25th Hour Response

25^th Hour is a beautiful film directed by Spike Lee set in post-9/11 New York. It features a brilliant cast consisting of the very talented Edward Norton, Barry Pepper, Phillip Seymour, and female lead Rosario Dawson. There are so many positive aspects of this film that I enjoyed but the thing that sticks out the most about this film is the focus on the post 9/11 New York City landscape. During the opening credits we are shown different angles of where the Twin Towers once stood from across the river. Instead of the enormous twin towers, there are only two spotlights that shine in the sky. It’s a really lovely way to open up the film and was quite memorable. Further along in the film we are shown another angle of Ground Zero, which sits just outside of Barry Pepper’s window and beside the assumed future home of Edward Norton’s character, Monty.

Monty was a big-time narcotics dealer in New York City before he was busted by the DEA. His assumed future home is prison. 25^th hour covers his journey through his assumed last 24 hours as a free man for quite some time. I found the journey to be very personable and felt myself identifying with Monty. What would I do with my last day as a free man? I considered all of the emotions and fears that Monty must have been going through- disappointing his father who he loved, having to accept that he would most likely lose his girlfriend who he also loved, parting with his dog whom he adored greatly, being separated from his friends, and all of the other great things that go hand in hand with freedom. I couldn’t imagine losing so many dear things and having nothing to look forward to besides time in prison where a small Caucasian male will most likely not fare well. Spike Lee was able to direct this film in such a way that it really made me identify with the main character, Monty, and even made me feel sympathetic towards a man who had surely caused much pain and suffering as a narcotics dealer.

Overall this was a very touching movie with a surprisingly happy ending. The original soundtrack was incredibly powerful and blended in perfectly with the film. In addition to a great soundtrack the camera work was also amazing. I love the opening scene in which Monty is zooming down a bridge in a big body muscle car. He stops along side of the bridge to find a dog that is very close to death. Instead of leaving the dog to die like most Monty decides to rescue the dog and adopt him as his pet. Its small actions like this that endears me to Monty. At the end of the film I felt like Monty was a good-hearted man who meant well but just happened to be a drug dealer. So, on one hand he’s a nice guy that I could identify with but on the other hand, he’s a convicted narcotics dealer who has been sentenced to prison. I thought Spike Lee did a great job of luring the audience into feeling sympathetic towards a character that most would feel the exact opposite towards.

One last thing that I would like to comment on is the theme of the film. It’s a very positive and attractive theme to me. At the end of the film Monty decides (with the help of his father) that instead of reporting to prison (like he was supposed to) he would make a run for it and get a fresh start with a new identity. He decided that he would find work (legal this time) and move far away from New York City to start over. In time he would contact his girlfriend to join him out west. The film showed him and his girlfriend as grown adults with a large family, all happy and sitting together in a living room. It pretty much said to me that every day is a new day and no matter what happens a new day is just another chance to turn everything around for the better.

Let The Right One In

The first thing that really struck me about this film was the brilliant acting by the two young main characters, Oskar and Eli, as well as other minor characters played by young actors. The talent captured in this film is nearly unbelievable considering the age of the actors. But there is far more to this film than brilliant acting from young actors. It’s an interesting twist of romance and horror and it may be so interesting because I have never seen anything quite like it. I would like to note that I did see the American remake of this film and thought it was boring but the Swedish original was so much better it left me scratching my head why anyone would consider remaking this masterpiece.

This film stays true to all the original vampire folklore, which rarely ever happens. My favorite genre of film is horror so I have seen quite a few vampire movies and this one truly separates itself from the rest. There are gory scenes but the film doesn’t concentrate on the blood to frighten you. All of the scenes that I recall from the film were cut short and could have been dragged out longer if the director chose to. This is what I love about this film and other horror films that use this same style of cutting scenes after some gore/scare and then cuts to another scene which is usually tranquil. It leaves us wondering what happened. I think this style in horror films allows the audience to have an authentic frightening experience.

While many will label this a “vampire movie” there is much more to it than just vampires. The story is about two lonely children (a male and a female) who become friends and eventually form a romance. The young boy, Oskar, is bullied and reads about violent crimes in order to deal with it. Through each other’s friendship they find their own strengths in themselves. One of these characters (the female, Eli) is a vampire but that’s not important to the story, it just makes it a little more interesting. It’s a beautiful dark fantasy world with a vampire, a bullied child, and a brutal serial killer. All of these components mixed with melodramatic music and incredible cinematography created a unique atmosphere that is unlike any other film I’ve seen in the horror genre.

