...Especially the scene where Natalie tried to manipulate Leonard to take revenge from Dodd by telling him that Dodd had attacked her. While in the very next scene it was revealed that it was Leonard who had hit her and Natalie just manipulated his condition of forgetting. I liked this scene because it changed the course of the movie and was a major twist that I didn’t expected. Another part that I found most humorous was when Leonard was running away from Dodd and suddenly had a memory loss and starts believing that he was chasing Dodd. I liked it because of the humor which was build into the situation. The part that I didn’t like was the ending of the film which turns the protagonist into a murderer and the antagonist of the film. This because as an audience I felt connected with the lead character but when suddenly his pursuit ended at himself and that he was guilty of killing his wife and creating fake stories of Sammy Jankis to protect himself made me as an audience felt cheated by a character whose shoes I was walking in for past 2 hours. This also somewhere breaks the trust with which the audience was following the lead character. Answer 2 Memento as a film had many underlying messages and themes of human psychology and behaviors. Some key themes and their underlying message that Memento covered were memory, perception, revenge, self deception and grief. The first take of film was on the theme of memory....
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...The Ingenuity of Narrative in Memento Abstract: Narration, simply put, is telling stories. However, the way movies narrate tales is not like that of novels developing plot in words or drama unfolding in stage space, but has its own special method for narrative - moving images. In Memento, through its unique nonlinear narrative structure and intense structure contradiction, the motifs of memory, self-deception and revenge and the philosophical exploration of existential angst are demonstrated in an elaborate and subtle way. Key Words: Memento narrative structure narrative contradiction Memento recounts the story of Leonard Shelby, a man with anterograde amnesia, who distorts his own memory to deny the harsh reality in a both conscious and unconscious way. Living in a world full of lies fabricated by himself, the ill-fated protagonist makes the very principle of his life consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of the revenge for his wife’s death which is actually caused by himself. In Memento, the splendid way of narration gives audience not only indelible psychological experience, but also a test on their ratiocination. Below is the analysis of narrative advantages in Memento from aspects of narrative structure and narrative impetus, compared with novels and dramas. I．Narrative Structure Narrative structure is the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer. Compared...
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...Professor Bradshaw-Beyers Writing in the Disciplines November 20, 2014 CE – 3 Christopher Nolans Memento and John Boormans Point Blank films are both crime fiction films in which each tell the story of a mans personal and ludicrous life mission. Leonard Shelby from Memento and Walker from Point Blank go through life a crisis that deals with the search for their enemies and deeper life issues. The characters share a life issue of fear, the fear of dying before picking up the broken pieces of their lives. The surrealism with both characters deals with their own ideas of who their wives murderer/abductor are. The obsession of the search creates surrealism distracting the characters from reality causing them to make up ideas of what happened. Irrational decisions like murder and burying their truths are made all while playing by their own rules to mask their thoughts. In Point Blank Walker is the one man show in his anti-hero protagonist role, out against the people who have done him wrong and stole from him. The start of Walkers madness is shown in the beginning of the film when he realizes his wife and friend were the ones who left him for dead. Walker sets out to find his failed assassin with no regards of who dies. He had set goals in mind, to bring justice to the man who shot him and to get his money back. First, his wife and her abductor die. Walker seemed to be untouched by this. This does not stop him. He is determined to retrieve what was once his. Like falling...
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...Multiple Protagonists and No Concise Antagonist Result in a Heartfelt Film The 1997 Steven Spielberg film, Amistad, the Hollywood strategy of having multiple protagonists in one film is exercised to perfection. This situation happens many of times in movies. But the fact that it happens in Amistad is noteworthy due to the fact this movie, a movie about the happenings of the trial after a slave mutiny aboard a Spanish transatlantic slave ship, contains a protagonist that was neither aboard the ship, nor is he black. The other protagonist in the movie was a slave on the ship, and a good portion of the movie depicted his plight both during the mutiny and during the trial that made the audience want to be on his side throughout the film. There is no clear cut antagonist in this film. Is it the nation of Spain who wants its “property” back? Could it be the two Spaniards that were the only surviving “victims” of the mutiny? Or better yet could it be the finders of the ship La Amistad? No, in fact the antagonist is actually an establishment. The first thirty minutes or so of Amistad starts out with the mutiny that takes place aboard the ship La Amistad. This dramatic scene shows vivid detail in attempt to bring the audience into the realm of the ship. Here the audience is introduced to Cinque, the leader of his tribe, who in the opening moments of the film uses his bloody hands to meticulously pick the lock to his shackles during a mid-ocean storm. It starts with...
