Film Review - World Animation: Paprika (2006)

Paprika (パプリカ) is a 2006 Japanese animated film co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon, based on Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel of the same name, about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. It is Kon's fourth and final feature film before his death in 2010.

Kon and Seishi Minakami wrote the film's script, and Madhouse animated and produced the film alongside Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, which distributed it in Japan. The film's score was composed by Susumu Hirasawa.

Three scientists at the Foundation for Psychiatric Research fail to secure a device they've invented, the D.C. Mini, which allows people to record and watch their dreams. A thief uses the device to enter people's minds, when awake, and distract them with their own dreams and those of others. Chaos ensues. The trio - Chiba, Tokita, and Shima - assisted by a police inspector and by a sprite named Paprika must try to identify the thief as they ward off the thief's attacks on their own psyches. Dreams, reality, and the movies merge, while characters question the limits of science and the wisdom of Big Brother.

Paprika has gorgeous animation throughout, especially the dream sequences that manages to capture the childlike, helter-skelter chaos and curiosity of the human mind. The dreams in the movie burst with creative and unique visuals that make them incredible spectacles to watch. The story very smoothly weaves from sci-fi thriller, detective story, examinations of technology, and the nature of reality. 

Film Review - World Animation: Mary and Max (2009)

"Mary and Max" is a 2009 Australian clay-animated black comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs. The voice cast included Philip Seymour Hoffman, Toni Collette, Eric Bana, Bethany Whitmore, with narration by Barry Humphries.

Adam Elliot is an independent Australian stop-motion animation writer and director based in Melbourne, Australia. His five films have collectively participated in over six-hundred film festivals and have received over one hundred awards, including an Oscar for "Harvie Krumpet".

Spanning 20 years and two continents, "Mary and Max" tells of a pen-pal relationship between two very different people: Mary Dinkle, a chubby, lonely eight-year-old living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia; and Max Horovitz, a severely obese, 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in the chaos of New York City. As "Mary and Max" chronicles Mary's trip from adolescence to adulthood, and Max's passage from middle to old age, it explores a bond that survives much more than the average friendship's ups-and-downs.

A very funny yet bitter sweet clay animation by Adam Elliot who tells the stories of two very misunderstood characters in a unique way. The attention to detail is incredibly well done especially for Max's bleak environment in New York by presenting it in greyscale. The narrative presents the ideal about how our expectations and realities of someone or something never match up perfectly.

Mise-en-scène Film Review: The Shining

The Shining is a 1980 British-American psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and Scatman Crothers. The film is based on Stephen King's novel of the same name, though there are significant changes.

In the film, a writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an off-season caretaker at an isolated hotel. His young son possesses psychic abilities and is able to see things from the past and future, such as the ghosts who inhabit the hotel. Soon after settling in, the family is trapped in the hotel by a snowstorm, and Jack gradually becomes influenced by a supernatural presence; he descends into madness and attempts to murder his wife and son.

Fig.1 The Shining (1980)

This film creates an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere and a suffocating sense of personality disintegration despite the huge hotel in which they are staying in. The expert use of the camera and interior decor has been able to amplify the feeling of a prison to the audience.

The mix of long tracking shots and the musical score builds up a terrifying amount of dread. Especially when the camera is following young Danny on his tricycle along the corridors of the empty hotel. Lowering the camera to handlebar-level and exaggerating the sound of the wheels rolling across evenly-spaced rugs on a wooden floor. With it being drawn out for so long you just know something is going to happen. 

Fig. 2 The Shining (1980)

This is also apparent in the chase scene in the snow filled maze as the camera follows Danny try to escape from his father. It's an excellent tool used perfectly by a master film maker. James Berardinelli notes that; "By the end of the film, every inch of the hotel hints at something sinister and every frame is infused with a sense of the macabre." (Berardinelli, 2009)

The interior of the hotel is to be taken into account as well. Janet Maslin notes; "[The Shining] is so richly textured that it improves immeasurably upon second viewing, once an audience moves beyond worrying about a story line or taking the facts at face value." (Maslin, 1980). A strikingly powerful, and memorable, is the hexagonal carpet which Danny is sitting on, it looks like a maze, somewhat foreshadowing the events to happen at the end of the film, but it also represents the family being trapped within the hotel. 

