Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

This movie was an adventurous, exciting foreign film that was about the theme of romance. The movie was about a female character, Pepa, who tries desperately to find her boyfriend because of news she has to tell him. However, it was not only about her journey to track down her boyfriend, but it also included love triangles. These love triangles were seen throughout the movie between numerous characters. The movie begins with Ivan saying romantic pick-up lines to several different women. From the beginning the viewer assumes that Ivan is a ladies’ man and probably likes many different women. The film explores the idea of romance. Ivan and Pepa share the same job in which they are voice over actors who re-make foreign films. It is assumed that their careers are what connected them and led them to having a relationship. It is also ironic that the scene they voice-over is about marriage and love. This sets up the romance theme that is farced throughout the entire movie. The majority of the movie is about Pepa trying to track down Ivan to tell him some kind of news, which she has learned from the doctor. While she searches for him there are a lot of other side plots. One in which creates many love triangles. Ivan’s son (from his previous marriage), Carlos and his snobby fiancé are introduced into the movie because they are looking to buy Pepa’s apartment. While they are over looking at the penthouse, Carlos’s fiancé drinks Gazpacho, which Pepa previously laced with sleeping pills. Pepa originally meant for Ivan to drink the Gazpacho because she wanted him to stay. Ivan was a man who was always on the move so in order to keep him in one place she spiked his favorite soup with sleeping pills. However, Carlos’s fiancé was the first to drink it and while she was knocked out Carlos hooked up with Pepa’s good friend Candela. This created the movie’s first love triangle. Candela was an old friend who was on the run after being used by recently arrested Shiites. Candela was afraid the police would arrest her for being associated with these recently captured terrorists. Carlos recommends Candela see a feminist attorney. After being approached by Pepa, the attorney wants nothing do with Candela’s case. This creates a lot of tension between the two females. Towards the end of the movie it is discovered that the attorney was seeing Ivan. This created yet another love triangle that director Pedro Almodóvar uses. The two share a deep moment of serenity and try to forget about the crazy day they experienced. It seems apparent that they are both going to ditch their cheating boyfriends in an effort to find true love. Pedro Almodóvar uses the role of women as the focal point in this movie because he believes that women make better characters. His approach was very obvious throughout this movie because it seemed like there were many interactions amongst women. However, it is interesting to note that the subject of all of the drama is the result of men. Throughout this movie men are seen as using women to get what they want. This behavior is clearly portrayed through the characters of Ivan, Carlos and the male Shiite. The drama that follows is seen primarily through the female characters, which Almodóvar uses because he thinks women are more dramatically interesting. This European film maker also created interconnecting love triangles in which the man left a woman for another woman. This created much drama and tension between certain characters. This constant change in partners made the audience very aware that one of the points the movie wanted to make was that love is not always a definite thing ~ relationships change. It was interesting to see that the father and son character were both examples of the men who were in the middle of each triangle. It seemed that the father played a role in teaching the son about relationships. Ivan was made out to act very impulsive, which was also a trait displayed in Carlos. Overall, I really enjoyed this movie because of the comedy and the fun that was being poked at the characters that were involved in the love triangles. The movie did a good job intertwining all of the relationships among the characters. It was certainly not a story that I would have taken seriously, but the adventure and thrill made this movie appealing.

Antonia’s Line

This movie was very different from any of the films that we have seen in class. This wasn’t one of my favorite movies, but I thought it was an interesting view of romance and marriage because it was from a different perspective. The perspective of love was different because it was taken from a foreign country, different culture and it took place many years ago. This viewpoint was not at all like the other films that we have viewed in class. Love, family and happiness were present without the presence of many men. It was a movie that definitely addressed the strength and abilities of a woman to stand on her own. There were many aspects to this movie that I found fascinating. I thought that the movie was about the constant cycle of life and death. This was signified through the timeline of the movie. It viewed many generations of a single family. Life was shown through the abundance of children displayed throughout the movie. The idea of children and fertility was a significant theme to the first half of the movie. The film first introduces Danielle as the child of Antonia who is a creative and artistic little girl. Danielle soon grows up and wants a child of her own. Then her child Therese had a baby of her own with her partner. There was a reoccurring theme of the presence of children and how each interacted within the village. However, Danielle had an unusual situation because she did not want a husband to go along with the baby. This also seemed to be a common theme throughout the movie. At the beginning of the movie we also see that Antonia declines a man to be her husband. These examples allowed the movie to show the strength, both emotionally and physically, that the women had. They overcame many obstacles throughout the film. It seemed that men were not a necessary aspect for some of the women. Danielle used a man for his reproduction ability. This movie was seen more as a Utopia for women. It featured all females from the same family. It showed different generations of family and how things changed over time. The filmed showed an importance of carrying on a family by becoming pregnant. However, as the movie progressed, children we featured less and less. The second half of the film explored the idea of death. As time progressed so did the people of the village. It seemed that over time there were fewer births and more deaths. As the village people grew older, there was a loss of happiness and self-worth shown through some individuals. Finger, was one character who displayed these emotions. It seemed that he couldn’t find a meaning in the world he lived in. He believed that if he ended his life that it would help the lives of the other people. Finger was tormented by his feelings, which led him to commit suicide. In this film, the idea of marriage seemed irrelevant because it didn’t seem necessary. There really was no affect of the institution of marriage on the individuals seen within this village. This film portrayed a different type of romance seen within relationships. Compared to other movies, the relationship aspect was very different from the others we have seen in previous movies. Some of the relationships shown in this film were based off pleasure and companionship, rather than love and security that are a part of the institution of marriage.

