Innella, Eastern Promises

David Cronenburg's Eastern Promises tells a sad story about a young girl who was taken as a sex slave by the russian mafia and was impregnated. She is forced to consume heroine and then dies; however, her baby survives. When a midwife named Anna helps birth the baby, she becomes connected to the baby. She took the girl's journal when she was brought into the hospital and brings it to a russian restaurant to have the owner translate it. She does not know that the owner of the hospital is the mafia boss and soon becomes involved with another man who is an undercover agent and has become part of the mafia.

The film has many realistic aspects and there are a few scenes that really exemplify this. One of the scenes is near the beginning of the film where the pregnant girl, Tatiana goes into a pharmacy asking for help. She is in what looks to be a nightgown and she is dirty and wet from being outside in the rain. She looks very sick and she is bleeding from under her gown. She then faints and ends up dying. This scene shows the realistic aspect of the film by showcasing the horrifying realities of the mafia.

Another scene that shows the realistic aspect of the mafia is the scene in which Kiril, the "prince" of the mafia forces the undercover agent, Nikolai, to have sex with one of the girls that the mafia has taken to use as their sex slaves. He does this because he says Nikolai has to prove that he is not homosexual. Kiril refers to the girls as his father's "stable" and then watches as Nikolai picks a girl and has sex with her. After Nikolai has sex with her, he makes Kiril leave the room and he gives the girl money to run away from the mafia. This scene shows the total disregard to human life that the mafia has and their barbaric ways.

A similar portrayal of disregard occurs when the mafia boss discovers that Anna's uncle has read Tatiana's journal. When he finds this out, he sends Nikolai to go kill him because he "knows too much". The viewer does not know what happens to Anna's uncle until Anna confronts Nikolai and he tells her that he paid for him to have a first class flight to Scotland where he is staying in a hotel for his safety. Despite the fact that Nikolai saved Anna's uncle, the demand of the boss shows the reality that the mafia will stop at nothing to continue their operations.

Eastern Promises is a frightening portrayal of the way of life of the mafia and the actions that they take in order to stay alive.

Innella, In A Better World

The Film In A Better World or Revenge by Susanne Bier is an incredible film about two families crossing paths because of two boys friendships. Christian and Elias become friends when Christian transfers Elias's school. Christian sees that Elias is getting bullied and decides to take matters into his own hands by severely injuring the bully, Sofus, and threatening him with a knife. After that, the two become good friends and start spending time together. One day, Elias's father takes the boys into town and after breaking up a fight between his younger son and another boy, Elias's father, Anton, is hit by the other boy's father.

While Christian and Elias are together one day they see the man who hit Anton get out of a van. They run down to the van and right down the name of his business and give it to Anton. Anton goes to the man's work with the boys and asks the man why he hit him in an attempt to teach the boys that bullies are not worth retaliation. The man hits Anton again and the boys get very angry. Christian gets angry because Anton refuses to retaliate so he creates a bomb out of the gunpowder he finds in some fireworks and the two boys plan to blow up the man's van. The boys way up early one morning and place the bombs under the van, but when Elias sees a woman and a girl running by the van he runs out to warn them and gets hit by the explosion.

The original title Haevnen, which is Dutch for revenge is a fitting title because one of the movies main themes is revenge. There are many examples of revenge in this movie: Christian hurting the bully Sofus and the boys planting the bomb under the man's car. Another example of revenge would be when Anton is working in Africa and throws the murderer to the ground and lets all of the village people kill him. However, I believe that the American title, In a Better World, is actually a better title because it embodies what the film is trying to convey. The film is trying to say that if there was no revenge or hatred we would all be living in a better world. The film shows that there is nothing good that comes out of revenge. When Christian hurts Sofus he nearly blinds him. Yes, Sofus stops bullying him, but the point is that he could have seriously hurt Sofus. When the villagers kill the murderer, they just become murderers as well. When the boys blow up the man's car, Elias almost dies. This movie shows that there is nothing good that comes out of revenge and tells us that in a better world there would be no revenge. This is why In a Better World is a more appropriate title for the film.

Innella Croupier

In the film Croupier, director Mike Hodges throws viewers through a continuous cycle of guesses and surprises. Croupier is a film about a writer, Jack Manfred, who finds a job as a croupier in order to support himself as he is trying to find inspiration for a book. At first, he is a clean cut honest man that refuses to gamble, but he soon becomes obsessed with the job and the game that gambling presents.

The image on the right is of Jack at the start of the film. He is trying to find an idea to write a book and always fantasizes about one day becoming a famous author. Once Jack starts working at the casino, he gets enthralled with the lifestyle and the control that it brings. This is what he decides to write his book on. As time goes by, he realizes that he has turned into the protagonist of his book, Jake. He no longer worries about anyone but himself and as long as he has power he is happy. The image on the left is of Jack after the casino and the lifestyle it brings has fully taken over him and he has become Jake. Notice the difference in hair color. I believe that this foreshadows what is to come of Jack. The blonde hair signifies a light personality more of an honest person while his jet black hair brings more of a darker, serious mood.

The editing in this film is spectacular. The way in which it was edited makes the transition of Jack to Jake very slight and discreet, leaving the viewer on Jack's side the entire time. This is what really makes the film great. The whole time the viewer is left thinking that Jack is a good man and then at the end of the movie the viewer realizes that he has actually turned into a power hungry sort of scumbag. This slow transition leaves the viewer surprised of what Jack has become despite the fact that they were witnessing it all along.

Mise En Scene

Super 8 is a film about aliens on Earth. When a freak train accident occurs in a town, weird things begin to happen. Animals act strange, things go missing, and people start seeing bizarre things. A group of kids decide to investigate and it soon turns out the strange occurrences have been caused by aliens so the military gets involved and evacuates the town.

I chose this image to do my mise en scene about because it represents an important part of the film. The image also tells a lot about the occurrences in the film. The four characters here Joe, Alice, and each of their fathers are the main focus of this shot. This is closed form as it focuses solely on the main characters in order to demand the viewers attention on them and no one else. They create this form in a few ways. This is an intimate shot as it is meant to show the emotion and closeness of the characters. Another thing that is important is the fact that the characters in the background are blurry to keep the viewer's focus on the front four. During the film, each of the children get into arguments with their fathers about the occurrences. This causes a lot of tension between them but this shot shows that they are their to comfort each other in times of need no matter what. This is why the intimate proxemic is important. These techniques capture the intensity of the events while also showing the union of each child and their fathers.

Innella, Bright Star

In Jane Campion's Bright Star, there are various filming techniques used to create extremely beautiful backdrops and scenery. Most of the outdoor scenery uses a low angle to give the viewer the feeling that they are in the scene. This also allows the viewer to get closer to the characters. The lighting in this movie is magnificent. It really tells the mood of the scene. For instance, during scenes in which the characters are upset, the lighting is dim and typically gray, while the lighting is bright in scenes where the character is happy. The point of view in this film is mostly omniscient, however, there are a couple of scenes in which the point of view changes to first person. An example of this is when Fanny is walking through the woods and you can see the woods from her point of view.

In this image, the two children are catching butterflies to return to Fanny for her butterfly farm. This scene uses various techniques to create this beautiful scene in the woods. First of all, the camera is set at a low angle from the grass with gives the scene a very natural feeling it also puts the grass right in the center of the picture. This image incorporates a medium shot which gives the viewer the ability to see the entire woods and the children playing in them. The lighting is very bright and natural. This easily separates the characters from the background. This scene is definitely a painterly picture as the warm and bright colors bring a feeling of romance and freedom that the summer brings.