Jordan Peele’s “US” is the second film he has directed and both of his films are part of a new film movement in cinema. Jordan Peele is creating a new genre of horror film and there are multiple traits that show this in both “Get Out” and “Us”. This new genre horror is one that is derived from the racism and discrimination of black people in America. Jordan Peele also uses other elements of horror and suspense to add to the feel of this film that I will go into. This film is also similar to the most previous film I blogged about, “Shutter Island”, in a few ways that I will discuss.

The first thing that is seen in both “Get Out” and “US” that I would like to discuss is the main characters’ horrified face with their mouth and eyes wide open while tears are pouring out of their eyes. This is seen in “Get Out” when Daniel is put into the quiet place and is petrified with fear as tears pour out his wide-open eyes. This same face is seen in Adelaide when we see her enter the house of mirrors as a little girl and encounter her clone. Both have a deeper meaning, in “Get Out” Daniel’s face represents the horror of the racism in America and the oppression of black people. In “US”, I believe this face represents the horror of the marginalization, and the people in red rising up represent the lower, mistreated classes rising up. Both faces are making a statement and I expect to see the same face in Jordan Peele’s next film. Also, having both the main characters be African American in both his films Jordan Peele is without making a statement about who is being terrorized in the United States today.

The next trait I would like to discuss is the portrayal of white people in Jordan Peele’s films. In “Get Out”, nearly every white person is an undeniable evil, body-snatching, racist and you want to see them die. In “US” the white characters aren’t necessarily evil, but you don’t really mind seeing them die. For example, the white family that Wilson’s are friends with aren’t exactly good people. The two twins are selfish brats and the adults aren’t much better they are very snobby, so seeing them die isn’t exactly sad.

The other elements of horror and suspense he uses are why his movies are so great. His use of mise en scene and the score of the film. In the movie, all the clones are dressed in the same red jumpsuit and wielding golden scissors. While also being a symbol for the lower class rising up and wreaking havoc on the wealthy, it’s just straight-up horrifying. The score during the scenes with the clones is what makes the movie so horrifying because it is in tone with their scary spastic movements. This is best shown in the final fight scene between Adelaide and her shadow where when she moves suddenly the music abruptly plays.

Lastly, the reason that I found this movie slightly similar to “Shutter Island” is because of the ending. The entire movie of “Shutter Island” you are meant to believe Teddie is Teddie and Andrew is man who is responsible for Teddie’s wife’s death, when in reality Teddie is actually Andrew. This is similar to the “US” ending because the entire film you are led to believe Adelaide is Adelaide and she is being terrorized by her clone, but the ending reveals just the opposite. Doing this in a movie can be confusing, but i felt in both these instances the directors pulled it off well. The only difference is that “Shutter Island” leaves the idea of Andrew being Teddie up to the interpretation of the viewer, which I like more. I prefer the ambiguity to the actual answer.

Martin Scorses’s “Shutter Island” is a movie that plays with the history of World War II in a very interesting way. In the film, the insane Asylum they are in is constantly being compared to a concentration camp and I found that very intriguing. This film also plays with the history of World War II in arguably a more appropriate way than the previous film we watched, “Inglorious Basterds”. This film’s ending is also interesting because it is up for interpretation.

The asylum itself is compared to a concentration camp from the moment we first see it. As Teddie and his partner are driving up to the asylum Teddie comments on how the electric fence around the building reminded him of somewhere, a concentration camp. The guards also look and act like nazis. The way they lord of the patients and control their day to day lives. The way that insane people are depicted in this film is similar to how jews were depicted by nazis in World War II, they were treated inhumanely. The most obvious comparison is the torture aspect. The treatments being done at the asylum are reminiscent of the testing nazi doctors would conduct on jews during the holocaust. Teddie even acknowledges this and wants to stop any sort of crude or evil testing they are doing on the patients.

The way WWII in this film is depicted much differently than in “Inglorious Basterds” is that the entire war is viewed as horrible and sad, even the killing of nazis. Teddie suffers from severe PTSD from when he and his platoon liberated a concentration camp and massacred all the guards. No part of what Teddie went through is portrayed in a cool or fun way like it may have been in “Inglorious Basterds”. There are scenes in both these movies where a large group of nazis is murdered. In “Inglorious Basterds” it’s at the end and the feeling you get is triumphant and satisfying. In “Shutter Island” this act is viewed as evil and nothing more than murder, even though they are killing nazis. One could easily say that “Shutter Island” is portraying war in general in a more realistic light. However, both of the films play with the idea of Americans using methods similar to ones a nazi might use. In “Inglorious Basterds” it was the gruesomeness with which the Basterds tortured and murdered every nazi they found and in “Shutter Island” it was doctors using nazi testing and treatments on their patients.

