The film Us directed by Jordan Peele begins with a young girl, named Adelaide, who wanders away from her parents at a carnival. She goes into a hall of mirrors and sees a girl who looks just like her, but is not her reflection. The film then takes place in her adulthood. She is on vacation with her own family on the beach where this event happened when she was young. She increasingly becomes more on edge until a family dressed in red, that looks like mirror images of her own family, invades their house. They are seemily more barbaric, and terrifying. The mother instructs each family member to torment their counterparts. They are able to escape to their friend’s house only to find that the family’s red counterparts have already broken in and killed them.  The ending reveals that when Adelaide saw her counter in the mirror, she was taken down to where the shadows live and was left there. Her counter took her place in the world above. 

Jordan Peele utilizes the themes of identity, repression, and guilt in his film. When Adelaide switched the girls, she assumed the identity of the real Adelaide and assimilated to her new life. However, her guilt of taking this life away from the real Adelaide begins to surface as the red counterparts seek vengeance. Her shadow had grown in anger and resentment. She spent her time orchestrating this uprising. The verse Jeramiah 11:11 comes up frequently during the film. This verse states that as a result of sin, “I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them”. The sin that Adelaide repressed, of switching herself with the real girl, resulted in the anger and uproar of the shadows who were living barbarically below them. 

This is the first horror movie I’ve ever seen and it was quite terrifying. I am not a fan of horror films because I have trouble taking my mind off of these kinds of images and events. While it was well done and a clever story, I just do not like this genre of film.

The film Mulholland Drive directed by David Lynch begins with a car accident that interrupts a woman’s driver who had pulled a gun on her. She is the lone survivor and walks away into the nearby town. She sneaks into a woman’s home who has packed to leave. As she is in the shower a young girl by the name of Betty enters the house claiming the house is her Aunt’s who let her stay there. After the crash, the woman suffered amnesia and could not remember who she was. They then try to discover who this woman is. However, many more storylines are introduced into the film. Two men at the local diner are discussing a dream one has had about the diner. He says there is someone outside in the back that is up to something and he wishes to never see his face again. When they go out and look for him, a grizzly, bigfoot-like man peaks around the corner. There is also a director named Adam who does not want to recast the lead role in his movie however a strange man named the ‘Cowboy’ tells him he must cast the girl he has been told to. The ending of the movie offers some resolve and ties characters to each other, however the connections are vague and left for interpretation. 

This film is complicated. It is difficult to determine reality from fiction, flashbacks from current day, and the timeline of events is hard to decipher. This confusion may be purposeful on Lynch’s part to communicate certain activity Hollywood engages in. He may be trying to send the message that viewers are often unaware about how reliable or real images and stories put out by Hollywood are. 

I have a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the film and am still confused about the ending it offers. I did not dislike the film but I am very confused.

The film Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese begins with two Federal Marshals going to Shutter Island, an asylum facility, to investigate Rachel Solando, a missing patient. Lead Investigator, Teddy, is a WW2 veteran and his wife died in an apartment fire. He chose to be assigned to this case since the man who started the fire that killed his wife, Andrew Laeddis, was placed on the island. While he is uncertain how to approach Laeddis when he finds him, his visions of his late wife tells him that he needs to leave the island. Teddy often has hallucinations of his wife and Rachel’s children that she supposedly drowned. These visions mix with flashbacks for the war and it becomes apparent that Teddy definitely has mental struggles. As the movie progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine between the visions Teddy is having with reality. It comes out that Teddy believes the institution is experimenting on people similarly to how the Nazi’s acted. Due to this, another reason he wanted to take the case on the island is to expose this activity. Towards the end of the movie, as Teddy is investing in the lighthouse, where he believes they are performing these surgeries the head psychiatrist, Dr. Cawley, reveals to him that he has been a patient on the island for the past two years. He was admitted for killing his wife after she drowned their three children. Being unable to face this, Teddy created the character of the man who burned down his apartment and named him Andrew Laeddis, which is Teddy’s real name. His partner, Chuck, that he arrives on the island with, is his psychiatrist Dr. Sheehan. 

From the beginning of the film, Martin Scorsese creates an atmosphere of uneasiness. This is primarily accomplished through the score of the film. The music is suspenseful and functions to make the viewer question the situation from the beginning. The viewer does not know who is trustworthy nor are they sure of the motives of the characters involved. This makes the film dramatic and suspenseful. Due to this, the viewer is free to interpret the end of the film in their own manner.