 Fig.3 The Shining (1980)

Bibliography list:

Quotes:

Beraedinelli, James (2009) The Shining Film Review 

At: http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=1482 (Accessed on 30.11.13)

Maslin, Janet (1980) "Flaws Don't Dim 'The Shining'" 

At: http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/060880kubrick-shining.html (Accessed on 30.11.13)

Images:

Fig.1 The Shining (1980) [Poster] 

At: http://www.impawards.com/1980/shining_ver1.html (Accessed on 31.11.13)

Fig.2 The Shining (1980) Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, United States [Film Still] 

At: http://www.tested.com/art/movies/457145-shining-and-steadicam/ (Accessed on 31.11.13)

Fig.3 The Shining (1980) Directed by: Stanley Kubrick, United States [Film Still] 

At: http://planetivy.com/uknews/uknews-uknews/11216/deciphering-the-shining/ (Accessed on 31.11.13)

Mise-en-scène Film Review: Black Narcissus

Black Narcissus is a 1947 film by the British writer-producer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on the 1939 novel by Rumer Godden. It is a psychological drama about the emotional tensions within a convent of nuns in an isolated valley in the Himalayas. 

Fig.1 Black Narcissus 1947

The film was shot mostly on British studio sets and the backgrounds and vanishing perspectives were matte-paintings. The grandeur of the palace perched on the mountain side is still managed to look dwarfed in comparison to the snow-capped mountains. This came together beautifully in Technicolor. Thomas. M. Pryor, writing at the time of the film's release praises the excellent use of lighting to compliment the scenery; "...the whole chromatic scheme of the picture is marvellous to behold, and the russet hues of sunset streaking through the dilapidated Palace of Mopu, where once wine flowed and harem ladies cavorted, is a brilliant achievement in color composition." (Pryor, 1947)

Fig.2 Black Narcissus 1947

Not only was the lighting used particularly well for the scenery but also for symbolism. As the film progressed, a red tone will subtly filter in until it's become too late. We can see this happening with Sister Ruth in Fig.2. Keith Uhlich from Time Out describes the atmosphere created by the lighting; "You can fully sense the pervasive loneliness that entraps Sister Clodagh in distracting pangs of lost-love reminiscence, as well as the oppressive, sexually charged ambience that wreaks mental and metaphysical havoc on the frenzied Sister Ruth" (Uhlich, 2012)

Fig.3 Black Narcissus 1947

Review Bibliography:

Quotes:

Pryor, Thomas. M (1947) "The New York Times: Black Narcissus Film Review" 

At: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CE261BC4C52DFBE66838C659EDE (Accessed on 16.11.13)

Uhlich, Keith (2012) "Time Out Says: Black Narcissus" 

At: http://www.timeout.com/us/film/black-narcissus-3 (Accessed on 16.11.13)

Illustration List:

Fig.1 Black Narcissus (1947) [Poster] 

At: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1187756288/tt0039192?ref_=ttmi_mi_all_pos_18

(Accessed on 16.11.13)

Fig.2 Black Narcissus (1947) Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, United Kingdom [Film Still]

At: http://thefilmemporium.blogspot.com/2011/10/classic-throwback-black-narcissus.html (Accessed on 16.11.13)

Fig.3 Black Narcissus (1947) Directed by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, United Kingdom [Film Still]

At: http://videokrypt.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/black-narcissus-nuns-in-heat-in-glorious-technicolour (Accessed on 16.11.13)

Mise-en-scène Film Review: La Belle et la Bête

La Belle et la Bête is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film adaptation of the traditional fairy tale of the same name, written by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont and published in 1757, and directed by French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.

