November 2, 2018 by flm4nal

Chinatown (1974)

Directed by: Roman Polanski

Cast: Jack Nicholson [J.J. ‘Jake’ Gittes], Faye Dunaway [Evelyn Cross Mulwray], John Huston [Noah Cross]

J.J. Gittes, a private eye in Los Angeles, is hired by Evelyn Mulwray to investigate her husband’s activities. Jake’s investigation soon becomes something more than routine when he meets the real Mrs Mulwray and realises that he was hired by an imposter. Mr Mulwray’s sudden death leads Gittes into a trail of corruption, deception and eerie family secrets as Evelyn’s father becomes a suspect in the case.

Inspired by: California Water Wars (in history)

My rating: 8.5/10

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Narrative aspects

‘Chinatown’ is a brilliant example for the use of the three-act structure, a method of division used in story-telling to keep the plot cohesive, systematic and engaging for a reader or audience. It allows story-telling to fall under a fixed skeletal framework which follows a character on a journey through the beginning, middle and end (in a broad sense):

Act 1 is usually for the ‘Exposition’ or ‘Set-Up’ and establishes the main characters, the relationships and the universe of the story. Soon, the incident of the story takes place and the main character, usually the protagonist, is made aware of it by him/herself or another outside source. The attempts to deal with the incident usually spiral into a much more bigger or deeper problem. The first turning point takes place, which ‘(a) signals the end of the first act, (b) ensures life will never be the same again for the protagonist and (c) raises a dramatic question that will be answered in the climax of the film.’ (Wikipedia)
- J.J. Gittes is introduced to the audience as a tenacious yet arrogant private investigator working on his own venture and firm to provide services to the general public. They are also introduced to his colleagues and rivals then witness the set up of a new case that seems to be like any regular infidelity-in-relationship deal when Mrs Mulwray comes to his office. Though however, Jake Gittes soon realises that an imposter came to his office that day and the real Mrs Mulwray suspects no problems in the relationship with her husband, who is found dead in the water days later. Jake takes the case as his main priority and realises soon that something bigger is going on.

Act 2 serves as the ‘Rising Action’ or ‘Conflict’ typically shows the protagonist try in resolving the problem that occurred during the previous act, only to find that the situation is worsening. The protagonist may be unable to solve the problems faced because he/she may not have the skills at hand to deal with it and the negative forces, the antagonist, he/she are fighting. The protagonist develops as a character with a greater understanding of their capabilities as well as a better awareness of their surroundings (a character arc). Usually, the protagonist is supported by others since they cannot achieve their goals alone.
- J.J. Grittes is seen uncovering the deeper and darker secrets of the situation regarding Mr Mulwray, Mrs Mulwray and her father Noah Cross, and how it all ties in with the problems involving the water supply in the city. J.J. Grittes does not seem to have the interrogative expertise to deal with the deadliness of the situation he has stumbled upon, though he develops as a character and the audience truly sees him grow as an individual who actually cares about the people he works for, in this case, Evelyn Mulwray.

Act 3 is the ‘Resolution’ of the story and its probable sub-plots (whether about character relationships or a side plot to the main one). This act contains the ‘Climax’ where the main tensions of the story are brought to their peak and the dramatic effect is heightened as well, usually leaving the protagonist and other characters involved with a greater new sense of who they are after having the main question answered. At a point, the victory for the protagonist may seem impossible but perseverance is witnessed along with the wisdom of new ideas or trials that finally lead him/her to success. Though however, in some stories, the characters are left with a cliffhanger or an unsatisfactory ending to what they were looking for. Nevertheless, the protagonist becomes more aware of their new capabilities.
- J.J. Grittes is made aware of Noah Cross and how big of a toll he is in the crime that he is in the process of solving. Noah Cross turns out to be more villainous than imagined when his abuse towards his daughter Evelyn is revealed. Grittes is battling between catching Cross while avoiding the police force, like Lieutenant Lou Escobar. In the end, the film reaches the climax where Grittes is threatened by Cross and thus the foreshadowing of no victory becomes true with Evelyn being shot dead and Cross taking custody of her daughter. The film leaves the audience with a strangely sad and satisfying end as the detective does not get the solution he wanted and worked for. In conclusion, the audience learns that “It’s Chinatown”.

Infer & Deduce: The reason for the title of the film does not strike at first but while watching the film it becomes apparent that it means more than just referencing to a cultural area in America named ‘Chinatown’. Throughout the film, China and people from that country are referenced but this still does not give a clear indication as to why the film devotes it’s identifying title to that place. One would think that it could be an expression for something but now, after the release of the film, it has more or less been used as it. Previously, using the word Chinatown would only be associated with the area belonging to that ethnicity but now the film has coined a phrase that continues to live on as an expression in conversation. But it all still bears the unanswered question as to why the film is called ‘Chinatown’. This doubt is cleared up when J.J. “Jake” Grittes first mentions that he had some dealings in the place Chinatown in the film while he was an officer. (This is further explored in the section ‘Favourite Scene’ below)

Technical Aspects

‘Chinatown’ is a film where the plot takes place in the realm of the plausible reality and even so since it does inspire its plot points from the actual California Water Wars incident. Because of this, the location and set designs used do resemble real life and mirror the personalities and living styles of people who most probably do exist, like business magnates and their families, and private investigators and police officers. Scenes in natural environments like many desert scenes seem to use prominent natural lighting and are shot during the day to set the scene better for the audience to understand. Moreover, the film makes great use of suburban town life and uses empty streets outside shops and houses for scenes of J.J. Grittes following suspects or the suspects making a getaway.

Moving forward, the soundtrack of the film compliments the genre as well as the scenes in the film as Grittes follows suspects and continues the investigation at certain locations or in his office. Though it is interesting to note that this film does have a minimal use of soundtrack to convey certain emotions or carry on as the background for a scene. The lack of non-diegetic music and the prominence of silence present in the film reflects the reality of the situation, wherein normal real life people do not have music to compliments the emotions they feel in a given situation, and it is merely a tool used in visual mediums to convey to an audience more non-spoken details about characters, plots, settings or themes. In scenes where Gittes is on a stake-out, following characters while maintaining his anonymity, the silence heightens the tension and the reality of keeping quiet in a critical situation like it when a detective is investigating. The audience is taken on a journey into the inner workings of a detective and how they complete their tasks, whether morally or immorally.

