Analysis Of The Movie ' Requiem For Detroit '

In the early 1900’s Henry Ford developed the idea of “a wagon that will run without a horse”.1 This idea and Ford’s success changed America and its people forever. The development of the automobile played a tremendous role in the economy, labor unions and society. Generally, when most people think of Henry Ford they reflect upon his wealth and contributions to the transportation industry as an infinitely positive phenomenon. It is thought that aside from just allowing consumers to purchase and use his inventions, he provided thousands of people with jobs and the promise of prosperity. The tale of Henry Ford’s legendary business and remarkably effective assembly line is unparalleled in

This documentary is written, directed and produced by Michael Moore and is about the social repercussions of capitalism as well as corporate and government issues that conflict with the basic needs of people and their families. Moore takes a liberal humanistic look at the consequences of General Motors closing down several auto plants in Flint, Michigan in the late 1980's and what can happen when a city is almost completely reliant on a single industry that shuts down or moves away. Moore also looks at the failure of Flint city officials to reverse the effects of the closures with trends like Auto World which had little effect (Moore, 1989).

The 1946 film The Killers is a renowned film noir based off of Ernest Hemingway’s short story of the same title, focusing on the detailed backstory and investigation for the motive of the murder of Pete Lund/Ole Anderson, commonly known and referred to as “The Swede.” A film noir is a term made originally to describe American mystery and thriller movies produced in the time period from 1944-1954, primarily marked by moods of menace, pessimism, and fatalism. Although the film does not focus on the war itself at all, it still puts forth interesting new ways in how gender relations can be stereotypical as well as divergent proceeding the Second World War.

Tombstone was released December 25, 1993 and made $6,454,752 in the first week. Tombstone is based in the city of Tombstone in the Arizona Territory during the 1880s. The movie is about the conflict that an ex-cattle town sheriff and his family face. Wyatt Earp, played by Kurt Russell, his older Brother Virgil Earp, (Sam Elliott), and his younger brother Morgan Earp, (Bill Paxton), come to Tombstone to become miners. When they first get off the wagon at the hotel, the county sheriff greets them and gives them a tour and they come to a saloon put out the business by Ike Clanton, (Stephen Lang). Wyatt throws Clanton out of the saloon. Milt Joyce, (Pat Brady) cuts Wyatt in on 25% of the houses takings a night. After this walking back to his brother Ike shows up with a shotgun to deal with Wyatt; at this time, we are introduced to Doc. Holiday, (Val Kilmer) who hollers at Ike so to alert the Earps of what is coming. Due to this no blood was shed. Then a stagecoach rolls into town. On the coach is a play company staring Josephine Marcus, (Dana Delany). Wyatt is immediately attracted to her and she notices him down the road and is attracted as well. Then the Earps and Doc go to the Bird Cage Theater where they take their wives: Wyatt’s wife Mattie, (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), Virgil’s wife Allie, (Paula Malcomson) and Morgan’s wife Louisa, (Lisa Collins) and Doc’s girl Kate, (Joanna Pacula). During the play, the Cowboy’s gang was watching as well but they were shooting their guns

Requiem for Detroit? is a historical documentary, released in 2010 and directed by Julien Temple, about the decline and collapse of Detroit, one of America’s largest cities. It chronicles Detroit’s journey through its success in the automobile industry all the way through its urban decay and industrial collapse to the present day. As the film draws a close, Temple also suggests some ways forward for Detroit. He presents possibilities and clearly shows which he thinks is most likely through his use of interviews with subjects and visual representations of these offered opinions. The intended reading that Temple offers viewers is a complex one, with many anti-consumerist and anti-corporate ideas and leanings. Despite the ‘doom-laden’ feel of much of the text, Temple paints optimism for the potential for a progressive and productive future for Detroit. Throughout the documentary he clearly expresses this intended reading through effective use of motifs, shown by visual and sound techniques, music and interviews with both privileged and non-privileged characters.

Henry Ford was the godfather of the automobile industry in the early 1900’s. The development of his River Rouge plant was considered a “industrial Cathedral.” Hundreds waited month after month in front of the employment building hoping to be hired. To foreign immigrants it meant hope and a successful future. The River Rouge plant

Does the sound of the city ring a bell as a place filled with violence and gruesome stories? That’s what I have always noticed with the reports involving the city of Oakland. To news media everything has to have just the right amount of darkness to it in order for that news channel to have a good amount of viewers. Like it or not we all have that little dark side within us that is more curious and interested to see something terrible happen in news reports; because for some reason it’s entertaining to us. During my critical thinking class with my professor Larry Salomon, I learned that this is why most news channels like to show gruesome and tragic stories more often, because we as human beings find some sort of interest and satisfaction hearing about these stories; and this makes work for news channels more easier to gain more viewers. Some people are more eager to learn about a tragic story unlike the other reports that have a more hopeful and cheerful description. How is this linked to violence in Oakland? News reporters know that Oakland is the place to go when you need a story that will help you get viewers. I have talked to some residents in my community of Oakland and they stated that they were tired of being the notebook of bad stories to be told on live television; the only reason why violence seems to continue in this community is because reporters always point the finger at the city as being a place filled with

William Attaway’s novel, Blood on the Forge, displays a family torn apart as a product of systematic exploitation. In the compelling narrative, the Moss brothers, Big Mat, Chinatown, and Melody, migrate to the north in motivation of Big Mat committing the murder of his riding boss. As they begin to adjust, their perception of the north’s assumed and rumored opportunities quickly conforms to the reality of what is actually offered. Through plot lines of the very act of migrating, acclimating to regenerated labor and norms, and, finally, the dissolution of the brothers’ identities and close family connection, it is observed that their exodus to the north is just as empty of benefits as the south. Attaway accomplishes depicting an accurate account of the contrasting exploitation that occurred in both the north and the south by portraying the Moss brothers’ demise as a result of their migration from a systematic, rural setting to an industrial, diminishing, and, ultimately, unfamiliar environment along with how the two regions parallel in similarities concerning economical and social consequences, permanently affecting the brothers altogether mentally and physically. Where there was great potential for a rebirth of opportunity and success, the result was a contrasting reality of misery and permanent damage.

