An interesting transition shot from Danny Boyle's Trainspotting

The cut begins around 0:27 and goes to around 0:43. I suggest to watch the entire scene it's really beautifully done scene.

Response to The Road Home

One of the objects that stood out to me the most was the bowl not only as a symbol of Di and the school teacher’s love but as a symbol of family. There are stages that the bowl goes through; we first see it in the cupboard in house she shares with her mother. We then see the bowl used to carry food to the school building site which becomes important when Di falls in love with the school teacher. The bowl then breaks when Di tries to get him his favorite dish to him when he had to leave the village do to some issues. There are two more times we see the bowl, we see the bowl the get fixed because her mother wants her to be happy. Then we see it a final time when Di is older and the school teacher is dead, and. Di is serving food this time to her son.

Food is a source of comfort and it helps connect groups of people, and we see that portrayed each time this bowl is taken out. Di uses this bowl and her food to connect to the school teacher specifically to get his attention.  When she is trying to get his attention she is placing them on the table in different placing in hopes he would eat the dish. When they finally have their first conversation she asks him if he ever ate of the bowl.  Prior to the conversation she would try to bump into him this consisted of running around and waiting until she saw him. Even though he lies about eating her food the conversation brings them closer than the high school-esque puppy love way Di expresses her interest. After this the school teacher has to leave because he is summoned by the government. Di runs after hi with his favorite dish and falls breaking the bowl.  This symbolizes their relationship breaking apart for a certain amount of time and the uncertainty that is felt.

When the bowl gets fixed we can still see the cracks in the bowl which we can assume  represents their future because Di and the school teacher and were the only people in their village to fall in love on their own. The bowl does represent the obstacles they faced to be together and to stay together as well.  Even after the death of the school teacher Di still has the bowl which represents how strong their love is and the fact that she shares this bowl with her son kind of completes the circle. What was really interesting was how the bowl matches Di's moments and feelings in a way. When she is trying to get the attention of the school teacher she is constantly moving around like the bowl on the table. When the bowl is broken, she is crushed that the school teacher is leaving and is flat out on the ground like the bowl. When the bowl is fixed but not a seamless fix. Di is eventually deals with the obstacles  love  that is not arranged which was unusual in her village.  

Featured blogger question : The Road Home.

On a larger scale The Road Home deals with how the growth and change. Specifically how change can negatively affect people and places. In between the story of  death of the father and the shrinking village was a love story.  Why do you think the story was told this way and meaning do you draw from it?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

An interesting tracking shot from Chan-wook Park's Stoker

Response to The 400 Blows.

The beauty of The 400 Blows is its simplicity. The movie begins with opening credits that feature a beautiful look of France. A look that is almost idyllic as the camera pans throughout the streets capturing every iconic statue and the beauty of the buildings. This gives the audience the impression that the tone is going to be an uplifting one.  Yet once the film actually begins we see the main character being punished for something he didn’t do only to go home and to be yelled at his mother for not buying flour. Even though he has set up the dinner table, got the fire started, and began his homework without being told to. This shows us the helplessness that kids feel when no one treats them with love and respect. Rather the adult are just being worried with whatever is going on in their lives. With the film in deep focus it shows us that there is this feeling of depression because Antoine isn’t getting what he needs from the adults in his life. It shows us that he is there but would rather be anywhere else, and he attempts to find that freedom many times. Yet we see his efforts are in vain more often than not which leads him to steal.

                This is when we really see the tables turn, when the children symbolically become the adults and the adult symbolically become the children. Antoine begins to steal when he ran away from home and the first thing he steals is a bottle of milk that he hides as if it were a bottle of alcohol. He then steals a type writer from his father’s company and gets caught trying to put it back when he couldn’t sell it.  This and many other events got Antoine sent to the police for punishment because his parents wanted nothing more to do with him. So he goes form one prison to the next continuing to struggle for freedom and trying to fit in. I honestly thought he was giving the reform option a try and maybe he was until his mother came to visit breaking the news that his father wanted nothing more to do with him.  He then escapes to only question what freedom entails and we see that in the freeze frame that ends the film. 

Featured Blogger Question About The 400 Blows.

Throughout the film we constantly see children mistreated or left alone to raise themselves. Not only that but we see a lot of symbolism that suggests that the roles between children and adults are reversed. Such as Antoine being locked in jail while the police officers are playing a board game. So just give me your thoughts on this aspect of the film.

Close up from Deathigner

A short film from Taiwan by a group of students from the National Taiwan University of Arts.

What I found interesting about this shot is that in the short film this character has problem being a grim reaper. Specifically, that he has to take the lives of people and animals, so he designs cloths instead in this scene he was forced to watch a bunny's soul ripped out of the body. With the close up we feel how helpless he felt in this situation.