"Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake. I look forward to when developers go bankrupt, Japan gets poorer and wild grasses take over." Perhaps no quote could capture the spirit of renowned director and philosopher Hayao Miyazaki so perfectly; a true reflection of who he is as a filmmaker, audiences know him for incorporating themes that reflect the destructiveness of humanity. The darkest truths hide under the mystical entities and incredible worlds, truths that capture the gluttony, greed, and hatred humanity. It is this reflection of ourselves that makes audiences both fear and love the strange yet eerily similar characters and societies. In one of his more popular works, Princess Mononoke, Miyazaki forces us to face the relentless greed that lives within us and the costs this has on both the environment and ourselves. Princess Mononoke, a girl raised by wolf demons and who resents mankind, is in opposition to a society that represents the interests and moral dilemmas of man--innovation/achievement and greed. …show more content…
Princess Mononoke serves as a foil to Eboshi, a highly respected business woman who destroys the forest and wages war against forest spirits in order to get a bounty of iron. It is because of Eboshi’s selfishness that Princess Mononoke becomes angry and awakens the spirits of destruction, spirits which eventually lead to Eboshi’s death. This opposition, of course, is very powerful symbolism: if humans tip the balance between achievment and conservation, humans will ultimately feel the hellish consequences of their
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
After going on for so long, most would say this violence was just a part of life, unchangeable. However, I believe that the creators of this movie saw a glimpse into what could have become a very real apocalypse in the near future of Earth: the development and dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. This film, released just six years after the devastation of Japan and the end of World War II, acted as a warning of what the future could hold, if this violent streak
Through their use of allusion, symbolism and representation they portray many of societies flaws and imperfections. Such an imperfection includes the illustration of how totalitarian governments abuse the power they have acquired for their own gain, harming the people they are sworn to serve and protect. Through this abusive self-gaining government, we all are liable to become victims of consumer culture caused by the blind obedience to advertising and propaganda, being unable to form or voice an opinion of our own. But this lack of opinion can be at fault because of our own apathy, the ignorance and slothfulness that is contributed to the role we play in our society and the importance of that roles ability to motivate and inspire change. Whether you’ve read or viewed the novels or feature films I’ve discussed I have no hesitation in saying any text or film you have seen has been used in some way, shape or form to convey the criticisms of our ‘perfect’
In addition, the protagonists have a selfish conduct and
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
Although Victor claims his intent is to better humanity, his motivation is for power, and in doing so, he violates morality and manipulates human nature. Victor expresses his personality through creating the monster. Victor broke the boundaries of life and death by creating the monster. Victor changed nature and the idea...
It is a common mis-conception that films are merely entertainment, and serve no other purpose than to provide for the viewer a two-hour escape from reality. This is a serious under-estimation of the power, purpose, and potential of film, because film, upon reflection, revea...
However, upon the new changes in cinema—the idea of ideology shifted as well. Modernist Cinema subverted that typical dominant ideology. There is always a larger question poses about the film as a whole; why was this film made? Badlands situates the spectator in the position to decide whether or not murder is evil based on the visuals he or she views. The author’s hopes is that by creating unidentifiable characters and a nonchalant world that the spectator will realize that the idea of murder isn’t in fact being promoted merely the opposite—it’s being subverted. The subject matter of this film is one that is certainly unpleasurable in terms of entertainment but actually a dissatisfaction intending to comment on society as a whole. This intentional provocation involves “the attack on ‘entertainment’ cinema [as] part of a broader attack on the whole of ‘consumer society’” (Wollen, 424). Cinema serves as a distraction from society, but also operates to make a point to its intended audience. The point being the obvious, murder should never be morally acceptable. Its consequences typically should evoke a reaction that testifies against nature of the
In society today, we are conditioned to believe certain sets of ideals. We use these ideals to interact and get along with the other people we surround ourselves with. These ideals are often the societal norms that form common ground amongst individuals. However, living life based off these basic and unchanging beliefs is not beneficial to humanity, nor does it make life any easier to live. In fact, holding on to the most accepted beliefs holds back society as a whole. Judith Halberstam, in her essay “Animating Revolt and Revolting Animation” challenges these societal norms through the analysis of animated movies and, in doing so, carves a path for a new way of thinking.
Throughout dystopian works the human versus nature conflict acts as a catalyst for the hardship society endures. Where nature represents innocence and vulnerability, a lack of it symbolizes a world of corruption and constraint. In worlds where society synergizes with nature, there is confidence in the future similar to the cycle of the Eloi and Morlocks in The Time Machine. However in worlds such as, Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E, Mordecai Roshwald’s Level 7 and The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers, an obvious lack of nature adds to the seemingly hopelessness of the work’s atmosphere. The root of suffering in dystopian worlds stems from the human pursuit to conquer nature.
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind, a blockbuster film from the 1970’s that utilized drama as a good technique to spread the idea that creatures from beyond our planet could have the healthier qualities of humanity, resembling kindness, compassion, and the pursuit for understanding the universe. However, this plot doesn’t make a thrilling 1990's summer blockbuster. The word of the 1990’s was action, and Independence Day demonstrates that nothing gave quite the movie-going action as planet annihilating, life annihilating aliens. More than likely, differences, however measured, between these films are actually a reflection of the changes in the values of our civilization in the 20 years from the 1970’s to the 1990’s.
Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke is a development of Japanese animation that can be seen as a romantic fable of two characters that were brought together through one cause; however, Miyazaki’s film can be seen as a Japanese cultural production. It is seen as a cultural production because it shows elements of Shinto through the Kami and the use of water for purification, as well as the female stereotype reversal that was quite dominant in the time of the Heian period. The characters in Princess Mononoke interact with the kami (gods or spirits) when they are in sacred sites or areas that assist in the contact. In Princess Mononoke, the mountain is the place where the characters make contact with the kami, which is their Shinto shrine because
With one of the most memorable transitions in the film (the Silent Scream performed by a Japanese Butoh dancer), Baraka makes clear the consequences of modern human life. When increasing production and profit takes priority over valuing human life, civilization eventually destroys itself; the film walks us through scenes of systemic poverty, exploitation, war, and genocide to illustrate this point. Paired with stirring, ominous music, this sequence is the most effective sequence of the film and can stand alone as an indictment of modern civilization. Finally, the story of modern civilization ends with images of the ruins of great ancient civilizations. The takeaway message is clear: just as those civilizations rose and fell, so too will the great civilizations of
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.