The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis which she refuses. Belle eventually becomes more drawn to Beast, who tests her by letting her return home to her family and telling her that if she doesn't return to him within a week, he will die of grief.

An interesting note to take, as mentioned by Michael Wilmington is that; "this film was made during the Nazi occupation under hard conditions -- at a time when French film artists more easily spoke their minds while hiding behind legends or tales of the past. And we feel the weight of oppression on the film." (Wilmington, 2002) With this in mind we can see the relatable oppression Belle suffered alongside the current events of their time. A story about escaping from a bad life.

Fig. 1 La Belle et la Bête (1946)

For its time, the set and costume design are truly beautiful and magical. First of all, Jean Marias who not only played the role of Belle's jealous suitor, Avenant, but also the Beast himself. What was truly remarkable about this, is that you honestly couldn't tell it was him. As we are a generation who rely heavily on CGI to transform people, this transformation for Marias, who was under layers of hair and make up, and forced to act with his limited expressions is a phenomenal achievement. As Tim Brayton addresses in his review; "I shall run the risk of hyperbole, and claim that the beast mask is the single greatest make-up effect of all time - if not necessarily the most strictly realistic, surely the most magnificent in effect, frightening us and seducing us in one breath, begging to be touched as much as anything in any film ever has been" (Brayton, 2008)

Fig. 2 La Belle et la Bête (1946)

The set designs too need to be applauded. The Beast's castle, filled with extravagant decors but still somewhat very simple, also had the enchanted touch to it. The one that stands out the most would have to be the floating arms holding candelabras that would stretch out as you walk down the hallway. As Sean. P. Means describes; "Cocteau didn't just interpret a fairy tale with this black-and-white wonder, but re-created a fairy-tale world. His Beast's castle is a shadowy place, where living human arms jut out from the walls to hold candles and open curtains. Candles light by themselves, and gorgeous strands of pearls appear as if by magic." (Means, 2007). Although a simple idea it gave the castle such an eerie atmosphere. Here, Cocteau is pushing the idea that sets do not need to be complex to be eye catching. The limited number of items in the sets in view allow the audience to focus on the special effects, the attention not being taken away by extravagant clutter.

Fig. 3 La Belle et la Bête (1946)

Review Bibliography:

Quotes:

Brayton, Tim (2008) "TSPDT #190: La Belle et la Bete." At: http://antagonie.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/tspdt-190-la-belle-et-la-bte.html (Accessed on 01.11.13)

Means, Sean P (2007) "Review: Cocteau's 'Beauty' still the best" At: http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/ci_6086091 (Accessed on 01.11.13)

Wilmington, Michael (2002)  "Adults can fully appreciate the beauty of restored 'Beast'" At: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-06/entertainment/0209060033_1_beast-josette-day-magical/2 (Accessed on 01.11.13)

Illustration list:

Fig.1 From: La Belle et la Bête. 1946 [Poster] 

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s112/ajlobster/la_belle_et_la_bete_film.jpg (Accessed on 01.11.13) 

Fig. 2 From: La Belle et la Bête 1946. Directed by: Jean Cocteau [Film Still], France 

https://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610265/Mise%20en%20Scene%20in%20La%20Belle%20et%20la%20Bete (Accessed on 01.11.13)

Fig. 3 From: La Belle et la Bête 1946. Directed by: Jean Cocteau [Film Still], France 

http://scribehardonfilm.wordpress.com/2012/05/ (Accessed on 01.11.13)

Cinematic Spaces Film Review: Metropolis

Metropolis is a 1927 German expressionist epic science-fiction film directed by Fritz Lang. Made in Germany during the Weimar Period, Metropolis is set in a futuristic urban dystopia, and follows the attempts of Freder, the wealthy son of the city's ruler, and Maria, whose background is not fully explained in the film, to overcome the vast gulf separating the classicist nature of their city.

Fig 1 Metropolis (1927)

Metropolis has the themes of human struggle and religion, the pampered citizens who live in luxury; as we see in the beginning with Freder frolicking in the garden with the women, oblivious to the lower class working 10 hour shifts to keep the machine running in the depths (who we see lined up like cattle at the beginning of the episode at the gates to the machines). 

