1968
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Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
17 September 2015
26 August 2015
18 March 2011
16 March 2011
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Dir. Jim Sharman
1975
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What does it all mean? What does anything mean? Sharman depicts the underlying existential futility of Rocky Horror by starting the film on a black screen. We're introduced first to a singular body part. And then those lips start to sing. He uses this image to foreshadow the utter ridiculousness of the plot while at the same time pointing out that it's actually quite a disturbing visage. Those red lips, white teeth, pink tongue surrounded by nothing but blackness. The film is a comedy, for sure; over-the-top in almost every way. But when he ends the film on a similarly dark screen, with only a glowing representation of our Earth in frame, you wonder what he wants the audience to take away. That life is both funny and disturbing? That life is both over-the-top and meaningless? Maybe that's the real horror.
1975
Opening Image:
Closing Image:
What does it all mean? What does anything mean? Sharman depicts the underlying existential futility of Rocky Horror by starting the film on a black screen. We're introduced first to a singular body part. And then those lips start to sing. He uses this image to foreshadow the utter ridiculousness of the plot while at the same time pointing out that it's actually quite a disturbing visage. Those red lips, white teeth, pink tongue surrounded by nothing but blackness. The film is a comedy, for sure; over-the-top in almost every way. But when he ends the film on a similarly dark screen, with only a glowing representation of our Earth in frame, you wonder what he wants the audience to take away. That life is both funny and disturbing? That life is both over-the-top and meaningless? Maybe that's the real horror.
08 March 2011
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Dir. Frank Oz
1988
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Here they go again. The object of desire located center frame. For these conning scoundrels, only one thing matters, and Oz makes sure to represent that right up front and re-emphasizes it again during the closing sequence. To the protagonists, the human figure represents not beings with souls and personalities, but simply the amount of jewels and money they carry--and can be scammed out of.
1988
Opening Image:
Closing Image:
Here they go again. The object of desire located center frame. For these conning scoundrels, only one thing matters, and Oz makes sure to represent that right up front and re-emphasizes it again during the closing sequence. To the protagonists, the human figure represents not beings with souls and personalities, but simply the amount of jewels and money they carry--and can be scammed out of.
07 March 2011
Mother
2009
Dir. Joon-ho Bong
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Though the opening image of this film occurs chronologically towards the end of the film, it's amazing the shift experienced from beginning to end. The sedate, wide-angle camera movements and the slowly impassioned dancing contrast with the drive-by hand-held work of the end, with Mrs. Yoon letting go completely. Perhaps she is envisioning her dance in the field? Perhaps she's forgotten her sins completely? Or maybe not. These frames suggest all those possibilities and invite the viewer to contemplate all consequences of those possible iterations.
Dir. Joon-ho Bong
Opening Image:
Closing Image:
Though the opening image of this film occurs chronologically towards the end of the film, it's amazing the shift experienced from beginning to end. The sedate, wide-angle camera movements and the slowly impassioned dancing contrast with the drive-by hand-held work of the end, with Mrs. Yoon letting go completely. Perhaps she is envisioning her dance in the field? Perhaps she's forgotten her sins completely? Or maybe not. These frames suggest all those possibilities and invite the viewer to contemplate all consequences of those possible iterations.
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