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...Films more often than enough can demonstrate signs of unreliability and the majority of the time it is the narrator who is the cause of the film's dubiousness. The dictionary definition of an unreliable narrator asserts that they demonstrate qualities and tendencies that denote an absence of reliability or perception of the narrative. "Whether due to age, mental disability or personal involvement, an unreliable narrator provides the reader with either incomplete or inaccurate information as a result of these conditions." [1] As Wayne Booth once stated: "I have called a narrator reliable when he speaks for or acts in accordance with the norms of the work, (which is to say, the implied authors norms) unreliable when he does not" [2] . We are consumers of narratives which has given us the ability to identify unreliable stories. However as "theoreticians, we are less well able to say what constitutes unreliability and how it is detected". [3] Shutter Island is a film adapted, from a novel, by Martin Scorsese; the film is within the film noir genre, with an unreliable narrator that, as result, plays with your mind and makes the film appear to be very ambiguous. Shutter Island is clearly shown through the perspective of a fallacious narrator. A narrator's job is to reveal what is real in the narrative and, comparable to tellers in reality, the narrator may have it incorrect or would rather disclose what they deem to be true. "On this model we perceive narrative unreliability...
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...If ‘1984’ by George Orwell had been written in a different time and place, how and why might it differ? The novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell, written in 1948, is a tragic illustration of what the world would be without the freedom to think independently. The internal context of the novel, which is set in London in 1984, whose protagonist is a rebellious low ranking party member called Winston Smith, is meant to portray a world of government domination defined by fear, hatred and ultimate control. The mode of the novel is written and the tenor is close as the story is told in limited third person. The target audience of the novel is people interested in reading and politics. Orwell wrote ‘1984’ as a warning against totalitarian tendencies and...
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...ART APOCALYPSE AND MILLENIALISM (Name) (Institution affiliation) (Course) (Date) APOCALYPSE AND MILLENIALISM Introduction As the societies embrace the turn of a millennium, there is, historically, a perceived notion that this is a portentous time- a time of jubilation, may be, but on equal grounds, and may be more persistently, a time of apprehension. Five hundred year cycles system appears to be as significant as the thousand year cycles. Discussion In Thomas Schutte’s Efficiency Men (2005), there are three enormous ghostly figures of men. These figures are standing on thin spirals of steel and are covered by heavy dark blankets from which emerge perturbing faces modeled in colored silicon. Resembling grotesque figures in costume, these effigies of corrupt, scandal ridden contemporary society slope in a sinister fashion across the room of exhibition; they might be well an embodiment of the death that is elicited in the artwork of paintings on the walls. Mysterious and enigmatic, are a combination of artifice and superficiality, urging us to get involved more directly with the reality of our everyday world. This is the only way in which the dialogue between art and society can become truly meaningful (Dogana, 2014). This artwork by Schutte, explicitly displays the hopelessness and devastation of humanity which is evoked probably by the thoughts and imaginations of apocalyptic events. The human race is doomed and...
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...A major change that has occurred in the development of film is the linearity of narrative. The history of film spans over one hundred years ago, with classical narrative emerging in Hollywood around the nineteen thirties. The classical narrative period had a strong emphasis on linearity and coherence, where characters where goal centred and consistent in personality and action. In the nineteen sixties a change began to emerge in Hollywood, with Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960) breaking the editing rules, and narrative coherence, with the introduction of jump cuts. This film among others greatly contributed to the outburst of non-linear narratives, a narrative technique wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order. In the twenty-first century a range of independent films with a variety of non-linear narratives have been getting mainstream release. Within this essay I will briefly explain the different types of narratives and the reasons for their popularity. The directorial intent for many non-linear narratives can be to evoke mood, maintain suspense, indicate the malleability of memory, signify dream, and above all to provide visual pleasure. The involvement that a spectator can feel from a non-linear narrative can offer both a sense of pleasure and relation. The fact that it is up to the viewer to keep up, put things together, and make sense of the narrative provides a sense of satisfaction, and can become the reason they are watching the film. Removing the chronological...