“Maria longs for a messianic figure who can find a middle way between the head and the heart, the bosses and the workers: he will be the Mediator”  (Bradshaw,2010). Maria wants to unite the bosses and workers together, she preaches to the workers in the catacombs where she stands in front of some crosses which are linked to Christianity.

Fig 2 Metropolis (1927)

The visuals in this film is absolutely breath taking, especially considering the time it was created in. This amazing city of the future, a place of towering skyscrapers and aerial expressways and the catacombs running under this beautiful city. Fully contrasting between the upper and working class. 
"With its immense sets and stark lighting, the workers' city is a credible image of hell, while the overground landscapes were a seminal influence on all subsequent science fiction" (Pierce, 2003). 

Fig 3 Metropolis (1927)

Review Biblography:

Quotes:

Bradshaw. P.(2010) Metropolis At: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/09/metropolis-restored-film-review  (Accessed on 14.10.13)

Pierce. N.(2003) Metropolis At: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/01/06/metropolis_1927_review.shtml  (Accessed on 14.10.13) 

Pictures:

Fig 1 Metropolis (1927) [Poster] At: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/06/Metropolisposter.jpg/220px-Metropolisposter.jpg (Accessed on 14.10.13)

Fig 2 Metropolis (1927) From: Metropolis. Directed by: Fritz Lang  [Film still], Weimar Republic, At: http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_bloodshot_eye/metropolis/metroposky.jpg (Accessed on 14.10.13)

Fig 3 Metropolis (1927) From: Metropolis. Directed by: Fritz Lang  [Film still], Weimar Republic, At: http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/the_bloodshot_eye/metropolis/metropolrobot.jpg (Accessed on 14.10.13)

Cinematic Spaces Film Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

In The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Dr. Caligari exhibits a somnambulist (sleepwalker) named Cesare ,who predicts the future. It is here that the main character (Francis) meets the "villain" of this story. After his best friend's death is predicted, and comes to pass. Mysteries begin to unravel and plot twists unfold in Holstenwall. 

Fig 1 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920, directed by Robert Weine, is notably one of the most influential films of German Expressionism not only during the silent era, but in films today. It was this story that became the base of all thriller films.

It's sets are so captivating for its simplicity and uniqueness – something that we can see someone such as Tim Burton today being heavily influenced by. However, the sets weren't just created to give off a creepy feeling to film in general, it all represented something. As Roger Ebert (2009) states; “He (Robert Weine) is making a film of delusions and deceptive appearances, about madmen and murder, and his characters exist at right angles to reality. None of them can quite be believed, nor can they believe one another.”  Its unique abstract style for the environment was created perfectly to reflect on the true nature of this film.

Fig 2 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

It is important to keep such ideas like this in mind whilst watching The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari especially this particular note by Total Film (2000); "Angular sets, twisted perspectives and off-centre houses convey the disturbed minds of the central characters..." The "disturbed minds of the central characters" becomes oh so apparent by the end of the film. The environments becoming the true personification of all of the character's madness. 

Fig 3 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

The filmmakers use various colored filters to create the effect of a color movie. Tinted shades of sepia tone, blue, and purple add narrative depth to queasy episodes of altered mental states. 

Finally, the ending to this film has been credited to have introduced the "twist ending", the first of its kind in cinema. By revealing such a shocking turn of events, Weine was able to wrap up the film perfectly in both Francis' madness and reality. With a story and set that compliments each other so well, it is indeed a title which deserves it's reputation. 

