The Dark Knight and the Dark Heath Ledger as the Joker

Many of Gotham City's citizens see Batman (Christopher Bale) as a a figure of hope. He has been able to strike at the heart of organized crime in the City. But while Batman's actions have taken a toll on Gotham City's most powerful criminals, things turn from bad to worse when the new district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) decides to take on organized crime rather than roll over.

Bruce Wayne lead his double life throughout the film, conflicted by the pleasures that his wealthy lifestyle provides and the nocturnal crime fighter that is compelled to fight crime in the streets. To compound Wayne's confliction, Dent is dating the love of his life, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who left him because he couldn't stop being Batman.

Just as Batman and Gotham City's finest are making real progress, the Joker (Heath Ledger) offers to be the mob's enforcer. He isn't motivated by money or power, only the creation of chaos. Alfred (Michael Caine) explains it best when he says that “some men just want to see the world burn.”

The Joker makes one demand on Batman; remove the mask and turn himself in to police for his crimes against Gotham. Otherwise, the streets will run red with blood. When Bruce Wayne's identity as Batman remains a secret, the Joker delivers on his promise and orchestrates chaos like Gotham City has never seen.

The film takes us on a dark ride into the inner depths of Batman's and the Joker's soul. Their values are polar opposite, but yet they have a strange connection. It seems one can not live without the other. The Joker tells Batman they are both freaks.

The Joker is ultimately defeated, but Batman must take the fall to preserve Gotham City's faith in the police and justice. He will now be hunted by the police. As Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) explains to his son, he is our silent protector, our Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight was an enjoyable film for so many reasons. The cinematography was dark but appealing. The plot was interesting and not as predictable as one might expect in watching a well-known story. While some of the scenarios of the film were not realistic (how could anyone plant bombs throughout an entire hospital and on two harbor ships without being noticed), the action kept our attention away from such trivial details. But the acting of Heath Ledger as the Joker really stands out.

The goal of any actor, whether on stage or screen, is to make an audience believe completely in the reality of the character he or she is playing. In the case of films, an actor will attempt to obscure his or her own personality and to become another person on the screen. Heath Ledger accomplishes this with great but eery skill in his role as the Joker in the Dark Knight.

Ledger reported that he locked himself in a motel room in London for a month to create his vision of the Joker. He formed a diary and experimented with voices. The character he created was a psychopath with no empathy. Regardless of how Ledger create the Joker, he presented a character viewers despised yet couldn't get enough of.

Ledger played the role of chameleon with perfection. He truly disappeared into the character. Viewers truly could not recognize the handsome, mainstream actor that had played many likeable roles in the past. Ledger's odd-paced dialog, random flipping of his tongue, nasally voice, and steady yet out of control demeanor were brought together with perfection on screen.

Not only did Ledger meticulously prepare for his role as the Joker, he actually became the intense figure we see on the screen. In an interview, Ledger mentions that he had to take quite a bit of time off between scenes because his intense port rail of his character was exhausting. He goes on to say that at the end of the day, he couldn't move or talk.

The irony in Ledgers declaration in the early part of the film, “what ever doesn’t kill you, makes you stranger”, is hard to overlook. Ledger died very shortly after filming The Dark Knight from an overdose of drugs. There is speculation that Ledger disappeared so much into the character of the Joker, he became just as dark and demented in reality leading to his misuse of drugs. Of course we will never know. But one thing we do know, Ledger gave one of the most memorial performances in his portrait of the Joker. It is too bad that he can not enjoy the many accolades he received after the film was released.

Memento

The motion picture Memento opens with a close-up of a bloody Polaroid picture. We aren’t sure what the picture represents but as the photo fades to black, a man just killed returns to life and bullets jump from the ground into a gun, we realizes that everything is moving in reverse. This sets the stage for the entire film which is edited in reverse time.

Memento is a film about Leonard Shelby (Guy Pierce) and his search for retribution for the murder of his wife. His quest is complicated because he suffers from short-term memory loss. He remembers his name, his past work as an insurance claims investigator and the events leading up to his wife's murder, but can not create new memories. Leonard uses Polaroid photographs, takes notes and even tattoos clues onto his body to remind him of people and events that are important to his search for his wife's murderers.

