Brokeback Mountain

Film Data:

Brokeback Mountain is a romantic drama, released in 2005, directed by Ang Lee. It is based on a short story by Annie Proulx and the screenplay is by Larry McMutry and Diana Ossana. The film was shot in different locations of Alberta, Canada and Wyoming in the United States. With an estimated budget of $14 million, the film grossed $178 million. Brokeback Mountain stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the leading roles and other renowned actors and actresses such as Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Randy Quaid. The film won 97 awards, including 3 Academy Awards in 2006 for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Original Score, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The original score of the film is by Gustavo Sataolalla.

Synopsis:

     The story of Brokeback Mountain takes place in 1963 when two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are hired by Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid) to herd his sheep that summer in Wyoming. Ennis is only 19 years old, and is engaged to marry in the fall, and hopes to have his own ranch someday. Jack is about the same age and dreams of becoming the greatest rodeo cowboy alive. They both feel very alone.

   One night they drink too much and they have sex. Even though Ennis is apprehensive at first and informs Jack that it was a one-time incident, they engage in a sexual relationship. 

    When the summer is over, they separate and continue with their own lives. Ennis marries his fiancee Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and they have two daughters. Jack continues feeling attracted to other men and does not get married until he meets rodeo cowgirl Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway) and have a one-night stand and she gets pregnant.

     

    After four years, Jack visits Ennis. The two men kiss passionately, but Alma sees the kiss. From this moment on, the relationship between the two men revives and strengthens. Jack wants to build a life together with Ennis in a small ranch, but Ennis is torn by the childhood trauma of having seen a man tortured and murdered for being queer. He does not to abandon his family either, but they continue to meet for fishing trips to Brokeback Mountain.

    Jack and Alma get divorced in 1975. Jack hears about the divorce and shows up in Wyoming hoping to live a life with Ennis, but Ennis is afraid that the locals will kill them for being homosexual, so they arrange to meet three or four times a year. Each physical departure is also an emotional one.

    Ennis has to pay child support and does not have enough money and then decides to have an affair with a female cashier. This leads to less meetings between him and Jack, who finds consolation with male prostitutes in Mexico. At the end of a fishing trip, Ennis wishes to put off their next meeting and the two men have an argument. Ennis drives away.

    In 1980, Ennis sends a postcard to Jack and it is returned with a "Deceased" stamp. Lureen informs Ennis in a telephone conversation that Jack was killed by the explosion of a tire he was changing, and Ennis imagines him being killed by a gang. Jack's actual cause of death is left unsaid. Ennis travels to meet with Jack's family for the funeral, and he finds a shirt belonging to Jack. His mother allows Ennis to keep the shirt.

   Some time later, Ennis' oldest daughter Alma Jr. informs him that she is engaged and invites him to her wedding. When Alma leaves the trailer where he leaves now, Ennis goes to the closet and stares at Jack's shirt and his own, still entwined, as he remembers about Brokeback Mountain.

Comment:

  Ang Lee has directed the highest grossing romantic drama in Hollywood history. For the general public, it is a gay romantic film. For the critics, it is the deconstruction of the Western genre. When thinking about this genre, it is not usual to have gay cowboys. Brokeback Mountain challenges the stereotype of the American virile cowboy with a big hat and riding a horse. Ang Lee finds two handsome and masculine actors to perform in this film, with sexual scenes rated R. How much more can you dare?

 

    Brokeback Mountain becomes their refuge, not precisely to have a "condemned" homosexual relationship in the 1960's, but a place where they can be themselves and escape their respective solitude. Ang Lee's merit is not maybe the mise-en-scene or certain camera angles, but the veracity of the scenes and the rupture of social taboos and stereotypes. The viewer can even forget about the film and feel the actors' emotions. To the mediocre spectator, this can be another gay film. Since there is no resolution at the end, there is a sense of continuity, of everyday routine. But yes, questions will arise. Indeed, so many questions arose that the film influenced the way homosexuals are seen in the United States and it fueled the gay rights movement.

    The first 45 minutes of the plot are filled with excitement and suspense. Then it falls into a kind of anticlimax until it reaches the end. Certainly, the director knew well the effect this anticlimax was supposed to have: to enhance the sense of loneliness, and despair of the protagonists, each of them living an unwanted life.

