The Godfather

The Godfather is a great movie depicting the crazy and eventful lives of an old Sicilian family living in New York in the 1940's. "Don" Vito Corleone is the "Godfather" and head of one of five of the most powerful mob families in New York. When Don Corleone refuses to put money into a drug investment all hell breaks loose between the Corleone family and the other four head families, to the point where everyone is fighting for their own. We witness the importance of loyalty and family throughout the rest of the film. When the time is right, Michael one of Vito's sons is forced but also chosen to take over the family business, he has to make a choice whether to risk running the business his way, or the way that his father, the "Godfather" so famously ran it.

Going into this movie I really did not know what to expect because I had never seen the movie before last night. I had heard about bits and pieces of it and I had seen a scene or two beforehand, but never in its entirety. I was so quickly surprised how much I found myself enjoying the film from the moment it started to the moment it ended, because at times I almost felt like I was right there in the film sitting back and watching everything that was going on. I could feel the emotion and love that Vito had for his family and the people that he cared about right away, and even though he is regarded to be a terribly rough and heartless character, I was persuaded right away in the opening scene that he was not as bad as everyone made him out to be. He is a caring man who wants only to take care of and protect the people he cares about, and well if that involves offing someone then so be it!

I loved the movie and everything about it, it is definitely a must see in my book, and I will most definitely be watching it again and also the second and third one as well so I can see how everything plays out.

Analysis of Apocalypse Now

When I viewed Apocalypse Now for first time I was highly confused as you can read in my earlier blog, but after viewing certain scenes for the second time I definitely had a different reaction. I felt that after we had our second class on the movie and we really discussed some of the different things about the movie that we though were interesting and compelling I really started to look more deeply into the scenes that I was re-watching. I had a different view of the movie the second time around, and although there are still some parts that confuse me, I really feel that the movie does a great job at going deep into the minds of the soldiers that really loose themselves in war, and that is something that I do not think that we get to witness very often unless we ourselves have experienced it.

While viewing some of the scenes a second time around I really noticed the use of color throughout the entire film. In the opening scene it is relatively dim and you cannot really see a whole lot besides that fading in and out of Willard's face and a helicopter in the sky. But the colors after this scene were all very similar throughout the rest of the movie. Specifically in many of the action scenes, and other scenes in between the action scenes, there is a constant use of the same colors. The colors that we witness the most are reds, oranges, yellows, and a few darker colors such as black and army green. From the opening scene to the closing scene we see blood which is red as we all know, and in pretty much every scene leading up to the closing scene there is some variation of either the use of the color red or blood. Another color that is very symbolic throughout the entire movie is orange which represents fire in the movie, and that too is in a numerous amount of the scenes in the movie. From the shores of the beach with Kilgore, to the riversides we see while Willard and the crew on the boat are heading up to the the Doo Long Bridge to get up to Kurtz's camp we see fire and explosions that are killing masses of people that we never really meet or even see. The color of blood and fire are obvious throughout the entire movie, but there is also the color yellow that we see constantly. But yellow is not just used to symbolize fire, it is also used along the shores of the river, as the color for the buildings and homes that we see along the shores and in battle, we also see it a lot when we get to Kurtz's camp for the first time because on the shore is numerous amounts of rock and dirt that is a yellowish color. Not only is yellow used a lot with the scenery and the buildings but it is used for shading as well. Because many of the frames are relatively dark the color of the lighting that we see on their faces is yellow, almost like a candle light which is fire, so yellow also stands for fire at times in the movie as well. We see this yellow lighting throughout the whole movie, but it becomes brighter and brighter towards the end of the movie, especially at Kurtz's camp.

We do not have to the privilege of seeing Kurtz right away and it was very frustrating for me at first, and we just see parts of his head and body in the beginning, and then slowly he moves his face into the yellowish light and he is revealed. His face is not as scary as I think they wanted it to be, or at least not as scary now as it may have been back when it was first released. But even though it was not scary it was memorable. I think that you could really see the sadness in his face and that made me feel bad for him after I saw him for the first time. Not only do I see sadness on his face because of this perfect use of color, but I also see sickness. When we see people that are sick, their skin tones are not usually normal and they often look a little yellowish and pale, and when I see this part of the movie I really think that the yellow color not only represents the sadness that he feels for everything he has done and for his family, but also how mentally and possibly physically sick he is. This yellow is the perfect color because of its soft and pale tone, and I think that the use of color cinematography in this scene is probably the most compelling throughout the whole movie.

I really felt that at the end of the movie after watching it the first time and even after viewing parts of it the second time that the most memorable part for me was when we met Kurtz for the first time. When I think about the movie now the image you see above is the picture I see in my head every time, and I really think that it made such an impact on me because of the use of color in this movie.

