The evolution of a director’s style: Baz Luhrmann (Topic 3)
Baz Luhrmann uses a postmodernist style throughout his films (Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby) to create a unique viewing experience. Baz Luhrmann creates films that reflect on real, emotional, moral stories that both excite and enthral his audience through a world so deceiving, while telling a story that inflicts on pain and the power of loss. He uses mis-en-scenes of shots, proxemics space and lighting that enhance his post-modern style. He embraces change through re-imaginings, capturing the youth through music and his very unique editing techniques. One simply cannot separate a director from his art. Therefore I strongly agree with this statement and I will elaborate on each film individually on his post modernistic style of directing.
Strictly Ballroom (1980)
This first feature film of Baz
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He makes the bold choice to use 3D effects and the use of computer graphic icons increases dramatically. His transitions – characteristics of close-ups in the film is one of the most powerful shots that one can create with 3D. An example of a powerful extreme close-up in the film is when the narrator Nick Carraway observes that Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) could see that Daisy (his wife) was speaking to Gatsby that they once were ‘lovers’. Luhrmann then uses an extreme close-up on Tom to make the realisation seem all the more intense and making it 3D to increase his emotion. “He sees himself as royalty, and you understand that Tom’s perception of his entire life has changed in that moment.” – Nick Carraway. Luhrmann’s use of shots in this film enhances the emotions of the characters and his use of 3D is more modern and exciting which all reflects on his love for postmodernism. Luhrmann has definitely taken it up a whole new
Although Daisy is faithfully married to Tom Buchannan, Gatsby’s dream outweighs the reality of the situation, he deemed it possible to recreate the past and attain what he yearns for, which is Daisy’s love and approval. In this quote provided by Carraway’s narrative in regard to Gatsby’s origin, “Gatsby’s real name was James Gatz, his parents were dirt poor farmers from North Dakota; but he never accepted them as his parents at all, in his own imagination he was the son of God, destined for future glory…” (The Great Gatsby), it became apparent that the quintessence of the American dream is Jay Gatsby’s will. In the plaza hotel scene, Gatsby proposed the love between him and Daisy was mutual which incited an intense confrontation. In an attempt of demoralization, Tom Buchannan responded with pompous remarks in regard to who Daisy loved; the exclusive socio-economic privilege of people who were born wealthy and the unsavory business dealings by which Gatsby acquired his wealth. Realism is remarkably portrayed within this confrontational scene “Laz put cameras outside all of the windows and so it was just us five actors in the set, and it was closed off; we couldn’t see anyone, crew or lighting or anything, and he just shot into the room and suddenly it really did feel that real” (Carey
Postmodern film directors such as Ridley Scott, Woody Allen, Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan and others, make films that are often highly original, by reproducing the very popular mood of anxiety, fear, uncertainty and cynicism that reflects in the general society.
In the novel, Gatsby was shrouded with more obscurity. Both the film and the novel portrayed Gatsby to be mysterious and elusive; however, the film allowed us to see a part of Gatsby, his ring-adorned hand, within the first ten minutes. When the film officially introduces Gatsby, it shows his ring-adorned hand first, letting the viewers know that it was Gatsby before Nick did, creating a moment of dramatic irony. In addition, “Film Gatsby” had uncharacteristic fit of rage in the Plaza scene. Instead of just arguing with Tom like “Novel Nick”, his feisty film counterpart decides to not only argue, but choke Tom violently.
... movie stars like royalty or mythical gods and goddesses, viewing the drama between great archetypal characters in a personal psychic realm. By considering the statements made and their societal impact from a Marxist perspective, Benjamin’s method is highly effective, as it does not simply consider art in terms of pure aesthetics anymore, but considers art’s place in a society capable of mechanically reproducing and endlessly duplicating film, photography, and digital art. His qualm with losing the aura and mystique of an original work is negated by the cult of movie stars, the adoration of fame, the incorporation of soundtracks which embody a particular time period, cinematographic allusions, and time-capsule-like qualities of a film such as Basquiat, a 90s tribute to the 80s, produced both as a part of and resulting from the art movements and trends it addresses.
