Amelie

This is a weird case of review for the fact that I didn't really like the movie, but I will acknowledge that it was good film.  Sounds kind of stupid, but it's not different than not liking Tom Brady, although I know that he is very good.  It just wasn't my kind of film.  That being said, now we can delve into the movie.

Every character in the movie (for the most part) can represent a personality or emotion.  Amelie, for the first half of the movie, was selflessness.  She was out to help everybody else and make their lives better.  When Collignon was being so mean to her other friend who worked at the produce stand, she took it into her own hands by making him feel as if he were going insane, as well as publicly humiliating him so he knew what it felt like.  Collignon, himself represents grumpiness.  He was never happy and couldn't allow anybody around him to be happy either.  His helper represents our dreamy side.  He always had his head off in the clouds, and could get a giggle out of a funeral.  The man in the shop that Amelie worked at represented jealousy.  He was going from woman to woman, seemingly comfortable until he started obsessing over them and making verbal notes every ten seconds, until he pushed them away completely.  The woman whom Amelie hooked this man up with (Georgette, I believe) represents the characteristic of longing.  She was always longing for something good to come along.  Amelie was of course lying when she said this to the man earlier, but in a sense it was true, because she was so excited when Amelie simply told her that this man liked her.  Then as soon as Georgette and the man start seeing each other, she is longing to get out of the relationship because he is a nutcase.

The lighting in this movie was very bright and dramatic.  Everything that happened and the tone of the movie was completely dependent upon the lighting and color.  With the events and the sneaking around, this could have almost been a thriller, given it had different lighting, color, and also music.  The way the movie had been presented, however, was with a very upbeat tone.  Jeunet did a great job putting this together in that he took a movie which could fit many categories, and made it in a solid movie that pulled at a person's proverbial heart strings.  The audience becomes completely engrossed with Amelie and is rooting for her so much, that towards the end of the movie when Nino comes into the shop and she wimps out, you want to smack her and say "COME ON THIS IS YOUR SHOT AT HAPPINESS!!"  Any movie that causes you to root for the main character that much, to the point that you get upset, that makes for a good film.  The fact that this wasn't my particular genre of choice does not change the fact that it was a great story, and very well edited, directed, and acted out.  The main point in the film that i caught a point of view that was a little different was when Amelie first looked out through her window at her neighbor who was painting.  It showed both her head and him, so it was almost as if the audience were peering down with her.  When she had Nino climb to the top of the hill, just to distance him so she could put the album in his saddlebag, they showed her from the great distance, allowing the viewers to get tense because we knew that he wouldn't be able to make it back down there in time.

Amelie was a weird gal.  She probably didn't have more than twenty lines throughout the entire film, but she was still the main character.  She'd probably rock the roll of Helen Keller.  Too far?  My bad.  She kept the movie going with all of her glances at the camera.  That always made the viewer feel that much more connected to her cute and bubbly character.  I would say that the main theme and feeling of the film was that spiritual and personal development takes place along a long span of time, and helping others is a very important step in acquiring these things.  It was very obvious that Amelie was much more focused on helping others than she was with helping herself, until towards the end of the film where she started to help herself along little by little.  Nino was apparently on the path to spiritual and personal development as well, or else he wouldn't have put so much effort into being with the girl that practically cold-shouldered him after telling him where to meet her.  He was at first interested in what she looked like, as he was asking his co-worker, but it became evident that he was very much attracted to her personality as well.  

Artistic or Visual Design

American Beauty

1. The location of the set is very important to this particular movie.  The beginning of the movie starts off by basically telling us how worthless Spacey's character, Lester is.  Right after they show the little video clip of Jane telling Ricky (facetiously) that she wants somebody to put her father "out of his misery."  The film then cuts to the opening credits, with Lester saying that he is a loser for reason 1, 2 and so forth.  When this is happening, the first visual imprint, directly following Jane's monologue, is an overhead shot of Lester's neighborhood.  It is vast and very much uniform throughout.  This shows that he is truly a person who is lost among other individuals, and that he really doesn't matter, as his wife and daughter don't deny throughout the entire film.

