Hiroshima Mon Amour

Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) is a dramatic romance directed by Alain Resnais and written by Marguerite Duras. It is set on World War II Hiroshima after the fatal atomic bombing that took away millions of lives in Japan. The movie begins with pictures of the war, most specifically the remnants of the Hiroshima bombing, along with the discourse between the two main characters playing on the background. The woman ( Emmanuele Riva) tells the man that she had seen the war and its effects on people. The man (Eiji Okuda) refutes her and tells her that she has not seen anything at all. After a night together, both characters fall in love with each other. The man persuades the woman that to stay in Japan yet, their pasts come before them, making it hard for them to be together.

For someone who is used to linear films with a beginning-climax-end pattern, Hiroshima Mon Amour may prove to be a strange and unfathomable film. It focuses only on the two characters, a French actress and a Japanese man, and their carnal encounters as they face the demons of their pasts. It works on a very slow pace, often leaving the viewers puzzled and wondering what is really going on. Moreover, the two characters converse in such an unusual way as the woman tries to relate her personal experiences and her fears of facing these experiences.

The film’s central theme is about memory and the pain that comes along with remembrance. The contrast between Nevers and Hiroshima tried to show the important role of our experiences and how these experiences comprise our identity. It tries to impress to us that the sum of all the events in our past is actually our totality. Simply put, pulling away any one of the incidents of the past will have a great impact on who we are in the present. Forgetting may be convenient for us because it takes away the pain and sorrow that we have to face but it is also dangerous because it takes away a part of us – the part that really matters, that which makes us human. Every memory, may it be private or public, is significant. Take for example Hiroshima; forgetting what happened in Hiroshima may also lead us to forgetting the ability of men to commit such atrocity, which in turn may result to a similar situation happening again. On the woman’s case, forgetting Nevers may take away all of the lessons that she had learned from the agony that she suffered from her first love and first heartbreak.

The beautifully crafted conversation between the two characters makes the viewer grieve for the woman as the message subtly creeps to them that whatever pain falls upon us, whatever misfortune we encounter, we will eventually move on and start a new beginning. The film tried to deliver this message when it portrayed the budding of a new plant from the ashes of the war. It signified a new life, a new beginning that may equally reachable for us if we only learn to come to terms with the past.

Read More

Shawshank Redemption

Shawshank Redemption can be considered as one of the better films in Hollywood, not only because of the beautifully written plot but because of the way it tries to deliver a certain message to the viewer using abstract concepts of justice, power and redemption. Darabont's ability to focus on one of man's greatest needs (freedom), combined with the film’s brilliant musical score and Red’s (Morgan Freeman's) excellent narration made the film so touching, it can drive the viewers to tears. This powerful combination was able to make the audience feel exactly how the characters in the film are feeling, making them understand how it is to be caged and bound for the rest of your life. 

   

Corruption, one of the biggest problems in society, is one of the underlying themes of the movie. Warden Norton (Bob Gurton) exemplified your typical politician, resolved to doing anything for power and money. He made, profit out of the prisoners’ labor and ordered Andy (Tim Robbins) to launder money using a fictional identity. It also showed a subtle critic of the government when Andy needed to persistently write to the US Congress just to be able to get a decent budget for his library. It deals with the fact that sometimes we forget that criminals, despite their sins, are still human beings who are entitled to facilities that can help them reform and improve their lives. 

Social justice is also an underlying concept in the film. Several times in the movie, prison guards are shown as maltreating prisoners, putting them in the “hole” for an indefinite period of time and treating them as vermin. The murder of Tommy (Gil Bellows) just because he was ready to tell the truth regarding Andy’s case makes the viewers think of the injustice that usually happens in society whenever a person gets in the way of powerful personalities. Honestly, it reminded me of the Ampatuan Massacre where innocent people were killed just because a politician wanted to maintain power in Maguindanao. The power structure in the film prods the viewer to think of the existing status quo in society and the serious problems that come with it.

It also deals with institutionalization and how people eventually rely on it in the long run. Brooks Hatlen’s (James Whitmore) touching story of life outside prison is an allegory of the sociological concept of “anomie”. Brooks was so used to an institutionalized life where laws are laid down before him that when he was freed, he found it hard to adjust to the sudden change in surrounding which ultimately led to him taking his own life. 

