“As It Is in Heaven”, a 2004 film directed by Kay Pollack is, according to film critics, one of the best movies to ever come out of Sweden. It is a disarmingly frank, completely charming, sweetly tuneful, and robustly opinionated movie about church choir in a small town, a talented and famous conductor, as well as the power of songs to change and redeem lives. The film is both a feel-bad and feel-good movie; apparently, a somewhat strange combination that is hugely representative of Sweden’s culture (Byrnes). This, apparently, is what makes this movie distinct; it brings out the sense of gloom with regards to the nature of human beings which is synonymous with cold countries, combined with the resolve to remove out of the culture. However, …show more content…
The purpose of this paper is to compare the differences between the two cultures in the film and real life cultural experience in the Japanese society.
Kay Pollak’s film, “As It Is in Heaven” illustrates the similarity in culture and planning, as well aa other issues, thus revealing the traits that exist between specific urban and rural cultures. It also shows the differences that exist between the two cultures. This comparison offers some insight into the positive and negative effects of urbanization to both the people and their cultures. The director attempts to portray the important issues with regards to both cultures which bring about significant attributes. Further, he manages to show the roles played by individuals and the community with regards to the longitudinal differences between rural and urban areas. Particularly, the film indicates more positive effects of the rural culture as opposed to the urban cultures. All throughout the film, clear distinctions with regards to the two cultures the roles of the people and of the community. At the beginning of the movies, Pollak portrays the preservation of cultures of a professional who, in his youth, due to various circumstances such as the loss of a mother and bullying, amongst other things left his rural home for the urban area.
Daniel moved to the city, not only to escape the demands of his home
The essay is directly comparing and contrasting the education in America versus the education of Japan. The essay is organized into eight sections, with each section starting off with Mori’s experience in Japanese school and then to American school. With the use of mainly personal experiences and anecdotes the essay is governed through emotional appeal,
After reading What’s Heaven by Maria Shriver, I got the opportunity to realize that talking about heaven can be difficult—especially when a child’s grandparent passes away or loved one passes away. For instance, as a child I always thought that human beings live forever; however, as I got older I began to realize that human beings cannot live forever. Nevertheless, as a nineteen-year-old college student, talking about death and heaven is tough and emotional for me; I cannot imagine myself mourning the death of a loved one—specifically, my mother, brothers, sister, aunts, cousins, friends, etc. My mother attempts to have conversations about death and heaven with me: “Kevin, my son, human beings get the chance to live a long-life here on earth;
Marisa Silver’s collection, Babe in Paradise, is a theme of loss located in Los Angeles. In the collection, every character copes with loss in various scenarios. What defines the term loss in Silver’s work? A central theme in Babe in Paradise, involves losing a family member. However, many characters deal with loss in their version, which comprises of hope, pride, mental state, and reality. After loss, an individual’s personality can change either in a positive or negative forefront, this is shown heavily in Babe in Paradise. Silver’s collection demonstrates how severely a tragedy affects the character, not as an individual, but how their loss affects the people around them.
This story is about diversity of an Italian American family from New Jersey in the 1950s during a time when adults were fearful of catching Polio and the prejudices against Italian Americans that affected their lifestyle. Holm’s inspiration was based on her Italian American upbringing with her mother being the character of Penny, capturing the time period of real things her family encountered. Readers will be drawn in to vivid characters and will understand why Penny longs for her families to mend their broken bond. The historical detail within the book helps readers visualize what the world was going through after World War Two and the challenges that Italian American encountered. Readers will learn that united love will conquer in the end
The cultural context of the film The Last Samurai affects the characters’ values, attitudes and beliefs, as the character Nathan Algren is shaped by the American cultural context of the film. His values and attitudes concerning beheading and his attitude towards his involvement in American Indian wars are explored in the film.