2. The reason that the majority of the movie is shot at the Burnham residence is to show that they appear to be the same as everybody else.  A family that eats together stays together, isn't that how the old mantra goes?  Well thats not the case with this family.  They do all the things right, but they seemingly hate each other.  It shows that no matter how 'normal' some people may appear, they can be just as messed up as anybody else.  The house is a symbol, a veil, over the eyes of society.  Much like a veil, the house doesn't quite cover everything up.  Individuals on the outside know that something just isn't quite right with this family, but it hides most of their insecurities and harmful tendencies.  Carolyn is so focused on appearing successful, but that is not who she is.

3. The costumes are much like the house, they show that everyday suburbia is not what it always seems.  Lester very clearly wears what his wife wants him to.  He's not happy wearing a sweater vest.  If it were up to him, he'd pull a George Costanza and be draped in velvet all day, working out and smoking grass.  Jane is a cheerleader, but her clothing shows that she is anything but the stereotypical airhead cheerleader.  She wears grandma sweater type clothes, very much something that a poetry student would wear.  Her clothes say that she doesn't care what anybody thinks.  Carolyn dresses to impress, always trying to put out the image of success.

4. The lighting is not very much one way or the other.  During the fantasy sequences, the colors are very sharp and pronounced, but there is never any real sharp lighting.

5. He is showing that this is everyday life that is happening in the film.  It is not too bright as to create an illusional world, and it's not too soft, which also makes the viewer feel like he isn't actually there in the action.  Keeping the lighting the way that the director does will keep the viewer feeling like everything is real, and helps them to become more engrossed in the film.

6. The color red was by far the most prominent.  As was mentioned in the article we were assigned, it was the color of the roses that were being cut at the beginning of the film, the color of the Burnham's front door, and they also incorporated blood onto a white wall at the end of the film.  My first instict as to the meaning of the red was that it showed unreachable desires.  Red roses are a sign of perfection.  Carolyn wanted success more than anything, but she simply could not reach it.  The red door as Carolyn came home at the end of the movie, planning to shoot Lester, then coming in to see his red blood all over the wall, along with a pool of blood, showing that she would not be able to follow through with her "plans" because somebody else took care of it.  Finally, all of Lester's fantasies involved the red rose pedals with Angela, Jane's friend.  She was unreachable to him (until the end of the film), and she was always covered with the ever-vibrant red rose pedals.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

1. The movie taking place at the chocolate factory is obviously essential, as it is what the movie is based upon.  There are so many things in the film that take place in the factory that add to the mystery that the audience is lost in.  The ferry that they ride on through the river of chocolate, the machine that shrinks things and of course the mysterious drink that makes them float.

2. This film is shot on this location because the entire story is based around the location and the events that take place there.  All of the colors and singing set up such a happy mood to a movie that is deep and unexpected.  Tim Burton and Johnny Depp team up to remake this classic, and in turn make it even darker than the original.  It is a masterpiece however, because the average viewer, such as children (whom this film is made for) wouldn't understand the depth of this film, and of its director.  He makes the factory look like such an incredibly happy place, just to disguise that Wonka is actually a bit of a maniac.

3. The lighting is very bright, as all of the colors are extremely vibrant and cheerful.  The ferry ride, much like the ferry ride from the original, is dark and terrifying.  This lifts the curtain up a little and shows the audience that dark side of the Chocolate Factory, as well as the dark side of Burton.

4. The lighting is very appropriate.  As I said, it displays as a very happy and upbeat Wonderland, and at times turns out to be a factory that will take you in forever if you do not obey the strict- as some would say- rules. 

5. By the style of lighting, Burton is very clearly showing that the factory presents a facade that makes the eye believe that anything goes, but in reality they are very much in the real world, even though it doesn't seem like it.  Even though there are many things around us that we want- stealing, lust, anything- we must remain strong and gain character from delaying gratification.

6. There are no colors which stand out more than others, but simply a full spectrum of colors during the happier moments (which there are many) of the film.  Burton does this to show that even after catastrophic disasters such as losing a child in a pool of chocolate, we can still go on and be "happy" with bright colors, candy, and singing.