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...Rachel Macia Professor Dunn EGL 301 April 8, 2014 A Review of Harriet McBryde Johnson’s Accidents of Nature Accidents of Nature by Harriet McBryde Johnson is a young adult novel about a teenage girl with cerebral palsy, and her first experience at summer camp. Jean, the protagonist of the story, is a high school senior who attends a “norm school” and has never really come in contact with other teens with disabilities in a social setting. McBryde uses Jean’s experiences at “Crip Camp” to show the readers the necessity of launching a movement towards disability rights. This book is drenched in commentary on the current societal views on the disabled community, and works as a call for justice. Prior to coming to Camp Courage Jean aspired to be “normal”. All of her friends were non-disabled and she took pride in that. The only time that she really considered her disability was when she was acting as a “poster child” for cerebral palsy, or when she was being exploited in the annual Telethon. When she comes to camp we see her struggle to accept her identity as a person with disabilities. She desperately grasps on to this idea that she might some day be a “normal girl”. Finally, through the help of her new friends Jean comes to terms with the fact that she will never be what society considers “normal”, but that doesn’t matter, as long as she is comfortable and confident within her own skin. On her first day at Camp Courage Jean meets Sara, a young activist with two professors...
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...Life of Pi Theme of Religion At times, Life of Pi reads like a defense of religion. Has science proved religion wrong? Here's a protagonist who believes passionately in both zoology and religion. What about the fact of multiple faiths? Don't these faiths contradict each other, cause wars, and other problems? Here's a protagonist who is Muslim, Christian, and Hindu – all at the same time. The book defends not only the common spirit behind these three religions, but the rituals and ceremonies of each. It's as if all three religions find harmonious common ground in this character. Seems unlikely, but then again, the protagonist argues passionately that the miraculous happens in our darkest moments. Quote #1But I don't insist. I don't mean to defend zoos. Close them all down if you want (and let us hope that what wildlife remains can survive in what is left of the natural world). I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both. (1.4.14) | Do zoos incarcerate animals in confined spaces and make them miserable? Pi doesn't think so: "Certain illusions about freedom" tempt us to this conclusion. In actuality, an animal's life in the wild is more circumscribed than "a knight on a chessboard" (1.4.8). Predator-prey relationships restrict the animal's movement. A zoo enclosure is actually more like a hearth for an animal: a place of comfort and rest. Likewise, most people think of religion as a restrictive...
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...The protagonist of the series, Maron is a 16-year-old high school girl and rhythmic gymnast, who can also transform into the supernatural "Kaitou Jeanne" (怪盗 ジャンヌ Kaitōu Jannu?). Maron lives in an apartment alone—having been left by her parents, work abroad but is really possessed by demons. She is well liked at school, especially in chapter 11, when lots of guys from her school offer to escort her home on Valentine’s Day, and request chocolate valentines from her. She is also very stubborn and head-strong. Even so, Maron is a lonely young woman who hides her feelings behind a warm smile. Even though she has her parent's phone number and address, she is afraid she would once again be "thrown away" by her parents, and thus refuses to contact them. The only time she is contacted by her parents is by her mother, in order to tell her they are divorcing. Maron is very close with her best friend Miyako, though she still holds her at a distance. In the beginning, she sees Chiaki as merely a playboy, and refuses to trust him as he had always seemed to be hitting on her. However, after the incident when Maron was told of her parents’ divorce, Chiaki found Maron alone in tears, and he encouraged her to believe in herself. This was a turning point for Maron: Chiaki’s kindness helped her trust others, and it also sparked romantic feelings toward Chiaki. Throughout the series, she tries to confess to him, but something always happens. Finally, in the second last chapter, she confesses to him...
