"What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" Film Techniques related to theme Theme: Struggle and Hardship In the film "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" directed by Lasse Hallstrom in 1993, one of the main ideas is that of struggle and hardship. This idea is significant to the film because it relates to each character in a different way, making the storyline more interesting. Three different techniques used by Lasse Hallstrom to illustrate the idea of struggle and hardship include Gilberts voice over, the extra close-ups of Bonnie as she climbs the stairs and the double up of dialogue, where Mrs Carver is talking to Gilbert, and Mr Carver is heard tying to entertain their children in background. One character that suffers from struggle and hardship is Gilbert. At the beginning of the film, just after the opening scene, there are a series of establishing shots of Endora. They display the town as a dead, empty place, and are accompanied by a voice over done by Gilbert Grape. Gilbert describes each shop and his house with a dreary, dull tone and a lack of enthusiasm. This indicates to the audien...
When given the task of comparing the sound design used in Raising Arizona and Drive, the task is fairly simple. Drive, which came out in 2011 and is a crime drama, is in no way like the sound design used it Raising Arizona, a black comedy film that was released in 1987. Given the nature of, Drive, the soundtrack for this film is understandably, intense while the soundtrack for Raising Arizona is noticeably, campy. I believe that these particular soundtracks, while different, are perfect for their respective films. In Raising Arizona, the music of the film has a folksy and goofy vibe that fits with all of the particular scenes in the film such as the mugshot scene and the diaper robbery. However, the soundtrack for Drive is prominently dark, powerful and intangible, something that fits most of the scenes of the film such as the numerous fight and driving scenes.
George constantly reminds Lennie that he would not be struggling if he wasn’t taking care of him (STEINBECK, 1977). Similarly, in the film What's Eating Gilbert Grapes, Gilbert is a teenager struggling to provide for his family consisting of two sisters, a mentally handicapped brother and an obese mother. Gilbert is held up with responsibilities making him have no time for a social life (DEWIS, 2011).
Also, the narrator indirect character because the author doesn’t tell us about her personality, it was located in the context clues. Chatita, according the context clues, is a little girl, who is faint of hearing and forgetful. In the book of Marigold, Miss. Lottie is a direct character because in the story, she is an matured lady, who is very poor. According to the story, Lizabeth is a indirect character because she is a sophisticated young woman that execute immature things to do, for her enjoyment, like breaking Miss. Lottie’s marigolds. Sometimes in the story, the author can use characterization in all of his characters but in these stories only a couple people have characterization. Without characterization, the story will become uninteresting and the plot wouldn’t make sense, for example if an author doesn’t apply a personality to character then it wouldn’t help the rest of the story because you don’t know what the character is
After watching the movie “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” it focuses more on Gilbert Grape than any other characters in the movie. Gilbert Grape is a young man who resides in a small community called Endora. Gilbert at the beginning of the movie states “Describing Endora is like dancing to no music”. Gilbert’s youngest brother Arnie is soon to be 18 years old and has a developmental disability that never was disclosed in the movie. Furthermore, Bonnie Gilbert’s mother has been locked in her own home since her husband committed suicide seven years ago. Moreover, Bonnie is at the stage of stagnation. She is over-weighted and doesn’t think of doing anything for herself or for any of her children. Therefore, leaving Gilbert with the full responsibility of caring for his family especially Arnie.
Nothing much ever happens in Endora, Iowa. The Grape family is one of several that inhabit this town. Gilbert is the eldest brother of 4 children, of whom all but one, still live at home with their Momma. Arnie is 6 days away from being 18 years old. Doctors told the family that they would be lucky if he could live until the age of 10. The movie begins with Arnie and Gilbert watching the trailers pass by, an annual tradition before Arnie’s birthday. After the trailers have all come and gone, they go into town and head to Gilbert’s work. Shortly after arriving, he is called out for a delivery to Mrs. Carver’s. He leaves Arnie alone in the truck, when he exits the home, Gilbert realizes that Arnie is missing. At that same time, the sheriff goes flying by; it can only mean one thing. Upon driving into the middle of town, it is then that Gilbert sees Arnie. He has once again climbed up the water tower. It is at this time you see the true connection between Gilbert and his brother Arnie. As Arnie continues to climb higher, his brother takes the loud speaker and begins singing to him. He is able to coax him down through song, assuring the sheriff it won’t happen again, he is able to then take him home. Being the main caretaker for his brother, Gilbert is responsible for bathing and getting Arnie ready for bed.
Beside that, Cinematography is also one of the element that play important roles in film noir. This can be seen when Dixon (2005) explained that in film noir shot in black and white, interior setting is always suffused with shadows and exterior settings are usually at night, with wet streets and rain. It is true because most of the film noir are shot in night with wet streets and rain, night scenes are able to create the ‘ darkness ’ mood and feeling while wet streets and rain can create the fear. Furthermore, according to Dixon (2005), he mention that the imbalanced camera set-up in film noir and the camera sweeps in on the protagonists in their most intimate moments. It is true also if the imbalanced camera set up in film noir such as dutch angle and low angle shot, it shows that something are going to happen, but it depends on the director and cinematographer on what visual they want to show to the audiences.
The struggle the other characters face in telling Mrs. Mallard of the news of her husband's death is an important demonstration of their initial perception of her strength. Through careful use of diction, Mrs. Mallard is portrayed as dependent. In mentioning her "heart trouble" (12) Chopin suggests that Mrs. Mallard is fragile. Consequently, Josephine's character supports this misconception as she speaks of the accident in broken sentences, and Richards provides little in the way of benefiting the situation. In using excess caution in approaching the elderly woman, Mrs. Mallard is given little opportunity to exhibit her strength. Clearly the caution taken towards Mrs. Mallard is significant in that it shows the reader the perception others have of her. The initial description the author provides readers with creates a picture that Mrs. Mallard is on the brink of death.