Above all, like many of the films in history and especially considering the mystery genre, camera techniques play an important role in the way in which an audience perceives a situation and how it affects the progression of the plot. In ‘Chinatown’ the camera usually follows the viewing field of the character it is focused on (in most cases J.J. Grittes) tracing their gaze and seeing what the character sees without the scene being in the first person point of view. Furthermore, the camera moves with pans and dollies to reveal certain subjects in a scene, people or objects, that were not visible before, which goes well with the mystery genre since the idea of it is all about revealing the unknown and figuring out the solution to a probably unsolvable problem. An example of this is a scene towards the beginning of the film where Jake is watching a man out in the desert with binoculars. The camera follows the man but then dollies out and pans to the right to reveal Jake standing by a pillar and keeping an eye on his actions.

Favourite Scene

When a film maintains the level of suspense and intrigue created in the audience throughout its entire time-frame, an ending to it needs to be worthy and ‘Chinatown’ has a conclusion that was sort of uncalled for but satisfying. After learning the abusive truth about Mrs Mulwray’s father, Jake confronts Noah Cross and is only challenged by his superiority in status that stops Jake from arresting him. Noah ends up getting away with shooting his daughter Evelyn and taking custody of his granddaughter (and daughter), winning the entire showdown and leaving Jake in a silent stare.

This scene is not only powerful as it brings about this fantastic story to an end but it also sports a created phrase that is still used in places today:

Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.

— Lawrence Walsh

This line at first seems to be nothing more than a plain reference to Jake’s previous workings in the location of Chinatown as an officer and having some tough times while completing cases. However, this saying does have a deeper meaning to the entire situation the film depicted. The phrase said by Lawrence Walsh, J.J. Gittes partner, simply means that ‘what happens, happens’ and there is nothing a mere man like Jake can do anything about. He is just one man in front of a powerful individual like Noah Cross, which would make it seem as if Jake worked on the case with both hands tied behind his back. Jake continues to battle against the injustice of the law system and how wealth and status is majorly determined by how much money a person has with them, which is exactly the factor that makes Noah Cross the superior being in the situation and allows him to swiftly get away with the murder and abuse of his daughter and her husband Mr Mulwray. The film sheds light on a very real and important issue in society as injustice takes place on a regular occasion, sadly, whether to do with race, religion, gender, age, money or occupation. Despite the level of education, people receive and the awareness created in relation to current events, prejudice still runs the day and this is exactly seen in ‘Chinatown’, though however, no one dares to challenge Noah Cross since he could practically buy out the police force or the best lawyers the country has to offer.

The audience also sees the character development in Jake Gittes, from appearing as an extremely confident and arrogant private investigator to one that now seems to actually care about the people he works for and wants the best for them. The expression of despair and loss is clear on his face when he sees Mrs Mulwray’s blood-soaked body in the driver seat of the car, clearly depicting that he really feels the weight of being taken advantage of and no matter how much he would want to help and make things right (take down Noah Cross) he is helpless and cannot do anything. Jake has turned towards having his own private eye venture after leaving the police force to better help the people who hire him, where the police would shrug off. He even states when he is getting a shave at the barber’s shop that:

Listen, pal. I make an honest living. People only come to me when they’re in a desperate situation. I help ’em out. I don’t kick families out of their houses like you bums down at the bank do.

This would portray Jake as someone who wants the good of the community to be the product of his work and be someone who is there for people when the police would not. Though the last scene makes it clear that no matter how good at heart Jake, or in fact anyone, is there is no stopping the people with power over everyone else who can sway the sympathies of special forces that govern a country’s way of running.

What would I do differently?

Being an avid fan of the mystery genre, ‘Chinatown’ appealed to me as a film. The story is intriguing and keeps an audience engaged till the resolution, or mystery’s answer, at the end whether it is seen as justice or not. I would not change anything about the film as it starred brilliant characters and an issue addressed that is factual (the California water wars). Although, making it with modern day camera and effect quality would make the film much more suited appearance-wise for the audience of today. Moreover, this film’s narrative would actually suit as a televised mini-series going on for a season of 5 to 10 episodes. Jack Nicholson as the main character, did an amazing job portraying the character of Jake Grittes and his arrogant but considerate attitude towards helping the people who hire him. To add on, the director and the screenwriter brilliantly captured the essence of an issue that was, in reality, a big part of history for the USA, while the rest of the crew brought the mise-en-scene to enhance the atmosphere at everyone moment in the film.

Further Research Areas:

Chinatown Film Review – Roger Ebert

Forget ‘Chinatown,’ Get the Real Story of California’s Most Famous Water War

WHAT’S UP WITH THE TITLE? – Schmoop (Chinatown)

20 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Chinatown

What is the meaning of the line at the end of Chinatown?

Chinatown: the best film of all time – The Guardian

Three Act Structure – TV Tropes

The Three-Act Structure – Elements of Cinema

THE PARADIGM WORKSHEET

A History of Three-Act Structure

3-act Structure — Star Wars (original)

What Are the Four Image Systems in Chinatown?

October 24, 2018 by flm4nal

The Exorcist (1973)

Directed by: William Friedkin

Cast: Linda Blair [Regan MacNeil], Ellen Burstyn [Chris MacNeil], Jason Miller [Damien Karras]

When Regan starts acting odd her worried mother seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end with the expertise. A local priest, however, thinks the girl may be seized by an evil entity. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism on the girl and the church sends an expert to help with the task, though it does not go how they would hope for it to be.

Based on: ‘The Exorcist’ by William Peter Blatty

Inspired by: The real exorcism of Roland Doe

My rating: 7.5/10

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Narrative aspects

‘The Exorcist’ explores the real-life exorcism of Rolan Doe, a horrific event that this film contains many detail parallels to. This film contains different storylines and follows the characters from different parts

Northern Iraq – Father Merrin, a priest and archaeologist, is unearthing ancient objects that are believed to hold some evil powers.
Georgetown, D.C – Chris MacNeil, actress, is working on a new script she has received for a film. She is seen spending time with her daughter Regan and investigating the sounds coming from the attic.
Georgetown – Father Karras walks out from Georgetown University where the film is being shot and heads towards visiting his ill mother.

These characters are seen in different settings and completing different tasks that seem to not relate in any way. It makes an audience wonder what their significance is to the film and its plot until Regan MacNeil gets possessed by an evil entity and all the varying storylines start to piece together and connect with one another. This assures the audience that nothing in the film is shown or said for no reason, everything serves a purpose and every character plays a part in the broader story leading towards helping Regan get better. The different strands of storylines help keep the film engaging as it does not overly focus on one or two characters or a particular scene alone. It involves an audience to figure out the mystery element in the film while characters on screen do so as well.