One of the uncanny things that I noticed in the film is the symbolism in the way Andy carried himself. On the earlier part of the story, you can see how Andy differed from the other prisoners because of the way he buttoned his shirt, closed and corporate-like, a symbol of how he kept his dignity intact. But as the story progressed, we can see how Andy slowly becomes part of that society as he changes the way he carried himself. He became more loose and relaxed. It reminded me of how a person adapts in a new society and tries to find his own function as a part of that group.

The beauty of the film lies on its ability to show tough criminals as being actually capable of real human emotions. It makes the audience reach out to them despite the horrors that they have done in the past. It displays a quite accurate picture of what reality really is: a hard and brutal arena where you have to battle your own inner demons in order to be emancipated. It gives the viewer a familiar feel of your typical prison drama where the hero always gets the better of things in the end but it's blunt predictability makes it so unpredictable and original that even after the movie the viewer's will be left thinking of the message that it tried to convey. The movie may have given off a certain feel good feeling because of the resolution of the issues but it did not fail to spark hope in the hearts of the audience that in the end, it is only ourselves that can set us free.

Read More

The Kiss of the Spiderwoman

'...what this world offers me...is the struggle.’....

-Internet Movie Data Base *

In this life, men are born with different coping mechanisms when it comes to dealing with the harshness of reality that we call life. Some men opt to escape and immerse themselves into their self-created fantasy of a world while others choose to stay behind and battle on. One can never tell which method is right or wrong because it really depends on the person’s preferences. This is what the film “The Kiss Of the Spider Woman” tried to convey.

The 1985 film that was based on Manuel Puig’s novel of the same title (Spanish: El Beso de la Mujer Araña) dealt with men’s constant battle between reality and fantasy. The two characters, Molina and Arregui represented two ends of the spectrum, each with their own reasons why their side is better than the other. As the story progressed, we can see the gradual change in each of the two characters as both influenced the other. Molina, who represented escapist fantasy, eventually learned to “spin the spider web that he has kept to himself for the longest time and interweave it with others” and Arregui who represented harsh reality found himself pining away in his own fantasy symbolized by his death and reunion with Marta.

 

The film tried to show the contrast between fantasy and reality so strongly that the viewers cannot help but be captivated with the plot as Molina relates the story of his life through the film. Although set in  a very small prison cell, the characters in the movie were able to explore the wonders of humanity and the imperfections that each person possesses through the narrated  stories that tried to explain each character’s personality. 

The imagery of the film was quite convincing. The use of the “movie within a movie” tactics made it even more effective in conveying the message because it exemplified the central theme through the juxtaposition of reality (i.e., the prison cell) and fantasy (i.e., black-and-white movie). Moreover, the movie was able to show what Molina really felt through the use of Leni and the Spider Woman. He was indeed a woman trapped in the body of a man, bound by society and his own restraints. The spider woman represented Molina being trapped in his own web of fantasies and the former’s escape was Molina’s redemption from the strings that stopped him from discovering a greater sense of purpose in life, which perhaps was the joining in the resistance outside. The softening of Arregui’s resolve on the other hand, was a product of his interaction with Molina. He was able to see the relevance of leaving the real world behind at some time and immersing himself to a self-made reality where all struggles do not exist and happiness is the only known emotion.

The film moves in a very slow pace, carefully sending the message to the viewers that the answer is not really choosing one over the other but learning to strike a balance between the two and knowing when to use which depending on the situation presented. Too much of each option may have harmful effects. Too much of reality may make you a cynic and hopeless that may lead to your destruction while too much of fantasy may eventually lead you to helplessness. 

*http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0089424/usercomments?start=10

2:09 AM

• Like
• ·
• Comment

Read More

Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)

Directed by Francois Truffaut, this movie is a part of the French New Wave. The literal translation for this one is "THE 400 BLOWS" which in French stands for "raising hell".

