As time passes we grow, we change, we become something else. Memories distort your vision and motivations. Traumatic experiences create wounds we heal from but will never be forgotten. Scars are what remain; they are with us marking ideas and events. This movie closely resembles the television show ARROW in the sense that your past influences distort your future. Memento is one of those films that tries to explore and reimagine what it means to have a self-identity based on the experiences we encounter but ultimately complicates the plot. Christopher Nolan's, Memento, follows a man named Lenny (Guy Pearce) on a quest for revenge. Lenny's wife has been murdered in front of his eyes and suffers from anterograde amnesia from a blow to the head. With the help of Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss), he pursues his wife's killer through photographic memories. …show more content…
The audience must be willingly conditioned to follow the storyline since it is told in short flashbacks and must be able to adapt to the transitions between the timelines. Failure to do so confuses and influences a weak dislike for the film. If you manage to miss the minor essential details in a scene, the rest of the film fails to comply. The usage of two timelines complicates one's ability to follow the storyline but adds to the mystery of the cinematic journey. You can surpass this puzzling effect through proper focus. The photographs used help you develop the story and continuously pull you back into the plot. Some of those images require a keen eye to be able to place them in order. This structure however adds to the stories success. By presenting the story out of order, Nolan successfully engages you to participate actively in various puzzles. The engagement helps us to be in Lenny's mindset. We get to experience what he feels and are also exposed to how his disease influences his search for
The movie Dope, written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, follows the story of Malcolm through his senior year of high school in the Inglewood California. He lives in a poor neighborhood, with only his mom, yet he still strives for greatness. He has a couple of friends, and they all love 90’s hip hop culture. They try to do their best to stay out of trouble and away from bullies. Malcolm sees a girl he likes and ends up following her to a drug dealer’s birthday party. When the cops bust the birthday party, he unknowingly goes home with all the drugs and the gun that the drug dealer owns. This sets off a wild chain reaction, as he now has to sell these drugs to payoff the supplier, who happens to be the Harvard Alumni that Malcolm’s needs approval
As a result, the sequence proves that through memory and blood, borders are suppressed, and the past is able to cross the line separating it from the present once more. However, this scene also establishes the foundations for the conclusion of the movie, since Otis, conscious that the past is a vital, defining force, capable of shaping individual identity, affirms that ‘Blood only means what [we] let it’, thus implying that although history haunts all aspects of our lives, since it constantly overcomes any demarcation line with the present, one can work through it and control its influence.
The Golden Age of Mexican cinema (1936-1959) produced great films that not only established a national identity, but also helped to spread Catholicism through movies such as Macario (1961), by Roberto Gavaldón, and Salón México (1949), by Antonio Díaz Conde. The film, Macario, follows the story of a man named Macario, a peasant who struggles with his family to survive poverty. After Macario shares with Death one of his most awaited meals, Death rewards Macario with the ability to tell who will die and how to cure those who are sick. Salón México focuses on Mercedes, a woman who works in a cabaret in order to keep her sister, Beatriz, at a private school. At one point, Mercedes wins a dancing contest with Paco, a thief and womanizer obsessed
Saw is a American horror film directed by James Wan. The film is about a killer who calls himself the Jigsaw. He kills and/or “teaches” his victims to respect life. He watches his victims and then abducts them when learning their problems in life.
Director Christopher Nolan′s film Memento (2000), is loosely based from the concept of a short story named Memento Mori written by his brother Jonathan. This story is about a man named Leonard Shelby who is suffering from anterograde amnesia, which is a loss of ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia, leading to a partial or complete inability to recall the recent past, while long term memories from before the event remain intact. Leonard was hit over the head during an attack which resulted in his wife being raped and murdered. With the help of contact named Teddy and a bartender named Natalie, Leonard set out for revenge. Since the attack Leonard has set out to exact revenge on the man who has caused him suffering. He helps himself by writing notes, taking photographs, and tattooing himself with important notes and facts. An analysis of the film Memento reveals the use of film techniques such as editing, non-linear storytelling, symbolism, director's style, musical score, color, and cinematography that creates an intellectual stimulant that has the viewer deciphering a puzzle in a reversed chronological order.
Leonard Shelby suffers from a condition known as anterograde amnesia. This is a type of short-term memory loss that hinders a person to hold and keep new memories. Most often this type of amnesia is caused by damage to the brain. Leonard was unable to keep any his memories after the injury he sustained. There was irreparable damage to his hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with the formation of new episodic memories. Episodic memories are at type of long-term memory that involved the recalling of specific events and the experiences tied to them. Anterograde amnesia basically means that a person, such as Leonard Shelby, will not be able to turn his short-term memories into long-term memories. This is why it was
District 9 is a film that takes us into a realm of a different world from the one that we know now. It combines extraterrestrial life with immense science fiction to illustrate a story we could only imagine to ever actually occur. Although it was created for entertainment purposes, the motion picture can be compared to many different types of individuals and situations. District 9 displays many underlying concepts throughout the movie about racism, prejudice and discrimination. While studying and analyzing the plot and characters, these concepts became more translucent to me, the viewer. This paper will discuss the treatment of District 9 residents and equate their treatment to people with disabilities.