The film Inglourious Basterds directed by Quentin Tarantino takes place during the Nazi occupation in France during World War 2. A vigilante-like group called the Inglourious Bastards hunt and kill German soldiers. At a Nazi movie premeire, the Inglourious Baterds plan to blow up the cinema. The owner of the cinema is a young girl whose family was killed during the search of the dairy farm where they were being hidden. She was able to escape, and on the night of the premiere, plans to burn down her cinema as an act of revenge against the Nazis. 

Quentin Tarantino created this film in a very stylized manner. The film’s sequence is similar to a book in which he has sectioned it into chapters. Additionally, he is expressive with the music in the film as well. The opening score has a patriotic feel and almost resembles the patriotism that the score lends to Casablanca as well. This serves to place the viewer in the atmosphere of a war and view the movie through the motives of fighting for one’s country. However, throughout the film, when he introduces certain characters, particularly the Inglourious Basterds, electric rock music plays and leads to express this rebellious aura around them. Tarantino is also stylistic in his use of cinematography at these moments as well. He not only displays the character’s name in various fonts, but there is also a freeze frame shot and zoom in on the character; similar to the ending of The 400 Blows. This calls attention to the character and alerts the audience to their significance. He also labels German characters in the cinema as well, however they do not receive a special musical into or a freeze frame, rather an arrow points them out within the scene. This may help to assert favorability for the Allies. 

Quentin Tarantino’s talent is evident in his film, however I’m not sure I would seek out more of his works.

The film Cache directed by Michael Haneke follows Georges Laurent and his wife, Anne, who are being terrorized by a mysterious individual sending them tapes of Georges and their house accompanied by child-like drawings. The tapes soon show scenes that lead Georges to certain events from his childhood. One of the films shows Georges’s childhood home. This prompts him to go visit his mother. During his visit, he asks his mother if she remembers the young boy named Maji that the family almost adopted. He is surprised by his mother’s lack of memory. He states that it was a big deal at the time, and questions why she does not recount him more clearly. She states she doesn’t think of him, and chooses not to since it was not a happy memory. Georges begins to have nightmares from his youth with Maji and connections are illustrated between Maji and the drawings that Georges has been receiving. The next tape sent to Georges’s house is a shot of a street and leads down a hallway and stops in front of an apartment door. Georges takes this as an instruction to go to the apartment. When he does, he learns that it is Maji’s house. He accuses Maji of sending him the tapes, and threatens him if he does not stop. However, Maji is adamant that he does not know anything about the tapes and has not sent Georges anything. The next tape is the conversation that Georges and Maji had in his apartment, and after Georges leaves, the tape records Maji crying. While the viewer is suspicious that a tape was recorded in Maji’s house, it is compelling to believe his innocence based on his distress after Georges leaves. Later in the film, Maji calls Georges back over to be present for his suicide. 

The film does not resolve, and it is never revealed who was sending the tapes. This provokes many questions for the viewer after the film as to what the purpose of this may be. Haneke uses many subjective shots and long takes which place the viewer in the perspective of the characters and generates suspense. This communicates messages about voyeurism similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Cache focuses on the discomfort of those who are surveyed making the viewer feel the fear, and frustration, of those subjected to being watched. This makes viewers feel uncomfortable with watching others because of the distress it causes. Rear Window, on the other hand, takes on the perspective of those watching others, and gives into the temptation to spy on people.  This encourages viewers to analyze motives that people may have for watching others and how these reasons can impact their lives. 

The film Do the Right Thing directed by Spike Lee in 1989 depicts issues of racism and police brutality. The film is set in New York in the heat of summer and follows Mookie, a young black man living with his sister, who works at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. The Pizzeria is owned by Sal, and his two sons work there with him. While the Italian family has no immediate issues with blacks, and has been serving pizza in their neighborhood for years, a tense conflict begins between them when a black customer questions Sal about not having any African Americans pictured on his Wall of Fame. At the end of the film, this conflict comes to fruition when the young man and a couple friends storm in yelling. A fight breaks out and an angry crowd gathers in the street. The young man with the radio was handled too harshly by the police and was choked to death with the police baton. This angers the crowd and the mob destroys the pizzeria; setting it ablaze. 

