Exploring Themes in Jiří Menzel’s I Served the King of England I Served the King of England is a satirical coming-of-age story based on the life of Jan Dítě, a Czechoslovakian man who aims for wealth; the events are told from the perspective of Jan approximately fifteen years later after just being released from prison. While adjusting to his new simple life, Jan describes his steady climb to millionaire status, albeit a quick stay. Younger Jan experiences life through the time before, during, and just after World War II; Menzel, having lived through the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, shows multiple themes that represent his discretions with the experience and its after-effects. Menzel often contrasts the bleak subject matter with bright, …show more content…
In the earlier portion of the movie in the Hotel Tichota, the rich middle-aged men spend a lot of time with minimally-dressed (if at all) women. Ran by a well-off man in a wheelchair, the hotel residents are shown swimming and playing child-like games with the ladies. One scene in this section was almost like a dance scene, with men and women rhythmically going to different rooms in pairs. The silliness of these scenes combined with the generally-deplored magnates gives an impression of how these sort of people committed similar acts of debauchery, which was likely not well-liked by the general population. Moreover, flashback Jan is shown to have affairs with multiple women as the movie goes on. At each job until he gets married, he is shown finding a woman and, after finishing, covering them with objects such as money (satirizing greed), food, or flowers. Jan’s ability to consistently find love and do it with silliness pokes fun at the idea of extensive …show more content…
His real experience of the situation fueled the interest in creating this film adaption of Bohumil Hrabal’s novel of the same name, adding accuracy to the character motivations and world appearance. The class textbook, The Art of Watching Films, mentions that in movies like this, “the action and characters have a significance beyond the context of the film itself” (Boggs 22). Although the film comes across as somewhat whimsical, the meaning behind it is very serious; it touches on the categories of Moral Implications with greed and lust and Social Problems by satirizing the Nazis and their impact on Czechoslovakia. This movie is a good representation as to why foreign films are important for students to watch, as it touches on a national event (WWII) with an angle that would be incredibly tough to recreated in America. This film lampoons a dark part of Czech history with its wit, brightness, and aptly-placed
Blood chilling screams, families torn apart, horrifying murders are all parts of the Holocaust. David Faber, a courageous, young man tortured in a Nazi concentration camp shares the horrors he was exposed to, including his brother Romek’s murder, in the book Because of Romek, by himself David Faber. When Nazis invaded his hometown in Poland during World War II, David remained brave throughout his father’s arrest and his struggle to stay alive in the concentration camp. David’s mother inspired him with courage.
This is an immigration movie geared towards kids to show and teach them about immigration to America. It shows them the reasons they (the Mousekewitz) left their homeland Russia to come to America. In their case it was to escape the Czarist rule of the cats, parallel to most immigrants who escaped their land due to religious and political persecution. Once aboard the ship to America, it showed the long and unpleasant trip to New York Harbor, where in this movie, Fievel gets separated from his family to inclimate weather. Once they arrive in New York Harbor, it shows children the happiness immigrants got when they saw the statue of liberty and the process through Ellis Island to become a citizen of America. The rest of the movie takes place in America where it shows “political machines”, such as Warren T. Rat, who really is a cat but takes advantage of new immigrants by dressing as a mouse and receiving the mice’s trust. With trust came their money and broken promises, just as “political machines” really did back then. The movie shows the immigrants hardships and poor living conditions in America with tenement housing and unsanitary conditions.
It is a miracle that Lobel and her brother survived on their own in this world that any adult would find unbearable. Indeed, and appropriately, there are no pretty pictures here, and adults choosing to share this story with younger readers should make themselves readily available for explanations and comforting words. (The camps are full of excrement and death, all faithfully recorded in direct, unsparing language.) But this is a story that must be told, from the shocking beginning when a young girl watches the Nazis march into Krakow, to the final words of Lobel's epilogue: "My life has been good. I want more." (Ages 10 to 16) --Brangien Davis
The mood of Night is harder to interpret. Many different responses have occurred in readers after their perusal of this novel. Those that doubt the stories of the holocaust’s reality see Night as lies and propaganda designed to further the myth of the holocaust. Yet, for those people believing in the reality, the feelings proffered by the book are quite different. Many feel outrage at the extent of human maliciousness towards other humans. Others experience pity for the loss of family, friends, and self that is felt by the holocaust victims. Some encounter disgust as the realization occurs that if any one opportunity had been utilized the horror could of been avoided. Those missed moments such as fleeing when first warned by Moshe the Beadle, or unblocking the window when the Hungarian officer had come to warn them, would have saved lives and pain.
In order for one to keep their political status and please their country, there are some qualities, traits and skills required. For some, political skills may be a natural or intuitive trait. For others, it feels uncomfortable and takes excessive effort. In either case, political skills must be practiced and honed in order to recap its benefits. For instance, one may naturally possess skills such as listening to others, communicating and commitment. On the other hand, one may not possess those skills and it may require excessive effort to possess those skills. Prince Hal realizes that he must learn to possess these characteristics if he wants to be a successful king. Henry IV, Part 1 by Shakespeare deals with the struggle of King Henry IV to maintain his control of the English throne which he usurped from Richard II. The play deals with the conflict between King Henry IV and his son, Prince Harry, and their tense relationship. King Henry is the ruling king of England. He is worn down by worries and guilty feelings about having won his throne through a civil war. Hal, the Prince of Wales who demonstrates his ability to manipulate others to complete his selfish goals. Hal is an effective leader because unlike his father, his mastery of language shows that he will be a virtuous ruler, able to understand lower and upper class and manipulate them to believe his words.