The movie Shock Doctrine revolves around the concept of the same name. The film begins by discussing psychological research on the effects of shock therapy. It is evident that a person under extreme stress and anxiety commonly experienced during a crisis functions and performs inadequately. It is noted that the studies are conducted by a man by the name of Milton Friedman, from the University of Chicago; the studies took place in the past, and some of the subjects are still recovering in the aftermath. From this research, interrogation techniques were learned and the concept of the shock doctrine was formed. Essentially through causing a crisis, the population of a country can be shocked into complying with accepting laws that favors the United States and capitalism. This theory coexists with Friedman’s belief in that government regulation is bad, and through a crisis a country would better itself with deregulation. The video uses Chile as an example and shows how America allowed a crisis to occur in Chile, through coups, interrogations and subterfuge. In the end a new government is formed that allows capitalism. Unfortunately afterwards violence and riots occur, as the rich gain most of the wealth and poverty rises. In addition to Chile, Argentina, Russia and even Iraq underwent the shock doctrine. Almost in every account, poverty rises and violence ends up erupting. The movie ends by showing how the US was in the process of the shock doctrine, and still is but the population has taken notice. Protests such as Occupy Wall Street are some of the initiatives necessary to bring awareness to the problems of class inequalities in order to prevent capitalism from benefitting the rich and increasing the wealth gap among the classes.
Trainspotting presents an ostensible image of fractured society. The 1996 film opens, famously, with a series of postulated choicesvariables, essentially, in the delineation of identity and opposition. Significant here is the tone in which these options are deliveredit might be considered the rhetorical voice of society, a playful exposition of the pressure placed on individuals to make the "correct" choices, to conform to expectation.
Jonas misses the way it was before he had memories where there was no pain or feeling, because everything was innocent. But he understands that although there was innocence nobody feels true happiness.Jonas thinks: “But he knew he couldn’t go back to that world of no feelings that he had lived in so long” (Lowry 131). Jonas wishes he could go back when everything was innocent and when he had no burden of pain, but although there was innocence the bad memories were stripped away to avoid the feeling of pain but also leaves everyone emotionless. But he knows it can never be the same again because of all the knowledge he gained from memories. He learns that memoires need to be valued, even the painful ones. Jonas feels that his community can change and things could be different. He thinks they should live in a world with memories. Jonas says: “Things could be different. I don’t know how, but there must be some way for things to be different. There could be colours [...] and everybody would have memories [...] There could be love” (Lowry 128). Jonas wishes that they could all have memories because everyone would be able to experience love. Love is one of the most important things in human life. He knows that there are bad memories, but without them, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy the good ones. Eventually, with his feelings
Sex, love, depression, guilt, trust, all are topics presented in this remarkably well written and performed drama. The Flick, a 2014 Pulitzer Prize winning drama by Annie Baker, serves to provide a social commentary which will leave the audience deep in thought well after the curtain closes. Emporia State Universities Production of this masterpiece was a masterpiece in itself, from the stunningly genuine portrayal of the characters of Avery and Rose, to the realism found within the set, every aspect of the production was superb.
Nolan likes to use a non-linear story telling when it comes to his films. Nolen comments on his non-linear structure saying that “It really is a question of finding the most suitable order for releasing information to the audience and not feeling any responsibility to do it chronologically, just like we don't in life” (Anon). Nolen explains a non-liner narratives illuminates that there is no rules to its structure. So, with that the film can be remodeled it to the story it best represents (Anon). Nolan structures of non-linear story telling helps the audience perceptions affect the way they interpret the world, truth, and the passing of time (5 Major Defining…).
Hidden Figures is a movie based on the true story of three pioneering African American women whose calculations for NASA were helpful to several historic space missions, including John Glenn’s successful orbit of the Earth. The Movie was set in 1960, where a lot of historical events were happening, such as the Space race between two initial rivals of the Cold War (The United States, and Russia). Also, Women and African-Americans were discriminated Against during the 60’s, but that did not stop Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan from advancing and accomplishing what they accomplished. After all they did not only help themselves advance, they helped America advance. Hidden Figures was a very accurate film of how it was in the 1960 and how these three women went with their intelligence rather than their ego.
Understanding the race and ethnicity issues in a multicultural society is vitally important nowadays as the society is undergoing changes. Some people believe that science fiction has no correlation with modern plights of the society. However, the scholarly research refutes these beliefs. In this essay I will explore the cinematic representation of racial injustice and xenophobia in the modern science fiction film “District 9” to demonstrate that Neil Blomkamf, the film director, investigates racial relations on the example of aliens and humans to reflect such social maladies as racism and apartheid, which until now have not yet been rooted out. I will refer to three scholarly sources on cinematic representation of racial injustice in “District 9” film. These articles assess a depiction of racial relations and racial injustice in science fiction films. The works include Professor Adilufu Nama’s book “Black Space: Imagining Race in Science Fiction Film," Julian Schurhorz’s article “Mockumenting South Africa? Race and segregation in District 9” and Julia’s Kristeva’ research “Forgiving the Sci-Fi Alien: District 9 as a Postcolonial Apologia”.
Telling the story of two separate story arcs separated only by time; Memento follows Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator as he desperately searches for his wife’s killer. As one story moves forward, the other moves in reverse, revealing more about Leonard’s path to revenge. The only thing slowing Leonard down: his inability to form new memories. Centering the plot of the movie is Leonard Shelby, a white male from San Francisco with spiky blond hair and a chiseled, tattooed body. The tattoos aren’t just some form of art for personalization’s sake; Leonard has anterograde amnesia.