All lives revolve around decisions and instances from ones past. In A River Runs Through It (1992), director Robert Redford uses this idea and applies it to a true story of two brothers from Montana, Norman and Paul Maclean (Craig Sheffer and Brad Pitt, respectively). Based on the autobiographical novel by Norman Maclean himself, River uses Maclean’s metaphysical beliefs about life and nature to present its many themes. Using a longing score, various film devices, and a story line involving themes of youth, loss, and the pitfalls of pride, Robert Redford crafts a film about the beauty of the past.
The film starts with an elder Norman fishing in the “Big Blackfoot” river. Written by Mark Isham (who won the Academy Award for his work on River), the score is soft and sad. The camera focuses on the elder Norman’s aged hands, tying a fly to his fishing line, and he lyrically describes his past through voiceover (Spoken by Redford himself). These devices tell the viewer that Maclean’s past is something to be longed for, something great and not fully understood that has been lost forever.
Paul and Norman Maclean grew up in a rural, early twentieth century Montana wilderness. Their father, the Reverend Maclean (Tom Skerritt), ran the house with complete yet loving authority. The Reverend home-schooled the two in three subjects: reading, writing, and fly-fishing. Being a very strict enforcer of religious and moral law, the Reverend tried with all his might to instill his Presbyterian beliefs into his children. The difference between Paul and Norman is quickly obvious in the film. Norman, albeit unhappily, embraces his fathers code and standards, while Paul unremittingly combats them. In one symbolic scene, the boys discuss their ambiti...
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...l’s legs and forearms, and the river’s rapids colliding with rocks. The viewer is shown that this is a battle between two giants; two entities that Norman has, and will, never fully understand. In the end, Paul is swept underwater, and reappears in a calm part of the river, holding the fish high in celebration. The river is tamed, and Paul is finally victorious in his rebellion. This is the final scene of Paul in the film, and he dies in a bar fight of which the details are not fully disclosed.
A River Runs Through It is a film about brotherhood, the connection between all things, and the idea that one can never fully understand another. Norman and Paul Maclean’s story is one that is not unheard of before, but using Mise-En-Scene techniques such as score, lighting, and distance of subject, Robert Redford turns a seemingly common story into a very meaningful one.
Thunderheart is a movie inspired by the sad realities of various Native American reservations in the 1970’s. This is the story of a Sioux tribe, conquered in their own land, on a reservation in South Dakota. Thunderheart is partly an investigation of the murder of Leo Fast Elk and also, the heroic journey of Ray Levoi. Ray is an F.B.I. agent with a Sioux background, sent by his superior Frank Coutelle to this reservation to diffuse tension and chaos amongst the locals and solve the murder mystery. At the reservation, Ray embarks on his heroic journey to redeem this ‘wasteland’ and at the same time, discovers his own identity and his place in the greater society. Certain scenes of the movie mark the significant stages of Ray’s heroic journey. His journey to the wasteland, the shooting of Maggie Eagle Bear’s son, Ray’s spiritual vision, and his recognition as the reincarnation of “Thunderheart,” signify his progression as a hero and allow him to acculturate his native spirituality and cultural identity as a Sioux.
Pauls past relationship with his dad has been rough because of his dad leaving shawn. Paul feels as though his dad left the family so he didn't have to worry about shawn and their family problems. During the time his dad was gone paul has been angry that shawn hasn't been getting the fatherly support he needs to feel normal. “My dad couldn't stay with us and help us take care of my brother--no, he left me to handle all that so he could jet around and make a bunch of money whining about his tragic plight”(4). Paul realizes that if his dad really cared about their family situation he wouldn't have left the family in the position he was in.
Paul has an addiction to alcohol that has greatly devastated his life, but he also has a problem with gambling. Paul’s gambling started shortly after his alcoholism and his problems are all related. This is demonstrated when Norman states “… tell my mother and father that my brother had been beaten by the butt of a revolver and his body dumped in an alley” (Maclean 102). His addiction caused a cycle of problems, starting with his alcohol addiction, which led to gambling and from there stemmed money problems. Ultimately his alcoholism left him dead in an alley with his family wondering how it all happened, because he was not connected to them. His life was literally destroyed because of a few thoughtless decisions he made while intoxicated. All of his life problems and experiences are connected by one thing: his need to get a short rush of happiness from alcohol. His past decisions all added up and ended up killing him, and if he would have made wiser decisions in the past he might be still
The times are changing and he's unwilling to give up the past. The world is becoming modernized and people like him, cowboys and ranchers, are slowly disappearing. He runs away from home because he desires to find peace within himself as well as a place where he can feel he belongs. Here begins the adventure of John Grady and his best friend Lacey Rawlins. It is important to note here the means of travel. The story is taking place after World War II, a time when cars are fairly common, yet these boys decide to go on horseback, like in the fading old days. This is just another concept of how they are unwilling to give up a fading past. When they first begin their journey, the boys are having a good time. In a sense they?re two buddies on a road trip with no real motive. Rawlins even mentions, ?You know what?I could get used to this life.? Then they meet Blevins, the foil in the plot that veers the two boys of their course and also has plays a role in the lasting change of their personality. Their meeting with him gives an insight into Grady?s character. Rawlins is against letting Blevins come along with them, but because of John?s kind nature he ends up allowing Blevins to come. It?s because of this kindness and sense of morality, he gets into trouble later on.
family and force's Paul to leave the town and create a new image for himself.