The cinematography of this film was beautiful. There were some amazing shots that were a real pleasure to watch. One scene in particular was near the end of the movie when Oskar is in the pool. I loved the way the scene was shot with no cuts. The camera was constantly rolling and focusing on different subjects all at the same time. I know I have said this about many of the other films I have posted responses to but this film is truly a beautiful work of cinematography.

This film can be interpreted different ways by different people and that’s another reason that I enjoyed this film. I watched this film with my girlfriend and we both had different interpretations of the ending. I love films like this that are thought-provoking and encourage discussion about the film. This is another thing about the film that separates it from other horror movies. It’s just not that simple. It’s much more complex. Most horror films are very simple and the storyline is very clear with little room for controversy regarding the storyline. Let The Right One In isn’t like the majority of horror movies. It’s unique and maybe that’s the reason that this film will find it’s way in my personal film collection.

No One Knows About Persian Cats Response

First of all, I want to note that I really liked the way that this film was shot and produced. I’ve only seen a handful of foreign films but I’ve seen plenty of low-budget films. What separates this low-budget film from the others is the quality of the production. Not only does this film have great shots but there is also a great soundtrack that accompanies it. No One Knows About Persian Cats was a true joy to watch just because of the beautiful music and shots. I don’t know how many other low-budget films that I can honestly say that about, but No One Knows About Persian Cats is certainly one of them.

This film really opened my eyes to some of the sad problems associated with Iran. It was almost surreal to me that this could happen anywhere in the world. Why would a government or establishment restrict their citizens from creating music and showcasing their talents? I assume that the government is afraid of freedom of speech as music can be used as a tool to circulate ideas and thoughts that may be dangerous to the current establishment. In No One Knows About Persian Cats, we see how hard it is for Iranian musicians to pursue their love and passion for the art of music.

One particular scene that made an impact on me was the underground concert. Here in the United States there is no restriction on music and concerts happen every night across the country. Not only do they occur on a regular basis, but they are often filmed to be later broadcasted on various telecasts and DVD’s. It is insane to me to think that people are being imprisoned or perhaps even murdered for engaging in musical creativity. No One Knows About Persian Cats not only shows the struggles of young Iranian musicians but it also shows how the Iranian government is corrupt. The young musicians in the film know that they can’t succeed in their music careers in Iran so they go to the extreme of obtaining a visa and passport to escape to freedom.

It’s sad to think that such a thing could be restricted but I had no idea that this was happening in Iran prior to viewing the film. I think that it’s great that the filmmaker (who apparently is now locked up) brought this issue to international attention. Without this film I would have no idea about this important issue. I appreciate the filmmakers sacrifice to enlighten the world about the injustices that are happening in Iran. Perhaps this film could be the spark to make people in Iran to fight the establishment in order to make changes to the restrictions of musicians. People should be allowed to express themselves in speech, art, and music no matter where they live. There are certain things that shouldn’t be restricted and the freedom to create and perform music is definitely one of them.

It’s a complete restriction of music, no matter the genre. In No One Knows Persian Cats we see a variety of Iranian citizens performing different genres of music. Everything from Indie Rock to Hip Hop is showcased in this film. I just want to keep asking, “Why are these people being subjected to these rules?” But I already know the answer. There is too much power in the freedom of speech. It threatens the current hierarchy from having control over the masses. This is why the Iranian government has forbidden these musicians from performing. They are simply afraid of the thoughts and ideas that could be circulated from such freedom.

Salesman Response

The film I’m choosing to post my response to is Salesman, which was directed by Abert and David Maysles. This is not a foreign film (it is shot in various locations across the United States and is in English) but I do believe that it showcases a culture that is foreign to me, which is the commission-based salesman industry of the 1960’s. To be more specific, the four men showcased in this documentary are bible salesman. They are Paul Brennan (The Badger), Charles McDevitt (The Gipper), James Baker (The Rabbit), and Raymond Martos(The Bull). These men have a difficult task at hand. Their task is to persuade people into buying an expensive bible. They have quotas to meet every week, so there is a great amount of pressure around to meet their quota and to sell as many bibles as possible in order to earn more money. The salesmen are allowed to accept various forms of payment, including check, cash, COD, or a payment plan. While the payment options are very flexible and work to the advantage of the salesmen, the product that they are marketing is extremely expensive to the average American consumer for what it is, a fancy bible.