To add on, the film contains the main themes of family and religion prominently which both complement the story and add the rationale and emotion that helps drive the story forward:

Family – This film explores the concept of family through the relationship between characters, especially Chris and her daughter Regan where she goes to great extents to help her and make sure the young girl goes back to being her normal self after the possession. It is the innate maternal affection and protection that is seen in Chris and would probably resonate with mothers in the audience that would do anything to keep their children safe. The interaction between characters also gives a sense of familial ties even though they may not be biologically related, like with Chris and Father Karras who ends up helping her with the demonic exorcism of her daughter. These kinds of relationships help enhance the emotions created by the story and allow the audience to feel sympathy, happiness or despair for these fictional characters
Religion – A major theme in this film is the relation of the plot towards religion, which is a factor that triumphed over all the other methods of making Regan better. Throughout the film there are multiple schools of thought or explanations to help Regan out that her mother exhausts, starting from science and biology by visiting a medical doctor, then psychology by visiting a psychiatrist for therapy then finally settling on faith, religion and the act of exorcism carried out by priests from the Catholic church. In the end, the spiritual belief system ended up doing the most good and in conclusion supports religion as an ideology that should be considered in situations, which nowadays is mostly seen as a coping mechanism or myth in a time where science rules the way in which we lead out lives for explanations.

Infer & Deduce: According to www.cambridge.com, an ‘Exorcist’ is “someone who forces an evil spirit to leave a person or place by using prayers or magic”. Clearly, this would refer to the priests who, in the end, make the most difference to young Regan’s possessive state. For the film’s title, it could refer to both the act and the person as a final resort that turns out to work the best than any other researched areas of expertise. To add on, the film’s title directly refers to the novel it is based on so the choice of name could be to make the relation between film and book easier.

Technical Aspects

‘The Exorcist’ is probably the most famous horror film in history, and will likely remain to be in the future. Other than the story and the trials faced by characters, for the film’s time of creation in the 1970s the techniques used to make it are quite phenomenal. It contains a variety of elaborate set designs with a large group of extras, like the setting of Northern Iraq in the beginning scene, and the movie shoot sequence with Chris Macneil. This allows the scenes to look more realistic as well as it provides further context for the characters’ personality and actions, and the plot. Further on in the appearance category, this film without doubt heavily depends on special effects like editing and makeup to convey certain emotions or plot points in the story. Special effects like the appearance of the demon’s face in the shadows when Regan’s mother opens the door to her room are used to subliminally imply fear and dread, while the obvious use of special effects makeup is used on Regan while she is possessed for her flaky and bumpy skin, cuts on her cheeks and the contact lenses to change her eyes to a bright yellow colour.

In terms of the more visually technical aspects in the film, interesting camera movements and angles are used for certain shots to capture a certain mood. While camera pans and tilts track the characters’ movements across the scene to keep the audience on their feet and let them view the entire set as a whole affecting the plot, low and high angled shots allow the perspective of different characters to be seen by the audience. Another interesting technique this film uses is zooming in and out. While this keeps a shot ever-moving and avoids the scene from distracting the audience from the lack of movement, it also narrows down the attention and field of vision as the camera focuses on a particular person or object in the shot. To add on, it gives the scenes a feeling as if the audience is secretly eavesdropping and watching the characters converse, completing the mystery and eeriness of the film. On the other hand, the technique of lighting also aids the story’s perception by the audience. The film plays with illumination and shadows, especially in scenes that take place at night as it enhances the element of mystery and the unknown that triggers the feeling of fear and anxiety in the audience that is much needed in a film of the horror genre. A lot of realistic lighting sources are used in scenes light lamps or candles that the audience can see in the film. This compliments the realism of the film, which makes the story and the emotions depicted by characters more convincing.

Another interesting point of play by the director is the use of sound in the film, which is a significant tool for the horror genre to portray added control over the emotions of the audience. The score in the film is very limited, mainly appearing for the title sequence and at some heightened moments of tension. Though, however, the lack of music complimenting the film is even more intriguing. There is a sense of naturalism and a realistic vibe that immerses an audience into the film and gives it a sense of non-fiction since in real life, there is no such thing as a background score. Furthermore, characters are seen playing music too, like in the scene where Chris MacNeil holds a party at her house with the member of the movie she is acting in. A man plays the piano and everyone standing around him sings along, associating music with an activity of leisure and entertainment. It compensates for the lack of soundtrack in the film and adds the music element in a more realistic way, through characters providing it. Other than music, the sounds of cars driving, people chattering and the wind blowing all are part of the soundscape in the film and create a naturalistic ambience and a greater depth to the scenes.

Favourite Scene

As Damien enters the possessed girl’s bedroom after calming his nerves, he finds Father Merrin on his knees with his head on the bed, dead. Bursting with anger, Damien charges for the Regan and attacks her, finally asking the demon to “take him” instead of her. He gets possessed and then sacrifices his life for the girl by jumping out of the window and presumably ending the demon.

This scene acts as the finale and climax of the film, giving the audience a sense of closure that the plot has come to an end and has been resolved. The ambiguous ending can be interpreted from various angles since a clear indication is not given to the audience, other than Damien sacrificing himself then jumping out of the window and dying. It allows an audience to remain entertained and involved in the film much after the film is over and the credits start rolling. My take on the end is that:

Damien had been reminded of his dead mother by the demon as it had imitated her and caused him to step out of the room, letting Father Mirren continue on his own
Damien allows the demon to possess him mainly because that it would help save the young girl but moreover, he would feel guilty for causing Father Mirren to die as he wasn’t in the room, as well as, feeling emotional about the loss of his mother.
Damien jumped out of the window to perhaps have a chance at killing the demon (even though demons can’t be killed and can transfer themselves into another vessel) and also since being a priest, having been possessed by a demon is as low as reputation can get. To add on, since the expertise of Father Mirren in exorcism did not work on the girl who is to say that there would be any luck with Damien, which ultimately probably led to him committing suicide.

Moreover, special effects on characters like makeup add another layer of realism and convince an audience that whatever is happening in this fictional film (in this case based on a true story) is an actuality for the characters but also could be an actuality for the audience themselves. Makeup also helps an audience clearly understand the horror of the demonic possession by the way the girl looks and how different it is to normal human beings, as well as the bruises and cuts on a character’s face, display the pain they would be going through. To add on, the effects created with camera angles and movement also enhance the atmosphere created for the audience to be impacted from. Low and high angle shots give a particular perspective and sometimes portray what the viewing field of the characters are while tracking the movement of a character in the room in this scene impacts the pace and tension as Damien starts to panic and fight with the possessed girl Regan.

What would I do differently?

