Hearts in Atlantis is a unique film starring Anthony Hopkins and Anton Yelchin. Anton Yelchin plays Bobby, a young boy living with a widowed mother who encounters a strange man named Ted Brautigan. Ted, played by Anthony Hopkins, is a man who is being followed by a group of mysterious men. Later in the film, one learns that Ted is a psychic who is being tracked by the government. This film has great plot, character conflict, and life lessons.
Ninety-five percent of the plot takes place in a flash back by a middle-aged Bobby. The flashback occurs in the early sixties in a small town where the young boy grew up. The plot mainly follows the dealings of Bobby and his two friends who engage in innocent play as kids. Soon, the plot turns more serious when Ted is introduced with his mysterious problems. For most of the film, Ted is put into unexplained trances where he mumbles confusing phrases. The plot heats up when Bobby's mother encounters financial and sexual issues, and Bobby's friends encounter high school aged bullies. The plotline of Bobby's mother and Bobby's friends run parallel with one another creating an interesting effect. After Bobby's mom is raped and his girlfriend is beaten up, the mom presses her own personal problems upon Ted while he tries to help Bobby's girlfriend. The parallelism within the plot adds great complexity to the film.
Character conflict is strong within this film. Every character has a rival. Bobby's mother is rivaled with her current boss. Bobby and his friends are rivaled with three high school bullies while Ted is rivaled with mysterious suit-wearing men. The occurrance of intense character conflict within the movie allows the viewer to become emotionally tied with the film character because we have all had interpersonal conflict within our own lives. This movie makes the viewer take the side of the screen character and makes one want to fight for their cause.
There are a few key life lessons within the film. One life lesson is to enjoy one's youth. Ted explains to the young Bobby that life as a youngster is so special, and one day he will look back and appreciate the simplicity of life as a child. Another lesson is learned by Bobby's mother. She learns that she needs to give more time and energy toward her son; otherwise, she will quickly become more distant from him. Both of these lessons can be appreciated by anybody watching the movie. Everyone has been a child at one time and everyone has had strained relations with one's parents. These lessons shown in the film allows the viewer to feel more connected with the plot of the movie.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Departures Film Analysis
"Departures" is a Japanese film that won the academy award for "Best Foreign Language Film" at the last Academy Awards. This film focuses on the life of a young man named Daigo who loses his job as a musician when the orchestra he plays for is disbanded. He and his wife Mika must search for employment in the town that he grew up in. Eventually, he finds work as an "NK Agent", someone who prepares the body of the deceased for travel to the afterlife. This film does a great job with characterization, music, and plot.
The characterization within this film is phenomenal. The characters are introduced with many predicaments that are at times humorous or disturbing, and their characters seem to pop off of the screen by their reactions. This helps drive the plot even further by the interactions of the great characters within the movie. The way that Daigo handles the trials set forth before him makes him a lovable character for the audience; this makes the sad events for him sad for the people viewing the movie.
The music within the movie fits the themes well. The cello is heavily used within the background music; this plays off of Daigo's passion because he loves playing the cello. Also, the cello music within the film is either very sad or very uplifting depending on the events onscreen. This makes the mourning scenes within the film bring tears to the eyes of the audience. The music helps the plot feel eerily realistic.
The plot of "Departures" is amazing. The storyline brings the characters through highs and lows like a rollercoaster. This plot feels too much like our own lives at times. Because the plot creates a rollercoaster effect for the characters, the film seems like it is really happening at times. This makes the characters seem more human and thus makes the audience share their pain during the lows of their lives.
The plot, music, and characters all play off of one another to create a realistic effect in the film "Departures". Daigo goes through a rollercoaster ride in life and the audience travels with him during his highs and lows. The music makes us feel the pain and suffering of the characters while the plot makes us see similarities with our own lives.
The characterization within this film is phenomenal. The characters are introduced with many predicaments that are at times humorous or disturbing, and their characters seem to pop off of the screen by their reactions. This helps drive the plot even further by the interactions of the great characters within the movie. The way that Daigo handles the trials set forth before him makes him a lovable character for the audience; this makes the sad events for him sad for the people viewing the movie.