"With its unusual look and neatly folding method of storytelling “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is an artistically uninhibited silent horror film that still sends chills." - Cole Smithey (2011)

Fig 4 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Review Biblography:

Quotes:

Ebert, Roger (2009) Great Movie: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, At: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920 (Accessed on 04.10.13)

Smithey, Cole (2011) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Classic Film Pick, At: http://www.colesmithey.com/capsules/2011/10/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.html (Accessed on 04.10.13)
Total Film (2000) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, At: http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/dvd/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari (Accessed on 04.10.13)

Pictures:

Fig 1 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1921 [Poster] At: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CABINETOFDRCALIGARI-poster.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.13)

Fig 2 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) From: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by: Robert Weine, [Film still], Weimar Republic, At: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CABINET_DES_DR_CALIGARI_01.jpg (Accessed on 03.10.13)

Fig 3 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) From: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by: Robert Weine, [Film still], Weimar Republic, At: http://blackholereviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/cabinet-of-dr-caligari-1920-fundamental.html?m=1 (Accessed on 03.10.13)

Fig 4 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) From: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Directed by: Robert Weine, [Film still], Weimar Republic, At: http://defensiveweaponofgun.wordpress.com (Accessed on 03.10.13)

Cinematic Spaces Film Review: Le Voyage dans la Lune 1902

Le Voyage dans la Lune is a 1902 French silent film directed by Georges Méliès. It follows a group of astronomers who travel to the moon in a cannon-propelled spaceship, explore the moon's surface, escape from an underground group of Selenites (lunar inhabitants), and return in a splashdown to Earth with a captive Selenite in tow.

Fig 1

Le Voyage dans la Lune was the first science fiction story, running only for 14 minutes but considered as an epic at the time. The plot was inspired by Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon (1865)"  and H.G.Wells' "First Men in the Moon (1901)" and was a light-hearted satire that criticized the conservative scientific community of its time.

Fig 2

The theatrical backdrops that were used for the film Le Voyage dans la Lune gave it a very pleasing picture-book feeling overall. Sean Axmaker writes; "...a work of pure, playful imagination...brought to life with intricate, hand-painted sets..."(1) It was bizarre, yet interesting to see what the minds back in the early 1900s thought was on the moon. When the shuttle first lands we are presented with a scene which includes a crater-filled ground and also spiky rocks which are of course their imagination to fill the space seeing as they've never stepped foot on the moon at the time.

Fig 3

To further this point, from Fig 2, we can see the underground cave filled with mushrooms which also a very imaginative idea at the time. It again was interesting to see that they believe something on their own planet would also be on the moon – again due to the lack of knowledge they had at the time and therefore needed to create something that would stick with the audience, so therefore ended up using something recognizable like the overgrown mushrooms.

An important point to note as well, as written by Jeffrey M. Anderson, is that;  "...Méliès saw his frame as two-dimensional, like a painting."(2)  This again supports the collective view that Les Voyage dans la Lune was very storybook-like. Instead of utilising the full depth of each frame, Méliès concentrated the movements from left-to-right and vice versa. 

Fig 4

Méliès not only had beautiful sets created, but also skillfully included special effects that brought out the scenes even more. From the alien's being vanquished to smoke to the industrial chimneys back on earth (Fig 4) - which were painted and Méliès was able to make them puff out real smoke.  The results of all these special-effects, which Josh Larson from Laser on Film ties up nicely as; "...evocative of the movie's era. Just as the journey of the title has a sense of playful discover, the film's first viewers must have felt the thrill of something new. "(3)

Review Bibliography

Quotes:

Sean Axmaker (1): http://www.seanax.com/2012/04/11/cinema-landmark-a-trip-to-the-moon-restored/

Jeffrey M. Anderson (2): http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/classic/trip_to_the_moon.shtml

Josh Larson (3): http://www.larsenonfilm.com/a-trip-to-the-moon

Images:
Fig 1 Movie poster: http://www.weirdwildrealm.com/f-melies4.html
Fig 2 Film still:  http///filmabinitio.blogspot.com/2010/09/1910-wonderful-wizard-of-oz-otis-turner.html

Fig 3 Film still: http://drnorth.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/le-voyage-dans-la-lune-georges-melies-1902-tableau-8c.png?w=584&h=438

Fig 4 Film still: http://lifevsfilm.com/2013/05/21/voyage-dans-la-lune/