Blue Velvet was first released in 1986 and became a huge contreversy internationally. It was deemed as pornography and was at the centre of a national firestorm, yet years later, the film is widley regarded to be an American classic, one of the greatest cinematic achievements.
The themes in the film are rich and complex. Blue Velvet introduced several common elements of Lynch's work, including distorted characters, a polarized world, debilitating damage to the skull or brain and the dark underbelly of large cities, or in this case, small towns. Red curtains, especially swaying ones, also show up in key scenes, which have since become a trademark of Lynch films. The opening title features the title cards, and a backdrop of a blue velvet robe blowing in the wind, which sets the mood for the blue velvet motif and how it consistently appears throughout the film. Much of the cinematography and shots bear similarities to surrealistic paintings, such as the way the streets of Lumberton are lit with very dim light and the opening scene which features almost artificial (so much so, they can be classified as surrealism) flowers, bugs and pickter fences.
As with much of the psychological thriller genre, Blue Velvet owes a large debt to 1940s and '50s film noir, filtered through a uniquely individualistic vision, containing and exploring such conventions as the femme fatale, a seemingly unstoppable villain, and the questionable moral outlook of the Hero ? extended here to include even the humanity of the hero, as well as the usual shadowy, beautiful and sometimes dark cinematography and important and frequent symbolism. The film also pays tribute to many 1950s and 1960s soap operas and B-films, showcasing nostalgic visuals, the setting is also very indistinguishable, as there are references to the both the 1950s and 1960s, and the 1980s (Dorothy Vallens TV looks as if it was from the 60s, not 1986 era).
Feminist psychoanalytic film theorist Laura Mulvey argues that the film establishes a metaphorical family ? Jeffrey Beaumont (the 'child') and his 'parents' Frank Booth and Dorothy Vallens ? through deliberate references to film noir and its underlying Oedipal theme. The resulting violence, she claims, can be read as symbolic of domestic violence within 'real' families. For instance, Frank's violent acts can be seen to reflect the different types of abuse within families, and the control he has over Dorothy might represent the hold an abusive husband has over his wife.
The movie “The Public Enemy (1931)” revolves around the lives of two young men who venture into crime despite having solid background and support of a solid family. In particular, the movie focuses on the family of Tom, his brother Mike and their ever loving mother. The description of the mother in the entire movie as a doting parent illustrates the type of love that defines a family. In all the scenes that the mother is involved, the movie portrays a family as a haven of love, care and concern as the woman gets to show her sons the life she wants for them.
Michael Patrick MacDonald lived a frightening life. To turn the book over and read the back cover, one might picture a decidedly idyllic existence. At times frightening, at times splendid, but always full of love. But to open this book is to open the door to Southie's ugly truth, to MacDonald's ugly truth, to take it in for all it's worth, to draw our own conclusions. One boy's hell is another boy's playground. Ma MacDonald is a palm tree in a hurricane, bending and swaying in the violent winds of Southie's interior, even as things are flying at her head, she crouches down to protect her children, to keep them out of harms way. We grew up watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and Peanuts. Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up watching violence, sadness and death.
Discriminating gender roles throughout the movie leaves one to believe if they are supposed to act a certain way. This film gives women and men roles that don’t exist anymore, during the 60s women were known to care for the family and take care of the house, basically working at home. However, a male was supposed to fight for his family, doing all the hard work so his wife didn’t have too. In today’s world, everyone does what makes them happy. You can’t tell a woman to stay at home, that makes them feel useless. Furthermore, males still play the roles of hard workers, they are powerful compared to a woman. However, in today’s world a male knows it isn’t right to boss a woman around, where in the 60s, it happened, today women have rights to do what they want not what they are
From a very young age, Bone was sexually abused by her step-father, Glen Waddell. Like Bone, Dorothy Allison also suffered abuse from her step-father, starting at the young age of five years-old. During the time of the novel, and until recent years, it was unthinkable to speak of any sort of abuse outside the household. Throughout history, children have been victims of abuse by their parents or other adults, and fo...
The theme that has been attached to this story is directly relevant to it as depicted by the anonymous letters which the main character is busy writing secretly based on gossip and distributing them to the different houses. Considering that people have an impression of her being a good woman who is quiet and peaceful, it becomes completely unbecoming that she instead engages in very abnormal behavior. What makes it even more terrible is the fact that she uses gossip as the premise for her to propagate her hate messages not only in a single household but across the many different households in the estate where she stays.
In the French film, Blue, the color blue is used to represent freedom and liberty. Many times throughout the movie there are somewhat obvious examples, but other examples where you have to look into deep into the symbolism to see how they connect with the theme. The director allows us to somewhat use our imagination to figure out what he is trying to portray. By using the color blue, we can interpret how freedom and liberty play a big role in the movie.
