John Kinsella:“Is this Heaven?” Ray Kinsella: “No. It’s Iowa.” Professor of mythology, Joseph Campbell, was famous for discovering “The Hero’s Journey.” It is the belief in what he called the ‘monomyth’, the theory that all myths from all cultures, passed down through generations, are all part of a ‘single great story.’ The Hero, begins in …
‘Shoeless’ Joe, FIELD OF DREAMS, and ‘The Hero’s Journey’ Read More »
“You all think I’m insane! It isn’t true! It’s the doctor who’s insane!” – Francis, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ The Horror film may be the most popular genre of all films. Slashers, Zombies, Demons all haunt our dreams and force us to watch the movies with the lights on, sometimes. Of all the famous …
“I like the old masters…by which I mean John Ford, John Ford, and John Ford.” – Orson Welles Citizen Kane has long been considered one of, if not the greatest American film in history. Orson Welles’ 1941 classic is a watershed moment in Hollywood history, signaling the beginning of filmmakers breaking away from the Studio …
ANATOMY OF A SCENE: The ‘Low Angle’ Brilliance of CITIZEN KANE Read More »
The Safdie Brothers’ Good Time is an excellent film that is rich in the use of mise en scene. One example that I thought was very strong was the sequence right after the brothers Nick and Connie rob the bank and begin to make their getaway. This scene, through the use of sound, composition, and …
ANATOMY OF A SCENE: Mise-en-scene in the Safdie Brother’s GOOD TIME Read More »
The Woman’s Film and Divorce, Iranian Style, although filmed more than twenty years apart and dealing with two radically different cultures, share a surprising similarity due to their documentary style and format. Both films effectively use the direct address and talking head style to empower the women in the films to tell their stories of …
A Closer Look: The similarities between “The Woman’s Film” and “Divorce, Iranian Style” Read More »
Jane Campion’s Sweetie is named after the mentally ill character of Dawn but the story is almost entirely told through the eyes of the main character, Kay. Kay, Sweetie’s sister, spends the first half of the film living with the emotional scars of her sister’s mental illness and the second half literally living with her …
SWEETIE (1989): An intense family portrait from Jane Campion Read More »
Martha Coolidge’s Not A Pretty Picture is maybe more shocking and effective today then it was more than 40 years ago when it was first released. Sadly the film did not receive widespread attention or accolades when it was initially released but it did catch the attention of Francis Ford Coppola, which led to a …
Barbara Loden, writer, director, and star of WANDA chose a very bold introduction to the main character. The first thing we see of Loden is her hands protruding from underneath a white bedsheet. She slowly pulls the sheet off herself and sits up. At this moment we don’t see Barbara Loden, the beautiful blonde Hollywood …
WANDA (1970): A look at Barbara Loden’s classic “Woman’s” film from the 70’s Read More »
Akira Kurosawa. John Ford. Two directors considered to be the quintessential filmmakers of their respective countries surprisingly have much in common. While most of the similarities stem from Kurosawa’s admiration of his elder, Kurosawa definitely shared and expanded on Ford’s legendary style. There are, I believe, three major aspects that connect these two giants of …
The opening scene of the classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a master lesson in character introduction. Shot in sepia with almost no dialogue, the shots and editing techniques are the foundation of the introduction of Paul Newman as legendary outlaw Butch Cassidy. Not only is the main character introduced with no dialogue but I …
Sound Design: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Read More »
