We watched a clip from the beginning of this movie. In it, a man (probably a knight judging by his clothes) is confronted by death who is represented by a tall figure in dark clothes with only his death-white (ha) face showing. I liked that death was represented as something shadow-like that would be on your heels for all your life. The thing that I liked most about this video however was the way that the knight managed to cheat death, with chess! The knight challenged death to a game of chess, claiming that he had learned of death fondness of chess in a painting, suggesting that this particular situation had happened before, and someone had lived to tell (or in this case paint) the tale. I think chess is a good analogy for the game of life in this movie, it's all about tactics and skill, you have to be smart and always a step ahead to survive, the kind of game that death would like. What I couldn't tell properly from just the start of the movie and what I'd like to fnd out is whether or not death is represented as evil, because when you think about it, death in itself is neither good nor evil, it is simply the necessary and inevitable ending to life.
All or Nothing:
For this movie, we watched a clip from somewhere in the middle of the movie, just after the son in the family was hospitalised for having a heart attack, despite the fact that he is still quite young. The husband is obviously depressed, and this is highlighted by his hunched over posture the camera angle, it only films him on the side, like he's trying to hide. The only time we see him front on is when he is confronting his wife about whether or not she loves him. The majority of the clip is the argument between the wife and husband, the husband feels depressed and overwhelmed whereas the wife feels let down, married to a lazy husband that makes her do all the work. By the end of the scene both the wife and the husband are crying, it's a rare and honest look into what it is to be human.The Umbrella's of Cherboug:
Another clip from the start, the Umbrellas of Cherboug is a french film the entirety of which is sung, with no spoken dialogue. The scene we watched was of two lovers singing their farewells as the man goes away to serve in the army. It's obvious that he doesnt want to go and that she doesn't want him to go, but they have no choice. Both of the actors do a good job, their sorrow obvious in their voices and in the song. The song itself could have been sadder I suppose, but it matched very well with the colours and setting in the film and besides it's not goodbye forever...or is it...Don't Look Now:
This was an interesting clip, again from the start of the movie it begins with a girl and her brother playing outside while their father and mother are inside. As the girl wanders around playing, she loses her ball in the water and, trying to retrieve it, drowns. As the movie builds up to this, it was interesting to note that the actions of the parents seemed to mirror that of her and her brother (eg. when the girl throws her ball, her mother also tosses something). Colour plays an important role in this film, especially the colour red. The girl is dressed in a striking red raincoat wheras her surroundings are dull colours, all dark greens and browns. The father first realises something is wrong when he spills his drink on some sort of inked glass depicting a churches stained glass windows and a figure in red with only their back visible. The drink causes the blood-red ink to spread over the glass, visibly distressing the father and causing him to go check on his kids only to find his only daughter under the water. The film slows to slow motion as it shows the father try in vain to save his daughter.Walkabout:
Another clip from the start of the movie! The opening scenes of this movie spend a great deal of time filming the city and the way it chokes, tags and supresses everything that is natural. There is even a shot of a teenage girl and her younger brother swimming in a pool when the ocean is only a stones throw away. The clip focuses on the girl and boy and their family. The tension between the mother and father is obvious, they stay in different rooms of the house and barely acknowlage each other. There is a dramatic shift in the movie when the father takes his children out to the desert, presumably for a picnic. The desert is a huge contrast to the forest of huge buildings the family is obviously used to, suddenly finding yourself in such a flat, hot and harsh environment would take a bit of adjusting. The clip ends rather dramatically and disturbingly when the depressed father attempts to shoot his children before burning himself to death in his car, a shocking end to a clip full of contrasts and surprises.
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