“The Seven Samurai,” an Akira Kurosawa classic and undoubtedly one of the greatest action movies of all time. The movie has inspired many people to do various things, the basic plot has been repeated numerous times. None more direct than the 1960 remake, “The Magnificent Seven.”
The basic story of the Seven Samurai is as follows, a small village i being harassed by a gang of about 40 bandits, who invade the village after they harvest, taking all their food and killing all who apose. The wide elder of the village instructs the villagers to go into town and recruit samurai to fight off the invaders. The Magnificent Seven is built in a parallel structure, set in the genre of westerns, MS finds a town of mexican farmers, being equally harassed by bandits, who find the same solution to their problems when they hire gunman.
Story Differences:
Although the remake of SS was relatively the same, certain subtle yet important changes were made in the plot. The major change to Kurosawas version was that the Mexican villagers were not told to hire men, but to buy weapons to defend themselves. In SS the village elder (Grandad) tells the men right out that they cannot win a fight, and that they must venture out to find someone who can, the warriors of that time, samurai. In order to film MS in Mexico, a sensor was to be present on the set at all times to make sure the Mexican people were depicted in proper respect. The Mexican Government thought it was belittling to say that the Mexican farmers would simply cower and give up, and go across the border to find Americans to fight their battles. The script was changed so that the farmers originally asked the first gunman (Chris) to help them buy guns, and he is the one who suggests that they hire men instead.
Another small difference, put in place to keep true to the setting, is that the samurai were not paid for their support. Samurai were not about money or fame, they valued honor. In the original movie the farmers claimed to own nothing of value, and that they could only give the warriors a place to sleep and three meals a day. In MS the gunman are offered the rom and food, plus an additional 20 dollars for their services. Although 20 dollars wasn't exactly a fortune, there were still a few characters, such as Bernardo O’Reilly, who accept the challenge because of their being low on cash.
When it comes to actual combat, the samurai utilize elaborate strategies and effective war tactics that come from experience. Although the gunman offer some strategic moves, many of which were taken directly from the Seven Samurai, the battles basically come down to unorganized, every man for himself, chaos. The samurai lead a pre attack on the bandits at their camp, the gunman have no such strategy.
A major plot twist (and I’m not sure why it wasn’t caught by the sensor) is when the Mexican farmers turn against the Gunman.
The Similarities and Differences Between the Seven:
(for this section i will list each character from the Seven Samurai and discuss their transition into the Magnificent Seven)
The first of the samurai, Kambei Shimada, is found when he poses as a monk to make a courageous move saving a young child's life. He is the leader of the seven, who was in charge of recruiting the team. Similar to Kambei’s discovery, the lead gunman, Chris Adams, in found with,Vin, the to-be second gunman, riding a hearse to the graveyard. There were people in the down ready to kill anyone who tried to transport this native american to the graveyard. Both Were found doing a selfless act. Like Kambei, he is an older warrior, not as physically fit as the others, who takes command of the group.
The second Samurai, Gorobei Katayama, is found when Kambei is testing random samurai. Gorobei proves himself worthy by detecting the test before he even enters the hut. He is depicted as the second in command. Vin however, had shared a brief past with Chris, he shared in the glory of Chris’ opening scene. Since Chris had worked with him before, he sought him out to ask for his help specifically.
Schichiroji, an old war buddy of Kambei’s, seeks out Kambei to selflessly offer his help. His western counter part Harry Luck also offers his help to his old comrade, but his intentions are more along the lines of personal gain. He thinks that Chris must have something else to gain from this job that 20 dollars.
