The Visit...

My chosen current film to analyse is The Visit, released this year very recently. I first saw this advertised online and then started to see the adverts appear on TV and being a horror and thriller fanatic I knew I had to go and see it.

So after  purchasing my hot dog and drink (followed by popcorn) I sat down ready to be scared out of my wits. The film started as many horror films do at the moment as a footage horror movie. A young girl is creating a documentary as an aspiring film maker and explains that her grandparents whom they've never been in contact with have asked their mum if they can have a week with their grandchildren, as a family feud years ago means that they have never met. The film starts as if it were an interview with the mum and she explains that something happened years ago between her and her parents when she left home to be with him and she never wants to speak to them again. As a viewer you learn that the mother's husband and partner has run off with another woman leaving her and the two kids to fend for themselves. The two children Becca and Tyler played by Olivia Dejonge and Ed Oxenbould then travel to visit their grandparents in the middle of nowhere whilst their mother played by Kathryn Hahn goes on a much needed holiday with her current boyfriend. After a while they soon realize that things appear to be more complicated than they thought when strange things start happening around the house.

I noticed as the film progressed that it didn't fit into the obvious generic horror film genre as comedy is introduced making me laugh hysterically at certain points of the film. The main character introducing the comedy is the young boy Tyler who is clearly affected by his father leaving him and blames himself for what happened.

The film is a current take on what I think is a play on old children's tales, at points in the movie Tyler says 'we're living with a werewolf' making me think of how the wolf in little red riding hood pretends to be the little girls grandma in efforts to eat her. Actress Deanna Dunagan playing the grandma (or not grandma should I say) in a specific scene in the kitchen asks Becca to get into the oven to clean it, similarly to how Hansel and Gretel, in the old tale, were tricked into thinking that a house that they thought was made of cakes and gingerbread was in fact a where a witch lived. The witch asks Gretel to lean down to the oven to check if it is hot enough and then tries to push her in! Very creepy.

 There are elements of comedy, horror and found-footage horror which for me is the feeling that you're watching a real documentary or a real home video so the audience feels more involved and able to relate to real life situations that make watching these horrors even more scary. This film tricks you into thinking that there may be something paranormal happening but we later learn that the grandparents aren't who we think they are and turn out to be psychiatric patients who have escaped, murdered the children grandparent's and taken on the role acting as them in their house. 

Throughout the plot Becca is a character who likes to be the fixer, trying to fix things for her mum to gain forgiveness for her for what happened all those years ago and speaks to her brother about the fact that their dad left in order to get footage for her film. However its as if she finds out that it's her that needs help and she finds her confidence to stand up to her fears later in the film when she is confronted by the grandma in the scary bedroom scene. Her brother asks her in one scene why she's scared to look in the mirror at her self as she doesn't ever look and she starts crying leading us to believe that she also blames herself for what happened and still hasn't let her feelings come to light. 

So among all these feelings of regret, frustration and anger are two psychotic patients who have murdered the children's grandparents to get closer to them.

Once they are found out, the pretend Grandad played by Peter Mcrobbie, says that he wanted this week to be a perfect week for her their Grandma (pretend Grandma) and it was, as she murdered her own children by locking them in a suitcase and drowning them in the river. She's obviously fighting her own demons along with guilt for drowning her own children and you see this at some points in the film at the beginning where you actually believe she's a good person.
When they have defeated the two 'bad guys' in the movie the kids then run outside frantically as their mother and police turn up to their rescue. I didn't expect this ending as I thought it would end as most horrors do in that there is either one survivor or none but I liked that it ended this way as I thought it stood for a lesson to be learnt.

Regret and guilt seem to be a common theme in this movie underlying the fact that people make mistakes and when life throws difficult situations your way you have to stand up and deal with it facing your fears. The film ends as it starts with Becca interviewing her mum once again and she tells her daughter crying not to hold on to hate or anger; I found myself getting quite emotional as I related to the family situation as some people may also be able to. It showed me that you can still be a functional family unit as long as you move forward and that forgiveness was waiting for her whenever she needed it as family sticks together, this was a lovely message for the film to portray to the audience.

