Following the Berlin Wall’s construction in the 1960’s, citizens within the East German state were under heavy surveillance from the Ministry for State Security, or the Stasi, in an attempt to “know everything about everyone.” Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to gather information on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to detect the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's manipulation of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
While the script is often one of the greatest crucial elements in a film, the brevity of speech and precise
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e begin to speak more freely, evidenced by his weakly asking the prostitute to stay, the conversation held with the boy in the elevator (“What’s the name of your … ball?”), and the exchange he has with Christa-Maria about …show more content…
The entire film itself is muted in color, with several neutral colors and washed-out greens and blues, all of which are used for a definitive reason. East Germany was practically a prison while the Berlin Wall was up, with citizens unable to leave the country and either being spied on or constantly feeling as though they were under surveillance. There was no freedom, only conformity to the socialist government; it is for this reason that the director chose to have the visuals in the movie reflect how life truly was during that time period. One specific color to note throughout the film is gray; Wiesler frequently wears the same gray coat as a way to blend in to the mediocrity of society. But the gray color may also be seen as a gray moral area in which not only are there two conflicting sides, white vs. black or moral vs. immoral, but the character almost always wearing the gray is himself in a gray moral area. As Wiesler opens his mind and heart to the possibility of actually living a life and having the comfort of love, he begins to realize that the constant spying and listening in are not honorable actions to take, regardless of his belief in the socialist system. Brightness, or the lack thereof, is also important to the changing of Wiesler’s moral compass. Through all of the
The chaos and destruction that the Nazi’s are causing are not changing the lives of only Jews, but also the lives of citizens in other countries. Between Night by Elie Wiesel and The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, comradeship, faith, strength, and people of visions are crucial to the survival of principle characters. Ironically, in both stories there is a foreseen future, that both seemed to be ignored.
David Mamet once stated, “..it is the human lot to try and fail..” This quotation implies that an individual will attempt to achieve success throughout their lifetime, but he/she will also have to face the failures as well. The quote relates to the philosophy that in order to achieve something, one will have to work for it. This quotation is correct and is further supported by two literary works. The two novels are Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and The Pearl, also by John Steinbeck. In these two novels, the protagonists know that their goals are very farfetched and out of the norm, yet they both try to achieve it and ultimately fail.
The narration of the narrative is unconventional in its choice of character although this is no mistake. The bias held by the reader is likely to be of negative connotations for the people of NAZI Germany. The humanisation which is proposed by the narrator helps to counteract these negative connotations creating empathy for the characters within the novel. Furthermore, the daunting choice of narration means that Death is constantly overlooking the town of “Himmel street” and the lives of innocent German people. One character which the narrator of Death specifically expresses in detail is Rudy Steiner's Father in his political deadlock.
The movie “Schindler’s list” is a compelling, real-life depiction of the events that occurred during the 1940’s. It illustrates the persecution and horrific killings of the Jewish people. It also exemplifies the hope and will of the Jewish people, which undoubtedly is a factor in the survival of their race. The most important factor however is because of the willingness of one man, Oskar Schindler, to stand out and make a difference.
When I first started playing the episode, Ira Glass, host and producer of This American Life, immediately grabbed my attention with the line, “Sometimes things are not what they seem. Big news, I know. Here’s an interesting example of it.” Ira, with a voice clear and engaging, went on to describe the account of Damien Cave, a reporter for The New York Times, on an airplane. Damien was looking through an in-flight magazine that was using ads for tourists to attract people to various lands that were centers of drug and gang-related violence. The prologue had started with an interview with Damien and captured vivid descriptions of his analysis of how ads are tools of those in power to coerce people into thinking and consuming. “Propaganda is
”[1] From the above quote it’s fair to suggest that when answering this. question importance lies in the discussion of Film Language. The assignment will therefore look at the various Film Languages. The text that will be used is Macbeth[2] (Shakespeare), and Roman.
Identify specific elements of a motion picture that film studios look for in a successful movie.
Director Mark Herman presents a narrative film that attests to the brutal, thought-provoking Nazi regime, in war-torn Europe. It is obvious that with Herman’s relatively clean representation of this era, he felt it was most important to resonate with the audience in a profound and philosophical manner rather than in a ruthlessness infuriating way. Despite scenes that are more graphic than others, the films objective was not to recap on the awful brutality that took place in camps such as the one in the movie. The audience’s focus was meant to be on the experience and life of a fun-loving German boy named Bruno. Surrounding this eight-year-old boy was conspicuous Nazi influences. Bruno is just an example of a young child among many others oblivious of buildings draped in flags, and Jewis...
of the film. The audience like to know what to expect of a film before
...successful collaboration of sound, colour, camera positioning and lighting are instrumental in portraying these themes. The techniques used heighten the suspense, drama and mood of each scene and enhance the film in order to convey to the spectator the intended messages.
Not a doom laden, emphatically political treatise on the reunification of East and West Germany but a touching and sometimes comedic insight into the gargantuan changes impacting on the small scale, day to day life as experienced by an East German family, Christiane Kerner and her two children Alex and Ariane. Awaking from a coma, Alex fears his mother?s condition may worsen if she learns of re-unification, going to increasingly elaborate lengths in maintaining the illusion of the GDR's omniscience. Becker?s stance as to reunification is ambivalent throughout, the film's concerns not didactic but subtly relayed. How the personal and political interweave is skilfully constructed by Becker,...
Personal Analysis: My personality is hard to describe. It all depends on the situation, but overall my core values stay the same. In this paper I will describe my personal analysis, which will include a self-assessment score of maximizer and satisficer, time management profile, and empowering others. I will also describe what my terminal values and instrumental values are. Then I will go through what my big five personality characteristics are and my MBTI personality profile.
To understand the subjective ideation of film scripting, one has to consider the various possibilities of changing a section of a scene. There are innumerable po...
Personal life: Anxiety can occur as a result of environmental factors like trauma it may be due to abuse, stress, family problem, i.e. if I am unable to manage my anxiety it will affect my personal life.
Before any physical shooting can take place, a series of preparation steps must occur to ready the production crew and actors alike. The beginning of any film starts with the story, much like a novel. Instead of words in a book, however, a script serves as the backbone of the film, containing all of the characters, settings, and action that takes place in the story. The script’s story will comprise of a conflict posed at the main character, a goal for that main character, and some sort of resolution. The elements of storytelling generally stay the same for scripts; the format for writing the script accounts for largest difference to that of a regular novel. Instead of ...