The Ten Commandments
ENG225: Introduction to Film
Instructor, Anna Morrison
December 12, 2011
The Ten Commandments
The movie the author would like to critique is probably one of the greatest movies of all time. The movie is The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston, Yul Brenner, and Cecil B. DeMille. If the author were a real critic like Gene Siskel, and Roger Ebert, she would give this movie two thumbs up. The author will probably be giving her, interpretation of this movie all the way through this paper because she feels that in order to understand what’s being critiqued you have to understand the movie. Of course this is a movie that the author has seen a number of times, and every time she views it she finds something that
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For some reason back in the fifties the bible was a good source for movies, and you have to understand one of the reasons will be found in the strength of genre movies. “For the director, there were certain advantages with working within a given genre. Because the characters, the plot, and the conventions were already established, they provided the director with a kind of cinematic shorthand greatly simplified the task of storytelling.” (Boggs, M., Petrie, D., 2008 7th Ed.) The original movie was shot in 1923 as a silent film which was also directed by Cecil Demille. The cast of the 1956 remake of the Ten Commandments were cast from the original silent film. The production of this film was good for that time period. The production crew had it easy when it came to the cast, due to most of the cast came from the original film from 1923. The props, scene, and setting that the production crew used were great, for an example in the film Ten Commandments, the scene with Moses bringing down the ten commandments from the mountain top after talking with God. When you look at that scene the production crew does a good job with the dark clouds and the fire like orange colors in the setting of the clouds. The mountain that was in the back ground of Moses really stood out in that scene, when Moses gave the ten commandment to the children of Israel, he stood on the mountain and with his red over garment blowing in the wind
Based on this argument it can be assumed that the readers are empathetic, musical, educated to an extent, opened minded, and value religion. It can also be assumed that the readers rely on the writer for informative unbiased reviews and the writer relies on the readers for followup after the argument. This follow-up is to see the movie themselves. Davis does not use and sources other than Sammy Davis Jr. to support his argument, in this case, making it easier for the reader to evaluate how they feel during and after reading. It can be assumed that the audience is aware of the festival that the movie will be showcased at. The audience’s response will more than likely
The Ten Commandments are regarded as the fundamental laws that all Christians are to conform to. They were written by the hands of God himself and revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, inscribed on two stone tablets. They offer basic rules of behaviour for spiritual and moral living to Christians. These laws still instruct Adherents today, for they expose sin and show us God's standard. Without the sacrifice of Christ, Adherents are completely helpless to live up to God's holy standard.
The film makes a persuasive argument that the MPAA’s rating system is a form of censorship. The enemies of movies and ratings include Jack Valenti, Joan Graves and the MPAA. Valenti is the overseer of the MPAA and Graves is the head of the MPAA review board. The
For the paper on Theodicy in Culture I choose to write about the movie For Colored Girls. I picked three specific scenes within the movie that displays pain, suffering and questioning God. The first scene I picked is when a couple was fighting because the wife turned down his engagement and the boyfriend did not take it well because he suffered from bipolar disorder so he would snap at any time, during the scene when the girlfriend said no the man turned to the two things she loved more than life itself which were there children and he killed them by dropping them out the window and he did this because he was upset with the girlfriend for saying no. In this scene, the man was suffering from not being himself and not knowing what he was doing
In comparing an August, 1974 film review from The Great Speckled Bird with one from the New York Times from the same time period and regarding the same film, two very different styles of writing, and the thoughts of two very different kinds of writers are immediately found. The tone and language of the two reviews are vastly different, as is the review content for Robert Altman’s California Split (1974).
Halakha by definition is Jewish religious law, encompassing both civil and religious commandments and prohibitions. The word Halakha stems from the root meaning to walk. Halakha involves the study of law and customs in the Jewish religion. According to rabbinic law it must be performed to sanctify all life and attain redemption. This idea when introduced was a collection of rabbinic commentaries from the Hebrew bible or the torah. The importance of halakha among Judaism and its trends, ideas, theories etc. is the fact that halakha is trying to integrate itself into the world and not just strictly deal with Jews but integrate itself into the world of non-Jews. Halakha is derived from the oral and written torah. The laws can cover many
and contemporary audiences. These are explored through the ambiguous nature of morality which is expressed within key scenes of the film.