Paul's father is a single parent trying to raise his children in a respectable neighborhood. He is a hard worker and trying to set a good example for his son. His father puts pressure on Paul by constantly referring to a neighbor, whom he feels is a perfect model for his son to follow.
In the beginning of the story, Paul seems to be a typical teenage boy: in trouble for causing problems in the classroom. As the story progresses, the reader can infer that Paul is rather withdrawn. He would rather live in his fantasy world than face reality. Paul dreaded returning home after the Carnegie Hall performances. He loathed his "ugly sleeping chamber with the yellow walls," but most of all, he feared his father. This is the first sign that he has a troubled homelife. Next, the reader learns that Paul has no mother, and that his father holds a neighbor boy up to Paul as "a model" . The lack of affection that Paul received at home caused him to look elsewhere for the attention that he craved.
The 1948 Western Red River is a movie of action, romance and hardship. The main characters are Tom Dunson played by John Wayne, Wagon Driver Groot Nadine played by Walter Brennan and Adopted son of Dunson Matt Garth played by Montgomery Clift. This is a western that shows the first Cattle drive of the Chisholm Trail.
Lane’s first change happened on his catastrophic Costa Rica trip, when they lost a guide on the river. One of my main focuses will be on Lane, realizing that he needs his friends to help him continue the journey to the sea. Then, the movie will continue with his friends Venable, Vermont, and Steve Patton, who will all discover true happiness in paddling along the South Carolina Rivers. To conclude, Lane and Venable will be the stars in my movie and they will speak for the rivers to explain all the remarkable stories that have happened on these rivers that will lead them to the sea.
Through extensive symbolism and metaphors to the Blackfoot river, Norman Maclean reveals his inner thoughts and emotions as he progresses from adolescence to adulthood. His inability to explain himself without the river shows how connected he is to it, and would not have become the person he did without the river. By contrast, the movie decides to actualize Norman’s transformation through dialogue and actions with other characters in the story. This also works well to show his growth into an adult, fitting a visual platform better, but makes the river a secondary actor. Characters who previously played little or no impactful role in the novella now had major roles and personalities in order to show Norman’s. For example, Jesse was much more outspoken, fiery, and overall had a much larger role in the film as a juxtaposition to Norman’s quiet and introspective demeanor. The film also gave his father a larger more loving role to establish family bonds that an audience could grow attached to, so that when Paul dies there is more cinematic shock and drama. In the novella, the shock and drama come from Norman’s thoughts when he’s with the river. For example, the moment Norman finds his father reading the bible on the bank is where he feels he really understands his
Aiming to get away, the guys choose to take on a remote river that will soon be covered by a dam. They take everything needed for the trip: tents, canoes, and bows and arrows. The four men, Ed, Lewis, Bobby, and Drew, are all prepared to go out into the solitudes of the South, but nothing could prepare the men for what was to come as their weekend progressed. They travel through the choppy river rapids and rest along the banks. As Bobby and Ed get ahead of the other two guy on the river, they decide to rest along the bank. What was supposed to be a weekend trip quickly turned into a fight for survival after meeting two mountain men. The narrator, Ed, is tied to a tree with a gun to his head, while Bobby is experiencing a horrific tragedy. In the raw, exhilarating novel, arrows and shotguns are used for more than just deer
The story begins with a twelve-year-old boy named Sam Gribley lived in New York with his family. One day Sam tells his Dad that he’s leaving New York City to running away and wants to live in the woods because he doesn’t like the crowded city and the people. Sam’s dad thinks that he was going to go but he will come back the next day and this is what the youth’s desires but also he remembers his own failed boyhood attempt to run to the sea. Mr. Gribley tells his son, “Sure, go try it. Every boy should try it.” And with those words Sam is off wild. When Sam is off to the Catskill Mountains he takes only a flint and steel, an ax and forty dollars he’s earned selling magazine money with him.
“11x14” ”(1977), by James Benning is re-presents the American Midwestern landscape through the window of 11x14 format. It is a non-literary documentary film, a non-conventional narrative, and finds meaning in the space and construction of film. 11X14 opens with a lengthy shot from the back of the Evanston Express (a carriage ride into downtown Chicago). 11X14 includes two other extremely long shots, constructing three ambiguous plot strands dispersed
In “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”, the river stands as a symbol of endlessness, geographical awareness, and the epitome of the human soul. Hughes uses the literary elements of repetition and simile to paint the river as a symbol of timelessness. This is evident in the first two lines of the poem. Hughes introduces this timeless symbol, stating, “I've known rivers: I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” (Hughes 1-2). These opening lines of the poem identifies that the rivers Hughes is speaking about are older than the existence of human life. This indicates the rivers’ qualities of knowledge, permanence, and the ability to endure all. Humans associate “age” with these traits and the longevity of a river makes it a force to be reckoned with. The use of a simile in the line of the poem is to prompt the audience that this is truly a contrast between that ancient wisdom, strength, and determination of the river and the same qualities that characterize a human being. The imagery portrayed in the poem of blood flowing through human veins like a river flows ...
In the novel The Secret River written by Kate Grenville and the film One Night the Moon directed by Rachel Perkins, the two authors explore similar ideas and share similar structural features to communicate these concepts. The Secret River is set in the early nineteenth century and is about a young couple William and Sal Thornhill who lived in London and started with nothing. Throughout their adventure William was sentenced to death and was excused from his sentence, being sent to Australia with his family where he built a life for them. One Night the Moon is a musical film set in the twentieth century where issues of racism and ownership of land, similar themes to those explored in The Secret River are evident.