Adding the comedic value again as the credits started to appear Tyler the youngest of the children then lightens the mood as we see him rap about his experience with the psychotic pair making us now laugh about the situation changing our feelings once again.

I really enjoyed the mixture of feelings that this film made me feel and it really surprised me as it didn't conform to what a traditional horror movie usually is, Well worth the watch!

image 1 - http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RE_mlZIQtH0/maxresdefault.jpg

image 2 - http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RE_mlZIQtH0/maxresdefault.jpg

Pretty Woman...

After watching the podcasts on how to read a movie and looking at movie motifs I decided to watch the 90's film pretty woman, I've always loved this movie and thought it would be great to sit and actually analyse this film to get a better understanding of the plot, motifs, characters, theme and overall mood of the film.
The film starts with Edward Lewis who is a successful businessman in Beverley hills at a party. The first words we hear from a businessman at the party is 'It's all about the money' and this sets a common theme throughout the film. Edward Lewis played by Richard Gere, borrows his friends very expensive car to escape from a party but doesn't know how to drive it. Meanwhile another scene occurs where we see Julia Roberts getting ready for a night working on the streets, we see her colour in the scratches on her long high knee boots and apply red lipstick to her already well made up face and then put on a short bobbed wig. She leaves the house down the shaft outside hiding from her landlord who is asking occupiers for money, showing that she's a little bit wild living life on the edge and isnt able to pay her bills. A man is seen walking down Hollywood Boulevard asking people 'What's your dream?' as this is what the world sees Hollywood as, as a place where dreams can come true.
We next see Vivian go down to a local bar where she confronts her friend Kit, a small petite cute character who is also a prostitute, for spending their rent money on drugs. Kit's character is vulnerable, you can tell that she wants to do good but she's been in this business for years and knows no different. Vivian's shows responsibility here as she knows they have responsibilities and you see her get frustrated with Kit. They head down to their spot and work the street and are talking about possible punters, this is when I first heard the phrase, 'we say who, we say when, we say how much'. This shows that they respect and look out for each other but also that they're trying to take control of a bad situation.
Unknowingly Edward Lewis then pulls over right next to their spot to figure out how to use the contraption and this is when we see the beautiful Julia Roberts strut her stuff up to his car, flashing her mid-drift and long slim legs in the high knee pvc boots. Her outfit is obvious and makeup is also quite typical for her character as she has a dusky blue eyeshadow on with bright red lips. Red is at this point symbolizing sex and lust and is seen by many if worn in a certain way as cheap and almost slutty,