The film uses cinematographic techniques to communicate an uncomfortable aura around the illustration of racism and brutality. This feeling motivates the audience to feel upset with the injustice it displays, and, as the title states, do the right thing. For example, the film begins with discontinuity editing when the young girl begins dancing. This is jaring, and demands the audience’s attention. The song playing is ‘Fight the Power’ and its satirical nature prepares the audience to view the film from the perspective of the minorities, and sympathize with them. The film also uses many dutch angle shots, low angle shots, close-ups, and the camera work is sometimes shaky. There are many cuts and shot reverse shots. These all factor into making the audience uncomfortable and very aware of the unnatural nature of the camera work. This translates into making the audience feel how unnatural it is to treat people unjustly, and allow anger and racism to fuel violence. 

I enjoyed the film however, I found it very difficult to watch at some scenes, and was shocked with how relevant the messages of the film are today; 31 years later.

The film Bonnie and Clyde directed by Arthur Penn tells the story of a young couple who rob banks, commit crimes, and run from the authorities. Bonnie Parker was born in 1910 in Texas, and in 1931 she had a dead end job as a waitress at a cafe. This same year, Clyde Barrow was released from state prison for good behavior. He had been arrested for armed robbery. Bonnie met Clyde outside of her house looking at her mother’s car while she is getting ready for work one day. At first, Bonnie did not believe that Clyde would do such a thing as armed robbery, nor did she think he’d actually use a gun. Clyde then walks into the grocery store and robs it. This begins Bonnie and Clyde’s career in crime. Along the way they pick up C.W. Moss to assist them in their car theft. Clyde’s brother, Buck, and his wife, Blanche, join them on their robbing streak. The Barrow group found it amusing to tease the authorities; they sent in pictures and writings to the newspaper and even took pictures with the sheriff who attempted to arrest them. 

As they continue their crimes, Bonnie and Clyde’s relationship develops. Their villainy had deepened their interest in each other. This develops the film’s connection of violence and sexuality. For instance, after the first robbery, Clyde had told Bonnie that he was not much of a lover however, as they continue to break the law, Clyde begins to express more interest in Bonnie. Towards the end of the film, Bonnie and Clyde are fully in love after their criminal activities have reached a peak. This is similar to the message portrayed in Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock. In the film, L.B. Jefferies expressed very little interest in Lisa until she indulges in the investigation of Mr. Thorwald and puts herself in a dangerous situation. However, this message in Bonnie and Clyde is more in line with the French New Wave because it focuses on young characters. Here, the film depicts the often reckless, and thrill-seeking behaviors of young adults. 

Overall, I enjoyed the film however, I am still not sure how to feel about some of the main characters. Since they are the focus of the film, and the viewer sees things from their perspective, I feel as though I should sympathize with Bonnie and Clyde. However, I also feel that their wrongdoings make them a bit unlikable, and therefore it is difficult to make up my mind about their deaths.

The film The 400 Blows, directed by François Truffaut, is told from the perspective of young Antoine Doinel who is a bit of a troublemaker. His teachers and parents have difficulty keeping him in line. The film shows Antoine coming of age and, being a french film, achieves this through editing techniques. For example, dissolves and fades are frequently used cuts representing his innocents fading and signifying a change in his life. 

At the beginning of the movie, Antoine has an established routine of coming home from school, doing chores, setting the table, then doing his homework. His mother is portrayed to be cold, while he has a good relationship with his father. One day, Antoine is running late to school when his friend catches up to him along the way. As they walk, he convinces Antoine to skip school. While they are out, he sees his mother kissing a man he has never seen before. This moment begins Antoine’s characterization portraying his coming of age. 

Antoine needs a note upon his return to school the next day however, not wanting to tell his parents, he tells his teacher his mother died as an excuse. When he is caught in his lie, he runs away from home. This results in him starting to steal, for instance the bottle of milk, when he is on his own. His actions of lying and theft, contribute to the tarnishing of his innocence. This is further seen upon his return home and he overhears his parents fighting as a result of their difficulties with him. The next day at school his teacher taunts “Doinel, I bet you got it last night”. In his teacher and parents, the viewer sees how adults, who are supposed to be mentors to Antoine, mistreat him and set into motion the loss of his innocence. However, when he is back home, he has broken his routine of doing chores, and instead he is seen laying on the couch, reading papers, and smoking. This further feeds into his parents frustration. After stealing a typewriter with his friend, his father sends him to a reform school. Once his mother comes to visit, she tells him that his father had washed his hands of him. She also states that he finally got what he wanted; to be on his own. The film ends after Antoine runs away from the reform school and he reaches the seashore, which he has never seen before. This end feels incomplete and leaves the viewer with many questions regarding Antoine’s future. However, this may have been intentional to represent Antoine’s release to the real world on his own.  

