Coppola Genre Criticism

In an era that seemed to emphasize conformity, the iconoclastic western hero proved to be a seductive archetype. Along with a revival of the westerns came the emergence of a new genre (auteur films), one targeted at an

Films are about some topics or themes and involve different types of characters. Many filmmakers use a variety of techniques to convey their messages. The choice on the type of the techniques depends on the theme of the film and how effective the filmmakers want to communicate their ideas. This essay aims at illuminating theme and technique in films basing its argument on Alfred Hitchcock’s movies; Notorious movie, Rope, and Strangers on the Train. Alfred Hitchcock was a director of movies and his place in the film studies is unrivalled. He is famously known due to his brilliant plots, witty dialogue, and his ability to tell stories visually. This unique ability brought a new revolution in the film industry that made him become a very

In the film industry, directors have control over the entire production process and shape the film to fit their vision (Creativeskillset.org, 2015). In 1954, François Truffaut took this notion, applying it one step further, in his essay entitled ‘A Certain Tendency in French Cinema’, by saying that directors have complete creative control over the film’s production and that the director is the sole creator. (Nelmes, 2012). Developing this newfound term, auteur theory, coming from the French word ‘author’, François Truffaut came to this conclusion after studying the filmography of famous directors including the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Jean Renoir (Acu.edu.au, 2011). François Truffaut noticed that many elements

What critics fail to recognize is that the anachronism modernizes the film to reflect the values of society today. Coppola’s willful ignorance of accurate history allows the audience to emphasize with a victimized portrayal of Marie Antoinette. As a naïve wild child stuck in a state of loneliness, Coppola highlights themes of individualism and self-identity to create a relatable coming of age story out of a notorious historical figure. Coming of age stories have been popular within past four decades because of their “[link]… to identity development” that society values (Lewis). Camera angles, music, and anachronism form an intimate experience created in order for the audience to form a connection with Marie Antoinette. Sofia Coppola’s choice to humanize Marie Antoinette expands on the idea that society overlooks and allows corruption taking place in society. There are people that we give the “Coppola effect” of neglecting the harsh truth of reality. The real Queen of France shares some of the same values of famous figures today: extravagance and rebellion. The fact of the matter is if we as a society continue neglecting the truth, these immoral values will continue to be reflected in our culture and won’t be trumped by

“The Sound of Music,” “West Side Story,” and “Singin’ in the Rain” are some of the most commonly referred to movies when analyzing the genre of musicals. As stated in the this essay’s question, “a film genre is a broad classification of film based on similarities in subject matter, style, and conventions.” Movies, such as the three listed above, are classified into the musical genre because of the “relatively high proportion of non-narrative, movements” (Dyer, p 272). Through various film techniques, but especially through dancing, music, and lyrics, musicals allow for its audiences to escape from their humdrum lives for a few hours and into a world of energy, intensity, and transparency. It’s been quite some time since these three classic musicals have been released, but still, the genre lives on. Recent movies,

In modern society within the movie world, we can see which genres are the most striking and appealing to the audience. The genres that come to mind are adventure, action, fantasy, comedy, drama, horror and thriller. This essay will go over the how director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Peter Jackson makes practical and effective use of genre to shape and decorate his peculiar and original creative visual style into the filmmaking world. Most known for his work on ‘The Lord of the Rings’ Trilogy and other films such as ‘King Kong’, ‘The Lovely Bones’ and ‘Dead Alive’. With all his movies having one or all of the genres roles mentioned, we will see how they connect to each other and keep audiences involved with these high-demand genres

The movies Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978) are both directed by the acclaimed movie maker Terrence Malick. Both of these films have been deemed culturally significant by the Library of Congress and have been inducted in 1993 and 2007 respectively. The basis of this paper is to take these two movies and shed some light behind their creator’s process. The justification for this analysis is to prove with examples that Terrence Malick is an example of an auteur. Through the use of mise en scene, sound, and editing it can be seen that the two films in question are decidedly of a certain style that is unique to Terrence.

