'The Artist' review

In 2011, Michel Hazanavicius directed and wrote a black-and-white, silent, French film. The Artist is about the relationship of a silent film actor and an inspiring actress, as the transition from silent films to "talkies" becomes very difficult and unsuccessful for the silent film actor, as his partner becomes more popular than him and he is forgotten.

The film has some similarities to the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is about the beginning and end of a relationship as a couple has their memories erased of each other. In a scene in The Artist, Valentin and Peppy are dancing in a scene for one of his upcoming films. Although Peppy is only an extra, their chemistry is very clear to read. Towards the end of the film, when Valentin’s career is failing and he settles into a depression, his house catches on fire after he drunkenly lights a match onto his old films. However, when he is rescued from the fire, he is holding tightly onto a nitrate film. It is later revealed to be the film of him and Peppy dancing together for the first time.

In that scene of The Artist, it compares to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because the main character, Joel tries to hold on to important memories of his girlfriend Clementine, even as he is having them erased. The idea of holding on to the past is a popular theme in both films. For Joel, he does it out of love, but for Valentin, it is because he is desperate and has nothing else. He is not familiar with talking films, so at the end, he is later forced to join the fad. Both films show that one cannot go back and change the past, but they can move on with their future. This is also a good example of nostalgia, as Joel and Valentin reminisce their past and it makes them feel more secured and in love, but with the nostalgia, there is always the presence of the future lurking around.

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' review

Our memories makes us who we are. You can't change the past.

In one of Jim Carrey’s greatest films, he portrays a heartbroken, shy guy who has just learned that his girlfriend had her memory erased of him in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the 2004 film directed by Michel Gondry, the nonlinear story of a couple’s relationship and its downfall depicts loss, memory, desire and heartache. One of the quotes from the film that I think represents Eternal is, “I already forget how I used to feel about you.” This line could be from Joel (Jim Carrey) as he decides to get his memory erased of his girlfriend, Clementine (Kate Winslet), on an impulse. During the process, he relives his memories of Clementine and realizes that he does not want to let go off her yet because even through the bad, there was a lot of good.

Memory is very important in the film as it is used as a device. Memory is used as a device because many characters in the film use it for manipulation, self-pain, and something to hold on to/regress on. In Joel and Clementine’s relationship, memory is used as something to hurt each other and to also love each other with. By hurting, Joel uses his old memories of Clementine to hurt her, like her being a cheater or really promiscuous. As payback, Clementine has Joel erased from her memory. When Joel tries to have the same procedure done, during it, he regrets her after remembering all of the love there was.

The director manipulates the viewer's’ sight by making Joel and Clementine’s interactions appear to be fading away every time they are together, like memories. Also, because the memories are from Joel’s point-of-view, they could also be what he thinks his relationship was like, and that the real Clementine might not actually be how he remembered her as. During one scene, where Joel whispers, “this is the last time I saw you” as Clementine is walking around the apartment, gathering her things to leave. She is in one spot and a different one at another time, which shows that the memory is gone very quickly. It leaves Joel with a sense of panic and desperateness and he tries to stop her from leaving.

Overall, as one of my favorite films, it is a great example of a love story that is unconventional. Clementine is a vibrant, seductive, outgoing woman, while Joel is more introverted and soft-spoken. The two of them together makes the audience think that perhaps Clementine and Joel did a good thing with having their memory erased of each other. However, after seeing Joel’s memories of their relationship, changes the viewer’s mind because you can see that Joel truly loved Clementine and their relationship just had some bumps in it like every other one.

'Mulholland Drive' review

If you don’t know who David Lynch is, stop reading now and google him.

David Lynch directed and wrote the 2001 film Mulholland Drive (or Mulholland Dr.) after already having success with his previous films, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and the Twin Peaks television series. For the film Mulholland Drive, it was originally set to be a spin-off based on one of his characters from Twin Peaks. However, executives decided against it. Lynch’s style is very artistically different from most creators. The film’s meaning has been left up for various interpretations, even the cast has no clue what the film truly meant.

Mulholland Drive is about a woman, who after being in a car accident, is left with no memory. In order to figure out what happened to her, she joins forces with an inspiring actress. It’s really difficult to explain the plot of the film because there is so much going on all at once. There is a subplot, a cowboy, a mysterious blue box and doppelgangers? What? In order to explain the film, I have to discuss the dream aspect of the film. The film, in my opinion, is a dream. The aspiring actress, Betty, falls into a deep sleep (not completely sure if it is drug-induced or not) and she embarks on a journey in her dream, in which everything is sort of perfect for her. She has an amazing audition and begins a relationship with the amnesiac, Rita. However, when “Betty” wakes up from her slumber, reality is kicked in and she is actually “Diane” and her lover in her dream is actually her ex-girlfriend, Camilla. Diane is an actress, but not as successful as her ex, Camilla, who has a relationship with her but then later dumps her for her bigshot director, Adam. Diane, who put out a hit on Camilla, because she is angry with her, has to deal with the consequences of her action. Camilla, who is now dead, makes Diane feel completely distraught and because she cannot deal with her actions and the guilt overwhelms her, it leads to her suicide.