Leonard narrates the film, which is used to fill gaps and give viewers critical information about story. These provide the answers to questions of who, why, when and how from scenes viewers have already seen. Early in the film we meet Teddy and Natalie, two characters that greatly influence his memories and actions. It becomes clear that at least one of them is lying so that Leonard will act in their interests. Maybe both are. Leonard determines Teddy is John G., the man who killed his wife, and is the person he kills in the very beginning of the film.

Leonard recalls Sammy (Stephen Tobolowski) several times throughout the movie. Leonard investigated his claim of short-term memory loss after an accident. Leonard's conclusion that Sammy was physically capable of creating new memories led to the denial of his claim. This is an ironic twist of fate since Leonard is experiencing the very same affliction.

Memento leaves a few questions unanswered. Near the end of the film, which is really the beginning of the story, Teddy explains to Leonard that Sammy doesn't exist and that his memories of him are replacement memories of his affliction and how is wife died. This seem plausible but since this happens at the end of the film, no time is dedicated to exploring this contradiction. We also see Leonard intentionally write a note he knows will lead himself to determine later that Teddy is really John G., his wife's killer, but we don't really know if he is involved or not. Finally, we don't really know what happened to his wife. Was she murdered, killed by an overdose of insulin from Leonard's own hand (just as him memories of how Sammy's wife died), or is she alive and well somewhere.

Memento's director Christopher Nolan creatively uses backwards editing to maintain interest through out the film. We literally watch nearly the entire film in reverse. This technique keeps viewers guessing about the background of what just occurred.

Nolan uses black and white photography throughout the film to separate time sequences. Each time a black and white scene is shown, the film jumps back to an earlier time in the story. In addition to providing innovative transitioning, the black and white scenes are used to more fully explain what has just occurred in the film, which is really in the future, or to establish a foundation for what the film will show us next, which is actually in the past.

Nolan uses a very intriguing technique when transition to and from black and white scenes. When transitioning from color to black and white, the film cuts to black and then fades into black and white. At the conclusion of black and white scenes, the film fades to black and then abruptly jumps to color.

Leonard occasionally experiences memories throughout the film. Nolan differentiates these from the rest of the film by showing the memories in short clips mixed in with Leonard as he remembers them. The film does not use music to any large degree. Nolan occasionally uses subtle dream-like music to enhance the Leonard's state of confusion.

The unique editing of Memento kept my attention throughout the movie. I thought it would create an anti-climatic ending, but in reality increased my anticipation for the end of the film so I could learn how everything began.

Gangs of New York

Gangs of New York is a film about Amsterdam Vallon's (Leonardo DiCaprio) quest for vengeance against the man that killed his father 15 years earlier during a very chaotic and violent time in New York's history. The backdrop of the movie is in the infamous Five Points area of New York City.

The film opens with Vallon's father and his gang of Irish immigrant named the Dead Rabbits preparing for battle against the William Cutting (Danielle Day-Lewis) led gang of self-proclaimed Natives. The Natives win the battle and Cutting, who is referred to as the Butcher, kills Vallon's father. Vallon witnesses his father's death and escapes in the vast backdrop of New York City afterward.

The film jumps ahead 15 years when Vallon returns to Five Points . While walking the streets he recognizes people who fought for and against his father years ago. He meets up with Johnny Sirocco (Henry Thomas), a boy that helped him escape Five-Points years ago. Sirocco introduces Vallon to the Butcher, who is now a menacing and powerful mob-like figure who rules over the activities of Five-Points. The Butcher takes a liking to Vallon and eventually Vallon begins working on his behalf.

Vallon meets Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz) not long after returning to New York. There is tension between them throughout the film. They originally seem to despise each other. Everdeane steals a medal given to Vallon by his father and Vallon has to forcefully get it back. Later during a dance they show romantic feelings for each other, but Vallon walks away after he learns she has had relations with the Butcher. They eventually fall in love, which provides an interesting subplot to the film.

While at a local theater, Vallon surprisingly saves the Butcher's life by pushing him out the way of an assassin’s bullet. Vallon wants the Butcher dead, but by his own hand and in front of a large crowd as he celebrates his victory over the Dead Rabbits and the killing of Vallon's father.