Feature films have served as depictions of our society. They have been mirrors reflecting upon us what we are, what we would like to be, and how we view ourselves. “To Kill a Mockingbird” is in fact a classic film that does just that. Directed by Robert Mulligan, this film was based on Harper Lee’s novel of the same title. The screenplay by Horton Foote, “To Kill a Mockingbird is both a coming of age story of three young children, told from the perspective of Scout as she reflects upon an important court case involving her father when she was only six years of age (Pakula & Mulligan, 1962). It is a commentary on racism in the 1930’s south, its affects upon a small town, and the minority-liberal Whites. As an American/historical drama, its characteristics are clear. There is a perspective on life, a sense of humor, political view and moral values established early in the film. The setting is also important to the film, as it draws a theme and structure for the audience. This analysis will view “To Kill a Mockingbird” through the lens of the genre theory as it applies to the contextual information, story/plot, aesthetic choices, and social impact that helped form the theme and created an Oscar award winning and nominated film classic, again proving that great cinema serves as commentary on society, for better or for worse. It forces us to see ourselves and question who we are and who we want to be.
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.
God gave Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai to serve as principles of moral behavior for the human race. These are mentioned twice in Torah (Exodus and Deuteronomy). These Commandments are also being followed and Practiced in Christianity. The Ten Commandments are following: 1. I am the God your Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of Bondage.
“Now an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?” The expert answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” (Luke 10:25-28 New English Translation).
This is truly a fascinating topic to be discussing, as I have often pondered and discussed with friends how we should examine films. I personally am of the mind that director intent is an important thing to keep in mind when you're viewing a film, as it can tell you a lot about the artist and where their mind was at when they were making the film. As scholars we should try to avoid putting words in other people's mouths, if Ridley Scott believes their is no message in the film than the artist obviously never intended to produce anything other than their own artistic vision. On that note, that doesn’t mean that we as scholars and viewers shouldn’t discuss how we see a film, what we interpret from the characters/storytelling and the aesthetic choices. Everyone has their own view on a film and ignoring your own feelings when discussing it with others or in a paper would be a waste of a unique perspective. In short I think the director's intent and individual views should have symbiotic relationship, keeping both perspectives in mind is something I always try to do and it
Islam is, debatably, the fastest growing religion in the world today. At a level of 1.2 billion, they represent approximately 22% of the world's population. Moslems make up the second largest religion in the world, surpassed only to Christianity at 33%. This is according to the 1999 World Almanac and Book of Facts (724). What is Islam? Who is a Moslem? What do they believe? How does one become a Moslem?
Contemporary criticism reflects the current audiences that are viewing the subject and their mindsets. Early movies specifically needed to know their audiences, as the reception they received could make or break actors, directors, and even entire studios. However, a movie viewed in modern times can have a completely different effect on the viewer than the original intended audience. Specifically movies, such as the ones shown here, that are based on historical events. In the order of the years they were released, Jezebel, Drums Along the Mohawk, and Unconquered, all focus on romantic relationships, and the different historical periods they are dropped into. Each of these movies take a drastically different look at their characters, despite their similar, specific, genre of romantic historical fiction. Each review of the movies echoes this, with analysis of the characters, historic accuracy, and just overall how compelling the story is.
One peril from bringing a wide-ranging scope into this argument, is the need to then reassert how this would assert itself, with comparisons from which we’ve analyzed, and understood the sublime better. The “where” and “when” would at least improve, by habits exhibited today. Reserving it and “beauty” as synonymous terms might have once been serviceable, but after what Burke and Shaw went about to put in place, this acceptance of the darker, more drastic sides of our world is almost, itself, compelled to this new era. Ways of thinking correspond, blossom, and flourish with these new dimensions, but if also figuring in logical reasoning, little room is left to speak of any emotional responses, or the asserted faithfulness wherever the