Kyuzo, a thin samurai with a face of stone, is calm, cool, collective, and a high class amazingly skilled swordsmen. He is found dueling another man who claims to be better than him, and in an apparent tie which Kyuzo claims to have won, he infuriates the man. The man challenges him to a real dual to the death, and after killing the man with grace, Kyuzo is invited to the team. Britt, who is equally skilled as a first class gunman and a crazy knife throwing lunatic, is found the same way, with a fake dual, than a real one in which he kills his opponent. Britt's style is similar to that of Kyuzo, he will frequently sit up as if sleeping and relax, even in the midst of a combative situation. For example, when tailing the scouts, both men sit against the tree to seem either invisible or to appear as no threat. When they both die, they stammer and Kyuzo throws his sword unsuccessfully just as Britt throws his knife.
Heihachi Hayashida is found chopping firewood for money. He is a humorous man with high spirits, keeping the men cheerful. Bernardo O’reilly, is a much more serious character, whom is also found chopping wood.
The alterations begin with the apprentice to the samurai, Katsushiro Okamoto, and the hot headed samurai who was chosen as a result of him inviting himself, Kikuchiyo. The two characters were combined in the Magnificent Seven to make Chiko, a young kid who just like Kikuchiyo, follows the samurai after being turned away when he approaches them drunk and angry. They both prove their worth when on the road, they both catch fish with their bare hands. These characters were combined so a part could be written in for a well known actor. the part was that of Lee, a professional gunman who at firs seems scared, but later shows his skill.
Film Differences:
After all, The Seven Samurai was directed by Kurosawa, a very skilled director. SS was based on great filming. The camera angels and fantastic Black and White lighting help keep the audience watching, and help smoothly run the story along. MS relied mostly on catchy theme music and great screenplay. MS will also be remembered for its memorable one liners. Kurosawa has a distinct style, evident in all his movies, that includes breath taking visuals evident in such places as the field where the samurai search for the villager who ran off, angered by mention of his wife. Although the cinematography was good in the Magnificent Seven, the director, thank God, didn't try to mimic Kurosawa.
The Seven Samurai moves at a much slower pace, giving it time to develop all of the characters and their relations, creating round characters with in depth personalities. The Seven Samurai gets much more personal, for example when we learn of Kikuchiyo’s sad past.
I Have SOOOO much more to write but I have 2 min. left sorry :(
Thursday, March 15, 2007
March of the Penguins
In the june 2005 issue of Videography there is an article describing the making of the film “March of the Penguins. The movie is meant to be a documentary of the journey that Antarctica’s emperor penguins make ever winter. The penguins travel to their ancestral breeding grounds to lay their eggs and stay there until the end of winter.
Although the film was originally going to be a French television show, director Luc Jacquet wanted it to be a full length movie and was able to do so with the help of “Wild Bunch” ( http://www.wild-bunch.com/homepage.cfm ). The crew of 3 and Jacquet went to shoot in Archipelago in Adelie Antarctica and remained there for 13 months to shoot the movie. They brought 2 specially modified Aaton XTR Super 16mm cameras. The problem was that the grease that helps the mechanics of the camera move would have frozen if introduced to the cold Antarctic environment. The modifications involved removing the grease. The crew knew to bring 2 of everything because if a piece of equipment broke, there would be no replacement for thousands of miles.
Having filmed penguins before, Jacquet knew what shots he was looking for. For important events the crew used both cameras to capture the events from different angles. Customized, waterproof, battery-opperated heating pads were wrapped around the camera to keep them warm and functional. When filming underwater, 2 divers used DSR-PD170 camcorders encased in Scubapro housings. They also drilled a hole in the ice and attached a small Toshiba IKATU-68 camera to the end of a pole to get extra underwater scenes.
The result was 120 hours of footage. The biggest difficulty in editing was to make some individual penguins recognizable to viewers. There was also trouble to find an appropriate pace for the film because penguins are very slow animals.
The movies French release included voice overs for the adult and baby penguins, but for the American version, the voices were cut out and replaced by a “elegant narration” by Morgan Freeman. No visual effects were necessary but the film did need allot of image stabilization and dust and scratch removal.