    The postcard and the shirts as props are valuable elements in the development of the plot, and they become part of the archive of Ennis and Jack's gay relationship. Close-ups serve to denote each protagonists' individuality, but then the viewer sees the other man in a blurred background, who functions as a reminder of a forbidden love affair.

     Brokeback Mountain's biggest triumph is the restlessness that it leaves on the spectator.

Moulin Rouge

Film Data:

Moulin Rouge is a musical drama from 2001, written by Craig Pearce and Baz Luhrmann, and directed by Luhrmann himself. Produced by Twentieth Century Fox with an estimated budget of $52.5 million dollars, the film grossed over $179 million. The film was shot in studios in Madrid and Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, the latter has hosted movies like The Matrix (1999) and more recently The Great Gatsby (2013). The film stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in the protagonist roles, and other actors such as John Leguizamo, Richard Roxburgh, and Jim Broadbent. Moulin Rouge won 2 Academy Awars in 2002 for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Makeup, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, and Best Picture.

Synopsis:

    The film starts in 1900 when a depressed writer Christian (Ewan McGregor) is sitting at his desk and begins to write on his typewriter the title "Nature Boy". One year before, he had moved to the Montmartre district of Paris because he wanted to become a writer and member of the Bohemian movement. He meets a group of performers led by Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo). Christian's writing skills allow the group to finish their show "Spectacular Spectacular", that they want to sell to Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), the owner of the Moulin Rouge in Paris, where poor and rich men come to be entertained by the "Diamond Dog Dancers". Toulouse arranges for Christian to see the star courtesan of the Moulin Rouge, Satin (Nicole Kidman) in her private quarters, to present their work to her. Zidler is promising Satine to the wealthy and unscrupulous Duke of Monroth (Richard Roxburgh), who wants to invest in the cabaret. However, the Duke will only pay if he can get Satine.

   Satine confuses Christian with the Duke and dances with him before discussing things in private. When Satine learns that he is just a writer. It is too late. Christian has already fallen in love with her. The Duke interrupts them, and both pretend to be rehearsing the lines for "Spectacular Spectacular". The Duke agrees to support the show only if he is allowed to see Satine.

    

    

   Satine confesses to Christian her desire to escape Moulin Rouge in order to become a real actress. Christian tries to convince Satine that she loves him. They continue to see each other secretly . The Duke becomes jealous and warns Zidler that he is going to stop financing the show. Zidler arranges for Satine to have dinner with the Duke, but she falls sick. Earlier in the film it had been clearly suggested that Satine was suffering from tuberculosis. After Zidler learns that Satine's condition has worsen and that she has short time to live, Zidler makes excuses to the Duke, alleging that Satine has gone to confession. Satine tries to convince Christian that they cannot be together because their love affair endangers the show.

   Satine, Christian and the Duke engage in a dangerous love triangle, up to the point when the Duke tells Zidler that he will have Christian killed if Satine does not stay with him. Zidler informs this to Satine, but when she refuses to be with the Duke, he tells her that she is dying. Fearing for Christian's life, Satine tells him that they cannot be together anymore. Christian falls into a deep depression despite Toulouse's affirmation that Satine does love him.
    Christian then decides that he can pay for Satine's love just as the Duke has done, and he sneaks into the night club on the night of the show. He tries to stop Satine before she goes on stage and the two engage in a musical tragedy on stage, as the Duke tries to kill him.
  After the curtain closes, Satine's condition leads her to the end. She and Christian affirm their love after the last goodbye.

Comment:

    Being the first musical nominated to the Academy Awards for Best Picture in 10 years after the success of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, certainly Moulin Rouge deserves all the nominations and awards received.

    The film has been thoroughly praised and condemned since its release in 2001. It revived a genre that had been dead for a long time. Many experts consider that the film does not conform to the contemporary parameters of cinema. In fact, Moulin Rouge actually recreates theatrical performances within the context of the cinema, and this was innovative at the time.