Lastly, the end of this film is open to interpretation. In my opinion, where Teddie is going at the end of the film is obvious, the doctor is going to lobotomize him, but the question is whether he’s insane or not. Right before he walks off to get his lobotomy he says to Chuck “Is it better to live as a monster or die as a good man?” implying that he’s not insane and what he’s doing he’s doing because he can’t take life anymore. He’s saying its better to believe and die as Teddie the federal marshal, than Teddie the man who killed his wife. Him saying that opens so many questions at the end of this film that you just have to decide for yourself what is and what is not the truth and whether Teddie was or was not actually insane, I believe that he wasn’t.

First off, I believe that this movie is amazing and I personally truly enjoy the way in which Quentin Tarantino interacts and plays with historical moments in his films. The way he is able to change history for the run time of his film is fascinating. In my opinion, he is giving people resolution through historical fantasy and cinema. What person who wasn’t in favor of the Nazi cause wouldn’t enjoy seeing a militant group of Jews go around Nazi-occupied France killing Nazis and eventually Hitler himself. To me, Tarrantino is giving the viewers what the wish happened in history.

This film and Tarantino’s film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” are both similar in the way that Tarantino changes history in a gruesome way. Initially, when the Sharon Tate murder happened the country was devastated and the entire country would’ve liked nothing more than to see the people who did it ripped apart by a giant pit bull and set on fire. Similarly, everyone who wasn’t a Nazi wanted to see all the head Nazi’s burn alive and be ripped apart by machine guns at the hands of Jews. Tarantino provides gruesome justice and redemption in his historical films, and I enjoy watching them.

My favorite scenes in the film are the ones with Hans Landa. Landa is the ultimate Nazi in the film and is played by Christoph Waltz, who is one of my personal favorite actors. Every scene with him is extremely tense, especially the opening scene and the scene where him and Shoshanna meet again. The opening scene, when Landa arrives on the French farm and questions the man about harboring Jews is extraordinarily tense. From the moment he arrives, you are immediately aware he is a man of high intelligence and is always very prepared and precise. This is shown through his meticulous vocabulary and the way he holds himself and makes himself comfortable in a room. He also takes a very large sip of milk and finishes a tall glass in one gulp, perhaps symbolizing how he doesn’t leave a drop left or how he doesn’t let any Jews escape him. Initially in this scene everything is going well, until Hans takes his pipe out of his pocket, which is symbolism for the shoe that will later be in his pocket. The pipe is much bigger than the French mans, which symbolizes power, and he begins to question him harder. He then stares at him very intensely and the French man breaks, leading to the murder of all the Jews hiding underneath the floor boards, except Shoshanna.

In the scene where Landa and Shoshanna meet again, Landa implies the same intimidation and questioning technique, but this time on Shoshanna. This scene is my absolute favorite scene because Tarantino is able to make a simple dinner conversation, the most intense conversation ever. There is also a moment in this scene when Landa gives Shoshanna that same stare for a second, but then it turns out to be nothing. He also takes very large bites of his strudel, the same way his finished the milk in one bite.

I truly believe that the way Tarantino chooses to interact with and for a little while change is very interesting. I can understand how it can be considered unethical, but I don’t believe it is. I truly believe that he is giving the people who want to see it their own form of redemption and allowing them to leave the theater feeling satisfied and happy.

Cache, directed by Michael Haneke, is a very interesting movie with many interesting elements to it and the first one I am going to discuss is what is hidden in this film. The camera is often hidden in the film, the majority of shots are from the POV shot of a surveillance camera viewing an area or a person from a discreet location. The plot itself is hidden and slowly reveals itself throughout the film. The characters are also hidden, when the film is in the POV shot of the security camera you often just hear the characters voices and don’t see their faces. At first you don’t know who or where they are. Whoever is terrorizing these people is keeping themselves hidden. I suppose what is really hidden though is the person behind the camera and that’s a meta commentary on media I believe. There’s a person behind every camera and they control the screen that we are seeing and often dictate our emotions and they get to stay hidden. That is a possible meaning of the title, but it really could have so many meanings.