She asks if he's looking for company and he asks her for directions, haggling with him they decide that she will show him the way for $20. At this moment you feel sorry for Edward as he's struggling to drive the car and in the end Vivian takes over 'showing him what the car can really do.' I found in this moment that the roles had been completely reversed, there was Edward an extremely wealthy man driving this amazing looking car with Vivian who was in fact a prostitute showing him how to use the car showing off her knowledge and Edward quite clearly didn't know or understand. It's like Vivian was showing him about his world and knew more about his world than he did!
They reach their destination which is the an expensive Beverley Hills hotel and he says thankyou and Vivian's short period of fun was over. She sits waiting for the bus to go and looks extremely vulnerable once again as she did on her corner which says to me that she really didn't think that he life would be like this. He asks her if she would like to come up for an hour, the camera angle shows her sitting on a bench with her back turned to Edward who looks very smart in his expensive suit standing behind her, this is showing their differences in social standing and excepting his offer they head upstairs to the penthouse suite. In the lift on purpose she teases the guests who are all gawking at her outfit and makeup choices by sitting in a specific manner on purpose showing that she knows what her stereotype is so she's going to act like that anyway and make it a show.
As they head into the room Edward puts the automatic key into the lock and says 'oh, I miss keys' I've always picked up on this moment as there is no real obvious reason why this was put into the movie as we see a close up of his hand. I came to the conclusion that it was maybe to show how times have moved on and that Edward is quite old fashioned and likes simple things although he is very wealthy shown previously when he doesn't know how to drive the expensive car. Vivian is amazed at the suite and soon they get to talking. Edward makes it clear that he would rather talk first which you can tell Vivian finds quite strange as he has asked her up presumably for one thing and they end up watching tv. In this scene Vivian is seen lying on her front on the floor eating snacks kicking her legs up behind her like a little kid laughing at the TV, this moment shows her innocence and that she is not the obvious stereotype, he smiles at her and laughs too. I think at this moment she realizes what she's there for and is uncomfortable being so vulnerable and open around him and so gets up to seduce him and do what she knows to do. Vivian mentions that she 'doesn't kiss on the mouth' showing that she doesnt like to get too friendly or too attached to people and he replies saying he doesn't like to either. Edward is quite closed off and vulnerable admitting that he never had a relationship with his father for how he treated his mother years before and how he had recently passed away. Edward admitted he had taken over a company of which his father was president and sold it on piece by piece almost as if he was gaining revenge upon him. They're very similar characters at this point both not wanting to show much vulnerability or any feeling whatsoever telling the audience that they've been hurt before and are not willing to open up again.
Vivian ends up staying the night and you see the real her without the charade with her hair down and curly, white nightdress on sleeping on the bed as Edward walks in and smiles when he sees her sleeping. Her innocence is amplified by the fact that she's stripped of her worries and her false outer appearance and that underneath all of that she's just another woman with the same worries and aspirations for love that every woman has. The next day Edward asks Vivian to stay the week for $3000 which she accepts astounded and next surprises Vivian by giving her his card to go shopping, but everywhere she goes she gets refused and sent away because of the way she looks. I felt really sorry for Vivian as she seeks advice from the hotel manager who looks out for her as like a protective father figure and calls a high end store to arrange for Vivian to go for a dress fitting saying that she is the 'niece of a very important guest' making her feel special comforting her.

In the next scene Vivian meets Edward in the lobby to attend a dinner with him as his guest and the camera zooms out to capture her sitting at the bar and as she turns around to the sound of romantic music played by a pianist Edward looks stunned and we see a close up of his face as her admires her beauty.
At the dinner Vivian tries to impress Edwards business partners but fails to and it's here that we see the comedic side to the film as Vivian nibbles on the mint leaves in her ice-cream!
As the week goes on Vivian and Edward's relationship develops as he he takes her out shopping with him spoiling her and her fashion becomes more elegant with the use of hats, long gloves, pearls and tailored dresses. The use of red appears in her new wardrobe but is now used as a symbol for wealth instead of sex and love, showing how social stature can unfortunately affect the way the world views you. This is seen again when Vivian goes into a shop where she was refused service the day before when she was dressed in her old clothes, The woman addresses her as if she had never seen her before just taking into account that she looked wealthy and when Vivian asks if she remembers her from the day before she says no. There is a triumphant feeling for Vivian and also the audience when she reveals that she was in fact the woman that was refused service and that they've made a huge mistake, you feel happy and elated that she's finally had the chance to stick up for herself and an underlying message that you should never judge a book by its cover becomes apparent to the audience. The soundtrack to the movie then plays (Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison) as Vivian walks from shop to shop showing her new found confidence, you can see that Vivian likes the feeling that she's now seen as somebody which I found liberating to watch but at the same time quite sad because all it took was for her to wear different clothes and people started treating her with respect.
Later that week they attend an event where you see Edward's lawyer, Philip Stuckey played by Jason Alexander whom Edward has told that Vivian is in fact a 'hooker'. He confronts Vivian bringing her back to reality that she is and you can see that the past week for her has made her forget about her previous life.
Vivian's makeup is kept quite simple at this stage of the film showing her natural beauty and how she has blossomed into an elegant lady but also just underlining the fact that she has always been beautiful she just needed to believe in herself and not let what other people said or did affect the way she views herself.
The week comes to an end and you see how they have both developed strong feelings for each other and have changed in many ways although at the start they are very similar. Mr Lewis makes a thoughtful business decision by deciding to do the right thing by not taking over a failing family company and selling it on piece by piece. You can see that Edward has let Vivian in and has made him a better person and by making this decision it's his way of saying that he forgives his father and when James Morse played by Ralph Bellamy touches his arm in forgiveness and says 'I'm proud of ya' Edward appears to have finally found his peace with his dad viewing this as the last hurdle to letting the past go.
The last day comes and they say their goodbyes although they know they don't want to and you see Edward struggling with the fact that shes leaving. Vivian says goodbye to the hotel manager who has been her protector throughout shaping her into the elegant lady she has become. The appropriate soundtrack 'It must have been love' by Roxette plays as she leaves and we see Vivian packing her stuff to leave and make a better life for herself in San Francisco and we here the same audio motif from Vivian: Kit 'take care of you'. Another lesson and moral meaning behind the film that you should always take care of you.
Edward turns up as she gets ready to leave appearing in a white limo as if he were a knight on a white horse coming to save her as she always said she wanted and the happy ending is complete as the passionate end kiss happens!

