Movie Analysis : Blue Velvet

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.

Surrealism is a movement that built off of the burgeoning look into art, psychology, and the workings of the mind. Popularly associated with the works of Salvador Dali, Surrealist art takes imagery and ideology and creates correlation where there is none, creating new forms of art. In this essay I will look to explore the inception of the surrealist movement, including the Surrealist Manifesto, to stress the importance of these artists and their work in the 20th century and beyond. I also will look to films from our European Cinema course to express how films incorporate the influence of surrealism both intentionally and unintentionally.

After reading The Maltese Falcon, By Dashiell Hammett and watching the film, By John Huston, there are many differences that are in reference to Sam Spade’s dialogue between the two genre’s. One specific scene that had caught my attention was within the exchange of money for the black falcon.

Harold and Maude, a movie directed by Hal Ashby and released in the 1970’s, did not receive much attention and popularity when first released. Since the movie depicted obsession with suicide through a 20-year-old character Harold, the movie received backlash because during the 1970’s there were high rates of suicides among teenagers and college students. However, over time college students found the movie very entertaining, therefore bringing the movie into the lights and making it a cult hit. In Blue Velvet, a neo-noir mystery film directed by David Lynch and released in 1986, received a variety of critical responses from a wide range of audience, but this movie’s unique style earned Lynch his second nomination for Best Director. The idea of innocent getting caught in a web of evil is portrayed through the character Jeffrey Beaumont, who first encounter’s a severed ear in a grassy abandoned field. In this paper I will compare and contrast these two movies that include key actors Bud Cort, played as Harold, and Kyle MacLachlan, played as Jeffrey and include a few key points that have made these movies enjoyable to watch.

The Princess bride is a comedy/romance/adventure/action movie The main characters are Westley-a farm boy, buttercup-a princess who meet indigo montoya- a knight trying to avenge hos farther and fezzic - a giant along the way. The Princess Bride is based off the book ‘The Princess Bride’ and makes frequent references to it in the movie. The movie is set in a fairy tale themed timeline and has mythical beasts such as giant rodents.

Pretty in Pink is teen cult film that was penned by the late John Hughes that came out in 1986. It stars the teen queen of 1980’s films Molly Ringwald, as Andie, an underprivileged high school senior who has a very distinct sense of style and a fiercely loyal sidekick known as Duckie (played by Jon Cryer). This film is a modern for its era take on the classic tale of Cinderella. Andie, quickly starts to fall for the wealthy and handsome Blaine, much to the heartbreak of Duckie, who while loyal as a friend is head over heels in love with Andie. After the initial courtship of Andie and Blaine drama ensues as the classist high school they all attend creates a rift between the star couple.

The Silver Linings Playbook takes a look on the life of a former teacher, Pat Solitano Jr. before and after finding his ex-wife having an affair with a history teacher. Throughout the movie, we watched how Pat finds himself facing many mental, emotional, social, and physical challenges. After his release from a mental institution, Pat moved back in with his Parents, Dolores and Pat Sr., who is diagnosed with obsessive compulsion disorder. Pat also learns that his father lost his job and is resorting to bookmaking to earn money to open a restaurant by betting on the Philadelphia Eagles. Motivated by the idea that there are silver linings in life, Pat’s number one mission is to better himself by changing his lifestyle. He later on see’s an opportunity

David Lynch's Blue Velvet is an exploration of things above and below the surface. This surface is really a borderline between not only idyllic suburban America and the dark, perverted corruption that lies underneath but also between good and evil, conscious and subconscious, dream and reality. Although this division seems quite rigid and clean-cut some of the most important implications of the film stem from the transgressions of these borderlines. In the initial scenes of the film Lynch introduces Lumberton, the typical small town in Middle America where the fireman waves at you, the children are well protected, the lawns are green and there is a smile on everybody's face. Naturally, the most important clich?

The opening scene in David Lynch's Blue Velvet portrays the theme of the entire film. During this sequence he uses a pattern of showing the audience pleasant images, and then disturbing images to contrast the two.

