Is The Theme Of Power In The Film Out Of Sight By Steven Soderbergh

Invisible City documents the lives of two teenagers living in Regent Park, and the impact they cause on those around them. (Davis, 2009). The teenagers, Mikey and Kendell, are individuals struggling with various issues. Essentially, the documentary chronicles the ups and downs of their lives, in an environment that is constantly trying to diminish them (Davis, 2009). With that being said, there are two main themes found within the documentary. The first theme focuses on the strife that these teenagers, and those within their lives, endure. The second one feeds off this strife, and demonstrates the potential of Mikey and Kendell. Aspects of both themes have been discussed in our class lectures, because they relate to major societal problems. Overall, these themes outline the obstacles the teenagers face in their youth, and the possibility for a better future, both of which include prominent topics in our class lectures.

The book Hunter in the Dark written by Monica Hughes was a story about tragic accident that happened to a boy that took him by surprise causing his life to change. This book being published in 1982 reflects on the style used, as well as being written in a genre of a young adult literature. This book was published being a Canadian book but reached out across many countries.

Out of the Past is definitely an interesting movie with a lot of things to talk about. I will touch briefly upon two main things I have noticed during the screen: the film noire genre and the image of the femme fatale.

In the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini was majorly obsessed with vengeance throughout the end of the book that his life was consumed by the quest for it. Louie felt as if the Bird had stolen his dignity at the POW campsites, where he was beaten, humiliated, starved, and stripped of his powers of self-defense. Louie was overwhelmed with his anger that the only objective he sought was to get revenge on the Bird. In other words, Louie was angered about his loss of dignity at the POW campsite, he wanted to get revenge on the Bird by killing him, and how Louie eventually forgives the Bird for what he did to him. These three reasons show how Louie’s loss of self-dignity in the POW camp was pursued.

This essay is based on films of the same story, told in different ways, with emphasis, themes, meaning and interpretation shaped or shaded by the situation of the storyteller; the cinematic mise-en-scene. Based on the same story, the films reveal and reflect the film-maker’s social norms and views, emerging from their different national contexts. While exploring the two films, this essay will examine elements of film language or semiotics: color saturation (or black and white), sound, setting, type of camera angles used; repetition of visual motifs (Metz, 1985). The two films explored were made in the 1960s. Neither film is American, yet both reveal influences and reflections on American cinema and American power; the Western film, adherence or detracting from Hollywood Classical cinema tropes, i.e. close-ups, shot-reverse-shot, POV, depth of field (Bazin, 1985: 128-9). The two films are Kurasawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and Leone’s Fistful of Dollars (1964), from Japan and Italy, respectively. How are they different; how similar? Why do they use the same plot,

Overall I believe the common theme between these books was and/or is that not everyone has the same benefits, opportunities, and lifestyles. Hidden America showed the struggles of different lifestyles. In Hecho en America a man couldn’t simply just take his own child to the hospital not only that they were living out of their car. A illegal immigrant doesn’t have health benefits from their job because they aren’t working legally. They are so desperate for a job that they will drive hours away from their homes just to get a job. Then there are jobs like coal miners were you just have to break your back and live in dark. Even then people don’t appreciate what you do because they just think “Look at these poor, stupid rednecks who work these awful jobs. Trapped! Suffocating! Buried alive!”.

“Hope when you take that jump, you don’t fear the fall. Hope when the water rises, you built a wall.” An important message prevails in both A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (2013) and “I Lived” by OneRepublic (2007), taking risks without hesitation, being ready for all that comes. This song represents living life to the fullest, no matter situation, life goes on, never coming again. This would be an ideal song for someone in Ishmael’s obstructed position. “With every broken bone, I swear I lived.” “I Lived” by OneRepublic reassures people struggling to remember the gravity of living life to the fullest; reminding us to take chances and accept our legitimate identities, or a song of survival for people like Ishmael. People need to stop taking pity on themselves, there is always a bright side; life never forsakes us. Be strong and jubilant. No one lives forever, to truly

In the end of the novel, Jack’s frail mind caused from his extreme thirst for alcohol and his abusive childhood from his father end up being his inevitable downfall. Jack’s mind becomes completely filled with hatred for his family and the yearning for them to suffer, he becomes blinded with rage. The reader’s begin to root for Wendy and Danny as they escape Jack’s grasp; leaving behind the exploding remains of the Outlook Hotel and a once beloved member of their family.

