Ran and Akira Kurosawa

Ran was a wonderfully developed movie with scenes that intrigued me because of their uniqueness. The reading of the subtitles was bothersome, but not enough to make the movie not worth watching. The way Kurosawa shot the battle scences was very unique along with his portrayal of war. Most war movies these days try glorify soldiers in war and show the intensity of battle. Ran did not follow this pattern. The battle scences were gruesome and the music was mellow and sad. This made the movie very intruging and made me look inside myself and think of war from a different perspective. Sure, I already knew being in a war would be horrible, but it was very interesting to see a movie show it like that.

The other part of the film that I thought Kurosawa did a great job was with the style of the actors. Without the right mindset, one might think that the actors were overdramatic and unrealistic. With the mindset knowing that the movie is for enjoyment and it might not be the most realistic acting, the Noh theatre element was intruging. The main Lord in the movie seemed to be overdramatic in his anger and sadness. Everything he did was like he was going mad and he was just a total nut. It reminded me of a phycho mortal combat movie. The battle scenes were fun to watch as the troops just kept dropping one after another. The overdramatic unique style which I had never experienced before made this movie a fun one.

Philadelphia

This movie produced by Jonathan Demme did not resemble the other movies we watched of his. This movie was more of a drama than an action/suspense. I fould this movie about a court case filled with prevalent social issues to be quite boring. By no means was it a poorly directed film, the plot was just boring. Who wants to see a movie about a boring trial when you could see a movie with a blood and flesh eating maniac?

Besides this movie having an uninteresting plot, it was way too long. I found myself praying to the lord that it would end at least five times. When Andrew collapsed during trial, I didn't find myself shedding a tear, I was rejoicing because I thought the movie could possibly be coming to an end. Was I ever wrong...

Aside from bashing the movie, I was able to pick out similarities to Demme's other movies in the directing style. The use of angles to show authority reminded me of Demme's wonderful film Silence of the Lambs. Denzel Washington was always given a low angle to match his authoritative personality. When Andrew collapsed, a high algle was shot to show the pain and panic he experienced. This made him appear as the underdog in the story, uncapable of winning. He used great camera techniques to add style and interest, but in the end, I don't care because the story wasn't the most exciting.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is widely considered to be one of the greatest movie directors of all time. I found his movies to be quite boring. This doesn't take away from his credentials of being a great director because he lacked the technology and money to make a film that would be popular these days. Analyzing his films, it is easy to see why he is considered an expert producer. He is able to use suspense to get people interested. Out of all the movies we watched, I thought Rear Window was the least boring although I would never waste my time watching it if it wasn't in school. The movie kept me slightly interested because of Hitchcock's use of suspense.

Rear Window was able to keep me awake and slightly interested because Hitchcock gave an interesting perspective on human nature. Having a broken leg in that day and age before XBox's were in existence would leave you stuck in the stone age. It was very interesting to see what what the guy decided to do with his free time. He ended up spying on a murder; whether he was invading people's privacy or not is for you to decide. The suspence of him catching the murderer combined with his love life with his desperate girlfriend made the story worth following. This movie produced today, would be comparable to the great motion picture Disturbia. With the same money and technology, it would be debatable which movie would be more thrilling.