The Content Of The Cult Film They Live

They Live, a si-fi classic, visually reveals its characters and shapes its viewer’s feelings using many functions of mise-en-scene. The setting, lighting, and costumes used in the film all relay a different, undercover message to it’s audience.

In Jean-Louis Comolli and Jean Narboni’s essay “Cinema/Ideology/Criticism,” they put forward the central argument that film is a commercial product in the capitalist system and therefore also the unconscious instrument of the dominant ideology which produces it. In opposition to the classic film theory that applauds camera as an impartial device to reproduce reality, they argue that what the camera reproduces is merely a refraction of the prevailing ideology. Therefore, the primary and political task for filmmakers is to disrupt this replication of the world as self-evident and the function of film criticism is to identify and evaluate that politics. Comolli and Narboni then suggest seven categories of films confronting ideology in different ways, among which the second category resists the prevailing ideology on two levels. Films of this group not only overtly deal with political contents in order to “attack their ideological assimilation” (Comolli and Narboni 483), but also achieve their goal through breaking down the conventional way of depicting reality.

Although the best reasons for “going to the movies” are to be entertained and eat popcorn, understanding a film is actually quite complex. Movies are not only a reflection of life, they also have the capability of shaping our norms, values, attitudes, and perception of life. Through the media of film, one can find stories of practically anything imaginable and some things unimaginable. Movie-makers use their art to entertain, to promote political agendas, to educate, and to present life as it is, was, or could be. They can present truth, truth as they interpret it, or simply ignore truth altogether. A movie can be a work of fiction, non-fiction, or anything in-between. A film is an artist’s interpretation. What one takes away from a film depends upon how one interprets what has been seen and heard. Understanding film is indeed difficult.

Bart Layton built this doc not from one perspective, but from a collection of them. Some stories, like “The Imposter” need a panoptic approach to connect the audience to the film. The themes of manipulation, identity and love are the main themes conveyed by Layton. These themes are communicated through sounds and visual imagery.

These films were meant to raise questions and critique colonial practices and depict transnational experiences represented through a variable use of camera techniques that may take on guerrilla filmmaking practices of Third Cinema, but they can also become part of a national cinema project changing the funding available for different cinematography practices. The different eras shown throughout the international film industry all show the mentality of that particular time while also being able to affect audience members in modern times as many issues touched upon in these eras are timeless and easily relatable on multiple levels. The film industry is able to crossover to every country as no matter the language of the film, the values shared through the film itself is what is memorable to the viewers and even though they might criticize certain cinematography or directing choices if the narrative is strong and relatable that film will not be

“Film is incredibly democratic and accessible, it’s probably the best option if you actually want to change the world, not just re-decorate it”(Banksy). The main idea of this essay is how can films change people’s perceptions. There are three main subtopics that will be discussed and thouroughly analyzed which are emotions, racism, and documentaries, how these categories can affect people. Film is the most effective way of changing people's perspectives.

In addition to this, those who construct and encode ideologies and messages into cult films need to know and implement a repertoire of elements that will go against the pleasures of recognition and provide a more sophisticated and untraditional narrative experience. Whether through manipulating time and space, or providing powerful subject matter, it is through these technical and visual codes that the text will continuously challenge audience expectation and draw a preferred or oppositional reading to the weird and wonderful it tries to represent. As argued by Thornton, ‘it is not defined according to some single, unifying feature shared by all cult movies, but rather through a ‘sub-cultural ideology’ in filmmakers, films or audiences are seen as existing in opposition to the mainstream.’ Therefore, the audience appeal for cult film is not only through its quirky and abnormal generic values, but also through the plurality of artistic control that is held by the auteur and its audience’s desires.

I have always had a deep interest in films and consider them the strongest art as they incorporate more senses than any other form. I first felt the power of film when watching Stephen Spielberg’s “Jaws” .The crippling fear of the sea this film was able to create in my mind is a testimony of its power. In this new age of technology film and media are becoming more present in our day to day lives; film does not only entertain but offer new concepts and ideas. I do not only want to study film due to it being my passion but because it opens up new questions and areas to explore. Stanley Kubrick for example is able to present moral conflict and ideas which challenge on an intellectual level. “A clockwork Orange” which I have performed in as a play

One of the most illuminating scenes in the film They Live, would have to be the scene from the beginning of the when the man on the television is talking about the growth of the lower and middle class . This relates to the primary source “Rachel and her Children” by Jonathan Kozol who writes about the homeless American families in 1988 whose lives were greatly changed. The scene from the movie where the man on the television is discussing the divide continues to say that “they” have created a repressive society and that we are just going along with it. He continues to say that the people of this country are only concerned with their own gain. This comes from the idea that “greed is good” which was brought on by Ronald Reagan who persuaded the

In service of this argument, the essay unfolds in three parts. The first section sketches an appropriate framework for understanding how cinema marshals and moves viewers by engaging them in a fully embodied experience.4 The second section offers a brief overview of the film's plot before turning to an analysis of its triptych narrative and affective development. The third and final section considers the methodological, critical, and theoretical implications suggested by the preceding analysis.

The romantic idea of the auteur is described by film theoretician, André Bazin, observing the film form as an idealistic phenomenon. Through the personal factor in artistic creation as a standard reference, Bazin primarily refers to an essential literary and romantic conception of the artist as central. He considers the relationship between film aesthetics and reality more important than the director itself and places cinema above paintings. He described paintings as a similar ethical creation to film stating a director ‘can be valued according to its measurements and the celebrity of the signature, the objective quality of the work itself was formerly held in much higher esteem.’ (Bazin, 1967: 250). Bazin contemplates the historical and social aspects that indeed hinder a director’s retribution to their own personalised film, thus en-companying their own ideological judgement upon the world ‘more so in cinema where the sociological and historical cross-currents are countless.’ (Bazin, 1967: 256)

Second reason is that this film is hard to understand for some viewers, prompting a response like “It seems very pretty but it’s rather hard to understand.” therefore I would like to attempt to analysize this film as I feel that through patience and careful observation the film has a lot of depth and meaning to it. - This film is trying to communicate many important messages some of which that I have analyzed above to its

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 BBFC has commissioned me to undertake research as part of a project to ascertain to what degree films can be regarded as powerful within contemporary society. In this assignment, I will comprehensively explain the relationship between audiences and films with well explained examples. I refer to the different sectors relating to the topic that include the following:

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.