Although the film was originally going to be a French television show, director Luc Jacquet wanted it to be a full length movie and was able to do so with the help of “Wild Bunch” ( http://www.wild-bunch.com/homepage.cfm ). The crew of 3 and Jacquet went to shoot in Archipelago in Adelie Antarctica and remained there for 13 months to shoot the movie. They brought 2 specially modified Aaton XTR Super 16mm cameras. The problem was that the grease that helps the mechanics of the camera move would have frozen if introduced to the cold Antarctic environment. The modifications involved removing the grease. The crew knew to bring 2 of everything because if a piece of equipment broke, there would be no replacement for thousands of miles.
Having filmed penguins before, Jacquet knew what shots he was looking for. For important events the crew used both cameras to capture the events from different angles. Customized, waterproof, battery-opperated heating pads were wrapped around the camera to keep them warm and functional. When filming underwater, 2 divers used DSR-PD170 camcorders encased in Scubapro housings. They also drilled a hole in the ice and attached a small Toshiba IKATU-68 camera to the end of a pole to get extra underwater scenes.
The result was 120 hours of footage. The biggest difficulty in editing was to make some individual penguins recognizable to viewers. There was also trouble to find an appropriate pace for the film because penguins are very slow animals.
The movies French release included voice overs for the adult and baby penguins, but for the American version, the voices were cut out and replaced by a “elegant narration” by Morgan Freeman. No visual effects were necessary but the film did need allot of image stabilization and dust and scratch removal.
Thrown of Blood
The film Throne of Blood was the Japanese version of Shakespeares Macbeth. After doing some research, I have learned that the story is almost an exact match to Shakespeares original.
The movie is shot in black and white which makes the whole film feel darker and more downtrodden. The major theme of this movie is betrayal, with emphasis on its consequences. The affects spawned by these betrayals are'nt as much directly related, such as being caught in the act and punished, but more along the lines of “The Butterfly Effect” (The essence of chaos, “Sensitive dependence on initial conditions”, The flap of a butterfly's wing can cause a tsunami on the other side of the world .) For example, by betraying Snuggles the bear AKA Lord Tsuzuki, Washizu sets in motion his downward decent to first madness, then finally defeat.
Another theme is mysticism, as portrayed by the multiple cases of foreshadowing. These cases of foreshadowing are used to cast a sense of foreboding in the characters. The most notable case of this is the fortunes told by the which on two occasions, that sound in one way preposterous, but as the movie progresses are cleared up and slowly explained to make perfect sense. This aspect of the film is directly taken from the original story of Macbeth.
The black and white allowed the movie makers to do very interesting shots with fog and mist. It also made Spiders web Forest seem even more hopeless to navigate then mentioned. The ending scene in which Lord Washizu was killed, although rather long and repetitive, was good symbolism to how he was trapped with no escape. This was made visible by every escape route he attempted being blocked by a plethora of arrows. In the shot where Washizu sees the trees marching towards the castle, it is worth noting that the film is slowed down, making the trees sway slower, which gives them more life like movement as if they were really alive and walking.
Since almost all of the references are taken directly from Macbeth, the differences from the two pieces are scarce. The obvious difference is the cultural setting which switches from medevil Scotland to an Oriental structure with the necessary emphasis on honor. Kurosawa puts more meaning behind all of the symbols and events located in the story. The ghost for example, represented Washizu’s regret and guilt for sending the order to have Noriyasu and his son killed.
The film was created to share a masterpiece of Shakespeares with a different culture. The movie does a very nice job at it’s goal, and the major question of, “fate.” If you know your fate can you change it? Or does it only become your fate because you have already discovered it.
The movie is shot in black and white which makes the whole film feel darker and more downtrodden. The major theme of this movie is betrayal, with emphasis on its consequences. The affects spawned by these betrayals are'nt as much directly related, such as being caught in the act and punished, but more along the lines of “The Butterfly Effect” (The essence of chaos, “Sensitive dependence on initial conditions”, The flap of a butterfly's wing can cause a tsunami on the other side of the world .) For example, by betraying Snuggles the bear AKA Lord Tsuzuki, Washizu sets in motion his downward decent to first madness, then finally defeat.
