The 2001 film Mulholland Drive directed by David Lynch is as thrilling as it is confusing to some people. As I watched it for the first time, I couldn't help but wonder the point that Lynch was trying to make was. To me, there was a comprehensible meaning to the story and it mainly involves the character Betty. Although, I later found out Betty was someone entirely different, Diane. Betty being a dream of Diane's is at the root of the story I believe Lynch was trying to tell. I see this film as a sort of cautionary tale. It is not so much a film about things not always appearing as they seem, as it is what happens when things do not turn out the way planned and a person gives up hope. By analyzing the character Betty/Diane at different points in the film it becomes a little more clear what the meaning behind Mulholland Drive is.
When the film started, bright and cheery Betty had just arrived in Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming a famous actress. She was optimistic, hopeful and almost certain that she would become a star. Everything seemed to fall perfectly into place for her...
The film opens up with Judy Bernly (Jane Fonda) showing up for her first day of work. It is quickly shown that this is her first job and she comes off as very naïve and scared. She was married and never had to have a job until her husband left her for his secretary. She seems to want to win him back so she decides to enter the workforce and also become a secretary. Judy meets Violet Newstead (Lily Tomlin). She has worked for the company for over 12 years and made it to the supervisor of her department. However, she can’t
The 1986 film “Sixteen Candles” tells a timeless tale of growing up in suburban America. The film’s star, Sam, played by Molly Ringwald, wakes up with big expectations on her sweet sixteenth birthday only to be completely disappointed. Not only does she find that she looks exactly the same as when she was fifteen, but her family is so preoccupied with her older sister’s wedding that they forget her birthday altogether.
The film reflects the class difference from beginning through the end, especially between Annie and Helen. Annie is a single woman in her late 30s without saving or boyfriend. She had a terrible failure in her bakery shop, which leads her to work as a sale clerk in a jewelry store. When Annie arrived Lillian’s engagement party,
The movie shows the Hoover family a typical American dysfunctional family who are all at different stages of their lives. Each member of the family has their own odd quirk. The family includes Richard, the father, who gives motivational speeches on “The Steps to Being Successful” which is completely ironic because his motivational book is failing, the grandpa who is addicted to heroin, Dwayne, the son, who is slightly depressed and refuses to speak, Sheryl, the mother/wife, who is just trying to keep it all together for everyone and Frank, the uncle, had a failed suicide attempt. Abby, the daughter just landed a spot at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. The whole family decides to pack up their van and take a road trip
The movie teaches us to look beyond the cover and into who someone is as a person. We also learn that sometimes contact with people makes us reconsider our judgement towards them, to find out the real person underneath.
Little did the principal know that she would be the saving grace and the start of a new life for Precious and her born and unborn babies. Sadly, in the movie, Precious endures another abusive attack by her mother upon her mother’s knowledge that the principal came by her home to speak with her about Precious’ school performance. Mother was thinking that Precious was misbehaving at school or telling the “white” people about their family business. At the alternative school, Precious is inspired and encouraged by a very caring and passionate teacher, Blu Rain. She also meets many other female peers just like herself in the program.
Twenty-eight days…six hours…forty-two minutes…twelve seconds, that is when the world will end. The movie Donnie Darko, Frank tells Donnie that the world will end in just a short time. Throughout the movie, different literary devices are experimented to give the movie a deeper meaning. This provides the audience with a hidden message that gathers the viewer’s attention while keeping them entertained. Donnie Darko is a movie that has imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing and by merging these devices creates a film that holds their audience’s attention.
Fortuitously, the movie has turned out to be one of the best motion pictures of the year. Once again, Clint Eastwood surprises us all with his work as a film director. He gives the audience a chance to consider life from another viewpoint. The movie makes one think about what he or she has achieved in life and Maggie shows us that it is never too late to have a dream fulfilled. After all, this is why we are actually born and live to fulfill our dreams.
As the audience watches the film they can come to realize that sometimes people need to open their eyes to new ideas. They become aware that one person can make a difference in another person’s life. This film is about that, changing your life. Billy Elliot would not have ever thought to become a dancer, yet is willing to take the risk and he discovers that he loves it. The audience can connect to the main character because they understand that sometimes risks have to be taken. Mrs. Wilkinson shows that it is okay to change and do something different.