Sirocco, who has feelings for Everdeane and is hurt when he Vallon and her in a romantic embrace, reveals Vallon's true identity to the Butcher. Vallon attempts to kill the Butcher at a Five-Points theater but the Butcher is waiting for his attempt on his life and stabs him in the stomach. The Butcher spares Vallon's life but burns him on his face with his hot knife and brands him a coward to the crowd.

Everdeane nurses Vallon back to health in the caves of the mission where his father and the Dead Rabbits would meet years ago. Vallon begins to gain influence in the Irish community because of his stand against the Butcher. Tensions in Five-Points spill over when the Butcher publicly murders a recently elected Irish sheriff. Vallon challenges the Butcher to a battle between the Natives and reinvigorated Dead Rabbits, which Vallon has organized.

The film concludes as the two gangs plans to face of in a repeat of the epic battle of 15 years earlier. The battle is planned during a time of civic unrest over the draft for the Civil War. The United States military converges on New York to squash the uprising and the battle between the Dead Rabbits and Natives is lost under the siege of cavalry soldiers and bombs from ships from the harbor. Vallon eventually kills the Butcher in the aftermath, avenges the death of his father.

The Gangs of New York was filmed on a one-mile-square set in Italy where the Five-Points neighborhood and other sections of Manhattan were recreated. The film is very appealing from a Cinematic point of view. Martin Scorsese, the films director, uses rich blacks and other dark colors to increase contrast and add depth to the film and its characters. Scorsese also using smoke and grainy overcasts throughout the film to soften background images which enhances the viewer's focus on the primary characters.

The film is generally shot with dark undertones but Scorsese uses bright colors when filming upper class neighborhoods. This is most evident when Vallon and Everdeane are walking through an affluent neighborhood and when New York's elite are shown dining in their homes.

In the early part of the film, Scorsese uses the backdrop of snow to accentuate the opening battle scene. Depth is added to the warriors who are dressed in dark attire. The contrast of deep red blood spilled on fresh white snow enhance the violence of the battle.

The film frequently uses panning techniques to reinforce that the movie's main conflict is isolated to a very small portion of New York. As an example, immediately after the opening battle scene, Scorsese pans the film back from a close up of the warriors, then to a full view of the battle ground, then to a view of the Five-Points neighborhood and finally to a full aerial view of New York City.

Scorsese also varies the use of camera speed effectively. He alternates between normal, slow and fast speeds during the battle scenes in the film. He also uses fast camera techniques to reinforce the speed of the Butcher's knife when he is demonstrating his knife-throwing skills in the theater.

The film also uses score effectively. The sound of drums are evident when the gangs are preparing for battle. This adds tension and increases the viewers anticipation. Irish music is used frequently throughout the movie to remind the viewer of the conflict between Irish immigrants and the native people of New York.

Two editing sequences particularly caught my attention during the film. The first is when Scorsese, in essentially a single shot, shows Irish coming to the shores of the United States for the first time, are encouraged to enlist in the Union army, are given uniforms and weapons, and finally are loaded back onto ships to go fight for their country.

The second editing sequence is Scorsese's use artificial time-lapsed photography at the end of the film. In this scene, we see the grave yard where Vallon's father and the Butcher are buried next to each other overlooking the City of New York. We are shown the altering landscape of New York from the period of the film to current time. In my view this is meant to demonstrate that while very significant while in the fight, conflicts such as those in the film are relatively insignificant over the course of time. It is a visual representation of the phrase used by many, “Who's going to care 100 years from now”.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a film that focuses on the life of Jamal Malik, who lived in the slums of Mumbai, India. The film opens with Jamal being tortured by police because they suspect him of cheating on the popular televised game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

The film is very non-linear jumping quickly between three different time frames of Jamal's life; his time on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, being tortured and questioned by police, and the chronology of his life. Each question asked on Who Wants to be a Millionaire takes the film to Jamal being questioned by the police and the experiences of his life where he learned the answer to each question.

Jamal and his older brother Salim were orphaned when their mother is killed by an angry mob that attacked Muslims washing clothes and bathing in a stream. They meet a young girl named Latika as they escape the mob. The threesome are taken in by a man named Maman not long afterward. They live in a compound along with other orphaned and handicapped children. We soon come to realize that Maman only takes care of the children so they will go out and beg in the streets and bring the money to him. Jamal and Salim escape just as Maman is going to blind Salim with a chemical so he will earn more begging, but Latika falls behind and she is recaptured.

