eden’s film blog

https://1drv.ms/w/s!Asd-iGqI6WrlhW7NC_HwH25vyDGJ

Nick Park (the director) incorporates the stages of Todorov's Narrative Theory in order to engage the audience. There are no twists or enigmas; it is easy to follow and events happen in a linear fashion. The film begins with an equilibrium (Wallace and Gromit peacefully living together in their home, sorting out bills over breakfast) is followed by a disruption (the penguin arriving, hijacking the trousers and stealing the diamond). The penguins arrival is clearly presented as a disruption through several strategies. For example, our first introduction to it results in a long stare between it and Gromit where the camera cuts between the penguin and him accompanied by ominous music. We can see from this that there is obvious tension, and it foreshadows rivalry between them. We see more tension further on as the penguin continues to stare at Wallace in the "techno trousers" as if he is studying him. These moments are often accompanied with tense music, encouraging us to fee...

 The ending of Apocalypse Now concludes with Willard essentially leaving one hell for another; the hell of war for the hell of the tortured human psyche. Kurtz himself has come to terms with the fact that Willard is there to kill him, and he welcomes it. Willard therefore acts as the instrument of Kurtz's will, assisting him in arguably committing suicide. Kurtz's mental state which is revealed just before his death could be seen as a reflection of the Vietnam War - he is is visibly upset in his voice and gestures as he dictates: "They train young men to drop fire on people. But their commanders won't allow them to write 'fuck' on their airplanes because it's obscene!" Kurtz has gone over the edge because he sees and cannot accept such moral blindness and hypocrisy in the fighting of the war and American intervention as a whole. He is ready to die as it is the only escape from his painful condition.  The dramatic crosscutting between Willard killing Ku...

 Making the hotel room scene The content of this particular scene was heavily affected by several factors. Martin Sheen told the shooting crew to just let the cameras roll. He was actually drunk and even punched the mirror which was real glass, cutting his thumb. The destruction of the mirror is symbolism for him destroying himself. The crew were able to captures such raw moments of Sheen's genuine distress, we can tell that what started as improvisation then became a genuine reflection of his state of mind. He said "Please. I must do this for myself. He allowed me to wrestle with some demons that I had been wrestling with for quite a while. Now, I was doing it in a public forum, and in a sense, I got them out." His unsettling behaviour in this scene marks the beginning of his descent and immediately raises questions as to his sanity.                           He had admitted he was an alcoholic, but did not exac...