Following a particularly emotionally strenuous encounter between he and Gatsby, Tom recommends that the whole group (Gatsby, himself, Nick Carraway, Daisy and Jordan Baker), head downtown, but insists that the two men swap cars. Daisy and Gatsby, who have unknowingly been suspected of their affair by Tom take off and, drunkenly, run over a woman who has run out into the street. Daisy’s hands were on the wheel. When the husband of the deceased woman inquires what really happened to Tom, as she was killed with his car. Tom blames Gatsby, and why should he not? As far as Tom knew, Gatsby was a frivolous, careless and untrustworthy man-- and all of this as a result of Gatsby’s own actions. Gatsby lives a gaudy and attention-seeking life solely for the recognition of one woman, he blatantly lies about his past and does not believe that he will be caught, and made passes at Tom’s wife right in front of him. A mix of retribution and mistaken identity take George Wilson, the woman’s wife, to Gatsby’s home, where he patiently awaits a phone call from Daisy-- presumably professing her love for him or something of the like-- that will never come. Gatsby is shot by Wilson, believing until the very end that his forbidden fruit was not lethal, and that he possessed the innate right to all of his greatest desires. It is remarked by Nick that Gatsby “paid a high price for living too long with a single dream” (Fitzgerald 163);
What does it mean to give yourself completely to your vocation or life? We find in a fictional story from Wes Anderson, his eighth feature presentation, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” What it means to be completely giving of oneself. Even though Wes’s movie is fictional, we find many deep and underlying themes, tones, and values. these are values are applications that anyone male or female that one can implicate in ones life to any situation. The main values we can find in the movie are simple, but can improve life ten-fold. Three easy steps to improving ones life are as stated: gratitude, positivity, and you must contribute yourself 100% of the time no matter how hard the road in front of you is going to
In relation to contemporary cultural aesthetic, the postmodern adopts two modes: mainstream mode and oppositional mode (Hayward 302). In Amelie, a mainstream approach is taken through the mannerisms and stylization of the film, through pastiche. Amelie resembles a mainstream use of pastiche and bricolage, which can be seen through the assemblage and mixtures of the different styles and genres. The assemblage of different genres is a common characteristic that is found in many postmodern films. We get a blurred line of genres ...
Think about your favorite movie. When watching that movie, was there anything about the style of the movie that makes it your favorite? Have you ever thought about why that movie is just so darn good? The answer is because of the the Auteur. An Auteur is the artists behind the movie. They have and individual style and control over all elements of production, which make their movies exclusively unique. If you could put a finger on who the director of a movie is without even seeing the whole film, then the person that made the movie is most likely an auteur director. They have a unique stamp on each of their movies. This essay will be covering Martin Scorsese, you will soon find out that he is one of the best auteur directors in the film industry. This paper will include, but is not limited to two of his movies, Good Fellas, and The Wolf of Wall Street. We will also cover the details on what makes Martin Scorsese's movies unique, such as the common themes, recurring motifs, and filming practices found in their work. Then on
Nick Carraway, the narrator for The Great Gatsby, is the perspective from which the novel is told from. However, Nick’s narration is reflective of how he has become trapped by his responsibility for Gatsby in his perusal for Daisy. For Nick feels there is no need for him to express his own opinions and interfere with Gatsby’s, since Nick believes that he must support Gatsby. Thus Nick continues an internal narration for the novel, where the novel is structured from though processes, using the first person, like a diary. Nick expresses his narration as evaluations of others and the events he lives through, he acts as a witness, “I 'm inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores”. Such narration is reflected through the overall structure of the novel, as it is paced out in a fashion of recollections, and unannounced snippets of information about characters and the events in the novel. Withal, Tom in the Glass Menagerie exhibits similar ideas, as Tom provides narrations through his perspective of the play. Although Tom’s narration is shown infrequently in the play, Tom, like Nick, is reserved in his opinions which he shares in his internalised narration, due to his entrapment under his mother. For Tom would feel guilty
Luhrmann portrays the characters a bit differently than in Fitzgerald. For example, Tom Buchanan is seen as an unlikable character, but the movie portrays him as more of a villain. Tom blames Myrtle’s death on Gatsby and tells George to avenge the death of his wife, which never happened in the novel. Another character that appears differently is Daisy Buchanan. Daisy is seen as intelligent and her voice is said to be “full of money”, but in the movie she speaks sweetly and is seen as more of a victim. Daisy’s actions seem to be more careless, but in the movie they appear to be more thoughtless. These traits make up who the character is; by changing them the viewer may
With this short but very interesting and informative class I have just scratched the surface of the what it takes to make a full fleged film. It takes much more than I had presumed to make a movie in Hollywood. The number of people that it takes to make a minute of a movie let alone the entire movie was astonishing to me. There are many things that it takes to start making a movie but without an idea of some sort there is no movie to be made.
Analysis of Movie Moulin Rouge In this essay I will be analyzing in depth four scenes from Baz Luhrmann's critically acclaimed Moulin Rouge that was released in 2000. I will be analyzing the opening sequence, the sequence in the Moulin Rouge itself, the two dancing sequences 'Like a Virgin' and 'Tango Roxanne' and the final scenes of the film. Throughout this essay I will be commenting on the filming techniques that Luhrmann uses and what affects these have on the audience, also I will be analyzing how the film is similar and different to typical Hollywood Musicals.
The previous chapters are preparing the reader to reach this point. The image of Daisy’s desirability is followed with an image of Gatsby staring across the bay at a green light across from Daisy’s dock; The image of the emptiness of the Buchanans’ world followed by the valley of ashes, a huge dumping ground where Tom’s mistress lives; the open public gathering of Gatsby’s lavish parties set against the mysterious privacy of Gatsby’s life. The reader is yet to realize what Gatsby, Jordan, and Nick already know: Gatsby wants to turn time backwards and renew his relationship with Daisy as if nothing
Post-modernism in Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet: a comparison of two creative works from two different periods.
From beginning to end, the conception of characters such as Daisy, Gatsby and nick the film desires to illustr...