Moulin Rouge Analysis

The movie Napoleon Dynamite directed by Jared Hess and released June 11, 2004 is a comedy about an awkward teen that has trouble fitting in. Napoleon (Jon Heder) the main character, lives with his grandma until she gets into an accident and his life is immediately made worse when his uncle Rico (Jon Gries) who is stuck in his high school football “superstar” days knocks on their door and is there to keep an eye on Napoleon while his grandma is getting hospitalized. Napoleon has a red afro, wears moon boots, and is constantly practicing his atrocious ninja moves. Napoleon has a best friend in high school names Pedro (Efren Ramirez) who decides to run for class president, and it is up to Napoleon to step out of his comfort zone to help Pedro win, and get his information out around school. Napoleon Dynamite was excellent because it met the criteria of humor, acting, and the profound message.

The vision Christopher Nolan had for The Prestige (2006) was to add to the outbreak of street magician film, whilst playing a large dramatic subplot equal in grandeur to the magical performances within the film. In the final sequence of the film, I will analyse how the cinematography and sound resolves the plot so that it summarises the themes present in the film, whilst also invoking a response from the audience. Nolan predominantly uses close up shots, non-diegetic sound (music) and dialogue collaboratively to convey the dramatic, personal subplot of the characters and their relationships, whilst appealing to the audience bringing forth an emotional response from the audience. The heavy, slow, dramatic atmosphere of the ending sequence uses various techniques to summarise and uncover the underlying mysteries of the events throughout the film and consolidate themes introduced during the exposition.

The scene that I have chosen to apply my learning in this term to, as well as specifically analyze, is the 2012 Universal and Working Title Films production of the movie-musical Les Misérables, directed by Tom Hooper. This musical focuses on the lives of several characters in France during the early 1800’s; Jean Valjean is an ex-convict who breaks parole to start a new life, Javert is the chief of police dedicated to upholding the law, Fantine is a single mother who turns to prostitution as a way to provide for her child Cosette, and more. The scene I am fixated on details Fantine in the wake of losing her job and realizing she needs to make money to support her child. This scene is impactful and striking because of its dealing with the topic of prostitution and unemployment, as well as being a pivotal part of the film dramatically with live singing and superb acting. The scene is also a pristine example of multiple film techniques such as close up camera shots, setting, lighting, actors, singing, and sounds in general.

The 2012 movie Argo is based off of a true event in 1979. During the Iranian Civil War, President Jimmy Carter gives the Iranian Shah refuge in the U.S. due to his illness. In retaliation, Iranian activists invade the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran and the staff are taken as hostages. This is famously known as the Iranian hostage crises. Although six of the staff members escape and are taken in by the Canadian Ambassador. Determined to rescue the six, Tony Mendez, who is our main character, from the CIA is brought in because of his expertise. After talking to his son one day while watching a science fiction program on TV, he comes up the idea to go into Iran, under the guise of Canadians

    “Tonight I gotta cut loose, footloose, kick off my sunday shoes. Jack, get back, come on before we crack.” (Footloose, Kenny Loggins) For this essay, I chose to watch Footloose made in 1984 and directed by Herbert Ross and Footloose made in 2011 directed by Craig Brewer. Both movies centered around the town of Bomont, a secluded town with out of the ordinary beliefs. In this town, dancing and partying of any sort was strictly against the law and teenagers were seemingly miserable. There was little to no self expression and even listening to provocative music or any music too loud, could get you a ticket with a hefty fine. The reason behind the strict rules is that several years back, five teens from Bomont High School died in a car wreck after they were drinking and dancing too much. Each of these movies have some things in common, but have more differences than anything. Some of the main differences are the opening credits of each movie, how and who Ren arrives to Bomont at the beginning of the movie, the “chicken” races between Ren and Jeff, and the book burning in town square.

Centered in the northwestern state of Idaho, Napoleon Dynamite follows the chronicles and mishaps of our hero, Napoleon Dynamite, as he tackles the world; his tragic flaw being, well, everything. While the film solely focuses on the character of Napoleon, the setting also dictates the events which ensue him on his quests. The culture the characters live in tends to be satirical and humorous because the majority of the intended audience does not reside in this particular culture. While the culture of the film and of the viewer may share basic similarities such as rudimentary aspects of a teenage life, generally, the cultures vastly differ in terms of industrialization, pop culture, and agriculture.