Another theme is mysticism, as portrayed by the multiple cases of foreshadowing. These cases of foreshadowing are used to cast a sense of foreboding in the characters. The most notable case of this is the fortunes told by the which on two occasions, that sound in one way preposterous, but as the movie progresses are cleared up and slowly explained to make perfect sense. This aspect of the film is directly taken from the original story of Macbeth.
The black and white allowed the movie makers to do very interesting shots with fog and mist. It also made Spiders web Forest seem even more hopeless to navigate then mentioned. The ending scene in which Lord Washizu was killed, although rather long and repetitive, was good symbolism to how he was trapped with no escape. This was made visible by every escape route he attempted being blocked by a plethora of arrows. In the shot where Washizu sees the trees marching towards the castle, it is worth noting that the film is slowed down, making the trees sway slower, which gives them more life like movement as if they were really alive and walking.
Since almost all of the references are taken directly from Macbeth, the differences from the two pieces are scarce. The obvious difference is the cultural setting which switches from medevil Scotland to an Oriental structure with the necessary emphasis on honor. Kurosawa puts more meaning behind all of the symbols and events located in the story. The ghost for example, represented Washizu’s regret and guilt for sending the order to have Noriyasu and his son killed.
The film was created to share a masterpiece of Shakespeares with a different culture. The movie does a very nice job at it’s goal, and the major question of, “fate.” If you know your fate can you change it? Or does it only become your fate because you have already discovered it.
Oh Brother, Where Art Though?
The events that take place in the film “O’ Brother, Where Art Though?” are based primarily on those of Homers “The Odyssey.” The movie is very successful when it comes to what it set out to do, which like most movies was, to entertain. The movie does a superb job at sucking you into the time period it is set in, keeping everything true to the theme from music to brand names (Dapper Dan). The movie is completed by its multiple hidden meanings and significance's.
The movie seemed to have an above average number of shots that had many things going on in the background. What I’m trying to say, yet failing to word it, is that there were allot of scenes that would focus on one thing that may be boring to the eye, for instance George Clooney talking to the men on the moving train, and in the background have his two companions attempting to jump on, and then falling off. It is the multiple scenes like these ones that add a unique comedy to the movie.
Another method of the movie that I noticed was that to make a serious scene funny, they would make sure to remove all music from the scene and just have silence, and background noises. Some good examples of this is when The Cyclops robs them and beats them up, or when they witness a bank robbery with George Orwell (I think that's his name). This added an awkwardness to the situations which is how a situation like that would most likely have been.
One obvious theme in the movie was the companionship or brotherhood between the three main characters. The movie has an old time theme that is present from beginning to end. This theme is masterfully kept up throughout the movie with fantastic music, brand names, events, dialogue, clothing, ect.
Of course the most prominent part of this movie, the backbone of the story, is its relativity to The Odyssey. In both “The Odyssey” and “O’ Brother Where Art Though?”, the main characters are driven by hubris. Everett has an obsession with his hair, forcing him to buy cans and cans of “Dapper Dan” hair grease which in turn, helps the police dogs track the trio. He had been imprisoned away from his wife, and it wasn't until he heard news of her getting married that he felt the need to break out and find her. Hubris often leeds to the main characters downfall because of there irrepressible pride, which is obvious in the many down points Everett and his fellow men reach in the movie (Beaten up by the cyclops, manipulated by the sirens, Pete being recaptured and almost hung, all of them being almost hung near the end of the movie, being thrown out of the general store and his friends almost abandoning him, ect.)
