The Soloist Movie Analysis

In term 1 we focus on short animated films that explore the conventions of the Hero’s Journey and the narrative sequence of the quest. We analyse a novel and film version of either The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, The Invention of Hugo Cabret or Coraline.

Separate but equal. A phrase that kept many African American citizens separated from white Americans for an extensive amount of time. While the phrase may sound like it could potentially be a good thing for African Americans separate was never equal. In the movie Separate but Equal, what originally started out as a request to the school board in South Carolina from one of the African American schools turned into one of the biggest court cases in the United States history known as Brown V. the Board of Education. This court case eventually led to the fair treatment of all African Americans over ruling the previous court case Plessey V. Ferguson which established the grounds of segregation under Separate but equal.

I find symptoms of this disorder to be evident in Todd Anderson; one of the first scenes within the movie is Todd’s parents having a conversation with the headmaster about the expectations they have for their son that include attending Harvard University, and then eventually becoming a lawyer, following in the foot steps of his older brother. Despite Todd’s own wants his timid and conforming nature, that one would assume resulted from years of feelings of inadequacy and extreme sensitive to negative evaluation prevented him to stand up for himself. “As the society’s expectations for entry to adulthood roles become more flexible, a greater burden falls on the strength of personal identity to select and direct the course of adult life” (Barbara). However, if an individual is never allowed to develop, and gradually individuate from family and peers they will never be able to develop into their own individual. As the child explores dimensions of individuality, either a behavioral, emotional, or value level, there is a family feedback system process that will encourage or discourage separateness and innovation (Barbara). With family expectations as high as his, it would be no surprise that any goal that steered towards developing is own identity and away from his family would quickly be shot down with rejection and insensitivity instead of

Lone star is a contemporary western set in Texas in the 90s. The film reflects themes of police corruption, immigration and the inter-cultural relations in a small border town. The film captures the backstories of different characters and intertwines them together through their interpretation of history and community.

John Singleton grew up in the streets of South Central Los Angeles where he was raised in separate households by his parents who were unmarried. Growing up, John was fascinated with western films and those films would be of influence to his career.

Throughout the history of the world, societies have always tried to imagine a utopian way of life and/or society. But in other cases, the use of raunchy apparel and countless bottles of alcohol are used to deny the idea of an uprising of a totalitaristic government. This is a brief summary of the two-hours and four minutes of the musical drama Cabaret, directed by Bob Fosse.

No one really recognizes the line between what is offensive and what is not. Everyone has different opinions particularly about racial issues, yet there are some things that can’t be tolerated. Iggy Azalea is an Australian white hip-hop artist who uses “blaccent (the black accent) in her songs” (Guo). Al Jolson was an American singer and actor best remembered for his performance in the movie The Jazz Singer – the first talking picture. However, in the movie he performs the song “My Mammy” in blackface which is something that would not happen today because it would be horrendously racist. What Al Jolson did back then is basically the equivalent of what Iggy Azalea is doing now. They are both singing and mimicking a culture not of their own. Al Jolson puts on blackface while Azalea puts on a verbal blackface.

Director Michael Mann releases his movie Public Enemy to the public on July 1, 2009. This nonfiction biographical movie of the character John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) fascinates the viewers with his charming self, witty audacity, and bold bravery of his gangster-style bank robberies during the Depression era of America’s greatest crime wave. Characters such as Baby Face Nelson (Stephen Graham), Pretty Boy Floyd (Channing Tatum), Homer Van Meter (Stephen Dorff), and Evelyn ‘Billie’ Frechette (Marion Cotillard) displayed their elusiveness of the federal agents with their burglaries through Ohio and Indiana as the American gangsters. Labeled by J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Crudup) as America’s first Public Enemy Number One, Dillinger’s brashness erupted even more. The enlistment of FBI’s top agent, Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), gave the instructional task of bringing in this charismatic and troubling evildoer Dillinger dead or alive.