After they escape Jamal and Salim turn to a life of thievery. They eventually make their way back to Mumbai and find Latika. She is still held by Maman. Salim shoots and kills Maman to free Latika. Salim, who is empowered by killing Maman, throws Jamal out of the room the three are staying in to presumably have sex with Latika despite Jamal obvious love for her.

We don't see the main characters again until they are several years older. Jamal works as an assistant at a Mumbai call center. He uses the center's technology to locate Salim, who is working for the gangster Javed. When they meet Jamal asks about Latika. Salim tells Jamal that she is long gone, but he doesn’t trust him and follows Jamal to Javed's home. Jamal finds Latika again after all these years only to find she is Javed's mistress. He asks her to leave with him but she is trapped. If she leaves, Javed will kill them both. Jamal tells Latika he will wait at the train station every day at 5 o'clock until she comes to be with him. Not long after Latika comes to the train station, but Salim and other henchmen of Javed grab her before she can leave with Jamal.

Near the end the film becomes linear. Jamal returns to Who Wants to be a Millionaire after the police determine his is not cheating. Salim and Latika see Jamal on the show. Salim has a change of heart and helps Latika escape. He is killed for doing so by Javed's men. Jamal ends up winning 20 million rupees. He returns to the train station where he and Latika ultimately meet.

Slumdog Millionaire is very interesting, both from a cinematic and chronological point of view. The film has a very distinct double plot-line; the story of Jamal's quest to succeed on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the story of Jamal's never ending passion for Latika. The film quickly jumps from one to another but is done so skillfully. The movies director, Danny Boyle, moves the film between different time frame of Jamal's life, using Who Wants to be a Millionaire as the thread that ties it all together.

The camera is almost always moving throughout the film. During the flight scenes early in the movie, the film is bouncy, presumably because the camera is being manually operated by someone chasing the action. Boyle occasionally changes things up by inserting still camera view of the action from odd angles or wide views.

Boyle uses wide-angled views to show the the Indian landscape, horrific poverty and vast garbage fields in the film. The director uses constantly changing angles throughout the movie, which seem to represent the chaotic nature of the character's lives. Much of the film's background is dark, which adds depth to the characters who are typically lit.

Boyle skillfully uses objects in the film to communicate subtle messages. After Jamal sees Latika in Javed's home, she asks him to leave because Javed would kill them both he suspected they had a past or have feeling for each other now. When Latika closes the door, she is shown from Jamal's subjective point of view. Her image is someone distorted through the door's glass which also has rod iron. This image is meant to communicate that Latika is locked out of Jamal's life and is distant, even though they are physically very close.

Boyle uses elevated photography, bright colors and a subjective point of view when Latika first comes to meet Jamal at the train station. We see Latika as Jamal sees her, literally from an elevated position in the train station and figuratively full of light and brightness. This is quickly altered when Salim and Javed's men are baring down on Latika. The action speeds up and the cinematography once again is bouncy from altering angles.

In the film's final scene, Jamal and Latika are shown with a bright lighting shining behind them. The light initially distracts your view of the couple. As Jamal and Latika pull close to kiss, they block the light bringing them into clear focus and the sole focal point of the shot.

The director and editors of Slumdog Millionaire do a very nice job instilling humanity and charm in Jamal's character. Viewers can't help rooting for him even when he is living a life of a thief. Humor is used frequently to soften his persona. Boyle also makes great use of Indian music, both quick-paced and slow, to enhance the undertones of scenes throughout the movie.

The Upside of Anger

The Upside of Anger's opening scene is Terry Wolfmeyer (Joan Allen) and her daughters attending a funeral in the rain. Without explanation, the movie jumps back three years where we see Wolfmeyer struggling to come to grips with the fact that her husband unexpected disappears. Wolfmeyer is left to raise her daughters Hadley (Alicia Witt), Emily (Keri Russell), Andy (Erika Christensen), and Lavender (Evan Rachel Wood) who is called Popeye and is the narrator of the film. Wolfmeyer used to be a very happy person but is now angry and abusing alcohol to deal with the rejection of her husband running off to Switzerland with his secretary without a word.