Also truthful of hubris in stories is that at the end, everything turns out allright partially due to luck. Most of the problems in this movie are escaped by sheer luck or coincidence. An obvious depiction of this is the fact that at the end of the movie, they are pardoned from there criminal record and famous, due to them singing as a distraction and an excuse to get into the town show.
The movie seemed to have an above average number of shots that had many things going on in the background. What I’m trying to say, yet failing to word it, is that there were allot of scenes that would focus on one thing that may be boring to the eye, for instance George Clooney talking to the men on the moving train, and in the background have his two companions attempting to jump on, and then falling off. It is the multiple scenes like these ones that add a unique comedy to the movie.
Another method of the movie that I noticed was that to make a serious scene funny, they would make sure to remove all music from the scene and just have silence, and background noises. Some good examples of this is when The Cyclops robs them and beats them up, or when they witness a bank robbery with George Orwell (I think that's his name). This added an awkwardness to the situations which is how a situation like that would most likely have been.
One obvious theme in the movie was the companionship or brotherhood between the three main characters. The movie has an old time theme that is present from beginning to end. This theme is masterfully kept up throughout the movie with fantastic music, brand names, events, dialogue, clothing, ect.
Of course the most prominent part of this movie, the backbone of the story, is its relativity to The Odyssey. In both “The Odyssey” and “O’ Brother Where Art Though?”, the main characters are driven by hubris. Everett has an obsession with his hair, forcing him to buy cans and cans of “Dapper Dan” hair grease which in turn, helps the police dogs track the trio. He had been imprisoned away from his wife, and it wasn't until he heard news of her getting married that he felt the need to break out and find her. Hubris often leeds to the main characters downfall because of there irrepressible pride, which is obvious in the many down points Everett and his fellow men reach in the movie (Beaten up by the cyclops, manipulated by the sirens, Pete being recaptured and almost hung, all of them being almost hung near the end of the movie, being thrown out of the general store and his friends almost abandoning him, ect.)
Also truthful of hubris in stories is that at the end, everything turns out allright partially due to luck. Most of the problems in this movie are escaped by sheer luck or coincidence. An obvious depiction of this is the fact that at the end of the movie, they are pardoned from there criminal record and famous, due to them singing as a distraction and an excuse to get into the town show.
The Laughing Club
There seemed to be allot of themes present in the film "The Laughing Club." The movie jumps back and forth between a lighter, happier mood, o a dark and depressing reality. People in the club all had different reasons for joining. One theme was defiance, as noted by the very proper way of life that they are supposed to live. No laughing in public and such things can be really agitating after a while. The film makers did a good job at conveying another theme, claustrophobia. There are very view close ups and most of the big wide open shots are used to show packed streets cluttered with advertisements and people doing what they need to survive. The major point of this film was that, these people solve all of there real life worries with laughter. The film makers would show an interview with a person who was living with some dramatic problem, for example, the woman who lost her husband. They showed the great depression this brought upon her and then would skip to scenes of her laughing and having a good time. I also noticed that when filming a sad person or talking about a sad subject the color was always dark. The skies were dark gray, the colors in the room seemed faded, and even the color white was always portrayed dirty. When the film would switch to a lighter subject like the doctor who founded the laughing club, the colors got much brighter. He would be by a beach, or wearing a bright color shirt.
The film makers also showed how this culture was influenced by the advertisements posted around the city. These adds looked as though they were there to tell these people what they were supposed to live like. The movie seemed to be filmed using all natural lighting.
To me, the entire film had a gritty feeling to it. Everywhere you looked there seemed to be trash or destruction. The only thing in sight that was new at all, were the big advertisements. The way these people talked about their lives made you just invision how it must be to live there. The film maker would start an interview and let the voice cary on so you would still hear the talking while looking down at the laughing club itself or at the chaotic streets.
The film makers also showed how this culture was influenced by the advertisements posted around the city. These adds looked as though they were there to tell these people what they were supposed to live like. The movie seemed to be filmed using all natural lighting.