Paranoid schizophrenia is in Cluster A, consisting of odd or eccentric disorders. The reason for which this clip is an accurate portrayal of paranoid schizophrenia is that Ayers has “A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others” where he views his orchestra as well as his classmates and friends’ motives as “malevolent” (Cite Book, p. 417). For example, at 2:20 till 2:49 minutes into the clip, Ayers is having these hallucinations of different voices saying, “I will protect you from the pain, I will protect you from their eyes and ears, they are listening to you Nathaniel, I can hear your thoughts Nathaniel, they can hear your thoughts Nathaniel, don’t think Nathaniel.” This depicts his symptoms as well as how impairing they tend to get in which he is seen fleeing from the orchestra and taking off with his cello. At the same time, when his professor asks him why his notes were uncoordinated from others he cannot react to the situation even though a reaction is acquired.

David O’Russel’s Silver Linings Playbook (2012) supports very dynamic mise-en-scene, sound, score music, and cinematography for conveying the theme. Russel uses A unique approach with steadicam while following the point of view of Pat (Bradley Cooper) and his journey with A mental illness which is conveyed through various close-up shots to emphasize the personality of the main character Pat. Contributing film terminology provided from Richard Barsams Looking At Movies, This film analysis will be providing evidence of how Russel used various shooting angles to portray the characters personas throughout the film such as low- angle over the shoulder shots to provide a sense of vulnerability each character is trying to reveal. Silver Linings Playbook exhibits a

The Perks of being a wallflower was directed by Stephen Chbosky and edited by Mary Jo Markey. It is a character based coming of age film that depicts charlie's struggle for acceptance after his stint at a mental health institution. Throughout the film we see charlie deteriorating this is shown by short flashbacks and blackouts, as the film goes on we see charlie and his surroundings become more jumbled and unclear. This is shown through jump cuts and bazaar medium close shots of both charlie and his friends.

Jane Campion’s “The Piano” is one of the most intense yet inquisitive films that I have ever encountered. The film takes us on a climatic roller coaster ride of passionate love, silence and pride set in the midst of the earthy, muddy climate of New Zealand. The story tells of a woman who uses her choice of silence as her protest against patriarchy, and the toxic masculinity of her husband, all while utilizing her piano and her daughter to communicate for her.

Set in 1954, The Founder is a 2016 American biographical drama film that tells the true story of Ray Kroc’s involvement in the creation of the McDonald’s fast food chain.

My older brother, Jack, always excelled at any and all tasks that required a strong sense of reason. Despite his giftedness, Jack never worked well in any group, or even acclimated socially with many other kids. He wasn’t concerned with communicating his ideas to his peers, couldn’t make the effort to consider his words’ effects on other kids, and he was prone to angry outbursts when he didn’t get his way. While most other children grew out of these phases, Jack continues to exhibit these qualities even today at 23.

At the “Hot Wings and Hot Topics,” we watched the movie, Moonlight, which is about a Black American man named Chiron, and takes place in 1980 in Miami. The movie is about 3 parts of Chiron’s life; young adolescence, mid-teen, and young adult. The first Chapter is his childhood in which he is known as “Little.” He lived in a neighborhood full of crime with his mom who was a drug addict. Little is a little, shy boy who tends to be bullied. He has one friend his age named Chris, and a drug dealer named Juan, who sees how neglected Little is from his mom. Because of this, Juan tries to give as much care to Little, and so does his girlfriend, Teresa, and they allow Chiron to go to their house whenever he needs to get away from the bullying or his mother. The next chapter is “Chiron,” and is about his teen life. This is where we learn a little about Chiron’s sexuality, and when he begins to stick up for himself towards the end of the chapter. We see peer pressure in this chapter because if affect what Chiron, and his friends are accepted to do. In the third chapter, “Black,” we see Chiron all good up, and no longer skinny, but built like a strong man. After leaving Miami, Black is a drug dealer, is no longer weak, but is a drug dealer like Juan. He has a lot of masculinity now with his body, and what he wears. His old friend, Chris, gives him a call to come see him after years, and we are left with them hugging each other.