The film has aged surprisingly well for one from the horror genre, though of course, visual effects have grown to be better with time due to the progression of technology. I would personally work on furthering the realistic outlook of the demonic-possession and not depend on make-up alone for the look and perhaps use the motion-capture technology or some degree of CGI for it. This would allow a modern day audience to enjoy the film much better since it would be up to the visual standards of the current film industry and production. Moreover, I found the opening scene quite interesting since it explained a hint of backstory history for the artefact that could have caused the demon possession to take place, however, this plot point isn’t explained explicitly in the film. Some symbols do appear in the scene that are shown once again later on, as the demon statue, though the direct link between everything is not given to the audience clearly.

Further Research Areas:

Is The Exorcist based on a true story? Real-life tale of Roland Doe’s possession that’s more terrifying than the film and TV show

20 Fascinating Facts About The Exorcist

The untold truth of The Exorcist

Venice: William Friedkin on Shooting a Real Exorcism: ‘It Was Terrifying!’

Book vs Movie: The Exorcist

Sound in Filmmaking (PDF)

Filmmaking: Use Sound to Tell Your Story

Film Language Sound (PDF)

THE EXORCIST – Film Review (Roger Ebert)

Google Scholar – Psychology of Religion

The Ultimate Conflict Between Science and Religion

October 9, 2018October 11, 2018 by flm4nal

Vertigo (1958)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Kim Novak [Judy Barton, Madeleine Elster], James Stewart [John Ferguson], Barbara Bel Geddes [Midge Wood]

John Ferguson (James Stewart) retires from being a police officer after experiencing an intense fear of heights and suffering from vertigo. He is hired to protect his old friend’s wife from committing suicide though along the way unravels a mystery that leaves Ferguson speechless.

Based on: “D’entre les morts (From Among the Dead)”, written by Boileau-Narcejac

My rating: 8.5/10

vertigo-hitchcock-novak-stewart-1958

Narrative aspects

‘Vertigo’, like any other Alfred Hitchcock film, has a brilliant, multi-layered storyline filled with characters settings with intricate details that give clues about the narrative to the audience. The film begins right within the action of a police chase, with establishing shots of the city night-life on top of building roofs. This choice of the scene immediately captures the audience’s attention while also setting up the main plot point of the film is the fear of heights and sensation of vertigo felt by John Ferguson (James Stewart). Following the first scene, Ferguson and Midge Wood, his friend for years, are sitting in an apartment conversing. The topic of the discussion serves as an explanation of what followed the horrific, near-death experience for Ferguson, his medical state as well as providing more details about the major characters in the film by introducing the audience to Wood’s home and relationship with Ferguson.

This film has a mise-en-scene filled with implicit details that allow the audience to reduce further characteristics of the story. While the acting style of the actors applied well to the character’s personality and portrayed the key traits that aid in the understanding of the film, Hitchcock focused on using colours to establish a certain mood or atmosphere in a particular scene:

Red and Brown – These colours are mostly used as the backdrop and colour for settings and props, like Mr Elster’s office and the restaurant Ernie’s. The former has a lot of leather work which displays a sense of high status and professionalism, being that Mr Elster is an esteemed individual in a secondary sector business. Like his office, the restaurant has walls covered in dark red wallpaper and paint. Dark colours make a room look smaller but specifically, the colour red symbolises energy, excitement, strength, power, love, passion among others. For Mr Elster’s office, ‘strength’ and ‘power’ would apply well since he is a man of great superiority, while the restaurant having many couples of formal dressing could emit the feelings of ‘love’ and ‘passion’ with the colour red. Brown is a complementary colour as it is primarily for anything wooden, or as said before leather, which also displays a sense of class.
Grey – This is the colour of the formal suit worn by Madeleine Elster, along with other plain colours like black and white. These colours, in John Ferguson’s eyes, compliment the natural look she carries, with virtually no make-up on her face, and giving Ferguson a clean palette that catches his attention. Since grey is a colour that is a result of black and white, looking at the symbolism of those colours should apply to it as well. Black is seen as the colour of elegance, wealth, mystery, sadness and depth, while white is seen as purity, humility, love, protection and reverence. Many of these characteristics apply to Mrs Elster as she is a combination of a mysterious woman from a wealthy background, who has a multi-layered personality.
Blue – This colour is worn by John Ferguson quite significantly after the death of Madeleine at the roof of the church. For the court case, he wears a bright blue suit and again at Ernie’s he is seen in the same suit. The kind of clothing worn for a court case is a very important factor that the jury take notice of subliminally. Blue is often seen as contentment, tranquillity, stability, confidence, security and depression. Though the last description would apply accurately to the state of Ferguson, the colour of choice is a striking shade of blue which stands out from the plain decor of the courtroom. The conventional descriptors of the colour blue all seem to oppose the feelings that Ferguson would be going through after the woman he had affections for died. In this situation, it seems as if the colour is used ironically, to showcase the wishful state he would want everyone to see him in but is far from it in reality. After Ferguson is happy with the ‘new’ Madeleine, Judy Barton, he returns to wearing the colours he was seen before, black and brown.
Green – While Madeleine Elster is seen interacting with a lot of green coloured items, like her car, many of her clothes and the hue from the Hotel Empire, she is also seen with different, and rather, pastel colours. On the other hand, Judy Barton is a character that wears prominent makeup with brighter colours. They are complete character foils of each other. Green symbolises self-awareness, perseverance, youth, soothing, jealousy and more. What is interesting is that none of these descriptors really apply to the either Judy or Madeleine, since both characters are quite conflicted. Again, the significance of the colour could be ironic, traits that both Judy and Madeleine are seeking to possess. Even though Judy wears much more makeup and different styles of clothing, John Ferguson, upon seeing her, is convinced that she is linked to Madeleine in some way., which heightens the suspense and mystery of the film.
Purple – Judy Barton is seen wearing a light purple dress when on a dinner outing with John Ferguson for the first time. Of course, to Ferguson, she is a complete stranger but Judy chooses the colour and dress either to be depicted with the same colourful choice that she is known for or to project a certain mood onto him. Purple signifies mystery, enlightenment, mourning, intimacy, transformation among other traits. ‘Transformation’ is a trait that applies well to the situation, other than ‘intimacy’, which Judy feels for John. ‘Transformation’ would refer to the changes made to ‘Madeleine’ and how, now, the reality of Judy is what she wants Ferguson to see and love.
Colour Combination – The way Hitchcock presented the nightmares, hallucinations, that Ferguson sees takes a major use of colours to depict a certain mood felt by the character, in a rather subliminal way. The colours blue, purple and red, along with green, are all used at alternating instances. While each colour could signify a certain message, a display of a mixture of them could suggest the confused and mercurial nature of Ferguson’s emotions relating to his job to follow Mrs Elster, along with his inner latent feelings about his acrophobia and vertigo. There is a lot of surrealist imagery in the sequence, adding to the peculiar nature of dreams as a whole.