According to DollarTimes.com, $1 a week in 1968 would equal $6.47 in 2011 and $49.99 (the price of a bible in 1968) would equal $323.21 in 2011. That is awfully expensive for any book so naturally it’s a hard sale to make for these men. We see precisely how hard it is throughout the duration of Salesman as the camera is following each of the salesmen through their presentation. From the doorstep, into the house, and through the signing papers everything to do with the selling process is shown. I realized that this can often be a grueling process of trying to convince a person into buying something that they normally wouldn’t buy. The process could be especially challenging when the potential consumer actually wanted the product but couldn’t afford to make the commitment. The Maysles brothers document this entire process in a very direct way, almost like a fly on the wall. Before and after a long hard day at work, these men are subject to meetings with their boss. The boss is hard-nosed and seems very willing to fire those who don’t see eye to eye with him or those who make excuses for their lack of sales. When the boss was speaking to each of the four salesmen it almost seemed to me like he was talking down to them. He was very short, would interrupt, and wasn’t taking any excuses for an answer.

I’m sure you can see how these men have such a difficult task at hand. Their job is to sell what I would consider to be an over-priced book to mainly Catholic households who often can’t spare the money for a bible. On top of this, they have a boss who is very demanding and challenging to deal with day in and day out. I saw how this occupation can wear an individual down thanks to Salesman’s central character, Paul Brennan, who is nicknamed “The Badger.” He went from meeting his sales quota every week to not even coming close. He becomes visibly discouraged and uncertain about his future as a salesman. At one point during the film, he begins to talk/sing about jobs that have a pension and hints that he would love to have a pension himself. In addition to him having a difficult occupation, he has to deal with the struggles and hassles of life on the road. He lives out of a suitcase, stays in motels, and travels across the country. Keep in mind that he has to maintain his own vehicle, which presents more problems for him.

It’s a very sad and depressing look into a variety of subjects, including American business practices and the relationship between business and religion. The central character, Paul, seemingly works so hard with little reward. That probably doesn’t sound incredibly tragic but it is to me since I found myself identifying with Paul. He was a good man with good intentions but he was falling short of his goals that he set in his career. He was so discouraged by his performance that I think he was starting to regret his choice of becoming a salesman for the company he worked for. It’s truly hard to watch because there is nothing glorious about their work, but you can’t look away because the characters are so intriguing that I became attached to them. I felt sorry for all of the salesmen, but in particularly for The Badger and The Gipper because they seemed to be having the most trouble making ends meet. I didn’t feel nearly as much sorrow for The Bull, who was always shown having successful sales and was never caught bad-mouthing the company.

Overall, I feel like the Maysles Brothers did a great job putting together this documentary. It made me think about my future career and what I needed to do in order to avoid ever feeling like Paul Brennan. I don’t want to be sitting around in my 40’s wondering if I made the right career choice. I want some sort of job security and commission-based careers don’t offer that. With commission-based sales there is an opportunity to make a lot of money but there is also the opportunity to come away from long hours of work empty-handed. Salesman impacted me to never consider commission-based sales as a career option.

Shortbus Response

It was obvious to me after watching only the first few minutes of Shortbus that it is going to be an extremely explicit and controversial film. The big debate about this film is the use of real sex, which is contrary to most American films where sex is not displayed so openly. Films in America generally hint at sex and sometimes will have "sex scenes" where it's clear that individuals are having intercourse but actual penises and vaginas are usually never shown. The single American mainstream film that I can recall having similar sexual footage is Boogie Nights with Mark Wahlberg where Wahlberg plays an upcoming male porn star. Boogie Nights was pretty shocking to me during my only viewing (around 7 years ago) but if I remember correctly it doesn't even come close to the level of explicitness that we are exposed to in Shortbus. During this film we see real footage of real sex throughout the film's entire duration. Depending on whom you ask, this film could be labeled as "pornography." While everyone is entitled to their own views and opinions I would have to disagree with those who would label Shortbus pornography.

First, let's look at what we would refer to as "pornography." It's generally very direct and to the point. In modern pornography there isn't much of a storyline. Often there is no storyline at all. There are no characters, just individuals who are there to film some sort of sexual intercourse. There is a major emphasis on the use of the body. For example, if you ever walk into an adult video store many of the different genres of pornography are based on body parts (big butts, big breasts, big penises, etc.) The emphasis on the body is so big that many straight pornographic films don’t show the male partner’s face much (if at all.) To sum it up in a few words, what the audience sees is just pure sex and nothing else.