We first meet Denny Davies (Kevin Costner) when he comes to Wolfmeyer's door to ask her to sell some of her land for a new subdivision that is planned behind her property. Davies, a former major league baseball player and local radio DJ, has been hired to convince property owners to sell land for the development. Davies is holding a drink when he comes to the door and is slightly drunk, as is Wolfmeyer. Wolfmeyer's alcohol abuse is reinforced when she picks up several bottles of liquor at the grocery store the first time we she her out of her house. She and Davies are rarely seen in the first parts of the film without a drink in their hands.

Wolfmeyer and Davies soon begin a relationship of convenience, initially held together by their drinking. He is a calming influence on her and her family despite his alcohol abuse. Wolfmeyer isn't sure she wants to be in a relationship but soon falls in love with him. Wolfmeyer's life is full of other complications, which mostly involve her daughters. Hadley tells her mother at her college graduation that she is pregnant and getting married. Andy decides she doesn't want to go to college, to her mother's great disappointment, and becomes involved with a much older man who is Davies' producer at the radio station. Emily wants to go to dance while her mother is insistent on her going to college. Emily also becomes very ill for a time. Wolfmeyer's youngest daughter, Popeye, seems to get along with everyone, including Davies. She is exploring a relationship with a boy at school.

Each of the secondary plot lines circle around and feed into Wolfmeyer's inner struggle to come to grips with the disappearance of her husband and to move on with her life. The challenges of her daughter's are resolved throughout the film and Wolfmeyer and Davies fall in love and stop abusing alcohol.

The film takes an unexpected turn when a construction worker steps through an rotting cover on an old water well on land behind Wolfmeyer's house. He finds the remains of Wolfmeyer's husband at the bottom of the well. She and Davies soon realize that he did not leave Wolfmeyer and her girls but fell into the well while walking the property three years earlier and died.

We are then taken full circle back to the funeral where the film began. Wolfmeyer, her daughters and Davies appear very comfortable with their relationships with one another after the funeral. It is apparent that they are all in a good place from which to pursue their life's aspirations.

The film is presented in a non-linear structure by virtue of beginning and ending at the end. The primary conflict, Wolfmeyer's struggle to accept the cards life has dealt her and find new reasons to live, is internal. Almost all of the films participants are characterized through dialog and external action. Wolfmeyer and Davies are also characterized through appearance, primarily through obvious intoxication. Since the film is primarily about Wolfmeyer's inner struggle, she is also characterized through internal action.

The Upside of Anger has several elements of symbolism. One of the first is when Wolfmeyer visit to the grocery store in the first part of the film. She picks up on bottle of alcohol, pauses, then selects another, and then finally grabs several bottles. This scene immediately tells viewers that she has a drinking problem.

Another moment of symbolism is when Wolfmeyer and her daughters are on the back porch staring out into the night, essentially at nothing. This represents that they are not sure where their lives are going. They are in a dark place right now. Also, the dining room in Wolfmeyer's home is often shown with dim light, even when one or more characters are sitting at the table. This symbolizes that they are essentially all alone.

The most consistent element of symbolism is Popeye's computer. It frequently provides insights into how she, or in some cases the family, is feeling. When a boy refuses to kiss Popeye, the film flashes to her computer which is playing a somewhat cartoonish video of a woman beating a man. When she offers him sex and he refuses, the computer is playing a video of a woman screaming. This shows that she is frustrated is wants to scream.

During an extended narration in which Popeye talks about how people don’t know how to love, her computer is playing another representative video. We see couples fighting, a mushroom cloud, an atomic wind, a woman shooting a gun at a man, a boxing match and other images to represent how people hurt each other.

In her final narration, Popeye sums up the movie and reconciles its title by saying “anger, like growth, comes in spurts, and fits – and in its wake leaves a new chance of acceptance and the promise of calm. This is the upside of anger.

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is a movie about the inner struggle of the title character, Will Hunting (Matt Damon). Hunting is a custodian at prestigious MIT in Boston, MA who possesses extraordinary intelligence far beyond MIT students and even its world-renowned faculty. Hunting spends most of his time drinking and carousing with his three best friends Chuckie (Ben Affleck), Billy (Cole Hauser) and Morgan (Casey Affleck).