To me, the entire film had a gritty feeling to it. Everywhere you looked there seemed to be trash or destruction. The only thing in sight that was new at all, were the big advertisements. The way these people talked about their lives made you just invision how it must be to live there. The film maker would start an interview and let the voice cary on so you would still hear the talking while looking down at the laughing club itself or at the chaotic streets.
Family Values
One of the themes in the film “Family Values” that i felt was important, was sorrow. When they are discussing the different jobs that they have had to clean up in this line of work, the son who also worked with them, talks about how what was worse than the actual cleaning for him, was the mother of the suicide victim crying downstairs. Although the movie did portray upbeat music, the entire movie was shot in black and white. The black and white never goes away, it is constant. This shows you that the subject matter of this movie is not exactly a happy one. Also, when the film is showing the actual cleaning of a trauma scene, there is no music at all, no sound at all besides the sound of the scrubbing and other sounds created bye the cleaners. The dead silence is set to express the total seriousness and reality, that they are cleaning up the remains of a dead person, and doing that is not a happy mood, it is filled with sorrow.
Another theme in the movie was that of overcoming obstacles. There is a reference to Barbara Streisand in the movie and how these women admired the fact that even though she was kept down by disadvantages such as her looks, she used her powerful voice to overcome those obstacles and become a success. This is directly related to how even though this couple must face the low opinion that society has on homosexuals, they are able to be married and live a happy life. The cheery music played in the movie was there to show that although they had such a dark part of there lives, they could live happy as any other family would. But again, when they talk about a specific low time for them as a couple, the music is gone, and there is only silence.
Something that I would have done different would be to change the shots around a little more. There are to many different scenes saying the same thing about how it is difficult to clean brains and skull. This is reiterated to many times and I think the time could have been used more efficiently. I also would have added still shots that were a little longer than the ones in the film, to stress the drama of a situation.
Another theme in the movie was that of overcoming obstacles. There is a reference to Barbara Streisand in the movie and how these women admired the fact that even though she was kept down by disadvantages such as her looks, she used her powerful voice to overcome those obstacles and become a success. This is directly related to how even though this couple must face the low opinion that society has on homosexuals, they are able to be married and live a happy life. The cheery music played in the movie was there to show that although they had such a dark part of there lives, they could live happy as any other family would. But again, when they talk about a specific low time for them as a couple, the music is gone, and there is only silence.
Something that I would have done different would be to change the shots around a little more. There are to many different scenes saying the same thing about how it is difficult to clean brains and skull. This is reiterated to many times and I think the time could have been used more efficiently. I also would have added still shots that were a little longer than the ones in the film, to stress the drama of a situation.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Ararat
(For reference, the movie filmed inside the actual movie will be referred to as FF for, “fake film”)
The film Ararat refers to the Armenian Holocaust, in which the Turkish allegedly planned the destruction of the Armenian people. As one would assume, the film has a dark and dreary mood to it throughout. This movie contains the characters filming a movie, which sets up for a parallelism between the timeline in the movie and the real time situation.
There are three main groups of setting in the movie. The obvious is the real present day world which is shot in normal lighting with mostly blue and green colors in the shot. The film that the characters are shooting is portrayed as if an over acted movie, with more contrast and sharp color, this is most likely done so a person watching the movie can clearly distinguish what is real, and what is a movie. The third reality is an ongoing reference back to Gorky’s home, back when he was alive and painting a picture of him and his mother. In these shots, the light source shines masterfully through the window and lights up the entire room, with shadows all over from the varied contents of his home. These shots were generally much brighter with a yellow tinge due to the sunlight, this all around beige look helped create a sense of the past, again helping the viewer distinguish where they were in the story. By this clever use of lighting and color the viewer is able to follow 3 ongoing story lines at the same time.
Actors, when appearing in FF, over acted grossly with really stressed pronunciation and facial expressions. This bogus depicture of reality, is put in place to make the real world seem more real. When watching the real world you feel more of a connection because it seems much more real.