The Shining is about the Torrance family having to stay at the Overlook hotel for five months. Having that said, the family was completely isolated in such a big place over the winter. The hotel had horrific history of a murder done by Charles Grady who had committed suicide after killing his two girls and wife with an axe. The shocking information given to Jack did not bother him at all and he even said that his wife, Wendy would enjoy a good scary story. The film proceeds into a story that would seem calm and full of tranquility but this would not be the case since it soon enough turns out into something more horrifying. After a month has gone by, one can clearly notice the difference between the old Jack to the new Jack. This has to do with his personality and how he is acting by himself and towards others. His attitude changes to wanting to spend more time alone and not caring to do the work for the hotel, which he was hired to do in the first place. Danny is the young son of Jack who has psychic powers which at times confuses him but most of the time frightens the young boy. Danny encounters the two young girls that were killed in the hotel. Danny tries to avoid the girls as much as possible and tries to stay away from room 237 but it attracted Danny’s attention.

Coined in 1946 by the French, Film noir, translated literally to mean “black cinema or film,” defines early to middle 20th century film that reflects a trend of dark and grim emotions as art seen on screen in post-war America (Dirks 2016). Stylistics such as people presenting themselves as something they really are not, criminal activity, entrapment, corruption, grim city settings, characters that operate on the margin of society are littered throughout film noir. There are many common narratives presented in film noir. Rational versus evil, femme fetal, investigations, private detectives and atomic anxiety are all narrative patterns embodied through this genre. Film of this era often utilized visual effects that were clear reflections of the emotions many viewers held during this time. Dark shadows, framing of characters, bar motifs, obscure lighting and focusing techniques were all put into motion during this period, creating a space for audiences to connect emotionally to the film they are viewing.

The concept art imitates life is crucial to film directors who express their views on political and social issues in film. In regard to film studies, race is a topic rare in many films. Like America, many films simply refuse to address this topic for various reasons. However, more recently, Jordan Peele’s 2017 box office hit Get Out explicates contemporary race relations in America. In the form of an unconventional comedy horror, Get Out is intricate in its depiction of white liberal attitudes towards African Americans. In short, Get Out suggests a form of covert racism existing in a post- Jim Crow era. Similarly, Eduardo Bonilla- Silva’s book Racism Without Racists acknowledges the contemporary system of racism or “new racism,” a system

The opening scene of the film utilises multiple aspects in order to display the hopeless that looms over the dystopian world that the audience is presented with. The film uses a mix of both visual imagery to show this along with verbal features in order to convey this to the audience.

Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York: Random House.

Both Laura Mulvey and bell hooks describe the idea of the “gaze” in film. In both of the theories presented by Mulvey and hooks, the “gaze” is the way in which viewers are subjected to a particular perspective because of their social standing. In Mulvey’s case, she argues that the “gaze” in which the audience is forced into is that of the “male gaze” while hooks argues a more nuanced “gaze” including the “oppositional gaze”. While some of Mulvey’s argument is accurate, hooks argues that it leaves out important other factors, in particular, race. Both arguments have many similarities and differences, and can be seen exemplified in many films, such as Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It.

The Talented Mr Ripley, a film directed by Anthony Minghella, based off a book by Patricia Highsmith, delves into the world of a psychotic young man named Thomas Ripley. Through the film Tom murders three people and usurps the identity of Dickie Greenleaf, a wealthy socialite. Desire is a core theme in this film, causing this character to act irrationally and impulsively, obviously shown in this film through when Tom steals Dickie’s identity after murdering him and mooches off Dickie’s allowance his father pays out. This was caused by Tom’s huge desire to live in a social class way above his own, surrounded by wealth and popularity. This theft of identity caused by the character’s un-satisfaction with his own/real life, directly relates to another film ‘Catch me if you Can’, where the main protagonist Frank Abagnale poses as multiple identities such as a Pan Am Pilot, a paediatrician, and an attorney. We can see similarities with Tom and Frank’s decisions caused by their strong desire for a higher status and a wealthy