Cache has some scenes that are very gruesome and gross at points and very vivid with its gross scenes. There’s the quick scene of the chicken getting its head cut off. There’s grotesque language and descriptions as well. George uses the word jigaboo to describe Arabs at one point and at a dinner party a man describes in great detail a dog getting hit by a car. However, the most gruesome scene is the scene where Majid slits is own throat is undoubtedly the most grotesque scene.  George walks into Majid’s apartment and Majid says “I wanted you to be present for this” then slits his own throat in front of him and blood splatters on the wall and it makes the same splatter mark that was in the drawings. You are then forced to watch as Majid slowly bleeds out. It is very gruesome and adds a lot of shock factor to a somewhat dull movie.

Cache’s commentary on voyeurism is very interesting. You often aren’t sure when the shot is a POV shot from the point of view of a camera until the movie lets you know you are through the characters rewinding the footage you are being shown. The main characters are being terrorized by being watched and observed by an anonymous individual. This individual is recording them and sending them videos of their every day activity. The main characters solution to this problem is to set up a hidden camera and record outside their house to see who is recording them. 

The film makes you feel very uncomfortable kinda of like rear window, in particular the scene where you are just watching Majid cry alone in his apartment. When this scene happens you are immediately aware that you are watching him through the lens of a hidden surveillance camera, which immediately makes you feel uncomfortable. Then the scene gives you context of what you are seeing by having George say the last line of dialogue of their previous conversation, he then leaves the room and Majid is alone sitting at the table. He then begins to sob and cry and you are forced to just watch him break down and it makes you feel very uncomfortable. 

It’s interesting how much he’s being bothered by someone taking videos of him when he’s a very famous tv personality who’s job is to sit and talk in front of cameras. In one scene, you think you might be viewing George from a surveillance camera, but it turns out to be one of his talk show camera that you are viewing him through. This happens a lot in the movie, where you think one scene is just a regular scene not being shot through any sort of point of view but then it switches to the person watching what you are being shown on a screen. An example is whenever they are watching the videos that are being sent to them, at first the video is filling up the whole screen and you think that it is sequential in the movie, but then it starts to skip or rewinds and then you are shown the people viewing it or hear the people talking over it.

The opening credit scene is unique because of the flashing pictures. This is unlike any opening credit sequence we have studied in film class before. Also, sexuality is a very heavy theme all throughout this film and in the french new wave era. The most prominent example of this in the film is the silent scene of them laying on the bed with each other and they are grabbing and feeling each other and showing facial expressions of emotions. This is something that is unique in a film because it is showing two characters expressing multiple emotions to each other without using dialogue. What’s actually happening in this scene is Clyde and Bonnie are trying to be intimate with each other, but Clyde can’t do it for some reason. This type of scene also wouldn’t be allowed in films of the earlier era due to its highly sexual nature.

Bonnie is different from other female characters we’ve studied because she is very forward, however at the same time she likes being submissive when it comes to Clyde. An example of this is when they are sitting at the diner and he points at a part of hair and tells her to adjust it because he doesn’t like the way it looks so she does.  To Bonnie, a manly man is a man like Clyde. A man who isn’t afraid to rob a store or flash a gun, a bad boy if you will. To the victims of their crimes, Clyde is a scoundrel and the police pursuing him are the real men.

Guns in general are used to represent masculinity and sexuality in the film. When they shoot up the old house it’s only the men that do the shooting while the women and children wait in the car. Also, in this scene the man who used to own the house’s wife is shown holding her baby and she looks scared of the guns while Bonnie is standing with the men, this speaks to how different she is. Another scene where bank robbing is portrayed as masculinity is when they manipulate the gas station attendant into pulling off a job with them and joining their team by claiming he wasn’t man enough to do it. Being masculine in this time means being rough and tough, being the type of man who cuts his toes off when he’s in jail to get out of work detail and brag about it.

The film preserves realism though the very first moments of the film, by having pictures of the time period popping up during the beginning credits. Playing music from the time period while showing these pictures only adds to the realism. Realism is also kept in tact through the serious consequences of their actions. For example, the scenes when they show the victims of their crimes or when Clyde first kills somebody and he is trying to cope with committing murder. An example of them showing the victims of their crimes are the man that Clyde first hurt and put in the hospital and when the police office is talking to the camera looking all disheveled and horrified as he recalls the events of their shoot out with Bonnie and Clyde. A good example of this is the scene when Clyde’s brother comes to visit and his brother asks him about the murder and is he had to do it and Clyde goes “I had to, I had to”. The scene then goes very quiet as you can tell what Clyde did as been eating him up inside even though he is putting on a tough guy act for everyone else. You see Clyde’s manliness attitude crack when Bonnie yells at him after they get into a shoot out with the cops, almost as if she makes him feel like a man. The movie keeps in touch through realism through how characters deal and cope with the crimes they are committing. It also prefers history and realism by the setting and mise en scene. For example, the old timey car they drive, the clothes they dress in the, and the guns they use all keep in touch with the real feel of the movie. The different early 1900s setting with dirt roads and old banks also add to the realism of the film.