A theme present in the movie is denial. The Turkish denial of the genocide is discussed as something you only hear about in life, until later when the Turkish actor playing the Turkish General in FF explains that he himself doesn't believe that the genocide occurred. The movie is full of connections, connections that one may not pick up right away. The connection between Raffi’s father’s death and Gorky’s, the connection between the customs officer and his son, who is dating the Turkish actor.
The camera, like most other elements of the movie, moves different in FF than in the real time. In FF, the camera follows the characters in their every movement, like a normal movie would do when all importance rests on that character. Since the actual movie was made well, with plans to make the movie feel real and put the viewer in that reality, the camera in the real world has much less movement. It would focus on two characters in a hallway and not move with them, staying stationary creating a real environment in which people move in the natural way, and the camera is only there to document it.
The depressing mood that surrounds the subject of the genocide is represented through faded colors such as blue and green. The whole repetitive topic of illegal drugs helps the sorrow of the movie, and the loss of innocence that comes with it. In the shots where Raffi is getting interrogated, the silence and awkwardness of the situation, helped by the camera repeatedly switching back the Raffi’s nervous expression, lets the viewer feel nervous and guilty, just as they should. You are actually tricked into feeling the emotion and feeling general worry for the character, which is exactly what a good film maker sets out to do.
The film Ararat refers to the Armenian Holocaust, in which the Turkish allegedly planned the destruction of the Armenian people. As one would assume, the film has a dark and dreary mood to it throughout. This movie contains the characters filming a movie, which sets up for a parallelism between the timeline in the movie and the real time situation.
There are three main groups of setting in the movie. The obvious is the real present day world which is shot in normal lighting with mostly blue and green colors in the shot. The film that the characters are shooting is portrayed as if an over acted movie, with more contrast and sharp color, this is most likely done so a person watching the movie can clearly distinguish what is real, and what is a movie. The third reality is an ongoing reference back to Gorky’s home, back when he was alive and painting a picture of him and his mother. In these shots, the light source shines masterfully through the window and lights up the entire room, with shadows all over from the varied contents of his home. These shots were generally much brighter with a yellow tinge due to the sunlight, this all around beige look helped create a sense of the past, again helping the viewer distinguish where they were in the story. By this clever use of lighting and color the viewer is able to follow 3 ongoing story lines at the same time.
Actors, when appearing in FF, over acted grossly with really stressed pronunciation and facial expressions. This bogus depicture of reality, is put in place to make the real world seem more real. When watching the real world you feel more of a connection because it seems much more real.
A theme present in the movie is denial. The Turkish denial of the genocide is discussed as something you only hear about in life, until later when the Turkish actor playing the Turkish General in FF explains that he himself doesn't believe that the genocide occurred. The movie is full of connections, connections that one may not pick up right away. The connection between Raffi’s father’s death and Gorky’s, the connection between the customs officer and his son, who is dating the Turkish actor.
The camera, like most other elements of the movie, moves different in FF than in the real time. In FF, the camera follows the characters in their every movement, like a normal movie would do when all importance rests on that character. Since the actual movie was made well, with plans to make the movie feel real and put the viewer in that reality, the camera in the real world has much less movement. It would focus on two characters in a hallway and not move with them, staying stationary creating a real environment in which people move in the natural way, and the camera is only there to document it.
The depressing mood that surrounds the subject of the genocide is represented through faded colors such as blue and green. The whole repetitive topic of illegal drugs helps the sorrow of the movie, and the loss of innocence that comes with it. In the shots where Raffi is getting interrogated, the silence and awkwardness of the situation, helped by the camera repeatedly switching back the Raffi’s nervous expression, lets the viewer feel nervous and guilty, just as they should. You are actually tricked into feeling the emotion and feeling general worry for the character, which is exactly what a good film maker sets out to do.
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