The Seventh Seal- Ingmar Bergman REVIEW

 The Seventh Seal is a 1957 swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman, he was the son of a pastor and grew up in a lutheran household. Many of his films question or depict faith, God, and the human relationship with religion and existence itself. The Seventh Seal is a classic example of Bergmans earliest work, it is a black and white film  and opens up with a reading of the section from the Bibles book of revelation that speaks about the lamb breaking the seventh seal and the apocalyptic events that follow from that. it depicts Antonius Block, a swedish knight who has just come back from the crusades, and his hopelessness in his faith in God and Gods existence. When Block and his squire Jons return they find themselves faced with the black plague. One day as Block is playing chess he encounters Death himself a character depicted with a paleface and wearing a dark cloak, he then challenges Death to a game of chess to challenge his power and proposes to himself that he will perform one meaningful thing in his life. There is also a band of actors traveling two men, Skat and Jof, who experences continuous visions of demons and angels,along with his wife Mia and their young baby. Meanwhile Block and Jons have begun traveling with a servant girl of a nearby village, they soon meet the actors after Skat runs away with a blacksmiths wife lisa. The whole band keep traveling together all the  while Death appearing and playing a game of chess wiht Block, no one else seems to be able to see Death besides Block other than Jof who at one point sees Death playing chess with Block and rushes for mia to get going and get away from the rest of the travellers, as Block sees this he makes sure that they get away while Death is distracted, this is the final deed Block performs as Death has told him that no one can escape him but Block has allowed for Mia and Jof to escape. After that Block and the remaining travelers finally reach his castle where his wife is waiting for them, there she reads the part from the book of revelations that speaks about the seventh seal being broken and the time comes nearer and nearer, finally Death enters the room and they are all taken away by him, later as Jof and Mia continue of their travels, Jof stopps to tell Mia of a vision that he sees against the horizon- that of all the rest of the band holding hands and dancing the dance of death with Death leading the way, Jof, Mia and their small son then go off their own way.
I found this film to have a very uncanny feel to it, it is a black and white film and i think that adds to the overall feel and theme that Bergman wanted to get across, even though it was black and white, the scenes were very well put together in terms of contrast of light and shadow, there was always sharp contrast amongst the scenes even though it was in black and white. This film has alot of allusions and archetypes embedded into it- you could say that the couple with the young child- Jof and Mia are a representation of the holy family of Joseph,Mary and Jesus or representive of the good that comes of that, that is why in the end they are saved because they represent a sacred and divine body of beings. Blocks struggle with accepting god and finding his faith is something that i think Bergman wanted to portray in this film portrayal of the reality of many people on earth and their struggle with the same thing, it explores human fears- especially the fear of Death, the playing of chess is depiction of peoples constant attempt at trying to avoid the idea that they will die, also Blocks determination to perform some meaningful deed is reflective in the inner need that all humans have of needing to have made the best of their lives and not have lived in vain, I think Bergman also explored the human nature of always seeking more and never being quite satisfied with the present, until youre time has come do you realize that you had everything you needed before you the whole time.

Antonius Block playing chess with Death





Antonius Block with Jof and Mia and their small son

Truffaut on the Auteur Theory

a still from the final scene from The 400 Blows, one of
 the most famous ending scenes in modern cinema

French New Wave-The 400 Blows

The french new wave finds its birth in the transitional period after the era of WWII during the 50's and early 60's, where  there had been a gap during the opressive era for creating film in France, many directors before the war had gone into exile. it developed its voice under the film philosophy of 'auteur theory', this new wave of thinking about film was greatly influenced by french film critic and philosopher Andre Bazin, with auteur theory, Bazin stressed that film should be taken as something far more important than mere entertainment, that film has to portray the aesthetic, artistic vision of the director, just as much as a writer or a painter would express their personal feelings so should films be  a form of indulging into the personal artistic space of the directors mind. With the french new wave, directors experimented with philosophical concepts and new technical advances wich brought a new edge to film. The french new wave broke out in the late 50's, with many new directors one of wich was Francois Truffaut whose debut 1959 film The 400 Blows is one of the most well known films of this era and which Truffaut dedicates to Andre Bazin who had recently passed during the shooting of the film, The 400 Blows, is a semi autobiographical film of Truffaut's about an adolescent boy struggling through the hardships of having negligent parents and teachers, takes on criminal actions and is sent to a reform school, its a classic example of the french new wave, with its natural and raw story line, it evolves with a sort of realism, letting the whole film-acting, sound, setting take form and define the film on its own.

