Blancanieves

Knowing nothing about the film Blancanieves, I went into it preparing myself for a rough hour and a half watching an old, outdated, foreign, silent, black and white film when it begun. I could tell within the first few shots that maybe this movie was not what I thought it was going to be, and that I had cast my judgment too soon. From the quick cut scenes, close ups, and modern cinematography, I knew that this movie had to have been made within the last couple years. Surprised at this, I decided to give this movie a shot, and maybe it wouldn't turn out to be as bad as I thought. Boy was I right. This movie I found utterly fascinating following the story of a Spanish Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with it's own twist. I didn't see it at first how it could be Snow White, (you would think the title would have gave it away, but because I wasn't really thinking, I didn't even realize blancanieves means white snow... or you know... Snow White), but as the movie developed and with the introduction of the bullfighting dwarves that's when I really saw how the title fit. It amazes me that a silent movie can convey such a story with no spoken dialogue, just a few written words on the screen here and there.
The beginning of the story opens up of a bullfighter who gets mauled and becomes paralyzed. At that same time, in his wife gives birth to Carmen, but his wife dies in the process. He then later marries his nurse, Encarna, while he was in the hospital, and Carmen goes to live with her grandmother, until her grandmother dies. Carmen from there goes to live with her step-mother, who turns out to be a gold digger and evil, and her father, but her step-mother prevents her from seeing her father, and Carmen's step-mother also forces her to live in the barn and do very tedious harsh chores. She eventually sneaks in to see her father often, and they develop a great relationship. Years pass, and Encarna kills her husband, and sends Carmen out in the woods, and has her worker attempt to kill Carmen. Here in the woods is where the bullfighting dwarves find her, take her in, and then she eventually becomes a great bullfighter with them. But, Encarna shows up at the big bullfight, gives her an apple, like in Snow White, Carmen eats it and she dies.
While that story may seem somewhat predictable, the way the story was presented was entirely different from anything that I expected. The music fit perfectly in with the movie with the serious tones, the flamenco dancing music, the traditional bullfighting music, and any other piece fit perfectly in with the scene. The cinematography in this movie was superb, and I suppose it had to be so to really be able to portray the story without having spoken dialogue. The extreme close ups really helped express the emotion of the characters. Without inflection or tone of their voice, emotion can be very hard to read. The actors were brilliant with their facial expressions (and sometimes a little overdone, but honestly I think that was a bit of the point. Most movies in the silent film era had over-expressed faces, and I believe that they were trying to mimic those films, but done in a newer, better, more modern fashion) and they were able to make the me understand almost all that was going on in the film. On the topic of cinematography, one shot in particular that I loved was after Carmen's first communion and when her grandmother died, her first communion dress was shown white, dipped in water, and then when it came out it was black. I do not know if the water was actually supposed to be the literal dying of the dress, or if it was just symbolism, but either way, I loved the scene. It showed that the dress that was once used to be for a celebratory time, was now changed into an object of a mourning period.
All in all, this story is heartbreaking and depressing. You keep expecting the "good guy" to win, but at the end, no one is really there to triumph. Carmen's life was harsh, and you keep hoping for her to get a break, but she never truly does. Even when Encarna dies by the bull (at least that is what is implied, it is never really seen), Carmen does not get that satisfaction of knowing her worst nightmare has finally perished because Carmen had already fallen to Encarna's apple trick. And at the end, when she is encased in the glass coffin, you expect when she is at the circus, that while people are kissing her to awaken her, that eventually her true love will come along, kiss her, and she will be all better. But the dwarf who was really in love with her, he kisses her in the final scene, and at this moment you expect her eyes to flutter open, and maybe, just maybe she may be able to finally live out her life happily. But, because not all fairy tales end happily, instead a singular tear runs down her face, she remains asleep, and her beloved dwarf lies down beside her. Nobody is happy, and nobody is satisfied.
Each aspect of the film I thought was brilliant. I would say the Blancanieves is on the top of my list for movies that we watched this semester. The cinematography, the acting, and the story line were way above my original expectations and I am happy to say that I was wrong about what I thought I was going to be seeing. I would definitely recommend this film to any others who are interested in learning about film, and other film fanatics. I don't know if everyone would be a lover of this film, but I would recommend it to those I know would appreciate it.