‘Vertigo’ focuses a lot on character portrayal, to aid the story’s progression as well as sways the sympathies of the audience a certain way. John Ferguson, on the job to follow and keep an eye on Mr Elster’s wife, he keeps his distance but ends up starting to like her. When he is following Madeleine in his car, while she drives ahead, there are no spoken dialogues for the entire sequence and only background music to compliment the suspense of the situation. The lack of verbal interaction and the soundtrack give the scene the feeling of ‘spying’ and that the audience is involved with it as well. Another interesting aspect about Ferguson’s character is the inner conflict he endures relating to the deaths he indirectly caused to take place. Firstly, his fellow police officer fell off the roof of a building while trying to save Ferguson, which triggered his awareness of having acrophobia and vertigo. Secondly, because of his phobia, he was not successful in saving Madeleine from jumping off the roof of the church. These two occurrences are enough to lead him into acting aggressive and dominating over Judy and create an image of her that pleases him mentally and gives him the satisfaction of another chance at love. Though, sadly, Judy also falls to her death now because of Ferguson’s controlling attitude. All this guilt piling up within him would cause him a rather permanent psychological trauma.

To add on, another interesting moment in the film is when Judy, after being insisted on accepting a dinner invitation with John Ferguson, looks to the camera and triggers a flashback of the church stunt encounter to ensue. She does not drift off while looking to the floor or at her own reflection in the mirror, but looks straight to the camera, at perhaps the audience as if telling them something she could never let anyone else know and that anyone could understand greatly. As an audience watching the film, only we can truly understand the emotions and difficulty that the characters go through in situations. It is as if Judy is asking the audience for some needed guidance since they are the only people who she can escape to for help. From a film-viewing standpoint, it creates a moment of truth for the audience since this plot twist is completely unexpected while also giving the feeling of desperate aid directly from the character Judy.

The ending of the film is probably the most captivating part of it. After ‘Madeleine’ dies, the film takes a spiral since John Ferguson becomes an unstable character and then the appearance of a ‘ghost’ named Judy enters into his life. The audience starts to question the plot and where it is headed and after Carlotta’s necklace is seen around Judy’s neck, and Ferguson draws parallels to what he saw earlier in the painting, everything becomes clear. There are two ‘twists’ in this film that bring about some uneasiness. The first is when Judy has a flashback to the event of Mrs Elster’s death, but from her point of view (i.e. the camera follows her) and it is revealed that she was a doppelganger of the real Mrs Elster the entire time. This re-viewing of the situation puts things into perspective for the audience as well as a close-to-intimate moment is shared between the character on screen, as she ‘breaks the fourth wall’ and looks directly into the camera. The reality of the film is kept between the character and the audience, which is quite an impactful effect within a scene so tense and emotional since Judy is battling between moving on or staying with Ferguson and continue to remain in his delusion. The second ‘twist’ moment is not entirely a plot twist but serves as an encounter of equilibrium, as it could be described. History repeats itself when Judy is startled by the sudden presence of a nun in the shadows and lose her balance, causing her to fall out the open window exactly the same way Madeleine had died. Whether it is a choice to act as the symbolism of Ferguson getting over his fears and his pastor to intensify the confusion of a film it is, it seems to act out as an appropriate end for it. It rounds off the film, leaving John in the state he was in after initially believing that Madeleine had died.

Infer & Deduce: The film’s title, ‘Vertigo’, clearly indicates towards the main character’s fear of heights and the feeling of dizziness he feels when at a high place, though one may argue that it could be referring to the problems that his fear has caused him which was, firstly, the death of his fellow police colleague then, secondly, the death of Judy at the top of the church. Both people of significance to him in some way died because of heights. Moreover, the film leaves Ferguson in a vertigo-type of state because of the sense of déjà vu, where he watches the same woman die again, but for real the second time. It also leaves an audience watching in a trance because of the topsy-turvy mood the entire film conveys, even before the idea of a plot twist. In conclusion, ‘Vertigo’ could point to the direct plot itself, the flaw in character or what the audience could feel at a particular level for the film.

Technical Aspects

This film begins with an eye and mind-bending credit sequence made up of graphical designs and extreme close-up shots of what one would assume are the main character of the film. This sense of immediate proximity to the subject in the shot sparks up the initial discomfort within an audience, which later develops at multiple points in the film. The film uses an array of shots and camera techniques which are quite fitting for the scenes, like establishing and wide angled shots to set the scene and show the audience when and where the film takes place, as in the shot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Conversations are portrayed through long takes at times where the camera pans to follow characters around a room, or with medium shots to show the surrounding background and props rather than the usual over-the-shoulder shots. Some medium close up shots, especially when the subject in the frame is a person, have a still or rack focus to direct the audience’s attention to particular parts in the frame. An example of this is when Ferguson goes over to Midge’s house after she left him a note asking about his whereabouts. At times in the scene, the camera is focused on Midge alone, walking around her apartment, showing her facial expressions. Moreover, another brilliant camera technique is used when Ferguson ends up in the art gallery while following Mrs Elster, who is sitting on a bench looking at a painting of Carlotta, her great-grandmother. The camera follows Ferguson’s gaze, allowing the audience to understanding what he has noticed and drawn conclusions from, zooming in on aspects from Mrs Elster then zooming into parts of the painting to show the similarities, like the same bouquet of flowers and the way her hair is done in the scene. Though one technique that triumphs all the others is the dolly-zoom, which is known as the vertigo shot, where the camera moves forwards or backwards and is zoomed in or out in the opposite direction of the movement simultaneously. This shot is used in various films now and to convey different kinds of feelings, whether to enhance the suspense, add a comedic effect of alarm or to fulfil the purpose it was created for: emphasise the height of something.

The film does not waste its potential on using music to complement the occurrences in scenes or at what stage the plot is at. The film’s soundtrack, composed by Bernard Hermann, is fitting for a thriller mystery since chords and music notes are not necessarily in the conventional progression order that a listener would expect them to be. Due to this, it gives the overall film a background of uneasiness and suspense. Music can have a strong impact on the emotions and mood of an audience, and this creates a much more impactful effect of the film on them.

Favourite Scene

John Ferguson, after noticing the necklace around Judy’s neck bearing resemblance to Carlotta’s necklace, drives his dinner date to the Church where Madeleine fell to her death to complete one final task to let go of his past. Since Judy is the same Madeleine, she immediately senses some sort of suspicion and feels nervous. This scene is quite powerful in terms of the way John Ferguson as a character has developed. He seems to be more bold and confident in this sequence compared to the rest of the film and isn’t hesitant to face his fears at the thought of finding out what really happened to Madeleine.