The film does an excellent job at exploring identity through the form of doubles. Betty is the ideal version that Diane wants to be and everyone else in her dream state is who she prefers them to be. She manipulates this in her dream and becomes so involved in it, that she nearly loses herself. This is very similar to Lynch’s other film, Inland Empire. The overall message that I believe that Lynch is trying to offer is that as much as you try to change the past or make yourself the perfect version that you want, perfection is not real. He exposes the sad part of relationships and Hollywood. Hollywood can change someone and make them better or worse. It requires good morals and strength in order to stay true to yourself. Diane was unable to face her fears and guilt, which led to her breakdown.

'Pulp Fiction' review

“And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee”

Sometime in 2016, I watched Pulp Fiction for the first time with a friend of mine and always wondered to myself, “What is this movie even about?” To break down that question, you have to watch the film and then piece it all together like a puzzle. The film itself is nonlinear, but each story somehow fits with the other. The director, Quentin Tarantino makes this work, even though it is confusing.

Out of all the stories, “The Bonnie Situation” is most likely my personal favorite and makes sense with the plot. In “The Bonnie Situation,” the two main protagonists, Vincent and Jules have accidentally killed someone, associated with an earlier character, in their car and are desperate to have it cleaned. Vincent and Jules drive to a friend, Jimmy, who is played by the director himself, Tarantino. At Jimmy’s house, they try to figure out how to get the car cleaned and dispose of the body. However, this all needs to be done before Jimmy’s wife Bonnie comes back home from work. Bonnie works the graveyard shift at the hospital and does not need to be put in a situation that might end up with her divorcing Jimmy, so he says. Jules calls his employer, Marsellus, and he sends his personal “cleaner” to fix the problem. The car is cleaned and the situation is resolved before Bonnie arrives home.

In “The Bonnie Situation,” it stands alone as an entire story. It contains humor, crime and somewhat mystery as to what is really going on in Vincent and Jules’ line of work. The plot of the film in general could be described as a crime drama, but it is so much more and complex than that. Pulp Fiction is mainly about people making the wrong decisions and being at a location, at the wrong time. All of the characters are put into situations that they manage to get out of, but it also takes a lot of time in order to do so. Tarantino made a film that is a sort of cautionary tale to people who make poor decisions, without even thinking about it. “The Bonnie Situation” is so important to the film, because a character that is not even shown on screen, but is talked about, holds the control of the events that take place during her absence. Although Bonnie is not present, her husband is extremely worried about how everything will turn out, if she were to arrive home early. Literally, the entire process of the car cleaning would have never happened, if Bonnie was home. It would have even been unentertaining if Jimmy were single. The idea of almost getting caught doing something immoral and vile, is fascinating and exciting, in a disturbing, sickening way.

The film illustrates violence and humor as something that can be coexisting and not separate. “The Bonnie Situation” is a great example of this, because of its immoral act of cleaning up a dead body. The scene is led to a small, but drawn-out discussion that is both about gourmet coffee and a dead, Black man in Jimmy’s garage. It is so ridiculous, in the sense that it is supposed to be funny, but also serious at the same time. I believe that is what Tarantino’s cameo was indicated for; to make light of a crazy situation. Tarantino’s character could have been played by anyone, but he decided to do it himself, because who can truly play an “outsider” better than he can?

Pulp Fiction is definitely the type of film people watch and wonder, “What have I just watched?” but now people know. It wasn’t a crime drama. It wasn’t a romance or a gangster film. It was just a film, a confusing one, about people being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and most of them getting killed for it (Vincent). Lesson learned: Never go to the bathroom.

'The 400 Blows' review

“The 400 Blows” is a black and white 1959 film by Francois Truffaut, about adolescence and how a child’s life and the decisions that they make can affect it. The child, Antoine Doinel, begins the film by getting in trouble with his school teacher and is punished. When he goes home, his life and behavior there is not better than it is at school. His behavior becomes so reckless, that his parents eventually send him to a juvenile detention, which he later escapes and runs away from.

Although the film does not have an exact, straight-to-the-point plot, it is like looking at a photo album. The viewer is allowed glimpses into the life of a young boy, who appears to be a troublemaker and disobedient, though we do not know why he commits the things he does. These short flickers of his life are not all bad, but there are some nice, peaceful moments that Doinel experiences. When he and his classmate skip school and run around Paris, they are happy with each other and fear nothing. In that moment, they are children. Truffaut captures their adventures as small boys who are sometimes naughty, but are still naive. Their playful adventure gave them a sense of innocence that the viewer might have thought did not exist, because of what trouble they caused earlier in the film. Their innocence and fun is broken when Doinel sees his mother being romantic with another man. They are both caught in their misconduct and their innocence is lost.