     The plot of the film does not offer a complicated story, not even a complex love story. It is very simple: the forbidden love affair between the star courtesan of one of the most prestigious night clubs in Paris and a poor writer. However, the film can be praised for the visual and aesthetic savoir-faire. The art direction of the film won an Oscar, as well as the Costume Design. Both elements worked together to catch on scene the sumptuousness of the most famous ever "cabaret parisien". Surprisingly, no scene of the film was shot on the Moulin Rouge itself. The art direction recreated the lavishness of the place perfectly.

    

 The viewer is driven into the story and Paris nightlife of 1989 by a moving camera, an aggressive mise-en-scene, carefully labored costumes and last but not least, the original soundtrack of the film. The musical genre depends a huge percentage on the songs of the film. Moulin Rouge brings on many famous pop songs from worldwide known stars such as Madonna, Elton John, Nirvana, and Police. The new flavor of those hits was given by the one and only Craig Armstrong. Every song seems to have the right place on the plot, and one intertwines with one another. Particular acknowledgement should be given to the protagonists who are not professional singers and used their voices for the soundtrack. 

   The film uses high contrasts, warm colors, and spotlights, techniques that remind us of the charm of the theater. Lovers of the classical Hollywood musical may argue that this film is non-sense. Those who love theater and Broadway performances will reaffirm after watching it that Shakespearean phrase: "All the world is a stage". 

Serendipity

No tags. No address. Just fate.

Film Data:

Serendipity is a romantic comedy from 2001, written by Marc Klein and directed by Peter Chelsom. With an estimated budget of $28 million, the film grossed around $51 million just in the United States. The cast of the film includes Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack in the leading roles, and Jeremy Piven, Molly Shannon, and Bridget Moynahan in the supporting roles. The film was shot in 17 filming locations that include New York, California, and Ontario, Canada. Serendipity  was nominated to the Young Artists Awards and also by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films in the United States.

Synopsis:

     Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sarah (Kate Beckinsale) meet during a Christmas shopping spree in New York city, while they are looking for gloves to give to their respective partners as Christmas gifts. They find themselves trying to buy the same pair of cashmere gloves at Bloomingdale's, and they feel an immediate and mutual attraction. 

     Both end up eating ice cream at Serendipity 3 together and then say goodbye, but soon they return to the ice cream parlor because they had forgotten something there, and they find each other again.

   












As they consider this is not a coincidence but rather a stroke of fate, they decide to go skating at Central Park. Jonathan tells Sarah that the freckles on her arm match the pattern of the Cassiopeia constellation. Jonathan feels so attracted to Sarah that at the end of the night he wants her contact information, but when Sarah writes hers on a piece of paper, it flies away with the wind. Then Sarah asks Jon to write his number on a $5 bill and she will write her name and number on the inside cover of the book Love In The Time of Cholera.  If by any chance any of the two comes into possession of the other's contact information, they are meant to be together. Each of them grabs one glove from the pair they have bought so that they can exchange them if they ever meet again.
    Several years later, Sarah is engaged to Lars (Jeremy Piven) and Jonathan is engaged to a woman named Halley (Bridget Moynahan). However, the two of them keep thinking about each other and they make efforts to find one another with the help of their best friends.
  Sarah and her best friend Eve (Molly Shannon) go to New York hoping to find some information about Jonathan. They decide to find some consolation on Serendipity. Eve is handled the $5 bill as change. Coincidentally, Eve meets an old friend at the Waldorf Astoria, and it´s Halley, Jonathan's fiancée, who is about to get married the next day. Halley invites both to the wedding.
   Sarah returns to the hotel room, where she finds Lars, who has flown to New York after her. While being with Lars, she sees Cassiopeia in the sky and decides to break with him.
   Prompted by Jonathan looking at the book every time they visit a bookstore, Halley gives Jonathan Love in the Time of Cholera as the wedding gift on the night before their wedding.
   Sarah decides not to go to the wedding and on while being on the plane for her flight home, she notices that her wallet has been exchanged with Eve's. 

    To her surprise, she finds the $5 bill that Jonathan has written years ago and she gets off the plane to search for Jon. When she gets to the hotel to try to stop the wedding, she finds a man cleaning supposedly after the ceremony is over. She is in tears until the man says that the wedding has been called off. 
  Fate will bring them again to Central Park, as as the first snowflake falls, they meet.