The way the film is dramatized or romanticized are the actions the character are committing in the movie didn’t happen the way they are portraying them. All the robbery scenes have a high paced soundtrack behind them which makes their actions seem light and fun. It is als dramatized through Bonnie and Clyde’s complicated love story.

Violence and sexuality are intertwined in this film from the very first scene. Bonnie is looking in the mirror at herself naked, then lays on the bed and begins hitting her bed frame. She then gets up goes to the window, still naked, and begins yelling to the first boy she sees. She then runs down to him to go and hangout with him. She teases him about how she doesn’t believe he robbed any store or bank, like he had claimed earlier. He then pulls out a revolver and she immediately gets turned on and seductively touches his gun. She then tells him he wasn’t man enough to use it so he robs a store. They then speed away with a fast banjo soundtrack in the background. Every time Bonnie and Clyde are about to get intimate Clyde can’t do it and his excuse is “I’m not a lover boy”. This intertwinds their crimes with sex even more because its almost how they get intimate with each other in their relationship.

“The 400 Blows” is a french new wave film about a troubled, misunderstood, young boy growing up in 1950s France. Dionel Antione is an interesting character who longs to leave his miserable life behind for something bigger and better. His parents are a big part of the problem he misbehaves in the film. During this time France was still recovering from World War Two and the poverty and troubles the people face are expressed through the setting of the film and the different settings of different scenes. The setting, the story, the characters, and the soundtrack all reinforce the movie’s sad and dark overtone. There is also an overlying sexual theme of the film that almost makes the viewer uncomfortable.

The first thing I would like to talk about is Daniel Antione as a character. Daniel is mature, misunderstood, and longs for things beyond living in poverty in Paris. The reason I say he is mature is that he always doing things kids his age don’t usually do. In one of the first scenes of the movie he gets home and sits down in grooming, chair surrounded my mirrors, comes his hair, and shaves his face. The whole shot is very quick but during this time slow guitar starts playing and that specific soundtrack leads you to believe what the character is doing is a meaningful action. He also is constantly mentioning how he longs to join the military, I believe because he needs to escape this town and that’s his best chance to see the world. The reason I say he is misunderstood is that, while he is constantly causing trouble and misbehaving he is a very intelligent kid. He is misunderstood because everyone blames him for his actions, but his living situation is horrible. His parents treat him like nothing more than a nuisance and at the end of the film basically abandon him. This is a fairly disturbing film, but for me, the most disturbing scene is when his mother switches her whole personality after he catches her cheating. She bathes him, tucks him into bed, but then she begins to talk to him. The shot of her speaking is a POV shot from Daniel’s POV looking up at her from the bed. The shot makes you feel uncomfortable because while she is saying all these nice things to him, the way the shot is focused on her face is so awkward that it makes the words she’s saying sound very peculiar. Then when she mentions giving money to Daniel the scene turns straight creepy because it feels as though she is trying to bribe him to get him to not tell his father he saw her cheating. The reason Daniel yearns for more is that he has so little. He lives in a horribly poor apartment with parents who don’t care about him and just want to get out even if it means joining the military.

The way the setting adds to the dark sad overtone of the film is through the long lingering shots with no dialogue. A perfect example of this is when Daniel goes to take the trash out and there are no words being said, it’s just a long shot of him taking the trash down the disgusting stairs, inside this gross small apartment, and into the worlds dirtiest garbage can. Later in the scene, he goes to bed and he sleeps in a sleeping bag on the couch. He sleeps in a sleeping bag instead of sheets because it’s warmer. This is a perfect example of how families lived in post-war France. Another example of this is the first time Daniel runs away and there are long shots of him walking around with posters plastered everywhere, hinting that the country isn’t in a great spot. Also, everywhere he was walking was disgusting and impoverished. The majority of this scene also had a sad slow soundtrack behind it.

