Cinematic Styles in Sholay, women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown, and Amores Perros

Sholay, Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Amores Perros have very different cinematic styles; yet, are equally able to convey their messages effectively to their audience. These films span four decades (from the 1970s to 2000s), take place in very different countries; however, are all connected in that all three films are masterful works of cinematic genus and that globalization greatly affected each film.

Sholay, a 1975 Bollywood masala film directed by Ramesh Sippy, plays a huge role as the national allegory of India during a turbulent time when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency. During this time Indira Gandhi suspended constitutional rights and jailed thousands of political opponents. This time period was marked with uncertainty; thus, reflected in the national Cinema of the time. Sippy used his film as a means to start a dialogue and social commentary of the situation in India. This critic can be seen in the themes of nature versus culture, the encroachment of nature upon culture, and the meaning of civilization in wilderness found in the film. These themes being an extension of the idea that there really is no justice and that if you want justice to prevail one must take action into his or her own hands. Sippy was able to makes these ideas come alive in a very similar manner than “spaghetti westerns” that portrayed outlaws who searched for justice in an unjust world in large part to globalization and the spread of different ideologies that made individuals question their society and compare it to the rest of the world.

Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown, a Spanish black comedy drama film, was released in 1988 and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. This film reflects a Post-Franco ...

... middle of paper ...

...s division dogfights. One of the first films that honestly depicted the corruption and politics of Mexico.

In conclusion, the three separate films each effectively causes the audience to think critically of the society they are in. In Sholay the use of music and sound sets it apart from the other two films. Women on the verge of a Nervous Breakdown incredible use of angles makes it standout from the other films. In Amores Perros it is the use of jump cuts. In conclusion it is true that the films are very different in style and cinematography and the directors have very different styles.

In conclusion besides the context of the film (country, time period), the cinematic technics that separate the films apart are very unique to those films even these technics are used in the other films, those techniques accomplish very different things than they do in the film.