This scene stands out from the rest because of the interesting parallels and irony portrayed through the dialogues of Ferguson and the way he acts towards Judy. Taking a short sequence where he forces Judy to climb up the stairs to the top of the Church, John Ferguson says the following (04:50 minutes in the clip above):

You were the copy. You were the counterfeit, weren’t you? … You wanted to stop it, why did you scream? You tricked me so well up till then. You played the wife very well Judy! He made you over didn’t he? He made you over just like I made you over, only better. Not only the clothes or the hair, but the looks and the manner and the words… and those beautiful phony trances and you jumped into the bay, didn’t you? I bet you’re a wonderful swimmer, aren’t you? And then what did he do? Did he train you? Did he rehearse you? Did he tell you exactly what to do, what to say? You were a very apt pupil, weren’t you?

These words are ironic because while Ferguson feels betrayed and deceived, he did the exact same thing to Judy when he met her so that she could look just like Madeleine and he could come to terms with his horrid past. The way in which these words are said, in disgust and rage, is actually pretty hypocritical since Ferguson showed no compromise and hesitation to fulfil his own desires, just like Mr Elster did with the desire to kill his wife. Where Mr Elster took advantage of Ferguson’s fear of heights, Ferguson took advantage of Judy and her submissive character as she would do anything for his love, and turned it towards trying to get back what he lost. In addition to this, the words ‘train’, ‘rehearse’ and ‘played’, along with the phrase ‘tell you exactly what to do’ all apply to what a production director does to their actors, changing their appearance to fit the character envisioned in their mind and the script and tell them to do exactly what is written for them in the part. Hitchcock was known to have a specific vision and choice for actors, choosing blonde and white women for the female roles. It is interesting to infer that the scene, and the script, are aware of this nature in film production, enhancing the element of irony. While Elster was cruel to murder his own wife, take a non-suspecting man like Ferguson and use him as a tool in the crime to clear Elster’s name, Ferguson is really no different than the criminal himself in this matter as in a broad sense, he did all that to Judy, without murder being involved.

What would I do differently?

‘Vertigo’ is a masterpiece with a great story that I couldn’t change to anything better. Though some people may feel that its length is quite long, I feel as if it is apt since it allows the audience to get acquainted with the characters on screen enough to feel the empathy for and impact of the plot twists. Though aspects I would enhance in the film are the special effects and the set design in terms of the quality of projected displays used for the background of room and car windows, as well as shots from the top of buildings. In a modern day, with the latest technology, it would look far more realistic and improve the film from a minor technical standpoint.

Further Research Areas:

Acrophobia (The Fear of Heights)

Acrophobia: the Fear of Heights – VeryWellMind

Everything you need to know about vertigo (condition)

Vertigo: Ending Explained

BOOK VS FILM – Vertigo and D’entre les Morts

Vertigo – Spark Notes

Color Wheel Pro – See Color Theory in Action

Color Meaning and Psychology of Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink and Violet colors.

Colour Meanings and Symbolism

12 Colors and Their Meanings

The Definitive Guide to Guilt

October 4, 2018 by flm4nal

Unbreakable (2000)

Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Cast: Bruce Willis [David Dunn], Samuel L. Jackson [Elijah Price], Spencer Treat Clark [Joseph Dunn]

David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is a security guard who is miraculously the lone survivor survives a highly fatal train crash, finds himself the subject of a theory that explains his good luck. When news of the crash is made public, a man who is excessively weak tracks him down to try to explain to Dunn about his unique unbreakable nature.

My rating: 8.5/10

Unbreakable-featured-image

Narrative aspects

M. Night Shyamalan is a brilliant storyteller with unique ideas and concepts. Within the world he creates, the detail is so well-rounded and there are continuity and consistency with everything, down to the slightest of cues that an audience may not even catch. At the beginning of ‘Unbreakable’, before the film even starts, there are a series of titles giving the audience information about comic books and their sales. At first, it seems completely random though later on the concept of comic books becomes a clear and main point in the story. Moreover, the scene with the birth of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), the protagonist in the story, and how he has a condition that affects the strength of his bones is addressed later on. Everything in the film has a purpose to serve, nothing is present without reason.

The theory of the Hero’s Journey could be applied to this film since it has a protagonist that follows the pattern of any classic comic character with having powers, called to carry out a duty for society hut refusing the reality of such abilities at first. The character development is done gradually, without fully relying on flashbacks alone. A mixture of previous encounters with dialogues addressing their past lives is used, with the choice of action and interaction with other characters giving clues to the audience as well as furthering the plot. An example is a scene where David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the protagonist, is on a train heading for his hometown Philadelphia and upon a woman asking if the seat next to him is free, discreetly removes his wedding ring from his finger. This action clearly indicates, before even meeting any other characters, that he is having some marital issues, perhaps a divorce in the process. M. Night Shyamalan executes such a device of ambiguity and implications without directly telling or showing an audience a certain angle extremely well. It involves an audience and sort of forces them to look at the film more deeply than just watch it for a pass time. Like any mystery thriller, details of the plot are shown one at a time so that the audience can absorb and keep on track with the fast plot and as the characters learn about conditions too.

The two polar opposites of characters, David Dunn and Elijah Price, are depicted brilliantly, with their abilities being at the other end of each other on the spectrum, to start with. Dunn is physically strong where Elijah is not though Elijah is mentally strong and extremely smart. Both characters come from different childhood backgrounds, deal with different kinds of people, have different jobs and personalities and yet they are linked to each other. The difference of their abilities, in a rather confusing way, is what makes them similar. David Dunn is supposed to be the superhero while Elijah Price is the supervillain, due to the actions they commit as well as given the comic book background this film pursues. It gives the film a sense of realism since the superhero aspect is not as fictional as in mainstream comic movies like the Marvel or DC Cinematic Universes. More than laser vision, flight or mind control, Dunn and Elijah enjoy and suffer, respectively, from physical characteristics that any human could actually have.

Like any Shymalan film, one is not complete without a plot twist. ‘Unbreakable’ introduces the classic character plot twist where the ‘enabler’ turns out to be nothing more than the real villain. It has the message ‘now you are worthy to fight me’ flowing throughout this turning point in the film. The twist would bring about a mixture of speculation and emotions from the audience watching. Some may like to see a sequel, where the relationship or rivalry between Price and Dunn progresses and where Dunn unlocks his true potential, like any superhero story.