A Conversation with Francois Truffaut: Master of the Independent Cinema- Dallas Video Fest Review

On Sunday October 19 the Dallas Video Fest showed many films at the Angelika film center in Dallas, including a documentary on the french film director Francois Truffaut. This documentary created by Allan Holzman was essentially a  composition of an interview Truffaut had with a college film class, during the interview you listen to his thought process and views on how to go about a film and discussing elements he incorporated into his films and how that made them so potent, alongside the interview the documentary was accompanied by various clips from all of his films, Truffaut is famous for being a French New Wave filmmaker most notably for his first major film The 400 Blows. Truffaut discusses many things in the interview, some of the things that interested me was how he kept the same actor as the main character for many of his films beginning with The 400 Blows, making it sort of a saga keeping up with the same boy as he grows up throughout the movie. Some of the things i found important about Truffaut is that he mentions being inspired by American directors for his first film primarily Alfred Hitchcock, always telling himself how could he  envision this shot in a way that would be like Hitchcock? and paying close attention to details of how to organize his scenes, really paying close attention to details to where he liked spotting out random background people doing unusual things that wouldn't normally be central to the film.I think an amazing thing about Truffaut is that he was so passionate about his cause and vision for his films that he even brought himself in to act in a few of them, because he says that he preferred to focus on the interaction and energy of the actors while filming, that the live chemistry on set is a big part of bringing a successful feel to the film, and through acting in his own films he says that it was like directing except experiencing it from the other side of the camera, and in a way he had more freedom to make the shot the way he wanted to. One other thing that i found interesting about Truffaut is that he mentions not liking writing scripts beforehand for his films, that way you have more space to let the story develop as it goes along, it allows for elasticity and change and it also is a benefit to many actors because it keeps everyone anticipating they're next part and probably allows for a better more natural and spontaneous performance. And finally another thing that i found interesting about Truffaut is that he liked to start his films with the endings, to make sure your ending is fantastic, and let the rest mold itself and fit. The overall compilation of this documentary  was made where you stayed focused on the subject of it which was Truffaut, i found it very insightful to have the various clips from Truffaut's films embedded into the documentary, which made it all more intriguing to listen to what Truffaut had to say even if it was through a recorded interview from decades ago.

Documentary Review

Aileen Wuornos: Selling of a Serial Killer 1993, and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer 2003 are two documentaries by Nick Broomfield, portraying the case of the "first female serial killer" of America, Aileen Wuornos. the first documentary focuses on how many people around Wuornos including her lawyer and police were organizing tracts with holywood in hopes of making her story into a big movie, and Wuornos' feelings toward this exploitation. The whole time they are awaiting to set her death penalty official. The second documentary comes years later when they are having trials against everyone who had been trying to exploit Wuornos. And they also clear up her death penalty and she finally gets her death.
This was an extremely raw and straight to the point documentary, the filmaker, Nick Broomfield, is very involved in the documentary, he interviews Aileen Wuornos up front and personally with the camera right at his side in various occasions. I think by showing the rawness of the situation and letting Aileen speak allows for the viewers to consider her side of the story and really see her human side, and how she was indeed used and taken advantage of not only during her case, but all her life throughout her chidhood, it gives viewers a different perspective on how you think of criminals, and also the justice system, considering that these films helped unmask the corrupt actions that were going down behind the scenes that were just meant to exploit Aileen and win everyone else attention and fame. I liked this documentary because it definitely sparks thought about how the justice system treats people unfairly, and also how we should try to consider criminals and look at them more closely and at a more even playing level, as fellow humans.