Viewers are aware of Hunting’s genius when he solves a mathematical quandary posed to MIT students by internationally recognized professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgard). Only the best of the best are thought to have the ability to solve the equation. Hunting seems to do so with relative ease. Lambeau stumbles onto Hunting's work and tries to help him recognize his potential. He soon realizes that Hunting is dealing with deep-rooted issues that prohibit him to doing so and seeks to finds a psychiatrist that can help him.

Lambeau and Hunting go through several therapists before finding Sean McGuire (Robin Williams), a professor and a local junior college and former classmate and colleague of Lambeau. McGuire and Hunting's first meeting doesn't seemingly go well. Hunting begins to analyze McGuire, ultimately asking if he married the wrong woman. McGuire's wife died several years earlier. He takes deep offense to the accusation and asks Hunting to leave.

The next time we see Hunting and McGuire together is sitting on a park bench near a lake. It is during this scene that viewer are given full insight into the root of Hunting's interpersonal issues. McGuire tells Hunting that even though he has read many books and and has vast knowledge on on a variety of subjects, he has never experienced the beauty of the art at the Sistine Chapel, looked up at the ceiling painted by Michelangelo, woken up to a woman and felt truly happy, held a friends head while he died during war, loved a woman to the point of feeling totally vulnerable, and experienced true loss that only comes from loving something more than yourself. In other words, Hunting has never experienced life, he has only examined it from a distance.

Hunting meets Skylar (Minnie Driver) at a local bar. Skylar is a wealthy student and a very expensive Boston area university but accepts Hunting for who he is. They seemingly fall in love, and Skylar invites Hunting to come with her to California. Hunting walks away from the relationship just at the point where he would have to open himself fully to move forward. As viewers learn through the film, this is how Hunting has lived his life. He will not allow himself to be placed in a position where he can be hurt.

One of the most insightful scenes of the movie is when Chuckie tells McGuire that the best part of his day is the ten seconds after he knocks on McGuire's door each morning. He prays the McGuire will not be there, that he has realized that there is so much more available to him and he has reach out and grabbed it.

Hunting and McGuire make progress during the later stages of the film, each helping the other. Hunting learns to accept his past, that he was orphaned and abused. McGuire learns to accept his wife's death and realizes there is much more lift that he needs to experience.

The film concludes with Hunting going after Skylar, who has already moved to California and McGuire making arrangements to travel the world. Both realize that there is more to life than they have allowed themselves to experience.

The movie's structure is chronologic, meaning it is presented in the order of how events truly happen. Characterization of the film's participants is done primarily through external action and dialog. There is a significant amount of profanity in Good Will Hunting. In some films this would be a distraction but it fits the characters and backdrop of the movie.

The very first thought-provoking element of the Good Will Hunting is its tile. Viewers soon learn that it identifies the main character of the film, Will Hunting, but what is meant why Good Will Hunting. Hunting isn't recognizably good, at least in the early part of the film. Does it represent Hunting's potential? In my view it describes the virtue, or the good, of Hunting’s examination of his past and potential for the future.

While the film primary plot is concerned with Hunting's inner struggle to accept his past and move on with his life, there are many motifs, or small plot lines at work as well. Most apparent is the relationship between Hunting and Skylar. Will Hunting overcome his demons and open up to her before its too late. Another motif is the psychiatrist-patient relationship between Hunting and McGuire, a relationship that is therapeutic for both and later transitions into a deeper personal relationship. A third is Hunting's relationship with his neighborhood friends. Will these long-standing and safe relationships be too strong an influence and prevent Hunting from achieving his potential.

The film is packed with symbolism. The movie opens with Hunting sitting all alone in the corner of his mostly empty living room. The short scene is filmed from an elevated prospective. This scene symbolizes the fact that Hunting's lives a life of isolation and that he has painted himself in a corner.

In the early part of the movie, the Hunting and his friends meet up with a childhood rival at a children's baseball game and later track him and his friends down. The two groups get into a fight, interestingly filmed in slow motion by the movies director, Gus Van Sant. The slow motion footage, intertwined with periodic moments of regular speed action, is relevant to the film in two ways. First, the slow motion signifies that Hunting and his friends lives are going nowhere fast. The period moments of regular speed reminds the viewer that the action is actually very violent, a fact that is somewhat lost in slow motion.