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
Just about everyone can voice their opinions on a film that viewed as we all do after leaving the theatre. It may be found to be useful when a friend or individual is interested in seeing the film themselves. However, I believe the only way that you could understand a film is by analyzing the film beyond the average person. When one begins to analyze they begin to develop an understanding of the film and may grow to love the film. The director Hitchcock is a fairly well known director. He has directed many different films from Vertigo to Psycho that are found to be popular with the viewers. In this paper I am going to analyze certain elements that spoke out to me during the film. Those elements that spoke to me the most during the film was the lighting techniques, camera movement, and symbols.
Early in the film , a psychologist is called in to treat the troubled child :and she calmed the mother with a statement to the effect that, “ These things come and go but they are unexplainable”. This juncture of the film is a starting point for one of the central themes of the film which is : how a fragile family unit is besieged by unusual forces both natural and supernatural which breaks and possesses and unites with the morally challenged father while the mother and the child through their innocence, love, and honesty triumph over these forces.
Marie, who is a product of an abusive family, is influenced by her past, as she perceives the relationship between Callie and her son, Bo. Saunders writes, describing Marie’s childhood experiences, “At least she’d [Marie] never locked on of them [her children] in a closet while entertaining a literal gravedigger in the parlor” (174). Marie’s mother did not embody the traditional traits of a maternal fig...
The love one has for their family causes one to do anything to keep them out of harm, including taking the role of mother/father. Henry Lawson creates an image in his readers’ mind of the protagonist and all that she does for her
Her family life is depicted with contradictions of order and chaos, love and animosity, conventionality and avant-garde. Although the underlying story of her father’s dark secret was troubling, it lends itself to a better understanding of the family dynamics and what was normal for her family. The author doesn’t seem to suggest that her father’s behavior was acceptable or even tolerable. However, the ending of this excerpt leaves the reader with an undeniable sense that the author felt a connection to her father even if it wasn’t one that was desirable. This is best understood with her reaction to his suicide when she states, “But his absence resonated retroactively, echoing back through all the time I knew him. Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb.” (pg. 399)
Of all the 1980’s films, that can be described as “Eighties Teen Movies” (Thorburn, 1998) or “High School Movies” (Messner, 1998), those written and (with the exception of “Pretty In Pink” (1986) and “Some Kind of Wonderful”(1987)) directed by John Hughes were often seen to define the genre, even leading to the tag “John Hughes rites de passage movies” as a genre definition used in 1990s popular culture (such as in “Wayne’s World 2” (1994 dir. Stephen Surjik)). This term refers to the half dozen films made between 1984 and 1987; chronologically, “Sixteen Candles” (1984), “The Breakfast Club” (1985), “Weird Science” (1985), “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” (1986), “Pretty In Pink” (1986) and “Some Kind Of Wonderful” (1987) (the latter two being directed by Howard Deutch). For the purpose of this study, “Weird Science” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” shall be excluded; “Weird Science” since, unlike the other films, it is grounded in science fiction rather than reality and “Some Kind of Wonderful” as its characters are fractionally older and have lost the “innocence” key to the previous movies: as Bernstein states “the youthful naivete was missing and the diamond earring motif [a significant gift within the film] was no substitute” (Bernstein, 1997, p.89). Bernstein suggests that the decadent 1980s were like the 1950s, “an AIDS-free adventure playground with the promise of prosperity around every corner … our last age of innocence” (Bernstein, 1997, p.1). The films were very much a product of the time in terms of their production (“suddenly adolescent spending power dictated that Hollywood direct all its energies to fleshing out the fantasies of our friend, Mr. Dumb Horny 14 Year Old” Bernstein, 1997, p.4), their repetition (with the growth of video cassette recorders, cable and satellite with time to fill, and also the likes of MTV promoting the film’s soundtracks) and their ideologies.
Blue equates to Amélie and her counterpart, Nico’s, pursuits of happiness. Whenever both characters are in a scene together, there is some sort of blue item in the picture. When Nico tries to find the stranger that is leaving behind mysterious clues, he follows the blue arrows on the ground that leads to Amélie. In the midst of this, Nico peers down at Amélie from a blue telescope which symbolizes his interest in the pursuit of love. When Amélie visits Nico’s place of employment in hopes of meeting him there, the store is illuminated by blue lighting. The color blue does not only imply a character’s happiness in terms of love, but also a longing for something that a character cannot obtain. Mr. Dufayel is Amélie’s neighbor who is afraid of leaving his apartment for fear of shattering his frail bones, and so his entire apartment is padded up. Mr. Dufayel’s television is encased in wadding in order to protect himself, but the screen is blue. Whenever he watches television, he lives vicariously through those portrayed on the screen as he never sets foot outside of his apartment. Even though blue is only used a few times during the whole film, this characteristic is able to highlight the meaningful placement of certain objects in each scene and have them emanate a sense of