When director of photography Conrad Hall, ASC and director Sam Mendes teamed to make American Beauty, few could have predicted that their dark vision of suburban malaise would be such a smash success. The film won five Academy Awards, including those for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography (Hall’s second Oscar, following his triumph for the 1969 Western classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid). Hall’s work also earned him his third ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography (see AC June ‘00).
Road to Perdition, Hall and Mendes’ second collaboration, took the duo into decidedly different territory. Based on a graphic novel authored by Max Allan Collins, the film is a tale about the Irish Mafia set in 1930s Chicago. At its heart is the relationship between fathers and sons; after his professional life tragically impacts his domestic life, hit man Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) sets out on a wintry journey of self-discovery with his son, Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin). Along the way, Sullivan must come to terms with his adoptive father, Irish crime lord John Rooney (Paul Newman). “Road to Perdition is a period movie in which there are no double-breasted, pin-striped suits and no spats,” Mendes says. “I was trying to get away from all the clichés of the gangster genre.”
Hall’s overarching strategy for the film dovetailed with the director’s goal by favoring naturalistic realism over a more stylized approach to the material. “The thing that makes this picture work so well is a kind of honesty,” Hall says. “It’s a sort of honest reality that doesn’t try to be theatrical in any way. There is no blue moonlight, no green vistas, none of that kind of stuff. The film has very carefully crafted compositions, it’s meticulously cut, and it’s paced very gently and slowly — all of which is good for the story.”
Of his photography, Hall notes that “I’m not trying to characterize the people in the film; the actors do that. I’m trying to frame them in an appropriate emotional context for the scenes. How are their characters behaving in those scenes? Are they behaving like human beings? My goal is to make a given scene emotionally accessible for the audience. I just try to make it real. Whatever the story is trying to say to the audience dictates to me the mood I should use to reach that audience. In this case, the film is about a father who’s trying to raise his son so that the boy won’t grow up to be like him.
The first element that must be looked at is the imprisonment of the characters in both films. The main character of American Beauty, Lester Burnham, is the man whom feels the burden of imprisonment the most. He is in an ongoing marriage that should be coming up to the red light. He is also stuck in a job where he feels under appreciated and not well respected. He has been at this job for fourteen years. That is fourteen years of being in jail. It is quite evident that he is not happy. Who would be when you know that your wife and you daughter think that you are a “gigantic loser” (American Beauty)?
...lm. With the director’s use of special effects, this proves that he had an artistic way of showing the film, as well as his use of ambiguous scenes and sequences that were provided in the film. By making it a classical cinema film, the Kubrick did a good job in proving the realism of space and all, as well as using the film order to make the movie in order. By making the film both art and classical cinema, this just makes the movie even better and the director more smarter for being able to do this in one movie.
As everyone knows, teen pregnancy rate is increasing more and more each day and someone needs to do something to try and either stop it or decrease it dramatically. Teen pregnancy is causing dramatic population increase and that’s just common sense. Teens getting pregnant at such a young age is also causing poverty levels to go up more and more. Mississippi Spent over $100 million on teen pregnancy alone in the year 2010 (“Teen Pregnancy”). Just think of what it is now. More teens are dropping out of school and not finishing their education. According to the authors of this article, “approximately 30 percent of teen mothers have mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are mothers who dropped out of high school, 40 percent have mothers who are high school graduates, and 30 percent have mothers who attended college”(Kearny et al 143). Many people don’t realize that there are many effects of teen pregnancy including higher risk of birth defect, more likely to drop out, and also abortion rates increase.
Sometimes teen moms decide to not go to college and focus more on the baby or their plans to get married. Teen pregnancy statistics state that only one third of teen moms can even acquire the high school diploma and only a few get a college degree. The government plan welfare schemes to take care of teen mothers and their children. The low-qualified mother cannot get a good job and she completely depends on the state to overcome the financial distress. The annual expenses to fund the teen pregnancies cost around seven billion dollars. The government has to spend money on public assistance, child health care, and foster care to facilitate proper raising of the child. The teen mothers who do not receive proper financial support from her parents or her friends have to face a severe financial crunch. She has to face extreme difficulty to buy basic items for her newborn baby such as clothing and baby care products. Due to the lack of social support, the mother will suffer from huge emotional crisis due to lack of social support. She will deal with severe emotional and mental breakdowns that trigger the onset of unusual behavior like suicide attempts or attempting self-abortion. Many studies have concluded that teenage pregnancy directly affects teenage drug addiction rates ( 11 Negative Side Effects of Teen Pregnancy On
Sam Mendes’s provocative debut film American Beauty was a blockbuster after its release in 1999, wrapping up three accolades at the Golden Globe Awards, reaping nominations in miscellaneous film festivals. Beauty and reality are the two major and discrepant elements in the film. Symbolically, beauty eludes humans’ possession, and such elusion is often offset by its presenting a form of reflection on the reality. Thrills, often followed by disillusionment, of quasi obtainment of such heavenly beauty feed humans’ incessant pursuit of beauty in reality. In the film, beauty gets lurid, and reality becomes horrid. A black comedy, American Beauty achieves a Grotesque atmosphere by escalating such disparity to a peak at which the protagonist Lester Burnham irrevocably bursts to death, posing a proposition of man’s raison d’être.