When Hunting and Lambeau first visit McGuire, they walk down several steps to get to Lambeau's office. This is shown several times throughout the film and represent that Hunting is going deep within himself for self-realization. In the later stages of the film, Hunting and McGuire walk up the step together, walking out of view of the camera. This is meant to signify that both have overcome, or climbed out of their respective inner turmoil.

We see a painting on McGuire's wall when he meets Hunting for the first time. The painting is of a man in a small boat in rough waters. Hunting tells McGuire that the man is looking for any port in the storm and that is whey he became a psychiatrist. He also says it leads him to think that McGuire married the wrong woman. The painting is similarly symbolic for both characters. It represents how the lives of both are caught in a storm. Life is crashing in around them and they don't know where to go next, to which direction is the right port for them. The fact that both have issues that need examining and resolution is later reinforced when both are filmed from directly above at the beginning of one of their sessions.

Hunting's friends buy him a car in the later part of the film. It is an ugly car with rusted paint and ripped interior. The car is meant to symbolize the fact that Hunting is ready to accept his potential and move on with his life. The condition of the car reminds the viewer that his life is far from perfect but that scars and all he will keep moving forward.

The final element of symbolism is in the last scene when we see Hunting's car driving on the highway. He is driving to find Skylar, to “see about a girl. The landscape is bright with green grass and full trees. This symbolizes that Hunting is emotionally and spiritually healthy and the storms of his life, like those in the painting on McGuire's wall, have largely subsided.

The Hunt for Red October

The Hunt for Red October is a 1990 motion picture about captain Marko Ramius, the Soviet Union's premiere submarine captain, and his quest to defect to the United States with the USSR's new nuclear submarine, the Red October. The submarine in a new weapon that uses a top-secret propulsion system that allows it to run nearly silent. The plot thickens as the United States has to decide if Ramius, who is speeding to the US, is defecting or planning to attack.

The movie has many subplots, or motifs. Jack Ryan, a CIA analysts, discovers what he believes to be revolutionary battle submarine in a spy photograph. A considerable amount of the early portion of the movie is dedicated to Ryan convincing others of the significance of what he has found. When learning the Soviet naval fleet is chasing down Ramius' submarine at a Washington briefing, most believe that Ramius and his officers are acting alone and plan to attack the United States. It is Ryan, who has studied Ramius, that believes his is trying to defect and convinces the national security adviser to look into this possibility before aiding the Soviets in hunting down the Red October.

Another motif of the film is Ryan's quest to convince US Naval officers to give consideration to his theories. He goes a long way to demonstrate his passion for the matter when he cuts the line that he is dangling from while trying to board a US submarine and plunges into icy cold ocean waters. He later catches a break when Ramius turns the Red October in what US Naval operators call a “Crazy Ivan”. Ryan said that Russian submarine captains turn to the starboard at the bottom of each hour to check what his behind them. There is no such routine practiced by Ramius but Ryan's correct guess gives him at least temporary credibility with the submarine’s captain. Ryan is ultimately successful in convincing the USS Dallas to make contact with and eventually board the Red October.

A third motif involving both main characters is Ryan's pursuit of Ramius' respect when the two finally meet inside the Red October. Ryan initially impresses Ramius with the fact that he speaks Russian. However Ramius questions Ryan's conclusions of a book Ryan wrote about another naval operator. Ramius eventually accepts Ryan and they work together to bring Ramius' defection to fruition.

Even though the main plot and motifs are the primary focus of the movie, the movie has elements dedicated to ideals. Ramius realizes that the Soviet submarine was built with the primary intention of traveling to within miles of the United States by stealth and launching a nuclear attack. This has moral implications for Ramius. The loss of his wife has lead him to realize that he no longer condones such destructive strategies. Ramius sets out to deliver the Red October to the United States so that they will understand its technology and be able to plan defenses against it.

The conflicting ideals at odds in this movie are that of a rigid Soviet communist society and the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the United States. The truth of human nature and struggle for human dignity is evident. Humans seek freedom from tyranny and the ability to choose their own destiny. This is most effectively demonstrated by Ramius' first office, captain Borodin. In the early part of the film Borodin talks of his dream of traveling from State to State “without papers” and speaks with fond aspiration of his dream to live in Montana. His dying comment after being shot on the Red October is, “I would loved to have seen Montana.”