Comment:

   Serendipity is considered by many a lighthearted comedy. It was conceived mainly to entertain. Its story is simple, but still attractive to people that want to see a simpleminded film. Shot at many locations around New York, such as Central Park and the Waldorf Astoria, the film also portrays New York as a dream city where love and happy accidents (which is the meaning of "serendipity") can actually happen.
    Serendipity can be considered a mainstream American comedy, where the protagonists are successful and want to live to the fullest their American dream. Who can get married at the Waldorf Astoria? Not too many, I can assure you, but this movie makes it possible.   As to the cinematography of the film, the director of photography is very aware of depth of field to highlight the protagonists' torment trying to find each other and thinking about each other. Many close-up shots put the protagonist on the foreground and the other characters on a blurred background. The director wants to emphasize that nothing else is more important than their mutual attraction and their story of love and fate. I personally love the bokeh in some scenes that reminds the viewer of Christmas in New York City.

  The use of props enhance the development of the plot, as symbols for the protagonists' fate. The first important prop is the pair of gloves they both want to buy. Other relevant props to convey the meaning of the story are the $5 bill and the book Love in the Time of Cholera. The writer chose this book precisely because Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells a story of two lovers that despite all circumstances manage to get together at the end, after several years have passed. The plot of Garcia Marquez's novel was very appropriate for this film, which almost shares the same storyline.

  As to the development of the narrative, Serendipity is a perfect example that illustrates the five-part dramatic structure, with a non-ambiguous denouement. The protagonists finally get together and they are better off than at the moment of exposition at the beginning of the movie.

    In general, despite the not so convincing performances of the actors and actresses, the viewer enjoys this romantic comedy. The director manages to keep suspense all throughout the film until the end when the two lovers reunite. You will taste of flavor of "happy accidents do happen".

Los Dioses Rotos (Fallen Gods)

Film Data:

Los Dioses Rotos (Fallen Gods) is a foreign drama from Cuba by ICAIC Studios. It was written and directed by Ernesto Daranas. This is Daranas' first film as a director. The film was produced in 2008 by Altavista. It was produced with an estimated budget of only $250,000 and it was entirely shot in Havana City. It features Cuban actors and actresses: Carlos Ever Fonseca, Annia Bu Maure, and Silvia Águila on the protagonist roles, and Héctor Noas as the antagonist. Los Dioses Rotos was selected by Cuba as candidate for nomination to the 82nd Academy Awards. It received the Audience Award at the Festival of New Latin American Cinema of Havana.

 Synopsis:

     Laura (Silvia Águila) is a professor of Anthropology at University of Havana that is researching about the famous Cuban pimp Alberto Yarini Ponce de León, who was murdered by his French rivals who controlled the business of prostitution in Havana at the beginnings of the 20th Century. Extremely interested in demonstrating the validity of such individual she steps into the complex reality of contemporary Havana. 

     Laura meets Rosendo (Hector Noas), who has a handkerchief which originally belonged to Yarini and with which a prostitute covered the wound in his chest after he was shot in the neighborhood of San Isidro in Old Havana in 1910. This handkerchief would be considered the sacred object of the cult of the pimp thereafter.

  Laura's obsession for proving the originality of this handkerchief becomes the center of her research for her Master's Degree Thesis. Such obsession leads her to penetrate the obscure reality of Old Havana neighborhoods in the 21st Century, amidst the burgeoning prostitution.

   Laura's innocence at the beginning of the film induces her to search for the original DNA of the blood in the handkerchief, without noticing that she was getting immersed in the chaotic context of the same story of the 1900's, but transposed to contemporary Havana.

   The central thematic story develops from a love relationship between Laura and Alberto (Carlos Ever Fonseca), and this relationship takes her to the world of Rosendo and Sandra (Annia Bu Maure), his mulata manageress who is totally dedicated to him.

    The tragic ending of the plot reminds the viewer of Yarini and his fate. 