middle of paper ... ... The scenery was great because it was very descriptive compared to the scenes in the novel. The use of Computer Generated Imagery technology was perfect because it highlighted the scenery making it very vivid, realistic and pleasurable to the eye. The costuming used in the film was very creative, wonderful and perfect because it suited each of the characters class, personality, and it also suited the time period of the 1920s.
Given four stars by Roger Ebert, the film American Beauty was released in 1999. Ebert seemed to really like this film. Using terms like “right choice” and “embodies intelligence” when speaking of Kevin Spacey’s eyes and voice being the right actor for this film. Ebert commented that this movie was a comedy because we as views laugh at the absurdity of the hero’s problems. He feels the performances in this film walk a line between parody and simple realism. He did not seem to have anything negative to say about the actors, plot or any other aspect of this film. Calling “American Beauty” the kind of film where you prove something important, if only to yourself as opposed to the kind of victory you get in a feel-good movie.
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
To begin, the idea of two realisms is first illustrated in the opening sequence of the film and continues throughout the length of the story. For example, the neighborhood shown in the film is very staged, with warm and soft lighting, providing a calm, serene feeling.
How the film techniques used by Baz Luhrman to influence the portrayal and development of characters in the film Strictly Ballroom?
Nora is not only Ibsen’s vessel to show women’s strong character, but serves the purpose of showing women as equal human beings. Nora also helps point out that there might some aspects of society which might be incorrect besides the perception of women as the less sharp sex; the law of those days for example. All of these are shown with Nora’s possession of a secret life. In the surface she appears as a beautiful, fun toy to her husband, father, and even to her friend Mrs. Linden, but it is only when they find out of her secret life when they start to appreciate her for more than a beautiful girl that she is. That second life of hers allows Nora to show that she can work, that she can withstand enormous amounts of pressure, and that she is capable to do things when she is determined. It is this secret life that eventually leads to her being freed from that doll house, as she calls it, and ultimately allows her to leave without being afraid to study and learn about herself and
During the nineteenth century, women were suppressed by many expectations set by society. They were expected to take care of domestic work such as cooking, cleaning, raising children, and above all, pleasing their husbands. In her household, Nora, the main character in Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House”, adheres to these expectations. She takes care of her children and dances the tarantella for her husband. She believes that she is happy and that her marriage is successful and fair; however this is not true. There are many characters who would like for her to remain in this oppressive role, including Mr. Krogstad, Mrs. Lindie, and even her own husband, Torvald. These characters care
Nora is a dynamic character. When the play begins Nora is viewed and presented as a playful and carefree person. She seems to be more intent on shopping for frivolous things. But, as time goes on it becomes apparent that Nora actually has a certain amount of seriousness in her decisions and actions in dealing with the debt she incurred to save Torvald’s life. Nora’s openness in her friendship with Dr. Rank changes after he professes his affections toward her. Her restraint in dealing with him shows that Nora is a mature and intelligent woman. Nora shows courage, not seen previously, by manipulating her way around Krogstad and his threats to reveal her secret. After feeling betrayed by Torvald, Nora reveals that she is leaving him. Having
Initially, Nora’s personality is labeled as immature yet also most times obedient in Torvald’s presence; she is always sweet-talking him for favors instead of communicating as an equal couple. This looks like Nora is using this as a mechanism to cope and try to forget her past misbehaviors. Another side of looking at this is looking at Nora as a sensitive woman, but sensible at the same time, and completely has no idea of how much she’s worth until the climax of the play. This is confirmed by how her husband, Torvald always calls her a “little skylark”, or a “little squirrel” and she is quiet and does not do anything about it which seems like she is content with it. Today, I am sure most women will be offended by such comments and the fact that Nora takes this kind of treatment, makes me think that she either has a low self esteem, or she is just ignoring he whole situation.
The distance learning environment creates a multitude of challenges that students or instructors do not have to deal with in a brick and mortar classroom. One controversial topic may be that people cannot express their emotions effectively online. Online environments are also complicated to have interactions and establish a presence. Is this really the case though? Is it challenging to show emotion online or have a presence; however, it is not impossible. These topics will be discussed in the following.