The Hunt for Red October has an identifiable texture to the film as well. Most of the film is shot on submarines, either the Soviet Red October or USS Dallas. The Red October is presented as a shiny vessel with all the latest technology. The confined spaces in which much of the movie and action is filmed limits the ability of the viewer to get distracted by external elements. More than average close-ups allows the viewer to focus their on interaction among the movie's characters.

Ramius is ultimately successful is avoiding the Soviet submarine fleet and turning over the Red October to the United States. The final scene of the movie shows Ramius and Ryan traveling on the Red October in the Penobscot River in Maine speaking fondly of the past fishing memories of their grandfathers. As the movie draws to a close, Ramius quotes Christopher Columbus, “and the sea will grant each man new hope, as sleep brings dreams of home.” Ryan replies, “welcome to the new world.”

On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront, a 1954 motion picture staring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger and Karl Malden, is a movie that highlighted corruption on east coast shipping yards of the time. The movie drew its inspiration from a series of exposes written by Malcom Johnson, a New York Sun reporter who would later earn a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the subject.

In my view, the movie is primarily about the internal struggle of Terry Malloy, Brando's character. Our text refers to moral implications, the truth of human nature and the struggle for human dignity, all which are applicable to this film. Malloy finds himself loosely associated with a mob-like union running the waterfront. In the early moments of the film Malloy convinces a fellow longshoreman to the roof of his building where, unknown to Malloy, he is to be thrown from the roof because he plans to speak to authorities about his knowledge of crimes committed by the union. Malloy is deeply troubled when he learns his actions lead to the death of his friend.

Malloy first meets the sister of the deceased longshoreman, Edie Doyle right after his body is discovered. Doyle initially engages Malloy because she is convinced he has knowledge that will help her determine who was responsible for the death of her brother. Malloy initially refutes her inquiries but Doyle obviously notices a deep but withdrawn sense of morality in him. She continues to pursue answers and eventually they begin to have romantic feelings for each other.

Through out the film Malloy is torn between a taste of the easy life with an association with the union and what he knows to be honorable and just. Malloy had been a prize fighter years earlier. He was preparing for a fight that would earn him a fight for the title if he had won. Moments before the fight Malloy was was convinced by his brother who works for the union to throw the fight so that corrupt and powerful people would win bets they had placed against him. As Malloy put is, he could have been somebody instead of being a nobody. It was at this point that Malloy seemed to loose his spirit and his moral character becomes subdued.

Malloy knows that it isn't right for people to have to pay kickbacks just to work on the waterfront, or that people should be hurt of killed for speaking out against what they feel are unjust working conditions or treatment. The movie concludes with Malloy telling authorities what he knows about the illegal practices of the union and leading the longshoreman to work against the union boss and his henchmen. Malloy finds his moral character and the strength to stand up to the union. Good triumphs over evil.

Waterfront's writer, Budd Schulberg, spent years of his life examining and researching all he could about the New York waterfront. He frequented the West side Manhattan and Jersey City bars speaking to longshoreman and union leaders before writing the screenplay. His work was rewarded with the 1954 Oscar for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.

The movie's director, Elia Kazan also won the academy award for On the Waterfront. Kazan was a very controversial figure. In 1952 Kazan testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee during a time when American fear of Communism was at its peak. Kazan informed the committee on several of his acquaintances from the the Group Theater who once had been member of the Communist Party with Kazan. His testimony lead to the Hollywood blacklisting of these individuals.

In 1999, Kazan was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievements in the motion picture industry. Because of his 1952 testimony and failure to apologize for it in later years, several individuals and groups protested him and the award. There were demonstrations for and against Kazan outside the Academy Awards and some attending the event refused to stand or applaud in protest.

The summary of the movie at ModernTime.com brought up a very interesting point that I had not considered. The article stated that the “film will exemplify the way self-appointed tyrants can be defeated by right-thinking people in a vital democracy.” However points out that the movie avoids the main social issue of how these tyrants achieve such power in the first place.

The article also states that after more than 50 years the story no longer seem fresh. I agree with that statement to some extent. The cinematography is obviously dated and some of the acting is a bit over the top, particularly that of Rod Steiger. However the story of ordinary people rising to up against injustice in extraordinary acts of courage will be replayed in movies and history as long as movies are made and as long as humans walk the plant.