Now let’s take a look at Shortbus. Sure, there is plenty of sexual intercourse (some gay and some straight) but there’s much more to Shortbus than just sex. There are all the elements of your typical film- a storyline, character interactions, emotional expressions, etc. The emphasis isn’t on the bodies of the characters but rather on their emotions and problems. For instance, the character Sofia has never experienced an orgasm before and this clearly distresses her. Throughout the film, the camera follows her on her journey to achieve her first orgasm, which turns out to be a difficult task that she ultimately achieves. Another main character, James, is an ex-hustler who is in a relationship with another man, Jamie. Throughout the film the camera shows James recording himself with a video camera. James acts like he is making a film about his life but eventually we find out that the recording was to be used as a suicide note. He reveals after his failed suicide attempt that he recorded everything to let his boyfriend, Jamie, know that it wasn’t his fault that he killed himself. I could go further in depth about the characters, but the important thing to note is that all of the characters are intertwined and each of them are unique in their problems or struggles to achieve happiness.

So while Shortbus is certainly a sexually charged movie that seemingly holds nothing back from the audience, I find it unfair to label the production something as simple as pornography. It’s simply a film that blends comedy, drama, and sexuality with intertwining characters and an interesting storyline. Shortbus may not be for everybody because of its explicit content (which we don’t see in the mainstream) but it is far from pornography and doesn’t deserve to be categorized as porn.

Three Colors: Blue Response

The subject of this film is obvious from the very beginning. It’s about mourning and loss. It's a very emotionally-charged film that shocks you in the sense that you know you may have to deal with what the main character, Julie, is dealing with the entire film- the loss of a loved one. I have never personally lost anyone in my family or any close friends so I don't understand exactly how it would feel if it were to ever happen. However, after watching this brilliant film helped me better understand what it may feel like largely due to the convincing performance of Juliette Binoche. Throughout the film I felt like I understood everything that Juliette was going through, even though I have never gone through such situations myself. I see a lot of pain and agony, which is what I would expect me to feel if I were in her shoes. Binoche’s performance was so real and convincing that it wasn’t hard to muster up feelings of sorrow for her character.

The camera followed Julie around throughout the duration of the film so I felt like I really got to understand her character. There are several scenes of solitude which I think are accurate and true to the storyline and character. For instance, we don’t need to see Julie crying in her bed in the morning, laying around depressed and slacking around. Instead, we can tell that she is emotionally upset just by her reaction to certain things. To be specific, when Julie was in her deceased daughter’s room she was looking at the blue crystals. It was obvious to me that the blue crystal object belonged to her daughter. Julie felt agony and mourning just from the sight of an object that reminded her of her loss. The camera captures this beautifully with an intense close-up.

One of the elements of the film that helps distinguish Three Colors: Blue from other films is the cinematography. During the beginning of the film there is a shot that is of a tire riding along a road. This scene was shot from the bottom of the car and right away I knew this wasn't going to be your typical film. It didn't seem like a very common shot to me and therefore it intrigued me enough to pay my undivided attention to the entire film's storyline. There was an abundant use of dim lighting. I think this is probably used to help signify Julie's depression and agony over the loss of close loved ones as we usually see her in dark settings throughout the film.

Another interesting thing I found in the cinematography of Three Colors: Blue was the close-ups of the main character, Julie. When I see the close-ups of Julie in most, if not all, of the scenes in the film it is obvious that she is enduring a weight of pain and agony on her shoulders that she is having difficulty dealing with. It’s clear that she is upset and hasn’t “gotten over” the death of her loved ones.

While the cinematography was superb, I have to say that my favorite aspect of this film was the use of sound. The music was used flawlessly at the end of every scene- it was very dramatic and I loved the sound of the haunting string orchestra. In particular, I thought the last five minutes or so of the music was I found the sound aspect of the film incredibly intriguing because it seems like the use of sound isn’t as prominent in your average American film. This is just another one of the many elements of Three Colors: Blue that helps separate it from other films.

Overall, I think this film is truly a masterpiece. Every aspect of the film is top-notch. The cinematography, music, characters, storyline, and the subject all combined seamlessly to create a thought-provoking film about the serious issue of mourning and loss. Three Colors: Blue left me wondering about how Julie could start over and move on or if a happy exist is even humanly possible after such a tragic event and loss.