Apocalypse Now

A twisted and at times humorous, confusing, and gory tail of a soldier named Captain Willard who goes to all odds to complete a mission assigned to him to find Colonel Kurtz who has gone completely bonkers, and started to do things that the soldiers in the Vietnam war could only imagine but never carry out. Captain Willard is committed to his assignment and will do whatever it take sot complete it.

When I was watching this film earlier tonight I can honestly say that I was pretty much confused about everything that was happening the entire movie. I understood the overall plot was to for Willard to complete the mission assigned to him, but the things that went on throughout the entire time he was working to complete is assignment were crazy and confusing. I did not really understand why certain things had to happen, and when certain people had to go crazy when shooting people, and why people were shooting other people at times either. I just did not get it. When I left the film I was just as confused then as I was the entire time I was watching it. I left feeling a little creeped out, confused, and questioning what the heck I had just watched. I was not really sure what to think or feel after watching it. I am thinking that this is one of those films that definitely needs to be watched more than once and possibly explained to you if you are still confused after viewing it again. I also think, because well I had to do it, that it is one of the movies that you need to IMDB afterwards to see what the plot of the movie was that you just watched to get any idea whatsoever the movie was about that you just watched. I would not say that this is not a movie worth watching or giving the time of day, but if you are going to watch it make sure to watch it when you have some time afterwards to reflect on what it is you just watched, and maybe look it up before you watch it as well so that you can follow along and understand what is going on as well. Not a must see, but definitely questionable.

Analysis of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

I think that this movie was done amazingly well. I was almost left speechless at the end of this film because of the way that the movie was shot, and the emotion that was brought out by the way that the movie was filmed. The fact that we were seeing everything from inside Baubys head during the first thirty or so minutes was phenomenal. I could not have asked for a better point of view or perspective because I am not sure that I would have felt the intensity and the emotion that was behind everything in this movie. I think that during the other parts of the film when we were seeing Bauby's life through an objective point of view was much more impersonal, and I as a viewer was not able to really feel and see what Bauby was feeling during those moments that we were watching him, and not watching everything that he was seeing instead.

The lighting and the coloring during that first part of the film were done with such dullness that they were almost beautiful. There were a lot of grays, blues, and reds. But they were not rich bright versions of those colors, but they were dull and at times hazy and blurry. During this scene Bauby is waking up for the first time after his accident so everything that we see from his point of view is blurry like and that is why the colors are blurry as well. But Bauby slowly keeps opening his eyes and trying to make out the images that are before him, but it takes some time because of his current state. The framing that we witness during this scene is also very interesting because we only see a little at a time because that Doctors keep getting closer and closer to Bauby's face, and some to the extent of being able to see the little red veins in the one Doctors eye and the stubble on another Doctors lip, in the filming world this would be called a close-up. Because we are looking through his eye we can only see very little because he cannot really move his neck so we only can see what is in one frame at a time. It is hard to see what else is going on in the scene not only because he cannot really move his head, but also because his vision is blurred so therefore so is ours. It almost seems to me at times that the way we are seeing the world through his eyes is like a movement or a mobile frame because of the way that we follow his line of vision from person to person, and from object to object just by the movement of his one eye.

There are times while watching this movie that I really get the feeling like I am in the wheel chair with Bauby because of the way that we are seeing the world from his view. It brings to mind the idea of tracking shots, dolly shots, and traveling shots which are all pretty much the same in that they are moving shots that could be compared to looking at one point and moving towards or away from that spot, but not breaking your gaze. I think that beat example of this in the movie is of the first time that Bauby goes out onto the balcony where the mother of his children is, but also looks out onto a beautiful shot of the ocean and mountains, and from the opposite point of view a red and white striped lighthouse that Bauby loves to look at.

I really think that the cinematographer for this film was genius with the way that they decided to make this film. The point of view is amazing and I cannot thinking of a more intimate and perfect way to really the life and pain of Jean-Do Bauby, than through his own eye.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a moving story about a magazine publisher who suffers a great tragedy and ends up living through his imagination and memories. The film goes through the everyday life of a patient with his locked within oneself and shares his memories with us of his children, his wife or mother of his children, his fathers love for him, and his never ending encounters with women, life, and love.

When I first started watching this movie I was a little hesitant as to whether or not I would enjoy it because I do not particularly like watching movies that make me read the subtitles. But this movie was so moving it brought me to tears at one point. The way that we see the world though his eye and from his point of view is so moving and enlightening that I could not help but fall in love with this movie only a few minutes into it. I could feel the pain that he was going through while watching this movie and I could not imagine how I could live a life like his. The movie was moving to me in all the right ways. It had all of the emotions that I think a good movie should have. Love, hate, sadness, laughter, pity, and remorse. I felt a connection to these characters that I cannot really explain, but I enjoyed it even though it brought me to tears. This is one of those movies that I can see people either loving or hating, and not really just liking. There is too much sadness for some people, but there may not be enough or something else for another. I think that it is a movie that people should give a chance regardless of the reviews it may receive, and to me it is a must see.