Comment:

    Ernesto Daranas' opera prima Los Dioses Rotos immerses the viewer in the contemporary Cuban reality, governed by the social extravaganza of pimps, prostitutes, and the commerce of tourists looking for cheap sex. The community is guided by Santeria religious practices where the pimp is seen as Chango, the God of masculinity in that religion, represented in the film by the pimp who was the virile macho man in control over a number of women.

   Daranas chose to shoot his film on location, in the neighborhood of San Isidro in Old Havana, to give the film more realism. No other scenery could be better that the same streets where Yarini actually lived, and where the new reality of prostitution develops. Los Dioses Rotos has been classified by some critics as a film with documentary features.
    A careful art direction sketches a story with a non-linear plot, with flashbacks to the past, and transforms the script of one of the most famous Cuban theater plays "Réquiem por Yarini", by playwright Carlos Felipe in the 1950's.
    The film includes interviews to people who live in this context of prostitution: pimps, "gineteras", travesties. Laura needs real facts to conduct her research and integrates herself into that society, becoming part of the plot. Precisely to enhance the realism of the film, non-diegetic elements such as multiple narrators, create dissimilar points of views about the same reality.

    One of the most praised aspects of the film has been its mid-color photography, with special attention to green, yellow, and red tones in most of the scenes in order to enhance the "warmth" of the plot, the need for blood, the Caribbean context. The moving, almost trembling camera in some occasions, particularly on the scenes of Santeria practices, as well as a perfect montage of close-ups, highlight the documentary features of Los Dioses Rotos. The film does not seem to suffer with the use of techniques from television, video clips or even advertising.
   Daranas provides the spectator with a work populated by visual and dramatic effects to develop a story of suspense, eroticism, violence, and crime.
     

Finding Nemo

Film Data:

Finding Nemo is an animation/adventure/comedy from 2003 by Walt Disney Pictures, written by Andrew Stanton and directed by himself and Lee Unkrich. The film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, after the success of movies like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. It was released in the USA on May 30th, 2003. Finding Nemo had an estimated budget of $94 million, but it grossed over $380 million only in the USA. The characters' voices come from top of the line actors such as Albert Brooks as Marlin, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory, Alexander Gould as Nemo, and Willem Dafoe as Gil. Finding Nemo won several awards including an Oscar in 2004 for Best Animated Feature. Since 2003, the film has had several editions, from theatrical to DVD, Bluray and most recently, 3D.

Synopsis:

     Excited to be first-time parents, two ocellaris clownfish, Marlin and his wife Coral are admiring the view from their new home within a sea anemone, while their eggs are due to hatch in a few days. They are discussing names and Coral expresses her preference for Nemo. Suddenly, an Australian barracuda attacks them, eating Coral and the eggs and leaving Marlin unconscious. But there is only one egg that survives, with a scratch on the right side, and Marlin names him Nemo, because it was the name Coral had chosen.
     Due to the damage caused to the egg by the barracuda attack, Nemo grows with a tiny right fin, which limits his swimming capability. Marlin overprotects Nemo and embarrasses him on his first day of school in front of the teacher Mr. Ray and his fish friends, because he is afraid that Nemo will not be able to make it on his own.

