Hi all!
This is the link to our film commentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6NnA7KAl_Y
Jai ho,
Johanna
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Love: The Same Old Same Old in Romeo and Juliet
Just as every generation gets the vampire it deserves every era from the time of the Greeks and until today has gotten their very own Romeo and Juliet...
The story, as we know it, began as the Roman myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. Since its inception into our culture there have been close to no changes in the actual plot. It always begins with two households both alike in dignity--whether it be in Babylon, Verona or Manhattan. The children of these rivaling households always happen to be of the same gentle age--a boy and a girl. They meet, they fall madly in love, there families disapprove; tragedy ensues. Our Romeo is banished our Juliet dies and he upon finding this out soon joins her in the after life.
Its nearly impossible to believe that a story that was created in 500 B.C. is still so relevant nearly three-thousand years later. Not only has it been retold and adapted more times than I think it is possible to trace but it has found its way circulating throughout the media since it became possible to. From the page to the stage to the screen this classic story has permeated into every kind of media.
What fascinated us most with the two most recent film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet from 1968 and 1996 was that although they were created nearly three decades apart, they are each posses the same sentimentality. Despite the fact that the Juliet in the '68 version of the film is a brunette and the '96, we still feel them each to be Juliet. The clips from each unfurl in the same manner telling us that while each generation gets the Romeo and Juliet they deserve, in no adaptation has the basic emotion conveyed in the original story been skewed.
-Johanna
The story, as we know it, began as the Roman myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. Since its inception into our culture there have been close to no changes in the actual plot. It always begins with two households both alike in dignity--whether it be in Babylon, Verona or Manhattan. The children of these rivaling households always happen to be of the same gentle age--a boy and a girl. They meet, they fall madly in love, there families disapprove; tragedy ensues. Our Romeo is banished our Juliet dies and he upon finding this out soon joins her in the after life.
Its nearly impossible to believe that a story that was created in 500 B.C. is still so relevant nearly three-thousand years later. Not only has it been retold and adapted more times than I think it is possible to trace but it has found its way circulating throughout the media since it became possible to. From the page to the stage to the screen this classic story has permeated into every kind of media.
What fascinated us most with the two most recent film adaptations of Romeo and Juliet from 1968 and 1996 was that although they were created nearly three decades apart, they are each posses the same sentimentality. Despite the fact that the Juliet in the '68 version of the film is a brunette and the '96, we still feel them each to be Juliet. The clips from each unfurl in the same manner telling us that while each generation gets the Romeo and Juliet they deserve, in no adaptation has the basic emotion conveyed in the original story been skewed.
-Johanna
Seven Samurai - The Magnificent Seven: Stephanie Wowk
The 1954 movie “Seven Samurai”, directed by Akira Kurosawa, and the1960 remake of it called “The Magnificent Seven”, directed by John Sturges have many similarities yet differ enough to obtain their own style for a similar plot and story. For example, the plot of both movies entails farmers hiring mercenaries to help fend off bandits that pillage their farms. One of the main similarities between the “Seven Samurai” and “The Magnificent Seven” is the plot. In both movies bandits pillage a small village and the farmers are left with barely enough food to survive. In “The Magnificent Seven” Calvera and his men actually stop in the town and talk to the farmers, however, in “Seven Samurai” the bandits ride by and are overheard by a farmer about coming back when the barley is ripe. The farmers then have a meeting and decide to hire mercenaries. The two movies also have differences like the characterization of the gunmen/samurai in “The Magnificent Seven” as opposed to “Seven Samurai”. I believe such differences help place each film in their appropriate era and location, aiding to the demand of cinema at the present.
More specifically, the difference that I wish to focus on is the centralized character in both films; Chris Adams in “The Magnificent seven” and Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai” and how each portray, uniquely, leadership, knowledge, and modest strength.
The character Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai” depicts leadership of the group of samurai and was the first to be “recruited” by the villagers. He was first introduced in the film when he was selfishly shaving off his topknot in order to take full disguise as a monk. The purpose was to trick a thief/kidnapper that was hiding in order to rescue a child. “Kambei’s act it not milked for meaning. It is largely gratuitous, an immediate response made without soul-searching.”(Anderson, 1962) His actions did not seek retribution or acknowledgement that he has done a great deed and should therefore be praised for it. Also, the act of shaving off his topknot, a hairstyle that is significant to a samurai, signified and resembled a look that of a monk. He embodied his kind and caring person, while actually retaining his samurai status. This later becomes the reason as to why the villagers seek Kambeis help. His wit, modesty, intellect, and war-weary characteristics make him trustworthy and likeable.
