contrast in lighting (complimentary) highlighting the two different compartments the astronauts are in, giving sense of depth / space. Outside of the spacecraft, on the moon’s surface, eerie sound effects are played whilst astronauts are marching down towards the mysterious monolith. The camera is following them directly behind and it’s very intense so that the viewer may feel uneasy. Throughout the film, Kubrick has set up many uncomfortable angles (Dutch angles) which are common in horror genre films so that the audience naturally feels that something is not quite right. He also thought about the robot HAL 9000’s perspective from inside the machine and gave a ‘fish-eye’ lens effect (Figure 5) when looking out from HAL 9000’s point of view on to the other characters (Figure 4).

The use of sound in the film is used very effectively, particularly when one of the main astronaut characters Dave is floating in space and the audience can just hear his very loud, slow and heavy breathing. This represents the total emptiness and silence of space and it makes you feel his fear.

There is strong irony in this film where even though the human race is at it’s absolute peak in evolution and technological development, the astronauts on the journey have to learn to walk again (in the zero-gravity environment), eat food like a baby, and be ‘toilet trained’ (Kubrick2001).

The mysterious appearance of the black monoliths, for me, resemble a similar concept to the remarkable British monument and mystery of Stone Henge in Wiltshire (Figure 6).

Bibliography

Images: 

Figure 1 - Initial Prehistoric Scene
http://neofilm.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/2001-a-space-odyssey/ (Accessed 20/10/13)

Figure 2 - Ape Discovering Bone / Weapon
http://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2012/07/18/do-androids-dream-of-an-electric-aesthetic-.html (Accessed 20/10/13)

Figure 3 - Spacecraft Interior
http://allthehappycreatures.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/mega-therions-promethean-space-odyssey.html (Accessed 20/10/13)

Figure 4 - HAL 9000 Perspective
http://marciokenobi.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/ (Accessed 20/10/13)

Figure 5 - Fish Eye Lens Examples
http://petapixel.com/2010/04/20/make-a-nifty-soda-can-fisheye-lens/ (Accessed 20/10/13)

Figure 6 - Stone Henge
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/ (Accessed 20/10/13)

Quotes:

D. DeMet, George - The Special Effects of "2001: A Space Odyssey"

http://www.palantir.net/2001/meanings/dfx.html (Accessed 20/10/13) 

Kubrick2001 - The Space Odyssey Explained

http://www.kubrick2001.com/ (Accessed 20/10/13)

Metropolis - Film Review

Metropolis Review - Director: Fritz Lang

From the very early scenes and throughout the film we begin to get a feel for the environment that it is set in. The film was made in 1927 and the high rise, geometric buildings in the busy city environment would have been a very futuristic idea of life at the time of the film’s production. It is scarily similar to today’s urban areas (Figure 1) and a viewer watching the film today would not have much of a reaction / opinion on the setting as this looks like a normal street scene from the 21^st century. 

 

                                                                            Figure 1

Figure 2                              





                                                                                                                                                                                                           Figure 3

The Robot-Maria that Rotwang creates has also been very influential in today’s world. A couple of examples are the Cybermen in BBC’s Dr Who series (Figure 2) and pop icon Beyonce, who dressed in a costume almost exactly identical to the robot in Metropolis for one of her performances (Figure 3). Both examples were used to give a sense of power / domination.  

           

                                                                                                                                 

The tall, empowering buildings represent the power and domination of the wealthy inhabitants to the workers below the city. Ruler of the city Joh Frederson “looks out from his office in the Tower of Babel at a modern, highly technicized world.” This shows empowerment and success.

Quote:

http://metropolis1927.com/

Images:

Dr Who’s Cybermen - http://www.scifiscience.co.uk/extras/top10/villains/cybermen.html

City / Tower of Babel – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metropolis-new-tower-of-babel.png

Beyonce - http://vigilantcitizen.com/musicbusiness/the-occult-symbolism-of-movie-metropolis-and-its-importance-in-pop-culture/

                                                                                             

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari - Film Review

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Film Review

I found this black and white film from 1920, directed by Robert Wiene very interesting as I have never seen anything of this style before. It is said to be “one of the most influential films of the silent era” (Rotten Tomatoes) and seems to have shaped the depiction of films (especially in the horror genre) ever since.As there was no sound other than theatrical type music accompanying the acting it left a lot to the viewer’s imagination in regards to characters voices and other sounds that may occur. Also the actor’s eccentric and over-exaggerative gestures were very theatrical and entertaining I thought that the set design was very unique, with crooked windows and buildings at strange angles which puts the viewer at a slight discomfort although keeps them interested in the scene. I also noticed how the furniture was very dated such as chairs with very tall backs and old paraffin-style lamps representing the time it was set in. Although the interior and exterior architecture wasn’t often very detailed it was always intriguing to me. There was a gentle fairground setting with simple tent/marquee structures and hanging bunting; the use of lighting was quite clever as in most scenes the corners were darkened or there was a circle of light around the character that was aimed to be focused on. In most scenes I found that the spaces and environments were very shadowed in places giving a mysterious, gloomy feel, which could be a reflection on the time that it was set in. Also I noticed the use of different coloured filters; there was the main greyscale tone, a sepia tone, a blue tint and occasionally a light pink tone. The black and white showed the present, sepia for the past and the blue represented the night time (Figure 1). As this is a silent film, the use of the coloured filters is a very effective technique to use to support the viewers understanding of the film’s narrative and really reminded me of how two different tones were used in Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) (Figure 2). The fantasy drama following the Spanish Civil War uses a blue tinge to represent the coldness of the real world and a warm yellowish tinge to show Ofelia’s fantasy world – subtle but effective.

 The somnambulist character Cesare (Figure 3) holds an interesting resemblance to Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands (Figure 4) with the dark make-up and creepy stare.

Bibliography: 

Rotten Tomatoes, Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari. (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) (1920)
At:http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1003361-cabinet_of_dr_caligari/