 

Angel faces hell bent for violence

- Internet Movie Data Base *


The 400 Blows is a story that tells us of the events in the life of a 12-year old child and his premature struggles against the norms that have been set for him even before he was born. It is a fictional movie with an uncanny touch of reality, not only because of the plot and brilliant acting, but also because of the issues that it involves. The film tries to show the viewers in a very subtle yet piercing way, the life’s battle of a young boy against society and norms. As we can see in the movie, Antoine tries to do his best to be part of the world that he sees while also unleashing himself but every time he does, someone or something will stop him and immediately force him back to the line. Punishment is inflicted to him by an adult (teacher, parents) for every single mistake that he does without the latter explaining why it is wrong. The classroom scenes where Antoine was caught with the pin-up of a woman and the teacher blaming another student for whistling or talking show how arbitrary rules and punishment can be in the world. These incidents show inconsistencies in life for Antoine and these make it harder for him to understand and follow rules. With no adult to set up a good example and guide him, Antoine eventually turns to himself and relies on his own judgment in the way he will conduct his life.

As the movie progresses, you will see Antoine’s alienation towards everyone; his family, his classmates, the adults around him. Everyone is preaching about goodness and discipline but no one is practising what they preach. The mother tries to tell Antoine to be a good boy but Antoine sees her kissing another man. It may not be as serious for Antoine as it should be but Antoine sees it as a “bargaining chip” to get away from his wrongdoing (not going to school).

The film raises the question of corporal punishment to kids and its effectiveness as well as the justification of juvenile detention facilities for young people to so called “keep the young criminals in line”. Should it really be that at a young age, children will be kept in a place where there is nothing but things that reminds them of their wrongdoings outside? Is it really justifiable to punish a 12-year old like Antoine, put him in prison like a common criminal, just because he tried to steal a typewriter? Is it really right to separate these young men, who, in the first place, are already alienated from society, and alienate them even more? Would it really make them more reformed if they were kept together and reminded that they are undisciplined rascals who should be punished because they went against the rules?

That is a debate that we have yet to ask ourselves. The teenage years are the formative years of a person’s life and whatever happens during those times will mold them to what they will be as an adult. If they feel unwanted and unloved, the initial reaction will be to defy convention just to get the attention of the people who don’t want them. It may also result to a “I’ll just do what I want to do because no one cares” attitude.

The film is an inspiring critic about the justice system and the idea of punishment in society. It perfectly captures the oppressive forces around society, our implicit desire to break away from these forces and our fears about what may happen if we ever do.

* http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053198/

Read More

MAYA LIN: A Strong Clear Vision

I will admit it. I was bored at the beginning. I did not see the significance of the film immediately and thought that it was only a plain film about a Chinese-American who went and conquered the United States with her designs in architecture. I thought that it was just another art /success story of a student and it did not really matter politically or in any other way. But I was wrong. Right after that soldier delivered his disdain and complaints against the committee in charge of the memorial, I saw the story in a whole different light. It became another arena where actors compete with one another to get their own interest more advantaged or prioritized than the others. It was real politik in play and one could not help but be surprised at how politics seems to appear at the most unlikely places when we least expect it to.

What is interesting about the documentary is that it was able to depict what usually happens in the real world. It makes the viewers realize how political things can get just because of conflicting interests of the actors involved in the picture. We can see how a simple creation of a Vietnam War Memorial can gain such clamor and public attention, strong enough to reach the Senate of the United States. We can also see how the protagonist tried as much as possible to still advance her interest despite the many oppositions and criticisms she got from veteran soldiers and media alike. Maya Lin’s strong desire to translate emotions into beautiful works of art worked its way to the top, making the powers that be listen to her and eventually keeping the original design she submitted in the competition.

The only problem with this film --like in almost all documentaries--is that the extent to which it can be considered as narrating reality remains questionable. As we all know, documentaries will always be at the mercy of the editors. What will be shown and what will not be shown depends on what the editors think is relevant to make the story coherent. For example, the story was shown in such a manner that the opposing party in the Vietnam Memorial will look like people who want to stop the design either just for the sake of it or because they could not bear the thought that an Asian is going to design the memorial. Like any other media, the film can be cut and edited depending on how the director wants to portray Maya Lin – a strong woman who rose against her adversaries or a victim of racism and sexual discrimination.