Criticism is the practice of judging the qualities and faults of something, such as movies in this case. Literary exchanges contain three participants, the text, the source, and the receiver. The analysis for literary work is classified into three modes of schools of criticism and theory. These are the emphasis on the text, emphasis on the source, and emphasis on the receiver; each school acting as an umbrella for various types of criticism in which they focus on one of the three participants of literary relations in a unique way. The type of criticism that best fits the movie reviews of Halloween, 300, and Frozen are reader response criticism, new criticism, and structuralism respectively.

The term “genre” is referenced frequently when describing film, literature, music, and other mediums of artistry, and yet attempting to define the term itself is difficult. Genre studies are rife with uncertainty and conflicting opinions on how best to define and research genre. Some theorists opt for a semantic approach, a broader categorization a genre that encompasses a large number of films, the building blocks of which are commonplace across that genre. In contrast to the semantic theorists, some prefer a syntactic approach, isolating select films which most ideally represent the themes and structural conventions of that genre. There exists a third interpretation, a semantic/syntactic approach, which takes into consideration all

Use a range of auteur theories to examine the work of two significant directors you have studied on this module. One director should have produced the majority of their work prior to 1960 and the other should have produced it from the 1970s onwards.

Screenwriters are often depicted and/or viewed as whiny control freaks, sell-outs, or unimportant figures during production and post-production; but why does this stigma exist? The answer lies in various folds within the history of screenwriting itself. A single entity was not solely responsible for attaching such reputations to screenwriters, rather multiple, from studio heads to novel writers, and even screenwriters themselves. These developments in the screenwriter’s persona entangled with the evolution of film as a medium itself, as well as with the public view of the entire industry. However, interestingly enough, these often negative images have also been solidified by misconceptions printed by film historians as well. Therefore, the weaving web that culminated to the perceptions of today began at films conception in the 1890s, and did not cease until recent times.

Cinema is a full-fledged art form, and its expressive boundaries are defined solely by the talent and skill of creators. Genre, style and everything else are secondary to the creative mind. Just like with any other art form, I humbly learn with the best artisans without labeling their artistic fluidity.

The handheld camera is employed to follow her venture from the beginning in both medium and medium-long shot and it allows spectator feel a distance from Charlotte and the sense of alienation as if they are secretly following behind her. Coppola bothers, however, to let us to feel that way. Her niche use of juxtaposition between medium shot and point-of-view shot of Charlotte rather allow us to sympathies with her feeling as we “experience a foreign environment through the eyes of a young female protagonist” (Kennedy 2010, 51). In the scene of Charlotte sitting alone in a train as gazing out the window on her way to Kyoto, this culminates along with non-diegetic sound evocative of a mystique and ethereal atmosphere. Marie, as Charlotte, also experiences this alienated feeling when she crosses border from Austria to France. As soon as she arrives at the border which “has been built precisely astride” between two lands, she is forced to “leave all of Austria behind:” her past. After the handover ceremony, as she walk out of the structure, the music begins—another use of a 2003 contemporary song—and Marie’s look of distress on her face and direct gaze to the camera seems convey that it was her baptism in adolescence stage. On her way to

According to film theorist Thomas Schatz, “a genre approach (to film) provides the most effective means for understanding, analyzing, and appreciating the Hollywood cinema (Schatz vii).” His approach to film is strongly supported by theorist Edward Branigan’s and the narrative representation of character interaction (Branigan), and André Bazin’s arguments that the objective reality pressed against audience interpretation.

The evaluation of a film assigns some form of value to a film and the experience you encountered while watching the film. Evaluation can imply the criteria and standards that you can argue about to place value on a film. Thus, giving people a reason to question a film to develop reasons, make such standards are met and to understand the film. These standards can stem from the classical evaluation and pluralistic-category method which has given viewers a blueprint of how you should properly evaluate a film. There are certain ways that you can go about judging a films effectiveness. For instance, the classical evaluation method imposes the use of cinematicity within three concepts that all films should have. Like medium specificity, cinematicity allows film to distinguish itself from theatre with the use of close-ups, camera movement, etc.; thus, creates a universal structure for critics to judge a film. This is based on the creative style of the director and how much the viewers admire the way the has stuck with its cinematicity. However, the pluralistic-category does not base its evaluation on style and opinion. In all, these types of evaluations are used in different ways which will be further explained throughout this essay.