Infer & Deduce: The film’s title is interesting since it is a characteristic that inanimate objects share. Thought, however, alludes to a human being, a character in the film that has the ability to be invincible. While watching the film, the title’s reason of choice becomes obvious since the audience is introduced to David Dunn, the protagonist with the ability of superstrength and to sense the wrongdoings a person has done or is going through. He has never fallen sick, nor had any injury, making him a person who is literally ‘unbreakable’. To counter, the first scene of the film involves the birth of Elijah Price though after learning about his medical condition that causes weak bones, the audience is aware that he isn’t the character that the film’s title is referring to.

Technical Aspects

Along with M. Night Shyamalan’s brilliant storytelling technique, his visual and cinematographic style of presentation is unique and engaging in some ways. Generally, in this film the camera shots and movements are carried out as though the audience is an outsider, poking into and eavesdropping on the conversations and lives of the characters. This gives a clear peek into the action on the screen while the audience feels involved in the story and in whichever way the characters are affected the audience would feel something similar. An example of this is the scene where David Dunn is sitting on a train on his way to Philadelphia and a woman takes a seat next to him. The camera doe snot make the usual jump-cuts from one character’s angle to the other as a usual presentation of a conversation would go but it is actually in one take, with the camera moving back and forth on the seats in front of them and creeping through the crack in the seats. This gives an audience the feeling that they do not belong there and while given a view of the characters on the train, they feel bad for sort of ‘listening in’ on a conversation. Moreover, this choice of camera movement and angle depicts the disconnection the audience has with Dunn since this is the first scene with him and they are not aware of who he is and what is his significance to the story.

The camera rarely stays still. Even in situations where the shot does not change, the camera dollys towards the subject slowly, keeping the pace constant and not boring for an audience. Shyamalan uses movement more than varying shot types, having many scenes in one take along with focusing on having many multiple characters in a frame to simultaneously display both reactions and attitudes. To add on, the camera acts as a direct insight towards what the characters know and find out, like for example, when Dunn exited the memorial service for the train crash, the camera would sort of follow his gaze and would only reveal scene cues when the character would notice them. Another very unique example of brilliant camera movement is when young Elijah Price opens up a present and finds a comic laying inside the box, only that it is upside down from his view. As he holds the corners of the comic and turns it to face him straight, the camera follows this action, taking the audience around in a complete turn of 360° till he finally can see the name and picture properly. It looks phenomenal, almost as it is a first person point of view angle.

Shyamalan also plays around with sound when he wants to convey a certain character reaction or emotion across to the audience. By manipulating the level of ‘noise’ in a scene, like a background ambience from people talking or cars driving, the audience steps into the mind of the character directly, understanding the emotions or the atmosphere in the fictional setting of the film. An example of this is the scene where Dunn finds out that after the train crash he is the only one that survived, without a broken bone. His shock and detachment from reality while absorbing that news is displayed by nothing but the sound of slow wind and silence in the background, while the camera focuses on Dunn during wide angled shots and medium-close up shots. Even though he is seen talking and interacting with his family members and people at the hospital, the echoey silence intensifies his feelings of mental trauma at the hint that something special is going on with him.

Favourite Scene

This scene puts Dunn in the spotlight, letting go of his inhibitions and letting his powers show him what he is capable of. Price pushes him to stop fearing the unknown and Dunn ends up at a station where random, mundane-by-look people rush past him as he stands in between the crowd. As a few people nudge into him by accident, he starts to find out about the horrid lives they lead, realising that ‘looks can be deceiving’. This message is actually quite close to the life outside the film screen, with audiences feeling the weight of how everyone around them leads such different lives and one cannot even imagine what the other is going through.

The way in which the flashes into the secret lives of strangers is depicted is clever since the camera is pointing down from a high vantage point, a high-angle shot. This is a smart decision by the director as it gives the audience the feeling that they are spying on the character Dunn is looking at due to the CCTV set up of the camera filming. Moreover, other than having a wide shot showing the entire set up of the location to give the context of their wrongdoings, the high angle makes them seem inferior in Dunn’s eyes since they can choose to do the right thing but yet resort to harming others.

David Dunn is shown to be at the edge of reaching above his abilities and being completely vulnerable. He could choose to make the wrongs right and turn the criminals in or feel the weight of the world being such a frightening place that he tries to forget everything he sees. The audience is curious to know how Dunn would react to realising that he has got psychic powers and that before it was just a lucky guess or feeling that he’d have about the man carrying the gun or about someone having drugs in their possession. Dunn becomes self-aware, empowered and determined.the audience is reminded of Dunn’s good side since after finding out about his powers, the first thing he does is go after a man who claimed a strangers house as his own and tied up the people who actually live there. The audience knows that these strong powers are in the right hands, with someone who could make the city of Philadelphia a better place.

What would I do differently?

I thoroughly enjoyed the film, it’s ability to involve a viewer as well as the characters involved. It has a plotline that sets it out from the rest and is still enjoyable more than a decade later. Being an avid M. Night Shyamalan fan, I enjoyed exploring the pattern of production he has with character portrayal and story points.

If I were to make my own ‘Unbreakable’ I would have driven deeper into the powers that Dunn possesses and really show him tackling heavy obstacles that could really put his life in danger. The way in which the film is formed and structured, it seems as though ‘Unbreakable 2’ is a sequel we never got as an audience. Though however now, with Split being a brilliant success, Shyamalan’s third unofficial instalment in this series is set to release in January 2019, ‘Glass’, which focuses on Elijah Price and his storyline.

Further Research Areas:

The Study of Instinct: unraveling how the brain generates behavior

The Evolutionary Roots of Instinct

Extra-sensory perception – a controversial debate

ESP – Extrasensory Perception

Osteogenesis Imperfecta – Rare Disorders

How It’s Possible For An Ordinary Person To Lift A Car

Can Humans Have Superpowers?

The psychology of superheroes (and villains)

Unbreakable – Movie Review

September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 by flm4nal

Interstellar (2014)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Matthew McConaughey [Cooper], Anne Hathaway [Brand], Michael Caine [Professor Brand]

A global crop shortage in Earth’s future along with a second Dust Bowl are causing the planet to become unsafe for living. A NASA physicist, Professor Brand (Michael Caine), is working on plans to transport Earth’s population to a new home through a wormhole in space, sending NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) and a team of researchers through the wormhole to find out which of the three planet choices could be a contender for mankind’s new home.

My rating: 10/10

interstellar-image

Narrative aspects

The film combines a brilliant combination of scientific and mathematical fact, as well as the bond between people and humanity, and how survival is an innate characteristic in all of us. While there are a few moments that would make an audience laugh or chuckle and others that would probably result in a few tears shed, this film is no joke towards what the Earth could be heading for with its current state of pollution. Lighter moments keep the movie entertaining and recapture the audience’s attention.