The latter part of the film, however, focused on Maya Lin’s integrity and dedication to deliver people the “best work of art” she could design. These events were information supporting the main theme of the documentary which is Maya Lin’s strong hold of her principles combined with her brilliance in the field of architecture. I can definitely say that the film, albeit the doubt of the degree of truthfulness and consistency with reality, was able to establish the message it wanted to disseminate. It was an inspiration for everyone to stand their ground no matter how difficult and ugly it may become at the end of the day, what would really matter is how you hard you fought to keep your integrity intact.


H.P.

Read More

The Enneagram Test

*this is so true.

Basic Fear: Of being rejected.

Basic Desire: To be accepted.

World View: The world values a champion. Avoid failure at all costs.

Childhood Origin: Connected to mother-figure.

Threes are success oriented and excelling. They are very driven to achieve their goals, and they desire to feel worthwhile, accepted, and desirable. Threes believe in themselves and are often well liked for their positive qualities. They feel that they are "okay" as long as they are successful and others think well of them. At their worst, they feel that there is nothing to do to win the positive attention of the people whose approval they need. At their best, they no longer believe that their value is dependent on the regard of others, and they become genuine and benevolent.

energetic, optimistic, self-assured, and goal oriented.

How to Get Along with Me

* Leave me alone when I am doing my work.

* Give me honest, but not unduly critical or judgmental, feedback.

* Help me keep my environment harmonious and peaceful.

* Don't burden me with negative emotions.

* Tell me you like being around me.

* Tell me when you're proud of me or my accomplishments.

What I Like About Being a Three

* being optimistic, friendly, and upbeat

* providing well for my family

* being able to recover quickly from setbacks and to charge ahead to the next challenge

* staying informed, knowing what's going on

* being competent and able to get things to work efficiently

* being able to motivate people 

What's Hard About Being a Three 

* having to put up with inefficiency and incompetence

* the fear on not being -- or of not being seen as -- successful

* comparing myself to people who do things better

* struggling to hang on to my success

* putting on facades in order to impress people

* always being "on." It's exhausting.

Threes as Children Often

* work hard to receive appreciation for their accomplishments

* are well liked by other children and by adults

* are among the most capable and responsible children in their class or school

* are active in school government and clubs or are quietly busy working on their own projects

Threes as Parents

* are consistent, dependable, and loyal

* struggle between wanting to spend time with their children and wanting to get more work done

* expect their children to be responsible and organized

COPYRIGHT:
Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele The Enneagram Made Easy Discover the 9 Types of People HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages 9types.com 

Read More

No Country For Old Men: A Valuation of Humanity Within Desolation And Despair

*this is my post in our film blog back in 2010. You can see the original post here. 

“Whatcha got ain`t nothin new. This country`s hard on people, you can`t stop what`s coming, it ain`t all waiting on you. That`s vanity.” –Barry Corbin as Ellis, No Country for Old Men,(2007)

Adapted from a 2005 novel of the same title, No Country for Old Men is an award-winning masterpiece of the Coen

Brothers about drugs, money and violence. This movie, set in 1980 on West Texas, tells the story of Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a welder and Vietnam War veteran, who came across a drug deal gone wrong. He found several dead Mexicans and dogs, a stack of cocaine and $2,000,000 while he was out in the desert hunting pronghorns. He took the money which automatically set off a wild goose chase between him, the local town sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), other Mexican drug dealers and hired killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Moss sent his young wife, Carla Jean, away and tried to evade the people hunting him and instantly put his life and his wife’s life in danger. Another hitman, Carson Wells, offered Moss his help in exchange for some portions of the stolen money and yet both got killed by Chigurh in the end. Chigurh walked away free and Bell retired from his career.

The film, like any other Coen Brothers film, contained a lot of messages and themes that one had to uncover first in order to be able to understand it. All through-out the film, you can see repeated scenes of gore and mayhem all across the town as each one became both the hunter and the hunted. People were unstoppably murdered like animals (including Moss) all for the sake of the $2,000,000 that was taken. The film was full of vivid images of flesh, bones and blood gushing out of every man’s body like an endless crimson river and lives were extinguished one by one until there was nobody left. It also used very minimal musical score which surprisingly added to the tension that the movie was slowly building as the plot progressed. Only gunshots and rapping sounds of heavy metals can be heard as well as footsteps that made the film creepier than ever. It was disturbingly brilliant and will surely make a big impression on any viewer that tries to watch it.