Mr. Ray, Nemo and friends on the first day of school

     Nemo disobeys Marlin and sneaks from the class in direction to a boat. Unfortunately, he is captured by scuba divers and placed in a small bag full of water. As the boat sails away, one of the divers accidentally drops his mask. Marlin swims after the divers but he is disoriented by the flash of a camera one of the divers uses to take a picture of him, preventing Marlin from reaching Nemo.
     Marlin goes back to the sea floor, begging schools of fish for help until he meets the good-hearted regal blue tang Dory, who claims to have seen the boat and leads Marlin in that direction, but she suffers from short-term memory loss and becomes lax, even trying to evade Marlin as she sees him swimming behind her. When Marlin learns of her memory loss, he feels dumbfounded and turns to leave. However, a great white shark named Bruce stops him. They meet Bruce and his fellow shark friends who are on a fish-free diet, and he invites Dory and Marlin to a get together on his place. Then Marlin spots the diver's mask that was stuck on a shard of metal and sees that the strap has something written that may lead to Nemo. Dory picks up the mask to see if the sharks can read the information, but Marlin tries to take it back. The two of them engage in a tug-of-war and Marlin accidentally causes Dory to nosebleed, awakening Bruce's carnivore instincts, and despite the other two sharks' intervention to try to stop Bruce, he chases Dory and Marlin all over the place, taking hold of the mask with his mouse. Dory reveals then that she can read human, and the two of them escape from Bruce and from an anglerfish.
     After a hazardous struggle with those huge sea creatures, Dory is able to read the address on the mask. The address is from Sydney, Australia. Dory manages to remember it, and they engage in an adventurous trip to Sydney, even encountering a bloom of jellyfish that almost kills them. After escaping from the jelly fish, they encounter a sea turtle named Crush, who takes them on the East Australian Current. Marlin shares the details of the story to a group of young sea turtles and through word of mouth, the news spread rapidly and reaches Nemo, who by this time has been placed in a fish tank on P. Sherman's dentistry office, and he meets a group of original inhabitants inside the fish tank. They become frightened to know that the dentist plans to give Nemo to his niece Darla, whom they name "the fish killer", as she once killed a fish by constantly shaking the bag where it was. Trying to avoid Nemo's fate, Gill, the oldest fish on the tank, devices an escape plan that includes jamming the tank's filter so that the tanks needs a thorough cleaning. This would lead the dentist to put each fish in plastic bags and they can roll out into the harbor, but this plan fails when the dentist installs a new filter on the tank.

The Tank Gang

   Meanwhile, Marlin and Dory have left the East Australian Current and have been engulfed by a blue whale. Marlin desperately tries to escape from the whale's immense mouth, and Dory reveals that she can speak "whalish". The whale understands the issue and takes them to Port Jackson. Then they meet the pelican Nigel on the surface, who recognizes Marlin from the stories he has heard.
   Gill and the Tank Gang put their plan into practice. Nemo plays dead in order to escape from Darla, but Marlin (who is taken to the office by Nigel), sees him and think his son is really dead. Amidst a chaos, Gill manages to push Nemo into the sink. Gill knows all drains lead into the ocean, so Nemo will be safe.
   Nigel takes Marlin and Dory back to the harbor, offering his condolences. Marlin feels very sad and leaves Dory and begins to swim back home. Dory loses her memory again and gets confused, and then meets Nemo, who has made it to the ocean through the water pipes. At first she does not recognize him, but recovers her memory when she reads the word "Sydney" on a nearby drainpipe. Then Dory remembers her journey and takes Nemo to his father. After they reunite happily, Dory is caught by a fishing net and Nemo saves her. The three of them swim back home. Finally, Nemo goes to school again, but he is more mature now, and Marlin feels confident about his son.

Comment:

    Nobody could imagine that after movies like Toy Story and Monsters Inc. and their success, Pixar Animation Studios could create such a wonderful film as Finding Nemo. In fact, Finding Nemo is all about animation, more exactly, about computer animation that seems to rule the industry nowadays, particularly when it comes to movies created for children and their parents. Computer animation makes  the characters more attractive and all the scenery looks real. If you compare  Finding Nemo to another Walt Disney Pictures hit that takes place in the sea, The Little Mermaid, from 1989, the difference in quality image is huge. The sea and its  movement in Finding Nemo looks more natural, just like all the sea creatures. The underwater environment in the movie is graceful and beautiful. The creators of those animations pushed the saturation of colors and added more geometry to the characters and the sea. They have excelled themselves to capture textures and light  to make it more believable for children.