The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I thought that this movie was fascinating because of the story line. I thought that the plot was very different from any of the previous films we have viewed. The film was about finding love, losing love and rediscovering it a second time. It starts with two characters that meet and fall in love, then separate because of a malicious fight. Clementine decides she wants to erase her memories of Joel because of the past events. Joel later finds out what she has done so he similarly agrees to get the same procedure done to his brain. While the procedure was taking place he finds his memories to be very important and irreplaceable. He tries to stop the procedure throughout the movie, but can’t find a direct way to stop it. He tries to save his memories of Clementine by evoking different memories and hiding his memories of his relationship with Clementine among other ones. However, this process fails and all of his memories of Clementine are eventually erased from his memory. By the time the movie ends the audience finds out that Joel and Clementine have re-met and fallen in love again. This movie makes a couple points about love and romance. It seems to suggest that love is inevitable and that people are destined to find their soul mates. It reminded me of an old poem, “if you love something set it free, if it comes back to you, it was meant to be”. It felt like Joel and Clementine were intended to be together because of how they complemented each other. It was not a coincidence that they met and fell in love with each other twice. It was also interesting to compare Joel and Clementine’s relationship to Clementine and Patrick’s relationship. Patrick fell in love with Clementine during her procedure and eventually took all of Joel’s mementos of Clementine. He used them to try and make Clementine fall in love with him, but even the same things weren’t enough for her to fully love him like she loved Joel. We even see this same theme with Mary and Dr. Howard Mierzwiak who had previously fallen in love with one another, but since Dr. Howard Mierzwiak was married they too decided to erase all of Mary’s memories. Again after the procedure, she fell back in love with him, which shows that true love is unstoppable. Overall I thought that the movie was excellent because of its sequence. The order in which the movie was created made it very entertaining and kept me watching until the end. I enjoyed seeing Joel’s memories of Clementine, but in reverse order. Watching his memories in reverse order added a twist that I thought really worked to capture the viewer’s attention.

Hannah and Her Sisters

Hannah and Her Sisters is another interesting and thought provoking Woody Allen film. This movie, like the other Allen films we’ve watched in class, combined romance, humor and eccentric characters to tell a story about three sisters. Although similar, I also thought that this film was different in a few ways. First, it was structured differently than his other films. Woody Allen organized the film into 16 different scenes, and each was titled with some type of phrase. Each of the titles somehow related to each scene in a unique and creative way. This style helped to focus and concentrate the viewer on what exactly was taking place during the movie. Although it was unique, I enjoyed it and thought that it helped to guide me through the movie. Second, the story told elapsed over a course of a year. It started with a Thanksgiving dinner and ended with a Thanksgiving dinner. This made the story seem more realistic. Finally, like in all of his films I thought the characters were very interesting people. What was different was the irony he used in making 2 of the characters “actresses”. Both Hannah and Holly were aspiring actresses. It was ironic because they were playing a role within a role. I found that concept to be very intriguing. Although there were some new techniques used to tell his story in this film, Allen still had some very common themes. Once again, there was a strong connection between his characters and their mental health. Woody Allen seems to make a point in his movies to emphasize and draw attention to the psychological well being of the characters in his stories. It seems as if Allen is definitely engrossed with the psychological makeup of people, and his characters usually portray people who are not the most stable or balanced individuals. Allen’s eccentric ways and constant attention to dysfunctional characters, makes me believe he has battled some psychological disorders in his past! The fact that his characters are usually suffering from some type of disorder and there is much talk about seeing “analysts”, makes me wonder if Allen does this to bring attention and awareness to the problems those with mental health issues face or if he wants it to appear more a part of the norm! Regardless, Allen tells stories that in their own eccentric unusual ways grab at an audience and pull them in! Hannah and Her Sisters was no different. The story used humor and sadness to not only entertain, but to pull the audience in and make them care about the characters and enjoy the story that was told.