Gender Roles In Zero Dark Thirty

Not too often is a political action movie with blood and torture directed by a woman. That is what sets Zero Dark Thirty apart from other films in its genre. Zero Dark Thirty was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and her female direction makes the movie have a few interesting twists that typically a male director would not have. The topic of gender isn't screamingly obvious in this movie, but it's the subtle cues that make it important and something worth talking about.
The main character, Maya, is a female. This obviously leads to a different dynamic in the movie than what would be if a male was in the lead. Maya is a very strong woman. In many action movies, when there is a strong female character, she is usually sexualized by wearing tight or revealing clothes (for example Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Sarah Connor in Terminator or the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Halle Berry as Cat Woman, and the list goes on). It is nice to see her as just a strong female woman pursuing to get her job done in the business world. Her character is comparable to Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs, in the way that they are both passionate about their job, finding their killer, and bringing about justice without having to be sexualized because they are women.
One thing that I thought was interesting about Zero Dark Thirty is the fact that while the movie was definitely about the path of finding and killing Osama Bin Laden, the focus was on Maya, and how she took that journey to get there. Her struggles and passion was what the film mostly focused on rather than all the buzz and others which I'm sure brought to his downfall. I think this is a unique aspect about this movie. Yes, it is a political action film, but it is also one telling the story of a strong female and her struggles to get her job done.
Something that would have been for sure left out in this movie if a male had directed it, is the friendship that had developed between Maya and her coworker Jessica. We see the two start off as coworkers having a bit of subtle female competition, and then develop into great friends, shown when the go out to dinner right before the bombing of the hotel. When Jessica is killed, Maya is very obviously upset, but not crying, and I think that shows that she is trying to make herself stay strong and direct her mourning into hate and passion towards finding Bin Laden, the man behind all these deaths.
In the last scene in the film, Maya is to be taken somewhere on a plane, and one of the workers on the plane asks her where she would like to go, and you see her go through an emotional battle seen on her face. This is the point when Maya can have her true point of vulnerability. After Bin Laden is dead, she can finally mourn the loss of her friends, and the struggle that ten years brought her to finally bring justice. I think also at this point, she is trying to figure out what she is going to do with her life now that everything she had been living and obsessing over has come to an end. This final scene is something that I think is definitely something brought on by woman direction. With a male director, I could see the end being possibly more about the celebration that Bin Laden is dead; the patriotism and excitement that their terrorist no longer lives. But, instead, the scene is dedicated to Maya, because this story is really about her, and her journey. And now, at the end, she finally has her time to let out all of the emotions she had kept inside for ten years, and figure out where to go next.
Kathryn Bigelow's direction of Zero Dark Thirty definitely brought an interesting light to the story of the journey of finding and killing Osama Bin Laden. A male director would have for sure taken the movie in a different direction; that direction wouldn't necessarily be wrong, but it would have been different whether intentional or not. But Zero Dark Thirty definitely brings into question some of the gender roles and comments on women's place that would not typically be seen in a male directed political action movie.

Devil's Backbone: Suspense

Devil's Backbone is a movie that is full of suspense and haunting images that will leave you hoping to fall asleep in the night and wish those images will not visit you in your dreams. One scene that really shook me was the scene about on hour in when Carlos confronts the ghost of Santi. This scene is somewhat what you would think a stereotypical horror scene is, but even so, it still makes you want to cover your eyes and turn away because of the fear it makes you feel.
The scene starts with Carlos coming into the kitchen to see the ghost of Santi's back. Santi begins to turn around, and as he does so, the camera begins to zoom in on his face, and this comes to highlight Santi's grotesque nature with his pale skin, cracked skull with blood coming out, and cold, dead eyes. This image is obviously haunting, and causes Carlos to run away.

Carlos runs back into the dormitory, and a long shot is shown of him bending over at the end of the hall, trying to catch his breath. It shows him up close bending over, then at the end of the hall, and then once again up close, but his head is covering the hall. This creates the feeling that maybe he is not so safe, and sure enough as he lifts his head, at the end of the hall there is a silhouette of a young boy, assumedly Santi.

The shot reverses back to Carlos, who shakes his head, obviously quite frightened, and the shot goes back to the end of the hall, but this time much closer, and sure enough this figure is Santi. This close up shows him walking towards Carlos, and its also makes it feel like Santi is walking closer to you. 

Immediately afterwards, the shot moves to an over the shoulder shot behind Santi that lets you know that Santi sees Carlos, is moving forwards, and going after Carlos. 

Santi begins walking towards Carlos at a very slow pace (about the speed that most horror movie monsters move) but even at this pace, you know that Carlos is going to be caught up to. A shot of Santi's feet is shown to even emphasize the fact that Santi is not moving quickly, but Carlos is paralyzed by fear, so this allows Santi to gain some ground on Carlos. A bit of shot reverse shot goes back and forth between Carlos and Santi, and then once again a long shot of Santi down the hall, similar to the first hall shot shown above, but this time Santi is moving. 

Carlos turns to run, tries to get in a door, and it is obviously locked, increasing the urgency of the situation. He turns to another door, and a close up of him opening the knob is shown emphasizing the fact that this door is unlocked, but inside is just a closet, so it creates a sense of false security. Carlos goes to get inside the closet, but Santi has completely caught up to him, and is now standing next to him. 

This shot can been seen as almost an over the shoulder, but it also emphasizes that Santi has the upper-hand. He has gained on Carlos, and the way he is closer and higher up on the camera indicated the idea that he has the power in the situation. Carlos quickly gets in the closet and holds onto the handle while Santi tries to get in. Then, a close up of Carlos holding onto the handle is seen to put emphasis on the fact that the handle moving stops, making it seem like Santi has finally gone away.  

Of course at this time, the music gets really quiet to put the viewer on edge. Is Santi really gone or is he still standing outside, remaining quiet so that Carlos will gain false security? Carlos looks through the keyhole of the door to see if Santi is truly gone. 

The keyhole is empty. This close up is shown from a point of view perspective of what Carlos is seeing. This shot creates such a sense of urgency, making the viewer pray that nothing will pop up on the screen and that perhaps Santi is truly gone and everything will be okay. The camera zooms in even closer, each passing second creating more suspense and more fear. The silence feels too fake, and there is no way that Santi is actually gone. And of course, a after a few seconds, surely the part in the movie that made me jump out of my skin, is Santi's eye staring into your soul right through the keyhole. 

Afterwards, we see Carlos again in the closet holding on for dear life onto the doorknob and the camera tracks back to show Carlos's struggle to keep the door closed. The scene fades to black, and then the next shot is of the same hallway, but the lighting is now orange and bright indicating that it is the morning. A woman opens up the door of the closet, Carlos awakes, yells and runs out. This shows that Carlos is safe and made it through the night. 

While this scene is somewhat stereotypical of what you would think a suspenseful scene would be, it still shakes you to your core. The cinematography makes you feel like you are also in Carlos's place, and the urgency to get away is heightened intensely. The dark colors, and the blues makes you feel hopeless and alone. I think this scene to create suspense was done flawlessly, and gave me quite a fright.