Movie Analyses Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Movie Analyses - Essay Example This reality shall be divulged upon, in light of movies such as Volver, A Separation, The White Ribbon, Tsotsi, Departures, Animal Kingdom and The Secret in their Eyes. Thesis All movies are derived from prevailing socioeconomic realities with the main intention of fostering emancipation, justice and equity, in lieu of comic relief, catharsis and entertainment. Question 4 Of the seven movies, Tsotsi has the most interesting setting. This is by virtue of the manner in which the author and the film crew have labored to use various elements of filmmaking to make the movie more persuasive. For instance, although South Africa’s Johannesburg is more urbane than any other city in Africa, yet the featuring of the neighboring sprawling and (in)famous Soweto slum makes the plot of the movie more plausible. Another instance which reinstates this sense of authenticity is the presentation of large construction pipes which serve as Tsotsi and his gang’s domicile. Otherwise, it would be out of order to speak of Tsotsi’s crime as taking place within Johannesburg (Hood, 2005). The author also uses special effect filmmaking strategies to make the setting very plausible and congruent with the plot. Specifically, lightning techniques have been used to this effect. In instances where Tsotsi and his gang carry night raids, weak light is used, thereby making the audience believe that such criminal undertakings are nocturnal. Through the use of silhouettes, Tsotsi and his proteges are also densely shadowed, so that they are easily identified as malefactors. The failure to use proper lighting could have portrayed Tsotsi’s criminal exploits as taking place during daytime, and thereby painting Johannesburg as an insecure, crime-riddled city where crimes happen even during broad daylight. Lance Gewer and Gavin Hood as the director and cinematographer respectively showcase their dexterity and ingenuity in filmmaking by making the movie polyglot. The movie consists of languages such as English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu, and thereby rightly painting Johan nesburg not only as a polyglot but also a cultural melting pot. Question 5: The concept of family In all the seven movies, the concept of family is not only ubiquitous, but also given a central thematic value. In the 2009 German film titled The White Ribbon, a family is depicted in Eichwald, northern Germany as the world is on the verge of World War I. Authored by Michael Haneke, the film portrays the family as morally hypocritical. On the facade, the society appears chaste by the virtue of a puritanical pastor’s emphasis on sexual asceticism. However, a thorough look at the society peels back this facade. The village doctor treats other children kindly but has a penchant for humiliating his housekeeper and is found in a compromising situation with his teenage daughter. The family is also presented as morally unstable, even in the person of the baroness who confesses to her husband of being in love with another man. The larger family of human society is painted as unjust and giving way to moral decay. Particularly, this is seen in the instance where the baron whimsically dismisses Eva from work, but retains and recommends a farmer whose son had rummaged the baron’s cabbage farm (Haneke, 2009). In Volver, the family is also depicted as one that is replete with sexual scandals and unresolved matters. Particularly, there is an instance where Paco tries to rape Paula, despite being Paula’s father figure (Almadovar, 2006). In Tsotsi, the family is depicted as being characterized with a degree of inequality and