     Finding Nemo is the third top grossing animates films of all time, right after Toy Story 3 and The Lion King. Not surprisingly, The Lion King is a story about a boy and his father, and how the boy grows up immersed in hazardous situations. The Lion King is more dramatic that Finding Nemo, but both films manage to develop the plot wisely and with humorous moments to compensate for the sad ones, like when Nemo's mom gets eaten by the barracuda or when Nemo gets lost.
      I must confess that the most appealing character to me is Dory. The richness and intelligence of the texts she produces along with her movements and Ellen DeGeneres voice, make this film a must-watch. Dory is the character that represents the value of true friendship in Finding Nemo, and maybe that is why she is also adults' favorite. At the end of the film, she discovers that her memory is better when she is next to Marlin. His company makes her feel great. I guess the director did not want to portray them as lovers since it would be very complicated for children to understand a love relationship between different species of fish, or preferably because Nemo's mom died and Marlin was not supposed to get a new lover so soon. That way, the director/writer played it safe for the sake of the family. Among Dory's funniest moments, I can highlight her vis-à-vis with the whale speaking "whalish". This scene is meant to show that communication is the key to success, no matter how harsh the circumstances.
    Nemo is the classic misbehaving kid who wants to do the things his way and learns the lesson. The moral of the film for children is: pay attention to what your parents say, because if you do not, you will get into trouble. However, the film also has a moral for overprotective parents who think that children are their absolute property. It was precisely Marlin's overprotection who led Nemo to misbehavior and bad experiences, as it usually happens in everyday real human life. Looking at the plot of the film from a more positive side, we can see a beautiful story about confidence and self-confidence, about courage and perseverance, about parents and children, and about comradeship needed to succeed in life. This is particularly achieved by the concept of the "Tank Gang" and how they work together to free Nemo.
   Compared to The Little Mermaid, I must admit that Finding Nemo lacks that catchy soundtrack which makes the movie even more appealing to children, who always try to learn the songs. It does not mean that the score is not great, but not as great as previous Pixar Studios soundtracks by Randy Newman or the soundtrack from The Little Mermaid, that made such film be considered as the one that brought the Broadway Musical to the children's world. Nevertheless, the soundtrack from Finding Nemo was nominated to the Academy Award for Original Music Score, and paved the way to create the Finding Nemo musical.
    Generally speaking, Finding Nemo is an enjoyable film in every sense. No wonder why Rotten Tomatoes has given it an amazing 99%. Despite its short underwater terrifying moments, children and parents will be comfortable in watching it. I have watched it myself 8 times and I do not get bored. One of the most interesting results from the film is that funny oblivion of adulthood when you go to an aquarium and you see a clownfish and cannot help exclaiming: "Look at Nemo!".
    

Dancer in the Dark

You don´t need eyes to see

Film Data:

Dancer in the Dark is a musical drama from 2000, written and directed by Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier. The film was first released in France, on May 17th, 2000, at the Cannes Film Festival. This film was shot with an estimated budget of $12,800,000  in several locations across Denmark, Sweden, and the Washington State Penitentiary; it grossed approximately $45.6 million. The film stars international pop diva Björk as Selma Jezkova, the protagonist of the story; Catherine Deneuve as Kathy, Selma's best friend, coworker and fellow European; David Morse as Bill Houston, Selma's landlord;  Peter Stormare as Jeff, and the child Vladica Kostic, as Gene Jezkova, Selma's 12-year-old son, among other actors and actresses. Dancer in the Dark won several awards, including Cannes Film Festival Best Actress for Björk and the Palme D'Or for Best Picture. 

Synopsis:

     Selma Jezkova is a Czech woman who migrates to the United States with her son Gene in 1964. She works day and night in a factory in rural Washington, struggling hard to make a living, and trying to save her son from the same degenerative disease she suffers from that will inevitably make him blind if she does not have surgery. They live in a mobile trailer in a property of the local sheriff Bill and her wife Linda. She has been saving money in a tiny can in her kitchen, so that her son can be operated. No one in Selma's life knows her secret: she is progressively going blind. She slips in a kind of trance or daydreaming where the individuals around her engage in a theatrical performance, similar to the fabulous Hollywood musicals she and Kathy watch at the cinema, or more likely the musicals Kathy describes to her, as Selma's eyesight is diminishing. Bill Houston, the sheriff, reveals the dark secret of his desperate financial condition to Selma, and she, in return, reveals her progressive blindness to him. Bill asks Selma for a loan, but she refuses, then, knowing she will not be able to see him, hides in a corner of Selma's kitchen and watches her put money inside the tin.

