Everyone possesses passion inside of them from the time they are born. Some find it difficult expressing this personal deep feeling while others easily find life partners that return the same mutual love and affection, getting through any difficulties that may come in the way of their unity. This theme is expressed in Jane Campion’s movie The Piano. This films main character is Ada (Holly Hunter), who comes closely to experiencing this fulfillment. Ada is mute but very articulate through her piano. She chose to not speak by the age of six years old. She uses the black and white keys of her piano to express her emotions but she also develops a hand language with her illegitimate daughter, Flora (Anna Paquin). Ada’s father chooses to send her to New Zealand to marry a man she has never met. His name is Stewart, but he unfortunately doesn’t seem to understand Ada as do Baines, and English born Maori. Baines is Stewart’s aid in negotiations with the Maori people who own most of New Zealand’s rainforest, where he lives. In the 19th century the Catholic religion was a great influence on everyone’s life. Catholicism strongly influenced honoring ones parents so Ada never objected to going away to New Zealand but she did throw all of that out the window when she fell in love with Baines. Ada’s movement away from her religion is shown in the opening scene of this film.
In the opening scene of The Piano, we are shown and abstract image through Ada’s eyes, which we later come to
2. In "Self-Portrait With Two Pupils" Adelaide sits in a green and gold upholstered chair. She looks at the viewer a smile on her lips. She wears gold earings that disappear under her curly hair. Atop her head is a fancy hat with a blue ribbon that wraps around it and white feathers that flows over the right side of it. She wears a silky shiny blue dress. The top squared around her chest and the sleeves are rimmed with lace. A bow sits in the middle of her chest and there's one on each arm. Her dress sweeps down and pools around her on the wooden floor. It is also pressed up against the back of the chair. Her left arm comes down and lies across her lap. She holds a bunch of at least 7 paint brushes, a long utensile, and a palette. In her right hand she holds a single paint brush to the palette. In front of her is an easel and canvas. She has her foot her placed atop part of the easel. Behind her stands her two pupils. The one closest in the foregound wears a green dress with white detailing on the sleeves and chest and accessorized in her hair. She looks over Adelaide at the canvas, her left hand placed
Mattie is the main character in Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. In the beginning of the book Polly the serving girl dies of an unknown plague leaving Philadelphia in shock. As grandfather and Mattie return to the coffeehouse they find Mother lying ill with the yellow fever. Later on Mattie and grandfather leave the coffeehouse as an order from Mother but soon return after they both are kicked out the wagon and they fall ill with the yellow fever causing many deaths. As the days come to an end Mattie is left alone to care for herself after grandfather passes. Mattie is a dynamic character in Fever 1793 after being faced with many challenges the epidemic brought her. Throughout the story Mattie become more independent, mature,
In the story the main character, Gloria Fleming, gets surprised with a new neighbor, Francisco Mendoza, and it was love at first sight. They begin down a romantic journey through both of their loves for music and each other. Gloria, a musical piano prodigy herself, after falling in love with the Argentinian boy, gets heart broken when she has to go on an international piano tour, leaving Francisco behind.
In the riveting documentary Audrie & Daisy, husband and wife director team Bonnie Cohen and Jon Shenk retrace the events leading up to the harrowing sexual assaults of three teenaged girls; Audrie Pott, Daisy Coleman, and Paige Parkhurst, and expose the agonizing after effects and exploitation of the assaults. Subsequent interviews with family members, friends and law enforcement officials give important details about the aftermath of the events, and introduce viewers to possibly the biggest villain of all, Sherriff Darren White of Maryville, Missouri. Throughout the documentary White appears smug while he states that “as County Sheriff, “the buck stops here” (Darren White), and when asked about the crimes committed by Maryville’s football star, he rebuts with “was there a crime?” (Darren White) As the film moves through the twists and turns of the cases, the settings, conflicts, and tragedies are enhanced by the use of montage, long and subjective shots, close-ups and personal sketches that submerge the audience into the victim’s point of view. At the conclusion of the film, the viewer is left to decide what constitutes sexual assault and rape, and if society and law enforcement are to blame for the today’s ‘rape culture’ acceptance and the continued victimization of young girls. It also reveals how much can be hidden from parents, and how disconnected parents become from their children in a social media world.