It has a talented cast including Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain (Older Murph), Matt Damon (Dr Mann), Michael Caine, amongst many others. The film contains characters that are like any normal human being, wanting the best for their family and trying to do their best on their job. It shows a typical family relationship, in the beginning especially, with a sibling rivalry and a father who loves his children more than anything.

The film starts with a clipping of an old lady talking in what seems to be an interview. These kinds of clippings are spread over the beginning few scenes, making it seem as though the plot combines a majority of linear narrative with a few elements of non-linear. This helps to clarify certain points and set-up the story for viewers to understand more, that something happens to the human race and that all that is shown in the film is leading up to those old people being interviewed. However, when further watching the film, their words become more clear and understandable, allowing the audience to figure out what is truly happening. Like with any Christopher Nolan film, clues to its deeper meaning are sprinkled all over through dialogue, gestures and settings, maybe even flashbacks or flashforwards. This makes sure that the audience pays close detail to every point in the film, keeping them on their feet to spot out anything new or intriguing. Being an Auteur, a sensational director and screenwriter, Nolan uses the advantages of a well, thought-out script storytelling medium to communicate the way his mind works with the audience. He has a signature technique of having a sense of ambiguity up till the very end, and sometimes like in his film Inception, leave the audience with questions never to be answered. Interpretation is always open.

During the course of Interstellar as a visual journey, problems are in an abundance. As said and talked about in the film, the storyline follows Murphy’s Law, “The facetious proposition that if something can go wrong, it will”. After a single problem seems to be solved, the crew comprising of Cooper and Dr Brand, Doyle and Romilly, they are faced with another and in some cases a much more drastic one. It challenges the character’s capability to remain calm and maintain their logical reasoning ability to come up with a solution. The fate of the characters is on a constant shift, which in result keeps an audience captivated while wanting the best for the characters on screen. The characters are always challenged and watching them succeed or fail is phenomenal. Nolan’s characters are always well developed and have an immense depth which always enthrals an audience.

Infer & Deduce: The title of the film becomes clear when the meaning is searched online. “Occurring or situated between the stars”, which is what Interstellar introduces to the audience in the science fiction film. While some argued that it should have been called ‘Gravity’, appropriately since the film’s scientific element revolves around it but I feel ‘Interstellar’ better captures the film in one word.

Technical Aspects

Interstellar has a skeleton of a brilliant and multi-layered storyline, with characters bringing more depth and technical effects enhancing the appearance or emotional communication from characters and situations. Transitions are kept to the usual jump-cuts though in some instances while the scenes are quiet, and calm, fade-ins and fade-outs are used as a method to demonstrate forwards in time and further the plot in a less draggy sense. Being a film that is quiet and more dialogue-based than action-based, the aesthetics of the scenes are brilliant, with fascinating off-centre angles and close-ups, like placing the camera on a side wall of the spaceship.

The CGI in this film is captivating and highly realistic, with accurate depictions of space and other elemental entities we have an awareness of. The film’s pre-production staged consulted with mathematicians and physicists to calculate measurements, of Gargantua the black hole, and principles for the film so that the science is of the highest accuracy. The film has not one moment where the visual effects look far from actuality. It is quite intriguing to think about what is animation and what is not, because everything is so well rendered. Along with the computer-generated imagery, Nolan shot the film on two different cameras which give the altered final look of the film of some scenes having the full screen 16:9 aspect ratio and some scenes being widescreen (with those classic movie black bars on the top and bottom). Nolan used IMAX cameras on many occasions as hand-held, something many could not imagine doing at all, which resulted in the full-screen shot scenes. The difference is subtle though noticeable for viewers who are attentive as well as those who have watched the movie a couple of times. This technique can be seen in other Nolan films as well, like Dunkirk.

The films original soundtrack, composed by Hans Zimmer, effectively captures every single moment’s mood by pure and rich Orchestra instrumental pieces. The film sort of depends on the music to convey a certain emotion since there isn’t much action happening on the screen. Where other films get the sound-in-space concept a bit wrong, ‘Interstellar’ cleverly trims music to an abrupt stop when necessary. One example is when Dr Mann fails at docking his spacecraft into the space station, causing it to explode. The music rises to its peak then, at the moment of the blast, everything falls silent. The lack of audio is impacting, sometimes creating a much larger effect than rather having a booming explosion. Silence is sometimes the loudest of sounds.

Favourite Scene

This is probably by far my favourite scene as it starts with introducing the audience to the unknown nature of a black hole and what it could actually be like, in the mind of the film’s creators of course. To add on, it finally solves the many questions the audience has over the course of the film which has drowned them into confusion and curiosity.

Cooper, sacrificing his life to save Dr Brand since the weight of the spacecraft would be too high for them to escape to safety with him on board, ends up being pulled y the forceful gravitational pull of Gargantua and has comes to terms with his demise, only to be surprised by falling into a fifth dimension where time is a physical moment. finding that he is stuck in an infinite loop of every moment in Murph’s, his daughter, bedroom, he finds ways to communicate with her by morse and binary code, only to realise that he was her ‘ghost’ all along.

The signature plot twist is what would stupify the audience in any Nolan film and ‘Interstellar’ is no disappointment. All the puzzle pieces spread across the two and a half hour film come together and form a mind-blowing picture, an unforgettable film plot that makes one question if the concepts are in fact plausible. ‘Interstellar’ is a brilliant combination of science, society, humanity and survival, and that is what makes it stand out from the rest. The way science is presented in this film, along with the dream-like nature of this fantastic plot twist involving Cooper in actuality sending himself to make sure civilization is saved is beyond comprehensible. The paradox in this film is something one ponders on. On top of the narrative aspects of this scene, the special effects are as great as any of the others in this film. The scenes are so well edited and synchronised with the ones shown previously right at the beginning before the entire mission started. This film is an amazing example of how films can actually make the creator’s dreams and imagination a reality.

What would I do differently?

To be honest with my view, and the view of many film enthusiasts, Christopher Nolan is a legendary director and screenwriter whose films were always worthy of time spend watching, while they tickle the part of the mind that wants to see a challenge and he thrilled. His skilful cinematography coupled with his art of captivating storytelling are both a match that makes the audience want Nolan’s world’s shown in his films to be some part of reality or experience the phenomena within them.

I would not even imagine changing anything in the film and much less reach up to the high standard Nolan sets for his films. Though if I had to influence some aspect of the film I would reduce the runtime down a little. At some parts, for an audience who like to see conflict or have the action set out in front for them, they would feel a little bored. Since it’s a film that requires strong listening skills to understand all the dialogues and the importance of each of them, a shorter film length would be, in my mind, a little more appropriate. But of course, Nolan’s films are not for everyone and he does not target them for the wider, majority of an audience so the runtime is perfectly adequate.