“Iron Road” has successfully shown why Chinese workers came to Canada in the 1880s as well as the challenges they confronted. Most of the film’s storyline occurs in China, where it uses the point of view of a Chinese peasant called Little Tiger, to display the daily struggles of the Chinese. The setting is full of war and destruction, thus destroying many farms resulting in famine and poverty. This has resulted in peasants having insufficient funds to support themselves and making them live in unsanitary living spaces. As a result, this gave the workers more reason to move to Canada as there was also better income and resources there. However, once they arrived in Canada, they discover that the conditions there weren’t as good as they thought. Although they had a better income than they did in China, there was a lot of discrimination, dangerous working conditions and horrible living spaces. There was worse pay for the Chinese workers and they had to do the most life-threatening jobs like working with explosives as well as working on the side of a cliff with no harnesses. Throughout the film, “Iron Road” has used the setting, characters and point of view of a Chinese peasant to show that there were horrible conditions and chaos in China, as well as the racism, dangerous working conditions and poor living space the peasants faced in Canada.

The film Requiem for the American Dream is a documentary that informs its audience, the American middle class, that the American Dream has died. The film was produced over a four-year period and was later turned into a book containing three times as much material as the film and became a New York Times bestseller of the same name (Gold 2016). Considering the length of time this took to create, and the topics it covers, it is relatively short at only 73 minutes. Despite the time constraint, the film conveys its message in a way that is understandable to the audience. The principle filmmakers are Kelly Nyks, Peter Hutchison, and Jared Scott, all of which have worked with Chomsky in past ventures according to the website IMDb.com. The star of this documentary is Noam Chomsky, while he is on screen he is shown seated, with a relaxed manner, offscreen he is the narrator. The video has ten parts that describe how the American Dream has died, beginning with the concept “Reducing Democracy” where Chomsky tells viewers that the “founding fathers” drafted the U.S. Constitution with the intention to protect wealthy individuals against too much democracy. Next, he addresses “Shaping of Ideology” this highlights a memo, sent from Lewis F. Powell Jr. in 1971 detailing the attack on the American economic system, stressing that the young are being taken away from the ideology of the status quo (citation needed). Following that is “Redesign the Economy” this part is about how before the 70s

In the film “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the producers do an excellent job of showing how the film plays with light and dark, illusion and reality, and brutality conflict. Blanche, Stella, Stanly and Mitch successfully portray the concepts of light vs dark, illusion vs reality, brutality conflict through various transitions of each.

Detropia is a documentary directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady that explores the decline of Detroit, Michigan. The film is to raise awareness of the city that used to flourish but is now struggling to support its citizens with the downfall of its automobile industry. Detropia was made in 2012 and highlights important stories and viewpoints of citizens still living in Detroit who are filled with hope for its future. I chose to review Detropia because it really corresponds with what we have been discussing in Geography, such as urban geography and population growth. Urban geography is a subdiscipline of geography that deals with areas of the Earth’s surface that have a high concentration of buildings and architecture. The documentary Detropia goes into depth of why Detroit’s population is dissolving and what is being done about it.

Detroit is a very well-known and diverse city. “Somewhere behind its neglected, graffiti covered skyscrapers are charming reminders of a city that was once among the world’s wealthiest” (Gray). This city has been through a lot. Detroit was first founded by the French in 1701 and then used as a fur trade post. Jumping a little in the future, it has had riots and protest for equal rights among its busy streets. Detroit is also known as the Motor City. “By the mid-twentieth century one in every six working Americans was employed directly or indirectly by the automotive industry” (Sugrue). Yet after everything this city has endured Detroit is thought of as a place of fear. It has a lot of history and has a lot to offer if people would let

In essence, this paper will outline two significant themes related to crime and the effect of media explored in the film. Most notably, the nature of crime and criminality is explored thoroughly. Specifically, the effect limited opportunities and racial stereotyping can have on promoting an individual down a path of crime. Particular attention will be given to a scene in which a youthful fox wishes to join a prey-dominant Boy Scout troop, only to be rejected and humiliated because he is a predator. Furthermore, the concept of a moral panic caused by media news reporting is displayed excellently in a montage scene in which prey are scared of predators as the media reports that aggression and criminality is in their nature. Finally, I will critique how these issues are communicated in a neo-noir

In the movie Crash, the director Paul Haggis interweaves multiple connected stories about race, class, family, and gender in Los Angeles, California after the 9/11 event. All the characters are shown to have life changing experiences with their conflicts of stereotypes, prejudice, and racism within a span of 36 hours. This movie has won three Oscars and was deemed “expertly written” and “Best Picture Oscar-winner … sprawling and ambitious, episodic and contrived” by Cynthia Fuchs, a professional movie critic. So, how did this movie become so well-known and popular in the U.S., even though there are already so many movies with similar themes?