Entrails torn from the body with bare hands, eyes gouged out with razor blades, battery cables, rats borrowing inside the human body, power drills to the face, cannibalism, credit cards, business cards, Dorsia, Testoni, Armani, Wall Street; all of these things are Patrick Bateman’s world. The only difference between Bateman and anybody else is what is repulsive to Bateman and what is repulsive to the rest of the world. Bateman has great interest in the upper class life, fashions, and social existence, but at the same time he is, at times, sickened by the constant struggle to be one up on everybody else. On the other hand Bateman’s nightlife reveals a side of him never seen during the day. Bateman is relaxed, impulsive, and confident while torturing and killing. He doesn’t have to worry about being better than anyone else. The only competition he has is his last victim. Torture and murder are the two true loves of Patrick Bateman.
...ed at a happy ending? In order to become part of a happy couple both Betty and Bill had to give up a part of who they were as individuals in order to find love. This relates to the dramatic element of the stage being a metaphor for life. Betty and Bill are taking on characters that are only mirror images of who they really are, fooling the other completely.
It’s funny how all these years I never figured out that one of my favorite movies, Memento, just happens to be a film noir. The film centers on our protagonist, Leonard Shelby, who is in pursuit of his wife’s killer. What takes this film out of the norm and into a neo-noir setting is that Leonard is unable to make new memories. This is due to a condition called Anterograde Amnesia, which he got trying to save his wife. It all seems like pretty a nihilistic film, because you can’t see this ever possibly working out. Too bad Leonardo doesn’t see it that way. Instead he believes that he is doing things in a very precise manner, such as taking Polaroid pictures to keep track of the people he meets and the places he visits, and tattoos of the facts as a reminder to what his mission in life is. While watching it with my newfound knowledge I can definitely see how this film fits into the criteria. The connection to film noir is shown in a number of ways. For one, many of the characters in film noir cater to the idea that the protagonist suffers from an identity problem. Another connection is the story plot and use of low-key lighting, and finally the most important aspect of this movie that ties it to many of the classic noir movies watched in class is the idea that male protagonist is an unreliable narrator.
I spent a lot of time considering what movie I would watch to write this essay. I listed off the movies that I would like to watch again, and then I decided on The Notebook. I didn’t really think I could write about adolescence or children, so I thought that, maybe, I could write about the elderly. The love story that The Notebook tells is truly amazing. I love watching this movie, although I cry every time I watch it. The Notebook is about an elderly man that tells the story of his life with the one he loves the most, his wife. He is telling the story to his wife, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, which is a degenerative disease that affects a person’s memory. She has no recollection of him or their life together, or even her own children. She wrote the story of their love herself, so that when he read the story to her, she would come back to him. There are three things that I would like to discuss about this movie. First, I would like to discuss their stage of life and the theory that I believe describes their stage of life the best. Second, I would like to discuss Alzheimer’s DIsease and its affect on the main character who has it and her family. Third, I would like to discuss how at the end of the movie, they died together. I know it is a movie, but I do know that it is known that elderly people who have been together for a long time, usually die not to far apart from one another.
Margin Call depicts a realistic take on what happens inside a Wall Street firm. It is about a company that is downsizing their workers because of a firm’s crisis. One of the victims, Eric Dale, was working on a major analysis when he was laid off. He hands his coworker Peter Sullivan his USB, which contains the major analysis. Peter stays late and cracks the issues and calls his coworkers and bosses in about the financial disaster he had discovered. He had discovered that the company is about the crash. He tries to get ahold of Eric, no luck. He then calls his coworkers Seth Bregman and Will Emerson, who are at a bar and tells them that they need to come back to the office for an emergency situation. After showing the situation to Will, John Tuld, the Chief Executive Officer, quickly hears about it. They all have a conference meeting and decide that the company will sell all of the mortgages, which have little to no value. Once the sale is completed, the company tries to save their reputation by saying that this issue was nonpreventable.
To conclude, I think this movie is a good example to show how a homeless person lived and how he survived his life from being a homeless. Throughout all his life he showed what can determination do even though there are obstacles in the way. Doing is best paid off his hardships. So from dreaming big, be determined on what you're trying to do, and be responsible on things will make you succeed in the future.