The music within the movie fits the themes well. The cello is heavily used within the background music; this plays off of Daigo's passion because he loves playing the cello. Also, the cello music within the film is either very sad or very uplifting depending on the events onscreen. This makes the mourning scenes within the film bring tears to the eyes of the audience. The music helps the plot feel eerily realistic.
The plot of "Departures" is amazing. The storyline brings the characters through highs and lows like a rollercoaster. This plot feels too much like our own lives at times. Because the plot creates a rollercoaster effect for the characters, the film seems like it is really happening at times. This makes the characters seem more human and thus makes the audience share their pain during the lows of their lives.
The plot, music, and characters all play off of one another to create a realistic effect in the film "Departures". Daigo goes through a rollercoaster ride in life and the audience travels with him during his highs and lows. The music makes us feel the pain and suffering of the characters while the plot makes us see similarities with our own lives.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
"9" Analysis
The new Tim Burton movie "9" premiered this week in theaters, and I thought I'd take a gander at what Tim had to offer with this new project. As with many Tim Burton films like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Corpses Bride" this film is animated. Instead of utilizing claymation as with the previously stated films, this movie was done by computer generated means. This film follows the lives of nine puppets that are brought to life by technological means in a post-human extinction world. After watching the film from beginning to end, I have concluded that although this movie is visually stimulating and breathtaking, the storyline, character development, and dialogue is seriously lacking.
I will begin by addressing the visual nature of the film. The film heavily uses brown and gray colors; about eighty percent of the color in the film is derived from one of these two colors. This creates a very dreary effect that is appropriate for a film about post-apocalyptic Earth. Another visually dynamic effect explored by the filmmakers is the use of lighting. The movie heavily uses side lighting that creates many shadows. The use of shadows is important in portraying the darkness within the current situation faced by the puppets.
Although the film does a great job being visually breathtaking, the storyline, characterization, and dialogue has some major issues. I felt like this was a twenty minute story stretched into an hour and a half movie. One of the big problems is that there was many shots of destruction and landscape and not enough development of plot. Basically, not enough things happened in the hour and a half to keep the audience mesmerized. Secondly, the characters of the puppets were never developed. Without serious characterization to set apart the puppets, the audience did not care when one puppet dies because they have no emotional tie to it. Thirdly, the dialogue was horribly elementary. I felt at times as if I were listening to a children book because the lines used by the puppets were terribly underdeveloped. Lack of complicated dialogue further decreased the ability to bring character to the puppets.
The film "9" would be better watched with the mute feature on. Characterization, dialogue, and plot line were seriously lacking from the feature. The filmmakers, however, have created a beautiful artwork in regards to the visual nature of the film.
I will begin by addressing the visual nature of the film. The film heavily uses brown and gray colors; about eighty percent of the color in the film is derived from one of these two colors. This creates a very dreary effect that is appropriate for a film about post-apocalyptic Earth. Another visually dynamic effect explored by the filmmakers is the use of lighting. The movie heavily uses side lighting that creates many shadows. The use of shadows is important in portraying the darkness within the current situation faced by the puppets.
Although the film does a great job being visually breathtaking, the storyline, characterization, and dialogue has some major issues. I felt like this was a twenty minute story stretched into an hour and a half movie. One of the big problems is that there was many shots of destruction and landscape and not enough development of plot. Basically, not enough things happened in the hour and a half to keep the audience mesmerized. Secondly, the characters of the puppets were never developed. Without serious characterization to set apart the puppets, the audience did not care when one puppet dies because they have no emotional tie to it. Thirdly, the dialogue was horribly elementary. I felt at times as if I were listening to a children book because the lines used by the puppets were terribly underdeveloped. Lack of complicated dialogue further decreased the ability to bring character to the puppets.
The film "9" would be better watched with the mute feature on. Characterization, dialogue, and plot line were seriously lacking from the feature. The filmmakers, however, have created a beautiful artwork in regards to the visual nature of the film.
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