In the film Rear Window directed by Alfred Hitchcock, L.B. Jefferies spends his days looking out the back window of his home at his neighbors. Jeffreries is stuck in a wheelchair due to a broken leg, hence his neighbors are the only entertainment he has. Once a day, the insurance company’s nurse named Stella comes to visit and assist him. When Jefferies shares that he watches his neighbors, Stella expresses her caution; stating that she always had a nose for trouble. She tells Jefferies that she can see him in court when he sees something he is not supposed to. This foreshadows the future events in the movie. One rainy night, Jefferies sees his neighbor, Mr. Thorwald, suspiciously leaving and returning to and from his apartment with a briefcase. His wife is so ill she is bedridden and requires constant care. However, the morning after this suspicious activity Mrs. Thorwald is no longer in the apartment. Mr. Thorwald takes this day off work and L.B. sees him cleaning butcher knives in the sink and wrapping them in newspaper. L.B. Jefferies’s girlfriend, Lisa, is skeptical that there is something suspicious happening with Mr. Thorwald. However, upon spending time observing him further, she soon believes L.B. ‘s theory that he murdered his wife. The detective that L.B. phones to conduct an investigation feels as though L.B. has simply become swept up in his imagination. 

When L.B., Lisa, and Stella decide to conduct their own investigation. When Lisa is caught by Mr. Thorwald, he discovers L.B. watching him from his window. Thorwald then attempts to kill Jefferies by pushing him out the window. The police then arrest Thorwald for murdering his wife. 

The moving uses the lighting to convey significant messages throughout the film. For instance, L.B. wheels back into the darkness when he fears someone catches him watching them. This represents the secrecy of his actions and validates for the viewers that what he is doing is wrong on some level. The darkness acts as a safety that keeps L.B. in an omniscient position. The lighting is also used to create suspense within the movie. In the scene where Mr. Thorwald enters Jefferies’s apartment. As Thorwald approaches, his body is in shadow representing his evil crimes. As a defense, Jefferies flashes him repeatedly with light the stun him. This light may represent how Jefferies has brought out the truth. Additionally it represents the message the film communicates about voyeurism. Throughout the film, the darkness has been Jefferies’s protection as he infiltrated the personal lives of his neighbors however, when this gets him in trouble, he uses the light for protection. This communicates the guilt of voyeurs, and how they too must come into the light.   

The film Sunset Boulevard directed by Billy Wilder takes place in Los Angeles, California. The film is narrated by a picture writer named Joe Gillis who, while escaping the police who are after his car, finds himself in the driveway of Norma Desmond, an old silent-film star who has faded from the spotlight. 

Sunset Boulevard conveys an inverse outlook on Hollywood as previously established by other ‘Golden Era’ movies. For example, when the film opens with police responding to a murder, the narration of Joe Gillis states how the movie will reveal the truth behind the murder before it is “blown out and distorted by the Hollywood Columnists”. This is exposing Hollywood for its tendencies to dramatize and fabricate stories. For the time, this seems defiant, but serves to give insight to the struggles of those behind the screen and allows the audience the view the film with a lens of empathy for the characters. Therefore, the movie feels to offer a similar purpose to How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis. 

Additionally, the movie offers the behaviors of the characters in line with gender roles. For instance, Norma cares a great deal about how Joe presents himself. She buys him expensive suits, shoes, watches, and cigarette cases. Then, when she believes that she will return to the screen, she goes through so many beauty treatments. This portrays her as materialistic in regards to how females are concerned with appearance. She also has scenes in which she is in hysterics, or acting crazed, to portray another stereotype of women. 

Joe is found shot and dead in the swimming pool reminiscent of Gatsby’s death in The Great Gatsby. This communicates how, much like Gatsby, Joe came up short in achieving his dreams of a successful picture writer. This conveys male gender roles of the expectation to be successful enough to provide for his lifestyle. His death in this manner symbolizes the death of his aspirations. 

I enjoyed this movie because it told the story in an interesting manner, and communicated themes still applicable today.