    Soon Jeff and Kathy realize that Selma is going blind, as she continues to fall into daydreaming at the factory, until she breaks her machine. She is then fired from her job. When she comes home to deposit her last wages, she finds out that the tin has no money. When she goes next door to talk to Bill about this issue, she hears Linda discussing with Bill about his bringing home their safe deposit box. Selma knows Bill was completely broken; therefore, she supposes that the money in the deposit box must be hers.
    Selma then decides to confront Bill, but when she does, he aims a gun at her and the two of them fight and he is wounded. Linda discovers the two of them and she assumes that Selma is trying to steal the money from them. Linda runs away to inform the police. Bill then begs Selma to take his life, telling her that was the only way she could recover her money. Selma shoots at him several times, but due to her blindness manages to only maim Bill further. In the end, she aims at the safe deposit box. In one of the scenes, Selma falls into daydreaming and imagines that Bill's corpse stands up and slow dances with her, urging her to run to freedom. She runs, and takes the money to the Institute for the Blind to pay for her son's operation before the police can take it from her.
    The police catch her eventually, and she goes to trial. In spite of being accused to be a murderer and a Communist, she tells as much the truth as she can, however, she refuses to tell Bill's secret, because she had promised not to reveal it. Life turns out to be an inferno for her, but her effort to save her son from blindness is eventually rewarded.

 Comment:

 Bizarre would not be enough to describe Dancer in the Dark, Lars Von Trier's third film of his "Golden Heart Trilogy". Perhaps one of the most troublesome aspects of the film in terms of production is that it was entirely shot using handheld cameras with anamorphic lenses. The anamorphic cinematography technique is used to shoot a widescreen picture with a non-widescreen native aspect ratio. The result is a distorted image that conforms to the etymology of the word "anamorphic" which in Greek means "formed again". Von Trier was quite aware of the results of using this technique for the sake of distorted reality he wanted to achieve on the film. The handheld cameras then become Selma's blurry eyesight, making the film difficult to watch due to the constant uneven movement of the camera and the out-of-focus scenes that simulate Selma's eyesight. There are a lot of fade-in and fade-outs all throughout the film, and a lot of cutting-on-action too.
 The three films of Von Trier's trilogy, including this one, are centered on the binary life vs. death and on the relationship between love and death. In Dancer in the Dark, Selma arises as the female Christ figure, and her motherly love is the perfect example of self-sacrifice. Selma's agony in the scene in the gallows can be compared to Jesus Christ's agony and death on the cross, a sacrifice that would save mankind. In the film, Selma's refusal to escape death in order to save her son from blindness is the demonstration of her love and supreme sacrifice. 

 The film also deals with the agony of immigrants in the capitalist context of the United States, and the hard work and sacrifices it entails. Selma is the classic Eastern European immigrant in the 1960's who struggles hard to make ends meet and to save money for her son's operation. Lars Von Trier portrays America as the land of dishonesty, sentimental escapism and excessive greed. The only possible solution for Selma was the self-flagellation in the name of motherly love. 
 Dancer in the Dark is a clear example of realism. It portrays Selma's life as it really is. There is no need for the fantastic or the abstract. She is going blind, and that is the reality that Von Trier wants to present to the viewer. Selma's illusions and delusions take the viewer to a voyage into her own reality and everyday life. 
 The original score of this film is one of the formal aspects that the film has been praised for. Dancer in the Dark counter argues the classic Hollywood musical. Indeed, the film is set on the early 1960's, upon the success of Robert Wise's The Sound of Music of 1965. Von Trier's critique of such American musicals relies on the innovative style of this film. Björk herself is not the classic American pop star. Her discography is based on the use of nature and everyday life sounds to make her music more realistic and attractive. In Dancer in the Dark, Von Trier enhances his mise-en-scène with sounds from the factory along with Björk's dramatic voice. However, the songs and dance scenes seem not to soothe the viewer from the sadness and despair provoked by the plot. 

Gallows scene

 Dancer in the Dark is ultimately a tragic film in all dimensions. What matters the most to Von Trier is human suffering and sacrifice for a cause. The music of the film contributes to increase the already intense pain. And believe me, the last song will resound in your head for a while after watching Selma's voice silenced by the hangman's cord.