A story of a young boy and his father as they are stolen from their home in Transylvania and taken through the most brutal event in human history describes the setting. This boy not only survived the tragedy, but went on to produce literature, in order to better educate society on the truth of the Holocaust. In Night, the author, Elie Wiesel, uses imagery, diction, and foreshadowing to describe and define the inhumanity he experienced during the Holocaust.
One of the most famous scenes in Henry IV: Part I is the scene in which Prince Hal and Falstaff put on a play extempore. This is often cited as the most famous scene because it is Hal’s turning point in the play. However, the scene is much more than that. The play extempore is a moment of prophecy, not epiphany because is cues the reader in to the play’s major themes, and allows readers to explore the possibilities of the play’s continuance.
Classic narrative cinema is what Bordwell, Staiger and Thompson (The classic Hollywood Cinema, Columbia University press 1985) 1, calls “an excessively obvious cinema”1 in which cinematic style serves to explain and not to obscure the narrative. In this way it is made up of motivated events that lead the spectator to its inevitable conclusion. It causes the spectator to have an emotional investment in this conclusion coming to pass which in turn makes the predictable the most desirable outcome. The films are structured to create an atmosphere of verisimilitude, which is to give a perception of reality. On closer inspection it they are often far from realistic in a social sense but possibly portray a realism desired by the patriarchal and family value orientated society of the time. I feel that it is often the black and white representation of good and evil that creates such an atmosphere of predic...
In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he recounts his horrifying experiences as a Jewish boy under Nazi control. His words are strong and his message clear. Wiesel uses themes such as hunger and death to vividly display his days during World War II. Wiesel’s main purpose is to describe to the reader the horrifying scenes and feelings he suffered through as a repressed Jew. His tone and diction are powerful for this subject and envelope the reader. Young readers today find the actions of Nazis almost unimaginable. This book more than sufficiently portrays the era in the words of a victim himself.
The genre of a film is very important as it draws the viewers into worlds different from the life they experience on a daily basis. In this paper I will be discussing several scenes in a movie (World War Z) that includes both thriller and sci-fi genre, and the stylistic elements used in this film. Thriller is one of the major film genres, it includes suspense with continuous movements and physical actions such as fights and battles. While sci-fi is mostly related to the science based and relates with the imaginative aspects such as aliens, zombies, advanced technology and several things that we are not used to seeing or hearing about on a daily basis.
... society, any one that was not an Aryan was inferior to their pure race. This race that included the characteristics of fair skin, blond hair, and blue eyes a pure German blood. Overall this movie should be shown to students so they can learn many things from this. Teach them a lesson about respect to others. So anyone who has disagreements with other people can understand that not everyone thinks the same and people need to learn how to accept others. Not two people think the same way. The question is, why would anyone stay in the place where they are not wanted? This question may have more than one answer, but it is for sure that the hope was never lost. Today’s society is more opened minded but we still have to learn many things in life. This movie is historically accurate because it was based on a true life event. This movie was amazing, any one should watch it.
The film I have chosen to explore the micro features on is The Pianist (2002) which is directed by Roman Polanski. Polanski assures that the audience gets a sense of belonging to that period of history and gets to explore the theme of discrimination through the characters life risking challenges that they face throughout the film. This micro essay will explore the following features, framing and camera movement in a 5 minute sequence.
King Henry VIII was not only a major component of England’s governmental structure, but was also an integral part of English Renaissance literature. From writing love poems to participating in literary endeavors, King Henry VIII revolutionized literature in England all while running the country. His humanist ideals and youthful, energetic personality provided a refreshing change of pace from the previous king, which resulted in the trust and support of his people. While his life was what modern society considers short, King Henry VIII changed the face of literature and government in England.
As time goes on, history has a way of getting distorted from its most truthful form. Time causes people to drift away from accuracy and become more interested in what they want to remember. Hollywood has a reputation of creating films that cater more to the average viewer, rather than the history buff. Inglorious Basterds, by Quentin Taratino, take very liberal liberty with a history story, and creates a story that will sell to the crowd. This may seem dubious, but it is often not such a bad thing. Hollywood can take a story that may have one connotation, may it be serious or dreary, and turn it into something that evokes different emotions, will still addressing historical issues or topics. Taratino chooses to film a movie of this type because of the way he can portray a very serious topic in way that no one has before. He picks the topic of World War II and the Nazi’s, but does not take the generic portrayal of it. Many previous movies of this subject have been released either show heroic American that battle insurmountable odds, or forsaken Jews that fight threw the worst. While it may seem dark to make a movie that takes a serious subject so lightly, it is part of the process of history. As it becomes more and more distant in time, there is less and less truth and seriousness put into it. It is seen in many other Hollywood movies, such as The Patriot (2000), 300 (2007), Braveheart (1995), and Django Unchained (2012). The interesting thing in many of the movies like these, is the enemy is often portrayed in an extremely negative, almost so extreme, they could be compared to the Nazis. Hollywood uses that Nazis as the level setter for enemies, it does not get worse than them. It is interesting to see how Taratino portrays the ...
The proscription from any domain of memorable works may be due to a major problem both in the novel and film: the ambiguous point of view adopted. The novel is geared for a transposition to the screen. It is no coincidence that the film was scripted by Niccolò Ammaniti, who adapted ...