Similar to Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai”, Chris Adams in “The Magnificent seven” reflects the same characteristics and moral but in the light of an American Western. Chris Adams was also approached by the townspeople to help protect their land and profits from bandits. He was elected similarly as to how Kambei Shimada was; by charitably performing an act that helped out the wellbeing of another. “He is revealed as a prototypal core-member who, uneasy over segregation of corpses in Boot Hill, uses his gun-slinging talents to stage a bury-in for a dead Indian.”(Anderson, 1962) Chris showed great apathy to the idea of discrimination against a different culture when no one else would show any respectability towards a dead man. This was similar to the act of Kambei Shimada shaving off his topknot and rescuing the child from the kidnapper, except Chris’s act of moral addressed the battle of segregation at that point in time.
“What isn’t more important is that reason why a man acts, rather the fact that he does act.”(Anderson, 1962) The implication of social consciousness in Kambei Shimada’s character in “Seven Samurai”, Chris Adams’ character in “The Magnificent seven” is important for the viewer’s sake. It amplifies and makes obvious the premise why Chris Adams and Kambei Shimada will go out of their way to defend those who sought their help. We see that it is in their good nature to help those who greatly yearn it. Both films do a great job in showing us the complex characteristics of the main character that forth holds the story overall in the same sense, individually in complete polar ways.
Bibliography
When the Twain Meet: Hollywood's Remake of "The Seven Samurai"
Joseph L. Anderson
Film Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3, Special Issue on Hollywood (Spring, 1962), pp. 55-58
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1210629
More specifically, the difference that I wish to focus on is the centralized character in both films; Chris Adams in “The Magnificent seven” and Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai” and how each portray, uniquely, leadership, knowledge, and modest strength.
The character Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai” depicts leadership of the group of samurai and was the first to be “recruited” by the villagers. He was first introduced in the film when he was selfishly shaving off his topknot in order to take full disguise as a monk. The purpose was to trick a thief/kidnapper that was hiding in order to rescue a child. “Kambei’s act it not milked for meaning. It is largely gratuitous, an immediate response made without soul-searching.”(Anderson, 1962) His actions did not seek retribution or acknowledgement that he has done a great deed and should therefore be praised for it. Also, the act of shaving off his topknot, a hairstyle that is significant to a samurai, signified and resembled a look that of a monk. He embodied his kind and caring person, while actually retaining his samurai status. This later becomes the reason as to why the villagers seek Kambeis help. His wit, modesty, intellect, and war-weary characteristics make him trustworthy and likeable.
Similar to Kambei Shimada in “Seven Samurai”, Chris Adams in “The Magnificent seven” reflects the same characteristics and moral but in the light of an American Western. Chris Adams was also approached by the townspeople to help protect their land and profits from bandits. He was elected similarly as to how Kambei Shimada was; by charitably performing an act that helped out the wellbeing of another. “He is revealed as a prototypal core-member who, uneasy over segregation of corpses in Boot Hill, uses his gun-slinging talents to stage a bury-in for a dead Indian.”(Anderson, 1962) Chris showed great apathy to the idea of discrimination against a different culture when no one else would show any respectability towards a dead man. This was similar to the act of Kambei Shimada shaving off his topknot and rescuing the child from the kidnapper, except Chris’s act of moral addressed the battle of segregation at that point in time.
“What isn’t more important is that reason why a man acts, rather the fact that he does act.”(Anderson, 1962) The implication of social consciousness in Kambei Shimada’s character in “Seven Samurai”, Chris Adams’ character in “The Magnificent seven” is important for the viewer’s sake. It amplifies and makes obvious the premise why Chris Adams and Kambei Shimada will go out of their way to defend those who sought their help. We see that it is in their good nature to help those who greatly yearn it. Both films do a great job in showing us the complex characteristics of the main character that forth holds the story overall in the same sense, individually in complete polar ways.
Bibliography
When the Twain Meet: Hollywood's Remake of "The Seven Samurai"
Joseph L. Anderson
Film Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 3, Special Issue on Hollywood (Spring, 1962), pp. 55-58
Published by: University of California Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1210629
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Found Media Video-Stephanie
Inspired by the introduction to the tv show "True Blood", I collected found still images from different sources (NY Library Picture Collection, thrift stored, internet, etc.) to create a fast-paced short video inspired by the evolution of the classic "Romeo and Julet". From the ancient mythology origin of "Pyramus and Thisbe", to William Shakespeare's version through the medium of a play with actors, to present day movies such as Romeo and Juliet (1996), the idea in Stokers "Dracula" that every generation gets the vampire it deserves relates to the notion that every generation has received the "Romeo and Juliet" it deserved. The collection of images in juxtaposed in an almost subliminal fashion paired with the gloomy and odd-sounding audio attempts to show the evolution of "Romeo and Juliet" through the unpleasantness of war between families and how a strong passionate love for another person can lead one to death.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