Annie Hall

I really enjoyed this film. I thought that the plot was very comical. Like the movie Manhattan, Woody Allen uses his unusual filming style, which causes the audience to enjoy more than just the film’s plot! There were many picturesque shots of New York and he used many photographic techniques, like the rules of thirds and leading lines, to capture the beauty and magnificence of the city. Allen also used a couple of his trademark techniques of talking off picture and also talking to the camera (audience) which leads the audience to focus on the actual picture and notice other small details within the shot. It was an interesting style that not only worked but I thought added to the film’s entertainment value. One theme that I saw throughout this movie was the subject/idea of psychology. Both characters could be described as quirky and odd, and all of the references to Freud and his principles reinforced the fact that they were unique. They briefly brought up Freud’s concept of the unconscious mind. The movie also talked about the latency period, which is another concept that was created by Freud. There were also a lot of references to psychologists and the role they played in the characters lives. It seemed that the “analysts” were a key part to helping fix the characters personalities. I also picked up on a lot of references to certain psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, narcolepsy and other neurological disorders. Another aspect that I found intriguing was the presence of drugs in the movie. Throughout this movie people used drugs for many reasons. Some used them for self-medication purposes like relaxing the body and reducing stress, while others used drugs for recreational use. People were shown using drugs at parties and other social gatherings. This casual reference to drugs seemed to indicate the growing popularity and acceptance of drugs during this time period. I felt that there were also some discriminatory comments towards Jews and women. These statements were meant to be jokes because he was a comedian, but I wonder if others took these jokes personally. Overall I thought this movie was not only entertaining but very insightful. I enjoyed the realistic plot and the montage that this film had to offer. It is a movie that is quite symbolic of the times and gives the audience a look at the issues of that era!

Manhattan

Although, I really enjoyed this movie, what I liked best about it was all of the visual effects that were used. The montage of images really stood out and caught my attention. Allen did a fantastic job filming and capturing the beauty of Manhattan. There were many scenes and shots that stood out to me. I thought the director did a marvelous job using the “Rule of Thirds.” This rule is used in any visual art such as photography and film. It’s when an image is separated into thirds and the important compositional elements are placed on these intersections or lines. I thought Woody Allen did a great job using this rule throughout the movie. I especially liked the scene where the two are on a park bench overlooking the bridge. It was such a beautiful scene with the lights and camera angle. Other scenes that stood out to me were the one of the café and most of the outdoor shots that included the skyline, buildings and crowds. I also thought that the director did an exceptional job of using the idea of leading lines. Leading lines are used to lure the viewer’s eye deeper into the picture or to focus their eyes on the importance of that picture or shot. Again there were many scenes and shots that Woody Allen chose to use that followed this style. His use of skylines, streams, rivers and buildings all helped to strengthen his film shots.
Another approach this movie used that I thought was interesting was all of the talking and action that happened off screen. There were many scenes throughout this film that incorporated this. It really made the viewer listen and pay attention to what was going on. All of the conversations that took place off screen during the movie served to enhance the visual aspect as well. At times during these scenes it was easy to lose track of the actors and just really focus in on the rest of the scene. Again this technique of having the actors talk off screen really forced the viewer to concentrate on what the director wanted us to look at.
Overall I thought this movie was very well done. It was very comical and entertaining. This movie also contained many interesting references to very famous philosophers and thinkers. What made this film special was that it was more than a story. Allen captured the heart of Manhattan through his camera and through his creative style. My favorite part of this film was the montage and how the images flowed together. I thought Woody Allen used many interesting techniques to make scenes and shots look appealing. He did a wonderful job of using the Rule of Thirds and leading lines.

The Awful Truth

I thought this was a very funny and clever film. It begins by Jerry lying to his wife Lucy about taking a trip to Florida. He jokes with his friend that what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Then in the very next scene his wife was nowhere to be found. She later was discovered with her singing instructor whose car apparently broke down. Jerry gets very suspicious of their story and gets made at her for not telling him the truth. He questions whether or not she was unfaithful to him when he just lied to her about going to Florida. She soon finds out that he had lied about his whereabouts after she finds an orange with a printed label “Fresh from California” in her basket of presents. Jerry seems to contradict himself when he tried to explain where he was. This eventually leads to their divorce, but it also raises the question of marriage itself. Throughout the film, there were a lot of references to what a marriage needs to be successful. Marriage was said to be built on faith and being truthful to your partner. Each character had their suspicions about their spouses. Another aspect of the movie I thought was interesting was the character of the dog, Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith seemed to metaphorically represent a child between Lucy and Jerry. He seemed to be the one thing they had in common and loved. I thought the court scene where they both fought for custody of the dog was very funny. It seemed as though Lucy won the rights to the dog because of her sneaky trick, in which she showed the dog his favorite toy and he came running to her. To me this set up the entire film because after that stunt, I felt that Jerry was trying to get back at her. I also saw the dog playing another important role in the movie. The part when Lucy taught him how to play hide-n-go seek stood out to me. She taught him that game, which in the end hurt Lucy because instead of the dog finding the treat, he found Armani’s hat. This eventually led to Jerry finding out that Lucy was with another guy. To me this also symbolized Jerry teaching Lucy dating ticks. Jerry first played tricks with Lucy during her relationship with Daniel. This eventually led to them breaking up, but like the dog, Lucy learned how to trick Jerry and screw up his relationship with Barbra Vance. The person that taught the tricks (Lucy, then Jerry) eventually got the tricks played on them.