Greatest Romance Film of All Time, Casablanca

This essay aims to analyze the representation of characters in the film Caché (French for “hidden”, 2005) and the racial issues between the colonizer and the colonized through the psychoanalysis of colonialism and post-colonialism. I will first give a synopsis of the film. Directed by Michael Haneke, Caché presents the story of a bourgeois, middle-aged French man, George, who receives anonymous tapes. This makes him recall his childhood memory of an Algerian boy, Majid. Majid’s parents worked in George’s house but died in the massacre on 17th Oct., 1961 when the French police killed more than 200 Algerians. After Majid lost his parents, George’s parents originally planned to adopt him. However, as George was the only child in his family, he was afraid of letting Majid enter the family. He set up a lie by saying his father wanted Majid to kill a rooster. George then claimed to his parents that Majid did this to scare him; therefore George’s parents sent Majid to an orphanage. About forty years later, George, who has grown up and become a famous TV talk show host, lives with his wife and son in the city. One day his wife, Anne, receives a videotape recording their current home for several hours. They receive even more tapes with different recordings and threatening drawings of an odd, curly haired little man and a rooster with its head cut off. George tries to find out who is behind this and finds Majid. He accuses Majid of sending him the tapes as a threat;

In the film, America’s involvement of the war is represented by the character Rick Blaine. Rick is described as being completely neutral and he “Sticks his head out for nobody”. He also comes off as being ignorant, selfish, cocky, and stubborn, all characteristics dealing with America’s attitude at the beginning of the war. He makes a point of not being involved with politics. When a man is being

How does the film shown reflect the time in which it was made, and satirise American stereotypes, views, and society?

Robert A. Rosenstone certainly has a critical eye for films based on historic people and events. He captures the spirit of various discussions we’ve had in our Film As Social History class over the course of the semester. In an excerpt from his book, Visions of the Past, he critically examines historical film, and how its dramatic representations of the past shape our own perceptions. Some points of particular interest included exaggerated history films being more engaging than factually based ones, films can focus on groups as opposed to individuals, and sensory and emotional emphasis in films, “...altering our very sense of the past,” (Rosenstone, Excerpt Pg. 2). Inherit the Wind, Norma Rae, and Good Night, and Good Luck all provide evidence for and against Rosenstone’s perspective.

Inside every human being, two opposing forces clash against one another: love and ego. Each has its own agenda, suggestions, and ideas, and they are almost always opposite. It's up to us to choose which we will allow to govern our lives. Casablanca was the classic master piece of 1942 and still it is now. I’m not a fan of love stories but when I watched this movie I didn’t realized when it ended.

This shows the influence of culture on the overall film, and the subsequent narrative, plot and use of cinematic

Post World War II culture in the U.S was considered a very dark period as citizens were recovering from actions of the war.  However, citizens in America liked the fact that film noirs had reflected the harsh point-of-view of everyday people in the streets and they craved to see real actors in real settings, opposed to the “studio built streets” that they had watched previously in the 1930’s (www.librarypoint.org). There was also a constant fear in the heart of most Americans as the Cold War was present, and nuclear threats held their presence from the Soviet Union.  This sense of pessimism and mistrust in the American culture of the time had directly been portrayed in the U.S film industry in the 1940’s as, “Americans wanted a harsh view of society from the perspective of everyday people on the streets” (www.librarypoint.org).   Therefore, The Postman Always Rings Twice, is a perfect example of how Hollywood displayed these characteristics through the corrupt, unhappy fate of Frank Chambers and Cora Smith.

There’s lots of things to point out from Rick Sanchez but there are three fitters that are outstanding appearances. Are is his bright blue spiky hair, that his old but a cool person and his always drooling because his always drink and doesn’t care that his drooling. When I saw Rick the thing that I was looking at was his blue hair and that is so spiky and that not normal no one has it like that and his a old mad to have colored hair. Then the second that that you see right away is that his always drooling and he doesn’t care that his drooling, its just there falling off his chin but Rick doesn’t care is there just dripping off his chin then. The last thing is that his old but a cool guy, when you see your grandpa

When recreating a classic film, especially when it is through a different cultural lense, it is inevitable that the original plot, characters, and overall feeling of the movie will be skewed. Our cultural identities and social norms are so ingrained into us that they are bound to be reflected in our art. The film conversion from the Japanese made Seven Samurai to the American remake, The Magnificent Seven, is a poignant example of this. Despite having almost identical plot lines, the films emanate contrasting feelings and to a certain extent, portray different messages. When examining the role of American culture in film, one often looks to the quintessential romance or action plots, stories in which “true love conquers all” or an underdog overcomes adversity to defeat a villain. As demonstrated by these iconic storylines and The Magnificent Seven film, American culture places a strong value on individualism and the idealistic approach to life, which similar to the American dream, tells us that hard work will always be rewarded. On the other hand, Seven Samurais greatly emphasizes family, unity, and the consequences of our actions, demonstrating the importance of interdependence and realism in Japanese culture.

At first glance, it seems that the differences between Israel and the United States of America run deeper than water. Despite its size, Israel is constantly the target of hate and criticism. As a country with a strong Army, Israel has to constantly defend itself and justify its actions to the world. The USA, who has always been an ally to Israel, is at the top of the social food chain, reigning over the world. The two nations, although different, exhibit the same political and ideological shifts in views and beliefs. Films are a strong medium to explore and demonstrate the evolution of a society's identity. The films act as a sort of mirror through which a society can explore its mythologies, ideas, and identity. The mirror reflects the social

1. What are the contrasts the film draws between the West (USA & Europe) and the USSR / Soviet Union?

The love-making scene in this film involving Ben Loy and his wife is the scene I chose to perform a close analysis on. I am going to look at the ways in which this scene makes use of mise-en-scène, camera angles, camera movement, sounds, and other visual information to communicate and influence audience perceptions of race and or ethnicity.

10) Is the focus of the film properly contextualized? How might the film be better (historically, culturally,

Serving as a reference for just how extensive and significant the conflict has become, the film represents the opinions of children upon the matter, some who claim they even want to kill those on the opposite spectrum of the clash. In this way, I feel that it accurately contests the stereotypes most people have upon the subject, as it depicts how even children in all their innocence are being brought up harboring a bitter sense of resentment toward a people they have only ever heard of, but never truly gotten to know. It is clear throughout its entirety that the basis of the conflict is misunderstanding, and its perpetuators the children who learn to hate with a blind passion because they do not know any better. Upon actually hearing them talk so bitterly and seeing them cry, it is apparent just how poignantly and realistically the film captures the conflict as opposed to a monotonous relation of the facts with no background and no basis in which to refer one’s

Lars Von Trier's film “Dogville” is an interesting European spin on how America is viewed. Produced in 2003, performed by an almost all-American cast, written by a Danish director, “Dogville” becomes not only a film about how Europeans might see America; but how the audience can interpret what Trier is presenting to them. “Dogville,” is often viewed and critiqued by many as a cynical spin on how the United States is perceived. After all, this film is one of the easiest ways to see how a director can use the many Brechtian techniques to keep the audience from being absorbed in the film.