Director Jane Campion places a motif throughout her film The Piano that is preoccupied by power struggles between males and females and European colonists and indigenous people. The "Prospero" syndrome is seen in attitudes of the Europeans regarding their belief that European culture, ideology, and religious practices are the only standards of behavior deemed acceptable for human beings, women in particular. The piano then becomes a symbol for the taboos that are placed on the Europeans and their lives. The character of Ada is placed at the center of a struggle between a male character who fully embodies the Kurtz persona with tattoos, close friendships with the Maori, and uninhibited sexual overtures, and one who clings to English ways. Harvey Keitel portrays this character, named Baines, while Sam Neill plays his foil. The character of Stewart embodies the Prospero persona by maintaining an ever-present "businesslike" relationship with the Maori and punishing those who transgress his code of conduct. The punishment of Flora, Ada’s daughter for misbehaving and simulating her mother’s sexual behavior and of Ada herself for loving Baines while conducting and affair at he same time with Stewart himself places a black mark
Boy Willie, however, wants to release the past and sell the family piano so he can have a new start in life and forget the painful past. "The Piano Lesson" is both unique to the plight of African-Americans and universal in its depiction of the human condition (Gale, 2000, p249). The sibling rivalry, past history versus present time and future, storytelling and gender relationships all cross both unique and universal boundaries. To illustrate, even in today's society there are sibling rivalry that pit brother against sister, brother against brother or sister against sister together to the point of bitter battle. In addition, there are still people in today's society that have difficulties in resolving painful past experiences with the present and future. In regards to gender relationships, there are still a lot of mysteries in the realm of love between two people. Bernice is the African-American way, staying true to her roots and not parting with the heritage. Although she finds this painful, she will not part with her heritage. Her heritage is “tangible in the presence of the piano itself” (Sparknotes, 2014). Therefore, even though the theme of this play surrounds itself around African-Americans, the situation can easily be applied to all races and time periods.
The movie ‘Her’ is the story about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who develops a relationship with Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), an intelligent computer operating system personified through a female voice. At the beginning of the film, Theodore is completely inept when it comes to how to make relationship with person, specifically women. However, after he gets to know Samantha, an OS program, a feeling of true love develops inside of Theodore’s mind. Then he realizes how he was fatuous in his past. Throughout the film, the director (Spike Jonze) uses five distinct color schemes to correspond Theodore’s feeling and situation.
As an adult, Jing-mei’s mother offers her the piano once more, and Jing-mei accepts the gift. Appreciating the encouragement and faith her mother bestows upon her Jing-mei decides to care for the piano. The piano piece
Director Stephen Frears chose, when filming this movie, to use traditional 35mm film for the scenes featuring the Royal Family. He chose to use traditional 35mm film to reflect the traditional views of the Royal Family. The syntax analyzed the language provided by the syntax helped understand the Royal Family traditional culture. The Royal Family at the beginning of the film had deep traditional roots and don’t agree with the progressive members of the society at large. After Princess Diana’s death the Royal Family believed that the arraignments should be kept as a private matter of her family. The Royal Family strongly believed that the Princess Diana was no longer part of the Royal Family since her divorce to the son of Queen
Chris Shea CINE 201 Professor Deborah Spillman 05/10/16 Ada’s Biblical Experience in The Piano To the average moviegoer, the final sequence of Jane Campion’s 1993 movie The Piano may seem to be a happy-go-lucky ending as main character Ada ‘chickens out’ of suicide by drowning after a horrible life, and goes on to live a happy family life with her child Flora and her true lover George Baines. However, something else tends to reveal itself about this final sequence when one watches the movie more closely. Rather, in the final sequence of her movie The Piano, Campion spiritually resurrects Ana in the ocean; her old life sacrifices itself and her new life is born.
Screen and Visual images are important in the film; The Piano directed by Jane Campion. The screen and visual images are represented by Motifs. They are related to the dominating characters which makes them important.
In Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, I believe the movie's design has a unified feel. By understanding Anderson's approach to cinematography, we can tell that the costume and visual designs ensemble a true Wes Anderson's film. In fact, he is indulged with patterns and lively colors. His plot mainly reflects an old- fashioned, nostalgic feel and he is a bit playful with camerawork. On the other hand, the Grand Budapest really feel like a lively, happy hotel. The use of colors and contrasting hues made the setting almost looks like a painting. For example, the frame narrative where the Grand Budapest Hotel became the setting, the mise-en-scène and the lighting of the film become almost too symmetrical and mannered, especially during the
Amadeus begins with an attempted suicide by composer Antonio Salieri, who is overcome with guilt about supposedly killing Mozart. His life is saved by his aids and he is sent to what looks like a mental hospital, where a priest is sent to council him. The whole story is told through the eyes of Salieri on his death bed, confessing to his priest.
The Piano examines the construction of sexuality in nineteenth century colonial New Zealand within the discourses of power that shaped this era. Different discourses of gender and race and their interactions are presented in order to support a narrative critique of the European patriarchal ideology as dominant social structure.
The film Amelie provides multiple examples of individuals sacrificing, and applying Campbell 's moral objective to their own lives. One of the people from the film that follow the objective is Dominique Bretodeau. When he was a young boy, he lost his treasure box. Directly after it was returned to him from a stranger, he began to tear up over the lost memories that the box contained. He then confides in people at the bar that he has not spoken to his daughter in years, and because of this does not know his grandson. This simple act of kindness was enough to make Bretodeau sacrifice his pride enough to reconcile with his daughter and grandson. He had no idea if his family was going to open their arms, or push him away for being away for so long. This failed to stop Bretodeau. This journey of becoming a hero was a spiritual one. Most of the conflict happened within his own heart. A small act of thoughtfulness helped a man choose to create a better life for him, and his estranged family.