To finish the film the same man that we see at the beginning of the film asking people 'what are your dreams' ends the film with an obvious message saying 'this is Hollywood, the land of dreams, some come true, some dont but keep on dreaming.' At this point I came to the conclusion that the film for me was all about childhood dreams such as Cinderella for example who was a common slave in her own home and dreamt of becoming somebody and became a princess. Another message I got was the feeling of believing in yourself no matter what what your status, anything is possible and that love conquers all!

I love the message that this film displays as it's so relevant in every aspect of everybody's life, and has an ending that entices hope for the audience so that they ask themselves what are my dreams?

image reference : http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150319131832-01julia-roberts-super-169.jpg
image 2 : https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/68/35/df/6835df18b91ef1d81a569055c0dd95dd.jpg

How to Read a Movie... Breaking down Film

When looking at movies, it's hard to analyse them without considering all of the different aspects and preparation that has gone into making them. For example research into a specific time, books that may have been written, live performances of that particular book and how to create a perfect cinematic experience; drawing on that research with the advantage of capturing image on film and being able to create a mood through sound, special effects and editing.

Watching the podcasts 'How to read a Movie..Part 1 and 2' gave me a better understanding of how to look at a movie through Literature, Live drama or musical theatre, and then finally the cinematic aspects to really break down films and get a better picture of what's going on and how the producers and directors came to certain decisions.

The first stage is looking at the Literary aspects of the film. So is there a plot, what about characters and what are they like? What is the set like? etc. As film does follow a similar pathway to a book we must analyse what we know about the plot. the characters, the time period and how it effects the emotion of the film, and finally what is the overall theme - what is the author or director trying to say (lesson or moral of text). When watching films I always try and see if there is a hidden message in there somewhere, it makes me feel good or sad at the end of the film but I always search for it in some way!

Dramatic Aspects is the next stage when looking at film so it will be making written literature visual to an audience so characters need to be thought out carefully.What will the character wear? What does the set look like? Is this how the characters will speak? As in a book your imagination takes over what you think the set would look like and how the characters would speak so alot of it comes down to how you invision all of these things to be.
In the Podcast Romeo and Juliet is spoken about and I went back over the most recent Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo and Claire Danes as Juliet. I thought of how that version although different to previous traditional versions was thought about carefully. They thought about how they could bring romeo and Juliet into real modern life with literary aspects, changing the dramatic traditional aspects by having the set in Malibu California wearing Hawaiian shirts instead of renaissance clothing and carrying guns. But both Franco Zeffirelli and Baz Luhrmann's version do follow the plot of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Finally the cinematic aspects of film - sound, editing, special effects that all make film exclusively film. Different to live theatre; film can be manipulated to create a certain mood with all of these aspects that you can't do with literature and live theatre. So these are things that are totally unique to that particular film as the director has thought about how he wants a particular scene to come across and what sound effects to use, what angles will the scene be shot from etc.

I found this really helpful as before I would just look at film and say what I liked and didn't like about it, whereas now I can break down my reasons properly and look in depth into what really makes film, film.