The audio although normally overpowered by the visual aspect played a key role in defining and empowering the movie. The music was fast and uplifting during celebration and on

Italian Neorealism was a movement of art, which strived to illustrate the normal lives of the ordinary, working class people in post war Rome, usually with the use of non-professional actors. As one of the best Italian Neorealist film, Bicycle Thieves showed an absolute depiction of the war’s impact on daily life and exposed a world in which sufferings, unkindness and corruption jeopardized the rationality of human beings and action of men (Schoonover). By utilizing a depressing and gloomy cinematography, De Sica implies the somber lives of the poor and their crisis in losing their self-identity and moral conscience as a result of parochial society that make a fetish of personal belongings as a mode of social acceptance. By examining the cinematography, ‘mise-en-scene’ and events in the film, the daily struggles of the working class in post war Rome can be seen through the crisis of masculinity, class struggle, ethical dilemma and a profoundly patriarchal society.

With the actors energized and compelling, they embodied their characters physically, vocally, and emotionally. The physical gestures made the actors more active and mobile. Their vocals made the performance very projective, and the musical numbers

Film can be a very useful catalyst in teaching how not to treat patients. In Analyze This and Analyze That, we see very extensive examples of this throughout the film. Through farce and lampoon, we see the in this disjunctive way what proper CBT, criminal therapy and combating recidivism is all about.

The movie, The Breakfast Club, is a movie about five students who get Saturday school and become friends as a result of it. The characters were: Allison, the quiet girl who would sit in the back and refuse to talk; John, the troublemaker who always talked back to the teachers; Claire, the popular girl who always got what she wanted; Brian, the nerdy student who only cared about having good grades; Andrew, the wrestler who was only focused impressing his father. While watching the movie, I mainly related to Brian. He is pressured to have good grades by his parents and is labeled as the nerd because of it. I am also pressured to have good grades; however, I am labeled as the smart kid in many different classes, but I’m not classified as a nerd.

I wanted to choose a scene that would be able to encompass all the feelings that were portrayed in this wonderful work. The piece seemed to be very reflective, so I thought of an elderly person thinking back about his life well spent, and the memories that shaped who he was as an individual. The music was able to capture all the emotions of the story I wanted to describe. I wanted someone to be able to feel and understand all the feelings that were being told through the music by creating a movie scene that could use every element of the piece. From the dynamics, the crescendos and decrescendos, the ritardandos, and the melody, a scene full of emotion was the only way to capture all of the music’s essence in a matter of

I'm a pretty visual person so spectacles usually little notice first. I was drawn in by the dancing, as well as the very primal, animalistic movement. I liked how Dionysus and the Bacchae all wore all black and the sort of uniformity that created. I also loved the image of Pentheus behind all of the microphones looking like a politician. The part where the Bacchae dance for Dionysus was particularly striking for me because it really demonstrate his power over them in a way that I could understand. It looked like he could completely control them like puppets. He also yells,”Who am I?” to which they all scream, “Dionysus!” Since I am more visual person, for me the dance added a lot of emotion and tension to the play. This made it really exciting to wonder what’s going to happen next. It reminded me of in Backwards & Forwards where Ball talks about forwards. According to Ball, “A forward is anything that arouses an audience’s interests in things yet to come. Playwrights want the audience hooked not on the present but the

Les Miserables is a prime example of two individuals conflicted by the “letter of the law” and the “spirit of the law”. The two main characters, Jean Valjean and and Javert, have two different views on morality. There is a difference between the “letter of the law” and the “spirit of the law”. Obeying the what the laws specifically says defines the “letter of the law” and obeying the overall message of the law defines the “spirit of the law”.

Cinematic Codes in Moulin Rouge All four cinematic codes work together in a film to inform the audience's understanding of a film and to convey meaning and the ideology in a preferred reading favoured by the film-maker so that the audience interprets the film in the way intended. In the film Moulin Rouge (Luhrman, 2000, US) the cinematic codes, mise-en-scene, sound, cinematography and editing all work well together in the opening sequence to set up the film-maker's preferred reading. The film opens with a conductor on a stage in a grand theatre, signifying a 'show' which links well with the idea behind Moulin Rouge, informing the audience that it is like a show. The curtains behind the