The character development of the film was well-thought out that the viewers are not made to question the reasons behind the actions and attitudes of the main roles in the film. There was no clear delineation between the protagonist and antagonist, good and evil as well as morality and immorality. It was only violence, death and chaos.

The movie revolves around the theme of nihilism. Nihilism is a philosophy that was popularized in the late 19^th century and was associated with a loose revolutionary movement in Russia (1860-1917). It emphasizes on the idea that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. A true nihilist believes in nothing, have no loyalties and no mission at all aside from the desire to destroy. This philosophy was mostly associated with Friedrich Nietzsche who argued that "its corrosive effects would eventually destroy all moral, religious and metaphysical convictions and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history". 

Nihilism, which was also one of the common themes in most of the films made by the Coen brothers, was very evident in the numerous bloody scenes in the movie. The most prominent thing that can be associated with it is Anton Chigurh, the creepiest character ever created on screen since Hannibal Lectern. Chigurh, who was literally death personified in the movie, is a relentless psychopath armed with a compressed air gun and kills people just for pissing him off or as he terms it “inconveniencing him”. His ridiculous hair cut and witty blunt lines made the film all the more gripping and electrifying as viewers sit breathlessly wondering about the fate of the person who had the misfortune to meet him.

Chigurh symbolized destruction, destruction that may soon take over us given the rate that our society is going right now. With the proliferation of material things like drugs and money, people are starting to lose all sense of morality and are stopping at nothing just to get what they want. It was a critique of the current status quo and a reminder of how alarmingly chaotic our priorities have become due to innovation and scientific discovery. As Sheriff Bell said in the prologue of the movie, he missed the days when policemen and sheriffs didn’t have to wear a gun and crimes were at the minimum. The changing world has brought us a lot of convenience and yet it also brought a lot of ways to hurt and inflict pain to other people.

The movie showed nihilism at its apex, men killing men; it was basically open season for everyone, morals and values set aside and disregarded. It was alarming in a way because if we look at the setting of the story, it happened on a desolate island where people rarely see each other, let alone talk every day. If something as horrible as this can happen in a vast area where people are free not to interact with each other on a daily basis, how much more possible is it in a dense developed city where all people are cramped into small spaces while dealing with the battle for modern survival? It talks about how complex socialization can be and how complicated it is that we are all entangled in these overlapping webs of interaction that results often to conflict and competition.

Another important theme in the story was the concept of free will and destiny. The simple flipping of a coin decides the fate of the life of Chigurh’s victims. His remarkable line “Call it...”can send chills to your bones and makes you realize how important decisions are and how they define one’s life. The contrast between the stories of the gas station owner and Carla Jean emphasized the message more that whatever happens, it is still a choice. The gas station owner’s life was spared because he chose “head over tails”. Carla Jean on the other hand chose not to choose but by sampling opting to not make a decision, she still made a choice and technically, decided for her life. It sends us the message that in this life, we have to pick whichever we want and “call it”; own it. Despite the uncontrollable circumstances that we encounter in our life, it still boils down to the choices that we made.

Lastly, the film tells us at how inevitable changes are and how fast and unstoppable life can be that even if we stop, it wouldn’t hang around the corner and wait for us to grow up. Instead, it will continue to go on and we have the choice whether to go with the waves and stay afloat or give in and drown ourselves in the ocean of challenges that life has to offer.

PARTOSA, H.A.

REFERENCES:

• Internet Movie Data Base. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477348/quotes.
• Keough, Peter. Quiet Men. November 6, 2007. http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Movies/50620-NO-COUNTRY-FOR-OLD-MEN/ (accessed February 25, 2010).
• Pratt, Alan. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Nihilism . May 23, 2005. http://www.iep.utm.edu/nihilism/ (accessed February 25, 2010).
• Tobias, Adam. 'No Country for Old Men' is brilliant filmmaking . November 23, 2007. http://www.wdtimes.com/articles/2007/11/23/screen_scenes/screen1.txt (accessed February 26, 2010).

Read More