'The Monuments Men': Review By Sara Phillips

World War II-one of the most devastating events in history that will always be remembered whether by textbooks, personal accounts, or merely just stories about how one man could have done the impossible: conquered the world. As students today and future generations learn about the War, they are exposed to the battles, leaders, political parties, heroes, and turmoil of this period; however, important events that often were overshadowed are slowly becoming forgotten and neglected. Robert Edsel, in his book The Monuments Men, tells the story of the “greatest treasure hunt in history” and the race to sa

Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel is the story of the heroes of the MFAA (Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives department) during World War II. The MFAA was established in 1943, and the members of this department traveled across the front lines finding, saving, and preserving art and other artifacts of cultural significance. The story focuses on ten main characters who were apart of the MFAA: Maj. Ronald Edmund Balfour, Pvt. Harry Ettlinger, Cpt. Walker Hancock, Cpt. Walter “Hutch” Huchthausen, Jacques Jaujard (director of French National Museums), Pfc. Lincoln Kirstein, Cpt. Robert Posey, 2Lt. James J. Rorimer, Lt. George Stout, and French spy Rose Valland. The book recounts the true story of their journey in the European Theater on the greatest treasure hunt in history.

As with Mr. Incredible facing the train head on, lighting is also used to prepare the audience for what is about to happen. As the train approaches, the light intensifies to prepare the audience for the impact. Combined with the intensity of lighting, music sets the mood throughout the film and emphasises the emotions of the character. Music is also used to highlight the stereotypes associated with ordinary and superhero

The music that tim burton uses in most of his films are alway dark and mysterious also sad.For example in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory there a scene where willy wonka shut down the factory where the music was happy to depressing.Also during the corpse bride when the character Victor Van Dort first encountered

For example, the music is sudden and ominous at the beginning to help show the excitement of what’s happening. Whenever something sad happens, the music turns very sad, like when Candy’s dog is shot and when Lennie is killed. At some points, the sound helps show suspense in the movie, like before Candy’s dog is shot there isn’t much music. However, when George talks to Lennie about the ranch, and Lennie does too, the music turns very happy and uplifting to show the viewer their joy.

I think that the music used in throughout the film corresponded with the theme overall in some way, shape or form. Even at the very beginning of the film, before any scenes take place, we are given suspenseful music. This is used to convey the over arching theme to the audience right away to make it obvious that this is the way that they are

Every movie or a short video is like a novel or essay that either tells a story or tries to make an argument. Like any novel or essay, a video also has its own rhetorical devices in the forms of camera angles and movements as well as lighting and organization. Camera angles and movements are quite useful to direct or inform audience to and about events in the video. For example, from the beginning to the 30-second mark we used an establishing shot to provide the location and to establish the main cast of the video. Then from the 55-second mark to the minute and five-second mark, a zoom is used to direct the audience toward what Joey is researching. Zoom is a good technique to easily guide the audience and ensure they are focused on the video,

The filmmaker was conscious of that fact, and that’s part of the reason why he was so careful about the music he used: his character was going through the age at which music had the most power to plant itself into memory. For the young, every song is its own moment. With age the music becomes what Linklater calls undifferentiated. The feelings it provokes are, accordingly, less specific- and therefore less useful for artistic purposes.

The genre of the film is comedy and the lighting in it conveys its light-hearted tone. Although some scenes deal with mystery, crime, and murder (happening off-screen), the high-key lighting manages to keep the mood comedic at all times.

To start with, the acting was subpar, yet amusing in areas it should be. Lines that were meant to come off as funny, mostly did come off as funny, yet a lot of the acting seemed too forced and had no natural feel to it. For example, in the scene

The lighting utilized all through this film truly sets the tone and feeling of the motion picture. Scorsese utilizes diverse lighting methods for every scene to show the mindset of the characters and the air. He utilizes splendid lights when the scene is upbeat and fun, and the characters are having a decent time, yet utilizes dull lighting for the scenes where the characters are irate or in an awful circumstance. Most of the film utilizes serene lighting, except for a couple of scenes that are glad, for example, Henry (Ray Liotta) and Karen's (Lorraine Bracco) wedding.

There were parts in the movie that were meant to be humourous. The movie starts off with a young man working on his car, having funny slapstick components. However, throughout the movie the characters become more involved and serious. Because of the long film this was built up seamlessly. The movie also incorporates a love story in it. As the movie progresses one of the main characters show the idea that he “won’t make it”. This later than is followed through and is accidentally killed by his friend. This was a peak in the movie as a dramatic genre movie. At the end his goes on to fall in love with a women that liked him, which would a mix of a dramatic/love film.

This film also has a dark side to it. Not in the sense that the film is physically dark but that the content in the film is dark. Early on in the film we see the protagonist going to various support groups just so he can let his emotions out. Because of this we get to see people with various diseases like Cancer and tuberculosis. We get to see how dark and sad these groups can really be.

JM: Yes, the film does include a few heavy moments without humor. I’m talking about the girl-on-girl rape scene. I wanted to refresh the genre conventions and bring a few evil human characters into the story. I also wanted to see if audiences could adapt to big atmosphere changes between the black comedy and horror conventions. So, I really experimented here as a writer/director.

Lighting gives you an idea of what is real and what is only a fantasy. Lighting is crucial to indicate the mood of a movie. High-key lighting shows cheer and happiness. On the other hand, Burton displays sinister and spooky images with low-key lighting. Mr.