In addition to analyzing the film in terms of perception, I will also be tying in concepts of self-concept, self-presentation, and the influence that cultural differences have on perception of self and others. In the film, assumptions and misunderstanding are the key points of conflict. The way that the two groups view themselves and the way in which they view each other creates a discordant scenario. They both perceive themselves as being the rational ones, and the lack of access to information on one another leads to a situation in which they are each clinging to
The aim of this paper is to study the interpersonal communication taking place in a cultured shocked neighborhood. The findings of these studies are applied to the film Grand Torino. In addition, this study will discuss the communication styles applied by the characters of the movie. I believe they are essential to understanding the reasons why in general individuals are racists, stereotypical and unable to adapt to different cultures as well as living with those who are different to us. We will first examine how Walt’s character adapts to the cultural
Some aspects of the film were very different between the cultures. These aspects are traditionally associated with nurture. A major difference was how often the parents were interacting with the child. The
In conclusion, the use of romantic and familial relations in China Night and Angels on The Street highlight how Japanese colonial filmmaking attempted to paint Japanese imperialism as benevolent and make its war efforts more palatable for audiences at home and abroad. By naturalizing the Japanese presence and highlighting the need for Japanese ‘civilization’ efforts, these propaganda materials justify Japanese colonialism, and distract wartime audiences from acts of violence committed with a whitewashed fantasy of the Japanese imperial agenda in World War II.
This is my longer analysis of the Kingdom of Heaven. Appreciate any feedback. [SPOILER WARNING]
This theme of the globalised world of Japan is relevant to the circumstance that the movie has been set up in because of Sophia Coppola’s 21st century up bringing. The movie itself can be seen as a comment on the growing global scale of the world, and the multicultural boundaries that are blurring and changing within the world.
Japan is home to millions of individuals. All of them with different beliefs, religions, and traditions. Japan has a long and influential visual arts history. More specifically, the Japanese film industry has had a large influence on the cinematic world stage. Due to Japans tragic and destructive history, several different categories of society were affected. Their economic industry and visual arts industry are just some examples. Japans history has had consequences on both its social and political sectors. These reactions/repercussions can be seen in Japans film industry. In my paper, I will be looking at the political and social issues involved in the movies Spirited Away and Roshamon. The repercussions of World War 2 are important in understanding both of these Japanese films. The women portrayed in these films are both respected and docile. Moreover, the genres of these films have had a lasting effect on society.
“Through it's use, whites' behavior becomes 'natural' and hence harder, if not impossible, to criticize.” (Tierney, 609). This logic relates back to arguments of Whites being the dominant racial group, a dangerous mindset that fueled imperialism and colonialism. For example, Algren regains the honor he lost from brutalizing Native Americans through samurai sword mastery and through defeating enemies. This enables praise from the audience because he is using his superior skills to help his Japanese caretakers, who despite training in sword fighting for their whole lives, would be unable to defeat their enemies without him. Similarly, Kiddo uses martial arts to regain her honor by defeating O-Ren and her adversaries, gaining back honor for all she has lost. This noble purpose garners the audience's respect. Therefore, both of these characters' appropriation of Japan becomes acceptable and non-problematic because they are using it to correct their past and solve the plot of the movie. The Western audience is conditioned to accept Japanese culture as an object to be utilized for Western healing and moving forward. This objectification leads to beliefs of Japan being an inferior culture only for Western use, which therefore encourages cultural
Kingdom of Heaven argues that the human psyche plays an important part in the duty of people. At the beginning of the movie, Balian’s wife commits suicide which and the priest seeks to punish her father by cutting off her head. Later, Balian kills the priest in a fit of rage and decides that he has to go to Jerusalem to seek redemption. Such a case illustrates that the psyche influences Balian who decides to go seek redemption for his sins. While Balian was reluctant to follow Godfrey to his crusades in Jerusalem, it seems that the feelings of guilt finally make him move to Jerusalem. In the movie, a majority of the characters are influenced by their religion. For example, Godfrey is convinced that he should travel to Jerusalem to fight
The culture of a place is an integral part of its society whether that place is a remote Indian village in Brazil or a highly industrialized city in Western Europe. The culture of Japan fascinates people in the United States because, at first glance, it seems so different. Everything that characterizes the United States--newness, racial heterogeneity, vast territory, informality, and an ethic of individualism-- is absent in Japan. There, one finds an ancient and homogeneous society, an ethic that emphasizes the importance of groups, and a tradition of formal behavior governing every aspect of daily living, from drinking tea to saying hello. On the surface at least, U.S. and Japanese