A Road Map For When You Lose Yourself 'In The Pines’
An off-putting hybrid of naturalistic imagery, extraterrestrial undertones, and answering machine soliloquys- In The Pines is a short film directed by Christopher Caldwell and Zeek Earl about an individual’s pursuit for evidence of alien life.
Just to clarify here: this isn’t your typical UFO-laden, ray gun-toting, Invasion of the Body Snatchers type of extraterrestrial film. In The Pines is all about subtleties, undercurrents, and clever experimentation with popularized alien tropes, like the ones mentioned above. Considering how saturated American culture is with extraterrestrial iconography and symbology (think of the very term we give to those who come to this country illegally),
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It would be easy to just summarize the murky events that occur over the course of this film, but what might be more useful to viewers is another outsider’s viewpoint. I can’t think of the number of times watching a film where I get to the end, feel as in the dark about it as when I first started, and then scour IMDb for answers until everything clicks and I realize how great the film actually was. So this is what I’m going to attempt to do here with this review; if you want to view In The Pines first, draw your own conclusions, and then see how they align with mine- feel free to do so. Or, if you’re looking to become privy to the ramblings of an individual who’s spent a little too much time dissecting a nine-minute short film, then buckle on …show more content…
Not alienation in the terms of extraterrestrial life, but alienation in the terms of what can happen to an individual’s psyche if they’re cut off/cut themselves off from the rest of society. In this case, we follow a blonde-haired woman as she makes her way into a forest. It isn’t quite clear what she’s trying to accomplish until the end, where we watch her set up some sort of radio transmitter and sit around for hours listening for forces from up above. With the focus being split between the blonde-haired woman’s trek into the woods and her mother- who stands helplessly at home listening to a long-winded, unhinged voicemail left by the blond-haired woman- it becomes evident there is a preexisting rift between these two individuals. The blonde-haired woman has apparently left home quite some time ago on bad terms, convinced that something not of this earth was calling to her. I’m only guessing the mother either gave up with any serious attempt to try to help her daughter (and, as a result, made the daughter feel alienated), or the daughter completely isolated herself from her mother and any calls to return back to normalcy (and, as a result, alienated
From the time he decides to go to the woods at night, this peaceful panorama presented in his hometown changes. Evil images like "devil, lonely thick boughs, "1 add an obscure and negative side to the story.
The meaning of isolation varies considerably. However, I believe many can find common ground in how Merriam Webster defines isolation. According to Merriam Webster isolation means: the state of being in a place or situation that is separate from others : the condition of being isolated. I think the most severe form of isolation is where you have been separated from the rest of the world. In the short story “The Dead Child” written by Gabrielle
Feeling alone or isolated is not only a common theme is all kinds of literature, but something that many people face in life. Alienation is the perception of estrangement or dissatisfaction with one’s life. This means you feel like you don’t fit or connect, whether it’s from society, family, or a physical object. These feelings can be due to a lack of deep connections, not believing the same ideals as your society, and many other things. In Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, he discusses a man who goes against governmental rule and reads. EA Robinson portrays a man everyone inspires to be, but in the end he isn’t happy and kills himself. Lastly, WH Auden accounts of an “unknown citizen” who also has a picture perfect life, but in the end
Although the Indians in I Heard The Owl Call My Name, and in The Black
Alienation in All Quiet on the Western Front According to the Webster's New World College Dictionary, alienation is 1. Separation, aversion, aberration. 2. Estrangement or detachment. 3.
Anthropology is the study of the development of humankind within their different cultures. When one looks inside a culture, they can see the true aspects and meanings behind a societies behavior and traits. By following the principle that is cultural relativism, one can also determine that no culture truly surpasses another culture, and that each society has key differences that are important to its culture and location. This is a method that can also be seen in many intriguing films from this semester, one in particular being The Emerald Forest. Throughout this essay, this film will be analyzed around one character who greatly represents what it means to truly immerse oneself into a different culture to gain a new perspective, and many key terms in anthropology will be explored through 4 different films from the semester.
Young Goodman Brown goes into the forest at first with only a small expectation of what he is going to experience. Of his fellow Puritan society he sees the bad seeds as well as supposed men and women of the utmost regard. He sees virgin girls filled with reverence and innocence, and even members of the church present at the devil’s ceremony. This causes Young Goodman Brown to question his entire upbringing and trust in his society. It creates...
One motif which reappears in the film is the power of nature, especially in relation to the individual. In fact, the film begins with a majestic shot of the Rocky Mountains showing its beauty and height. The beauty of nature and even friendliness of nature changes as the film develops. As the movie progresses the snow still seems white and pure, almost virgin like, but nature becomes an isolating force, not providing the family with a retreat from the pressures of modern life, but forcing the family to turn in on its dysfunctional and psychopathic self. Imprisoned by the snow and the tall mountains , the family seems weak and vulnerable.
individuals, society, or work. Some sociologists believe that alienation is inevitably produced not by the individual but by the shallowness and the lack of individuality in modern society. The concept of alienation has been held to account for behaviour patterns. as diverse as motiveless violence and total immobility. Alienation is a state in which the creations of humanity appear to humans as alien objects.
also films that could have been seen for a small price, but if one has the time
THE TERM "alienation" in normal usage refers to a feeling of separateness, of being alone and apart from others. For Marx, alienation was not a feeling or a mental condition, but an economic and social condition of class society--in particular, capitalist society.
...nvironment. Ultimately, humans are creative, hardworking and productive beings. As we spend the majority of our day at work, we want it to be rewarding and fulfilling. In this theory of alienation, being a worker comes first and being a person comes second. Alienation makes people spend their lives working on things they hardly care about while they make money for someone else as they sacrifice their own interests and goals. Capitalism turns workers into machines and alienates them from their full potential. Workers are not content as they are unable to determine their own paths as they are at the mercy of their employers. Alienation produces boredom, stress, unhappiness, misery and low productivity.
Hirsch, E. 1995. “Introduction, Landscape: between place and space” in Hirsch, E. (ed.) The Anthropology of Landscape: Perspectives on Place and Space. Oxford : New York: Clarendon Press.
We slowly crept around the corner, finally sneaking a peek at our cabin. As I hopped out of the front seat of the truck, a sharp sense of loneliness came over me. I looked around and saw nothing but the leaves on the trees glittering from the constant blowing wind. Catching myself standing staring around me at all the beautiful trees, I noticed that the trees have not changed at all, but still stand tall and as close as usual. I realized that the trees surrounding the cabin are similar to the being of my family: the feelings of never being parted when were all together staying at our cabin.
...s the movie ends with the sun coming out over the rainy gate, one cannot help but to feel as confused and lost as the characters at the opening lines of the film when they intoned their total incomprehension of the situation. Although the woodcutter seems to redeem himself of the perfidy of (possibly) stealing the dagger by adopting a baby left under the gate, the movie is never resolved. While faith is restored that men can also be good (a central question throughout the film) we are never any the wiser as to what was real. That is the whole point of the movie; we are never shown what is real because we will never know.