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...The society shaped Belinda and Baron in The Rape of the Lock It all began in the 1712 when the infamous Lord Robert Petre cut a lock of hair mistakenly from the head of his beloved Arabella Fermor, and set off a chain of events that led Alexander Pope to write one of his most famous poems, The Rape of the Lock. Pope’s main purpose was to make fun of two lovers and solve the social crisis that had resulted; however Pope accomplished something else as well. Hidden inside his poem is a cunning criticism of the society that helped create the catastrophe over the stolen lock in the first place. Pope’s classical beliefs in God as the source of identity were profoundly challenged by the society in which he lived, where appearances were more important that a person’s sense of identity. On the surface, The Rape of the Lock appears to be simply a humorous poem making light of a real event. Pope uses the depiction of Belinda and the Baron, through the stereotyping of gender roles and the frequent use of irony, to show the inability to gain “true” identity in the existing social world of his day. By simultaneously criticizing Belinda and portraying her as the “hero”, a double meaning is achieved. Pope successfully uses Belinda as a commentary through his use of irony about the superficiality of her world and by pointing out the gender stereotypes inherent in it. To prove his point, Pope must first illustrate Belinda as the goddess she believes to be. Throughout the poem, Belinda...
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...,Compare and contrast the narrative structure of at least two of the films studied. Your answer should also evaluate the reasons why these structures were chosen. Since the commercial success of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Amores Perros in the year 2000, there has been an indubitable resurgence in the amount of interest in, and amount of films being produced within Mexico. This picture, as well as Y Tu Mamá También (2001) by Alfonso Cuarón both received worldwide acclaim and have set a high benchmark for the other Mexican releases since the millennium to live up to. This essay will explore the prominence of narrative structure in the aforementioned Amores Perros (2001), as well as Amat Escalante’s Los Bastardos (2008) and Guillermo Del Toro’s El Espinazo del Diablo (2001). The constituents of a film’s narrative structure come under two different entities: the content of the film’s story, and the way in which the story is presented to the spectator. Vis-à-vis the content of the films story, the essay will mention how, on a thematic level, these films each rely heavily on the use of violence to delineate its message and intentions. James Kendrick states that the use of violence in a film is employed as a structuring device and it is evident that each of these films uses violence for differing intentions, of which the essay will later make discernible. Subsequently, the essay will contrast the order in which the stories are presented to the viewer, chiefly, regarding how Amores...
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... 4 Corpus 9 The Research: SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS 11 The Research: THE LITTLE MERMAID 18 The Research: THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG 24 Findings and Interpretation 31 Identity Formation 35 Conclusion 38 Literature 41 Media 43 Introduction The Walt Disney Company’s cultural products have been a great influence on popular culture since the 1930s and an inspiration for generations all over the world ever since. For many, including myself, the Princes, Princesses and fantastical creatures of Disney’s animated fairy tales have become symbols of their youth. Seeing the films gives rise to a feeling of nostalgia, they become a memento of one’s childhood world. But what kind of world is this? What kind of realities do Disney’s fantastical representations construct? In my thesis, I will analyze a specific element of Disney films: gender roles constructed through the representation of femininity in their animated features. I will study how this representation changes over time: has Disney’s highly criticized construction of gender roles changed over time, and if so, what realities do contemporary Disney discourses construct? I propose to research how femininity is represented in Walt Disney‘s animated features, how this representation changes over time and what kind of effects this has on the...
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...The Gift of the Magi Themes Love "Gift of the Magi" is the story of a poor, young couple whose love for each other is the most important thing in their lives. Such is their love that they're led to sacrifice their most valuable possessions to find Christmas gifts for each other. The warm home they make together contrasts with the drabness of their poverty and the dreary world outside. Their love seems to know no bounds, though Della (the wife) worries about how her sacrifice will affect her husband because of how it affects her looks. If ever there were a story with the message that all you need to be happy is love, this is it. Sacrifice The two main characters in "Gift of the Magi" are a husband and wife who give up their most precious possessions to be able to afford gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. The story seems to be all about sacrifice. We watch Della go through the process of deciding to make the sacrifice and going through with it, only to discover that her husband has made the same sacrifice. The story's narrator assures us that in their willingness to give up all they have, they have proven themselves the wisest of all gift-givers. It might remain unclear, though, exactly what their sacrifice has accomplished, or how it has affected them. Wealth In many ways, "Gift of the Magi" is a story about what it means for something to be valuable. Does something's value lie in how much money it is worth? Or are other things more valuable than money? The main characters...
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