the most interesting scene in the movie to me is the scene where Daniel and his friend ditch school Daniel goes on the old school gravitron carnival ride. This shot is interesting because of its camera work and symbolism. in the scene, the ride starts and the camera is from the POV of onlookers of the right and its a still shot as the people spin in and out of frame on the ride. It then closes up and daniel who lifts his feet fro the floor and begins doing more spins in mid-air. The shot then switches to a still shot from Daniel’s POV watching the people look at hi spin around and around. This scene actually made me disoriented and that hasn’t happened to me while watching a film in a very long time. The camera keeps switching back and forth between shots and the camera itself isn’t moving in either angle, but everything around it is. The symbolism behind it to me is this day of skipping school is Daniel’s own escape from his horribly sad life. He feels like he’s flying and he loves that feeling because he wishes he could fly right out of France.

“Rear Window” is one if not my personal favorite Alfred Hitchcock films. The combination of cinematography, sound, and mes en scene has a major effect on suspense in the film. Hitchcock also explores very interesting types of editing that clash with some of these elements. James Stewarts acting is also a major factor of what makes this movie great.

The first thing to note when talking about the cinematography in “Rear Window” is the setting. The entire film takes place inside of one apartment, and Hitchcock does a great job of portraying this by using a lot of point of view shots, more specifically whenever James Stewart is looking out of the window. The viewer feels as though the are in the same position James is. A perfect example of this is the opening scene of the movie. The film begins with a wide shot of a window with a New York city backdrop, but then all of a sudden you begin to move forward towards the window. Once the camera begins to move forward it almost feels as though the you as the viewer are being rolled towards the window to take a closer look because the camera appears to dip and swoop up to the window. This is an excellent use of cinematography and Alfred Hitchcock manages to put us into the point of view of our main character before we are even introduced to him, he immediately turns the viewer into a peeping tom. As the shot continues we are shown the entire view of the window and everything that our main character ,Jeff Jefferies, can see. Its also coincidentally where the majority of the movie will take place.

In this same shot music is being played in the background and it has been playing since the credit sequence before the scene even started. The music is pretty quick and upbeat, manly wind instruments and it appears to be morning, a man is just waking up on his balcony, people are rushing around, and the music makes it feel like a busy morning. Then as the camera is peeking through windows and alleyways it eventually winds its way around to the view of a man in his apartment bending over and changing the station on his radio and once he does that all the sounds of the city set in. The music that the audience had been listening to the entire time was coming from inside the context of the story. This is an excellent use of Mes en Scene, sound editing, and cinematography and its in the first moments of the film.

The next scene that I would like to talk about that uses different elements of film in a very interesting way is when Jeff Jerries, James Stewart, is the morning when Jeff Sees the salesmen cleaning his knives. The night before Jeff witnesses the man across the street argue with his wife then later all the blinds were closed. Later in the night he left his apartment with a very large briefcase multiple times and the next morning Jeff sees him cleaning the suitcase and gets very suspicious. The scene starts with Stella giving him a back massage, he then notices the man he saw the night before and him and Stella back away from the window. As they back away they are backing out of the light shinning in from the window and the use of lighting implies that when they are in the shade the man across the street cannot see them. As they are watching him Jeff notices something catch the mans eye and make him jump, lean out the window, and look down at the dog by the rose garden outside his apartment, you hear the dog winning and see it sniffing at the roses. The use of these two forms mes en scene are reoccurring in the film and both constantly add to the suspense of the film, in this instance they arouse Jeffs and the viewers suspicion of his neighbor. The scene continues as Jeff continues watching his neighbor, to get a closer look, he picks up his camera and uses it as a telescope. You then see the man across the street remove two large knives from the sink, wrap them up in a newspaper, hide them, then go to sleep. The use of the POV shot in the scene is the introduction to how the majority of the film will be shot, through the lens of Jim Jerries camera. This point of view shot also has the effective of making the viewer truly feel like you are invading others privacy. The large knives and the newspaper are forms of effective mes en scene because they both add suspense to the film by hinting that the man across the street murdered whatever woman he was arguing with then cut her up. The entire tone of the scene however, is really set by Jeff’s facial expressions. Once he sees the knives theres a close up shot of him and you can see in his eyes he feels something isn’t right, so the viewer shouldn’t feel something is right.

This movie is truly amazing in the way that it uses cinematography, editing, and mes en scene. Alfred Hitchcock is well known for his ability to add suspense to his films through all elements accessible and he truly accomplishes that in this film. Through his use of point of view shots he truly makes the viewer they trapped in a wheelchair, looking out a window of New York, and piecing together a murder.

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