Wednesday, 29 October 2014

Adieu au Langage

Adieu au Langage (2014, Jean-Luc Godard)

How Godard's stylistic decisions have been changed since the beginning of the French New Wave movement? The intellectual quotes, the cinematic references, Einsteinian montage influences, Godard intertitles, and the disoriented /confusing cuts are still important parts of his style. While he tries to be innovative in using 3D film such as using the concept of superimposition not on the screen but on the lenses of the glasses, the desire to switch to video images become key element in creating his last cinematic text. In comparison with his fascinations in the earliest films, his obsessions are not about Marxist ideology anymore.  His concerns are mostly focused on the reliability and authenticity of images and sounds. The characterization, the cause-and-effect narrative, and the resolution at the end of the film are not the terms that Godard refers to while he makes his oeuvre. Review: Morad Sadeghi


Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Prometheus

Prometheus (2012, Ridley Scott)

Ridley Scott's film, Prometheus, represents the maturity of the director's style in its narrative and formal structures. The thematic construction of the film remains allegiant to the conventional forms of storytelling recurred in the former Alien movies while the film is a prequel to the Alien series. Many of these similar patterns are the references that help the audience to explore the undercurrent layers of the narrative. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) is a scientist whose motivation to find out about the origin and "Engineers" persuades her to control the narrative at the end of the film. In terms of having survival instinct, her character is very similar to Ripley's in Alien (1979).  Shaw has a strong character that reminds the audience of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in Alien movies. Not surprisingly, she can leave the planet while David (Micheal Fassbinder), the robot, helps her to pilot the spaceship. (Another reference to the end of Aliens (1986, James Cameron)). Review By: Morad Sadeghi

Gone Girl

Gone Girl (2014, David Fincher) Review


Fincher's film is well structured and established around the voice-over narrative of the female protagonist and her inner thoughts and memories. The film is an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel which is devoted to the literary text. The narrative of the film is enriched of flash backs of the couple's lifestyle and relationship. The audience mostly self-identifies with the female protagonist's subjective world. The shift of the female subjectivity to the male protagonist happens to be completed close to the final sequences of the film when Amy finally murders and kills her ex-boyfriend in a sex scene. The ending of the film is ambiguous. Although the couple accepts to live together, the potentialities of betraying, murdering, and cheating are still there. We do not know if Nick knows about his wife, but the shadow of a doubt raises the question that who will be controlling the narrative and how. Nick or Amy? Review by Morad Sadeghi


The Congress

The Congress (2013, Ari Folman) Review

Stylistically, The Congress demonstrates a significant departure from Waltz with Bashir (2008, Ari Folman).  The film is a combination of the animated sections and the real setting. The setting is dynamically harmonious with the animated section. This is Folman's fourth film. The narrative of the film revolves around the progressive technology for future Hollywood. Though the film hints at the corruption of corporate capitalism, the world of cinema in future is subtly represented by choosing the animation art. Folman's film is very much a fantasy/ science fiction film (influenced by Stanislaw Lem's novel, The Futurological Congress). The choice of animation for the world of the future allows the audience to maneuver in the realm of the imagination.  Not only does the director depict the protagonist's adventure but he emphasizes her responsibility towards her family and her concern for the future of the world of art and artist.


By: Morad Sadeghi