Before being notified by the police that his parent’s murderer is being released from prison. Blue Ruin tells the story about Dwight a vagabond who spends his days scavenging through leftovers in trash bags while living aimlessly within the doors of his decrepit Pontiac Bonneville. Nevertheless this startling news ultimately guides Dwight back to the hometown in hopes to seek out revenge on those responsible for his disarrayed past.

In many motion pictures, underlying themes and values are often hidden amongst more superficial demonstrations and ideas. In the film, Blue Velvet, Jeffrey the protagonist is trying to solve a crime while at the same time he is really exploring this other world of explicit sexuality that is opened by his new-found desire towards Dorothy Vallen, a mysterious and interesting woman that has ties to the crime. This new desire that Jeffrey has towards Dorothy is noted throughout the film as he slowly loses a grip on who he is. The idea of Jeffrey losing his grip of who he really is, is illustrated when he lies to Dorothy to get into her apartment, steals her keys, and then later sneaks into her apartment and watches her undress. In the beginning

The next shot is an establishing shot of a house in the neighborhood. It cuts to a man watering his lawn with a hose and then to a woman inside watching a crime film (ironic that crime is a theme of this film) on the television and drinking coffee. It cuts back to the man outside and to the spigot and snake-like hose. The hose is leaking and the man struggles to untangle the hose from the branch. It cuts back and forth between the hose and branch and then back to the man as he grabs his neck and collapses to the ground. As he lays there having a stroke (maybe?) on the ground with the hose in his hand, a dog playfully bites the stream and a baby eating a popsicle walks up. It zooms in on the dog twice and the frame rate is lowered. This in a way symbolizes how

Candy Land is a fun imaginative game in which friend’s journey across a magical land out of candy in search of the missing king. Anyone, ages 3 and up, can join in the game and feel how it is to be a kid again. The rules are simple. Draw a card, move to the corresponding space, and hope you’re lucky enough to be the one to reach the end of the board and find the location of the candy king. There are many special cards included in the drawing pile that influence how far forward or backwards a players character is allowed to move.

Silver Linings Playbook and Bipolar Disorder. Silver Linings Playbook is a film premiering in 2012, featuring a man named Pat, who was just getting out of a mental institution for almost beating the man his wife was having an affair with to death. Soon after returning home he meets a woman, Tiffany, recently widowed with a bad reputation around town from sleeping with everybody in her office. Tiffany knows Pat’s wife, and since she has a strict restraining order against him, offers to deliver a letter to her in exchange for him being her partner in a dance competition she is passionate about. Though the movie primarily focuses on Pat, and his personal struggle with bipolar disorder, it shows the mental disorders of many other characters throughout the film. Pat’s father is extremely OCD about football. Through his superstitions, he ends up making a bet for just about all the money they have and loses, so they partake in a parlay, double or nothing. They bet that Philadelphia will beat Dallas, and that Pat and Tiffany will score at least a 5 at the competition. Nikki, Pat’s wife, ends up going to the competition like he had hoped, his one last chance to win her back. They win the bet, and they score exactly a 5.0. At first, Pat goes straight to Nikki and talks to her, everything looks as if it worked out perfectly, and then Tiffany leaves. Pat chases her down and reveals that he loves her, and has officially moved on from Nikki.

In our society, almost all of us buy clothes clueless of the labour that actually goes into making them. But what is the true price of even something as simple as a pair of jeans? The unfortunate reality of what life is truly like working in a sweatshop is investigated in Micha Peled’s documentary China Blue. It follows Jasmine Lee, a sixteen-year Chinese girl who leaves her village in hopes of improving her family’s life and her own by finding work in the city. She manages to get a job in the city of Shaxi as a thread cutter at Lifeng factory, which produces jeans, but has to deal with its harsh conditions, long hours and abysmally low wages. The most prevalent theme of this documentary is that first world countries are part of the reason why sweatshops are as terrible as they are, and it is conveyed with a variety of methods.