The movie utilized for this assignment was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. This movie explored the life of the Grape family consisting of Gilbert, Ellen, Arnie, Bonnie and Amy. (Hallström, Blomquist, Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper 1993). The movie reveals the struggles that the family face while raising Arnie who had a chronic mental illness (Hallström et al., 1993). This paper will discuss the priority concerns and corresponding interventions that are pertinent for the Grape family based on thorough use of the Calgary family assessment model. The focus of this papers assessment on the family will be on the functional aspect; however the structural and developmental aspects have been assessed.
The Grapes are a family living in a rural and economically depressed community. The members of the Grape family presently residing in the familial home consists of biological birth mother Bonnie Grape, who is unemployed and 54 years of age. Amy Grape, the eldest child, Unemployed and currently 34 years of age. Gilbert Grape, the eldest male sibling who is employed at a local grocery store and is currently 24, years of age. Arnie Grape is Gilbert’s younger brother and is presently turning 18 years of age. Arnie reaching his 18th birthday is considered to be somewhat of a triumph by the Grape family, as Arnie suffers from a debilitating medical condition that has not only kept him from achieving age appropriate developmental milestones but also threatens to shorten his life expectancy considerably. The youngest sibling Ellen Grape is currently employed at a local ice cream parlor and is 16 years of age.
Spike Lee does many fascinating things from a directorial standpoint, which makes his film (dare I say, joint), Do the Right Thing so interesting to watch. Writer, director Lee makes much use of the high and low angle shots. He does this to draw clear contrasts between the two elders of the block, Da Mayor and Mother Sister and to make conflict more apparent.
The imagery portrayed in the first half of the story is solemn, melancholy and grim depicting the protagonist, Mrs. Mallard, is effortlessly flabbergasted at the harsh news of her husband, Brently Mallard’s disastrous death. In hearing the news of Brently’s premature death, Mrs. Mallard immediately accepts his death and is overcome with grief and leaves to her room unaccompanied. It is in her room, which she peers through the window contemplating on the recent news that she has received, when there is an overall shift to the
Miss Lottie, the woman that she had once believed was different from those she thought of as normal, was really a person aged from difficult times. Lizabeth’s actions, although at the time had brought her small joy and an antidote to her boredom, had effected Miss Lottie by taking away the last bit of hope and care put into the flowers. Her father was no longer the center and the support of her family, but just a person who could no longer work and earn like he had once done. Lizabeth had not noticed the change and the depression in her father, as a result of childhood blinding her to the troubles of the rest of the world. Lizabeth’s confusing emotions spurred her to continue the destruction of the marigolds, as her brother, who did not understand her actions, sat confused and upset. He was not experiencing the rite of passage that his sister was faced with. As Lizabeth is sitting in the middle of the mess she made in Miss Lottie's garden, “...that was the moment when childhood faded and adulthood began.” Lizabeth's actions as child had opened her eyes as an adult and “... gazed on a reality that is hidden from childhood.”
The movie, “Whats eating Gilbert Grape” is about a family that goes through hardships in a small town of Endora, Iowa. The town is super small and everyone knows each other business. Gilbert's family consist of his mother and siblings who live in the same broken down house. The movie starts with Gilbert as the narrator and just in the first few minutes of the opening it is learned that Gilbert's dad committed suicide and his brother Larry left to pursuit higher education. Larry was the only one to break the poverty line and never to communicate with his family members again. Gilbert described Larry as the one who got away, in the opening of the movie. Bonnie Grape has 5 kids but only 4 of the 5 lives with her in their shack. The kids are mentioned from oldest to youngest: Larry, Amy, Gilbert, Arnie and Ellen. Bonnie Grape is extremely obese and suffers from depression ever since her husband(Albert Grape) committed suicide in the basement. Albert Grape was described in a brief mention of the movie as an alcohol who hang himself in the base...
The character that I am going to analyze is Gilbert Grape from What's Eating Gilbert Grape an American drama film directed by Lasse Hallström. The personality theory that I would provide to analyze Gilbert Grape’s character is Carl Roger’s theory, which is on the actualize version of the fulfillment model. Roger emphasized that central predisposition of humans is to actualize their inherent potentialities. This means that a pressure in people leads them in the direction of becoming whatever it is in their inherited nature to be, however this process is not always easily possible in all the individuals. Such as with Gilbert Grape who is restricted and embedded from expressing himself fully due to the expectations or his duties he has towards his family. The reason I chose this personality theory to describe Gilbert Grape because Gilbert, who watches the trailers pass by his house with his brother, desires to receive or get something out of his simple and routine based life. His actualizing tendency is to go and explore, and not to feel as if he is tied down to something and is restricted. However, in the beginning of the movie Gilbert inhibits from expressing his actualizing tendency, because in his life he hasn’t gotten any positive regard to express himself. However, when Becky a free spirited girl who lives life as it comes enters Gilbert’s life, and then she teaches him that he shouldn’t restrict himself from expressing his true self. Therefore, towards the end of the movie we see that Gilbert actualizes his inherent potential to travel, and in the end of the movie he waits for the trailers to drive by again, but this time he is going to be riding in the trailers.
Edwin S. Porter contributed the following editing styles and techniques to film. He used a dissolve between every shot just and he frequently had the same action repeated across the dissolves. According to Filmrefrence.com “Edison Company’s new Vitascope projector in Indiana and California, and Porter worked with them as a projectionist in Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Later that year he went to work for Raff & Gammon in New York but left after the Edison Company broke with Raff & Gammon. He then toured with entertainers through the Caribbean as an exhibitor of motion pictures, and in early 1897 he helped build the projector at the Eden Musée”(Filmrefrence.com.2014).