The only true time that Doinel regains a bit of his innocence is when his father brings him to the police station and he spends the night there. He is behind bars and locked up, left behind by his parents and he is faced to accept his misdemeanors. The moment is quiet when he rolls up a cigarette in his jail cell. Scenes that are silent or lack a lot of sound have much more meaning than others, because silence says so much. In the juvenile detention, when he escapes and comes to a stop at the ocean, it is not only quiet but he is alone. A major theme in the film is alienation, in which the main character, Doinel, is alone mostly towards the end of the film. He tends to have a friend to assist him with everything throughout the film, so he is not alone, but he is lonely. It is him against everyone else, specifically adult, older figures in his life. They tell him what to do and how to behave, but like a scratch he cannot help but itch, he has to do something drastic to defy them. These adult figures are obstacles that stand in his way, and he can usually get past them, but it is until he reaches the ocean at the end of the film, that he is unable to get past this obstacle, or border. He is lost again, as he looks at the camera in a freeze-frame shot, perhaps, asking for help.

A photo album allows for someone to know what is going on in the picture, but they cannot understand what is going on behind it. Doinel might have avoided his childhood in order to try to grow up too quickly. He did things that many young children would not do. However, because he is easily persuaded, he tries to be a good son and student to be in good spirits with his family and school. He tries to be a child again, but when it backfires, he goes back to being mischievous. When innocence is lost, it is hard to find again, and at most times refuses to come out of its hiding spot.

'Psycho' (1960) review

Janet Leigh is the Leonardo Dicaprio of “Not Winning Awards for Great Roles”... Not including his win for The Revenant, but you know what I mean. After watching Psycho for the first time in my life, yes, I know… crazy, I took notice that Janet Leigh, who plays Marion Crane, is indeed the main character of the film. However, when I discovered that Leigh was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in her role as Crane, I could only pay attention to the “supporting” part.

Leigh’s Marion Crane should be considered the main character in the film, above Norman Bates. This is due to the fact that her character begins the film and is the sole focus on everyone’s mind. There would be no plot, if Crane did not have a relationship with a man that has debt and want to steal money from her boss to help support him. Crane carries the audience through a journey that ends in her death, but her name remains on the lips of the people that search for her.

The only other character that could be considered the main character of the film, is Norman Bates’ mother, Norma. Although Norma is not alive in the film, her son takes over her identity. Without Norma, there would be no motive or murders. Norman blames his mother for almost everything, talks about her, and even becomes her by the end of the film. Norma becomes the character that is rarely seen, yet holds so much authority over other characters. It is her, or Norman’s imitation of his mother, voice that the audience hears constantly and in the voice-over at the end of the film. The focus is either on Marion Crane or Norma Bates, which goes to show that they are the main characters.

In Psycho, everyone remembers Norman Bates and the iconic shower scene with Marion Crane. However, that scene could not be executed without the subject: Marion. What many viewers have to remember is that the film is about a woman, Marion Crane, who steals money in order to help out her boyfriend. If someone, like me, were to watch the film for the first time, they would be surprised to see that there is way more to the story than a crazy guy dressing up as his mother and killing people who stay in his motel. The story actually follows Marion and the last few days of her life and how she tries really hard to conceal her identity from a suspicious police man and support her boyfriend. The story does not end with her death, but continues when her boyfriend, sister and a private investigator attempt to find her. Even though Janet Leigh will go down in history for portraying a character that is killed off within the first thirty minutes; she will forever be the main character.

'Rear Window' review

Is it ethical for a man to watch people outside his apartment window with binoculars?

This is a question that is asked in the 1954 film Rear Window, as director, Alfred Hitchcock peeps into the lives of the people living in neighboring apartments through the eyes of a photographer, Jeff, who is restricted in a wheelchair after an accident that leaves him with a broken leg. Jeff spends his time watching his neighbors through his rear window with his large camera lens as he is confined to a wheelchair. He surveys his neighbors as they go on with their daily routines. He witnesses one of his neighbors commit some suspicious behavior regarding his wife and it leads him to believe that his neighbor might have something to do with the disappearance of his wife.

Voyeurism is a major theme in the film, however, I like to believe that it is somewhat close to “rubbernecking” as to what Jeff is doing in the film. With “voyeurism,” Jeff is enjoying the act of watching others, even if they are experiencing pain or happy, sometimes sexual feelings or activities. When Jeff watches “Miss Lonelyhearts“ she is alone, sad and later tries to commit suicide, though Jeff makes the call to the police to send help to her, he is distracted and sends the police to save his girlfriend, Lisa, instead. When watching “Miss Torso” it is constantly when she is undressing or with other men. The film makes the statement with voyeurism that, like rubbernecking, it is hard to look away from something very intriguing, whether it be dangerous, erotic, or miserable.

Rear Window is film majorly through the lens of the binoculars or Jeff’s camera to add to the voyeuristic, “Peeping Tom” vibe to the film. Everything is seen through another lense, not just Jeff’s eyes. The audience is invading someone else’s life and the film suggests that there are good and bad outcomes from this. When “people watching” one can either help or hurt someone. In this case, it worked in the favor of Jeff, who not only put a murderer away in jail, but came to his senses that he belongs with Lisa and can find true love. Although all of this ended in not one, but two broken legs, the film makes note that voyeurism might appear innocent, but there are always consequences to the actions one makes.

Rubbernecking allows the driver to see what might have caused the accident, but it only creates traffic.