Fish Tank film review

     Fish Tank is a British drama film directed by Andrea Arnold, and released in 2009.Its focus is on the harsh life of  fifteen year old Mia (Katie Jarvis) where she lives a deprived life in a poor council estate with her young single mother Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and her little sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths). It becomes clear in the opening scene that Mia is a very impulsive and angry teenager. She is somewhat of a loner and doesn't really mingle with other people except to insult and confront them. She seemingly does not go to school and so spends her time aimlessly about, or in a upstairs flat where she likes to dance to hip hop, dancing seems to be the only thing that lets her escape from her misery along with booze. As shes walking about the area she stops to watch a group of girls dancing rather provocatively in front of some guys, they exchange insults, as Mia tells them they dance terribly. She keeps on walking and stops to see a dirty white horse that's chained up in a fenced off area she goes to it and tries to break it free, the owners, two  young men come and assault her there is a third but he does not participate in that and instead  just releases their dog,  she runs away. Once at home she starts dancing to a music video on TV in the kitchen and that is where she first meets Connor (Michael Fassbender), her mothers new boyfriend. He comments on her dancing and she seems suspicious of him. a couple of days later he takes them on a trip to a pond where he teaches Mia how to catch a fish. back in the city Mia goes to a computer coffee shop place where she watches you-tube videos of people dancing hip hop, she sees a sign on the window asking for new fresh dancers, it is obvious that it means exotic dancers, but Mia does not realize that, she then becomes focused on auditioning for the spot. She finds where Connor works, at a hardware store as a security and visits him there, their relationship has gotten more fond and she shows him the pamphlet. Connor is supportive of the idea and lends her his camera to shoot herself dancing, since she needs to submit a video first. That night, she is watching the video she took of her dancing and hears noise across the hall she sees her mother and Connor having sex. She angrily slams her door twice to show she is awake.The next day she meets with Billy, the boy of the horse who had been kind to her, she accompanies him to a junkyard where he takes a part out of a car, she then takes them to get wasted and goes visits Connor at his job, where she asks for money. She keeps practicing her dance routine and a couple of days later, her mother and Connor come home late at night and her mother passes out in her room. Mia comes downstairs where she finds Connor, he asks her to show him the dance shes been practicing, after shes done he coaxes her to sit by him where he makes a move on her and they have sex. Alarmed Connor gets up and tells her not to tell anyone. The next morning Mia finds that Connor has left, she tries to contact him and finds where he lives in a nice well off neighborhood, she soon finds out he is married and has a young daughter. She impulsively coaxes his daughter to run off with her to a river, she takes her back late that night, as shes walking away Connor comes with his car, chases her and slaps her and walks away without a word. The next day she goes to the auditions where she sees that it is for exotic dancers, she leaves the place and goes see Billy, she asks for the horse and he tells her it died. He tells her he plans to go to Wales, she decides to come with him. Back at home she packs her bags. She goes out and meets Billy at his car, says goodbye to her sister and they drive off. You then see a silver heart shaped balloon floating in the sky.
     The film had a very realistic feel to it. Its cinematography was choppy, the scenes sort of transitioned in a patchy manner, which i think helped add to the raw feel the film was meant to portray. As well as the acting, especially of Mia, there was lots of usage of raw language. The set was also very well laid out, you were really able to get the feel of a constrained poor environment, there were alot of details on the sets, for example throughout the house, there are old TVs and the content being shown on the screens also add statement to the film, the TVs are always portraying shows where people are getting make overs or they are happy and well off which contradicts the real situation of the film very nicely. Throughout the movie there is a lot of symbolism that makes the film go beyond the realistic effect it portrays, throughout the film Mia is very fond of animals with her own dog and especially with the white horse that is chained up, i think the chained up horse in a way symbolizes Mia, she is like the the dirty white horse, even though shes been tainted by her environment she is still pure and naive just like even though the horse is dirty and frail it has a white coat of purity, also  she is constrained in her environment with no escape just like the horse, which justifies her repeated impulses of trying to free it. And towards the end of the film after she is coaxed by Connor to have sex, where she finds out later that the horse died, i think shows how her innocence and old life died like the horse did. It was hard to comprehend why the movie was titled fish tank but i think the scene that lets you see that is when Connor catches a fish with Mia, and he tells her that fish are stupid and dont see you coming as long as you are careful and slow in moving, which is exactly what Connor did with Mia and her family, he slowly won her over, taking advantage of her naivety. She is like a fish in a fish tank vulnerable and innocent to anyone who wants to catch her by surprise. Another point i found interesting was how Connor was one of the only people who was actually supportive of her dancing and was kind to her,and he influenced her so much that the song she picked to dance to for her audition was the one he had played to the family California Dreaming, but during her audition she just walks off and leaves the song playing, which helped show how Connor and her memory of him was worthy of being left behind in a place like that club, how despite his first impression he was a corrupt man who was actually hurting her in supporting her for that audition, since he knew what is was for. I do feel like the events did happen in a very short amount of time, but it turned out fine because of Mia's personality you sort of expect for things to happen spontaneously and quick. The ending was somewhat rushed, but i think was nicely wrapped together with the ending scene of the balloon flying in the air, which ends the message of Mia finding a new life and flying away from her situation.Overall i liked this film because of its realism and raw emotions, i think many people could really feel close to the characters especially Mia's and the situation she was in.