Don't Breathe


Don't breathe is a thriller released in 2016 and directed by Fede Alvarez. The moving image is about a young trio and how they try making money by breaking into houses and stealing valuables then selling them off. One day the character 'Money,' played by Daniel Zovatto, was tipped off that a blind man who was ex army had over $250,000 stashed away in his house. So, the group felt this was a job they couldn't walk away from. But it all goes wrong for them.


Before watching the film I felt from the trailer that this was a horror but after watching I realised it portrayed all conventions of a thriller, and the film did this so well. I had never watched a film with so much suspense before ever and this film was the least predictable I have watched. I was shocked that the film only had a $9,000,000 considering the money used within the market today but I wasn't surprised it accumulated over $26,000,000 at box office.


For a thriller some of the camera work through out the film was surprisingly really aesthetically pleasing. I would've expected, being a thriller, that the shots would've been rushed and shaky through out but the majority of the time the camera seemed very lined up and steady, as well some frames were very symmetrical and clean.


The mise en scene within this film was very simple due to mainly being in one setting. The setting was very good being in a neglected, dilapidated house that could not be maintained by a blind man on his own.


Below is the trailer for the film:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76yBTNDB6vU

Rust and Bone (2012)


Directed by Jacques Audiard Rust and Bone is a French drama. It displays many themes through out but some of the key ones are family, friendship, love, sex and most of all tragedy.

This eye opening film follows two main characters Ali, played by Matthias Schoenaerts and Stephanie whom was played by the outstanding Marion Cotillard. Both actors put in a tremendous performance to make this piece so eye opening.

It starts with Ali travelling down to Canne where his sister lives so that she can help him look after his 5 year old son Sam. On the first scene we see how the two of them are living in poverty, they start by picking up the scraps of food on the train as they do not have enough money to go and buy there own, before Ali enters a shop and steals what looks like a camera again just to afford him feeding him and his son. Once he arrives at his sisters his sister Anna helps him get a job as a security guard at the local club Annex. This is where the film takes a turning point, as during one of Ali's shifts he breaks up a fight which Stephanie is involved in, before he takes her home. This is one of the first moments that each character displays any sort of power. Simon, Stephanie's boyfriend, sees that Ali was in his flat and questioned why but as soon as Ali spoke up Simon backed off showing the dominance Ali portrays. But this did not mean Ali was the most powerful person at that moment. Stephanie asks Ali to leave as she sees there may be a problem between Ali and Simon, but she didn't beg Ali and nor did he argue why.

After this moment the story follows Stephanie for a couple scenes as we watch her at work, where she is a Orca trainer. But something goes wrong. An Orca misunderstood the instruction and wiped out the stage in the pool, which lead to Stephanie having her lower legs amputated due to the injuries she had.

One of the fantastic scenes is when Stephanie is waking up in the hospital, the absence of sound is key as it is yet to be revealed what has happened to her. The long shot shows the simplicity of the room and the dullness of the room indicates something bad may have happened.


Later on when Stephanie is in her new flat which the insurance is paying for we witness how she struggles to cope and that's what prompts her to call Ali. This leads to their friendship growing as he takes her out of the flat and helps her start living again as he takes her to the beach. When Stephanie feels too embarrassed to go and swim Ali asks 'because no bathing suit?' This shows the masculinity with Ali and shows his power as he teaches Stephanie not to care about how others perceive her. Then once she's in the water and you see the jubilation on her face it is heart warming.


Another moment that power is highlighted is when Ali and Stephanie are talking about sex, she felt powerful when she could dance and said 'she liked to turn men on'. This highlighted how sex was a key theme in the film even without the sexual scenes involved, and that a sexual presence shows power over of people who want them or want to be them.


As the film progresses we watch power shift between the two characters. There is one very key scene which establishes not dominance for either character but the respect they gain. This is after Ali wins a fight and the fighter was bigger and stronger than him. So they all went out to celebrate, now because Ali had been having a sexual relationship with Stephanie she is upset when Ali goes home with another girl from the club as he didn't show any decency towards her. When Stephanie approaches him the next day she sets some ground rules in which Ali has to follow in order for them to continue.


Both characters have such power throughout the film but how they show power is completely different. Ali shows his power physically, he shows off his size, for example as a security guard or when he fights for money. The most significant scene of Ali's power was when Sam fell in the lake and was able to punch through the ice in order to save his son. This also showed the love he had for Sam when even his sister Anna questioned how much he cared. Where as Stephanie is more about how she speaks and controls other people, she was able to shut up Ali and to stop sleeping with other women but also on the fighting scene she was able to take bets on Ali when Martial had to leave, and before her Martial believed that the scene wasn't for women.


Rust and Bone was nominated for 2 Golden Globes and various other words well deserved due to the standard this piece was created. The camera work was sublime and some of the frames shown were just eye-catching I really feel they would've struggled to improve any shot. The mise en scene was impeccable in the way they were able to show how each character lived in poverty. One of the most subtle way the film displayed poverty was how Anna took expired food home to eat that her work were throwing away anyway, to save the money she didn't have to spend. The characters didn't make a big statement about it they just used little techniques like this to show how desperate and tight money was.


This film I would never normally watch especially being foreign, usually it doesn't interest me. But I am glad it was introduced to me because it was really good and eye opening. So, my personal opinion of it as you can probably tell is that I rate this film highly.


Below is the trailer:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg7skcyYolU

The Fundamentals of Caring (2016)

The Fundamentals of caring is a Netflix original drama which also displays attributes of a comedy. Some of the themes involved in this film are friendship, family and coming of age.

This beautiful piece which is based on a young man ,named Trevor, whom unfortunately been paralysed since the age of 3. Trevor could never establish a relationship between his carers because of his dark sense of humour, not everyone understood it. One day a man, named Ben, who started being a carer to get a better perspective of life due to the tragic loss of his child was assigned to Trevor. As the film develops the two create such a strong bond that looks unlikely to be broke. They both argue as that's what close friends tend to do but it only brought them closer together. On an occasion their argument gave Trevor finally a motivation and to see the some local 'pointless' landmarks rather than through the television screen. On the way they pick up a couple of hitch hikers and the friendship every one of them creates for one another is truly special.

Rob Burnett was the writer and director of this touching piece of work, it is very similar to films like 'Me before you,' and 'Untouchable,' but he was able to put his own spin on the film and differentiate it from the other two to make it stand out.

I feel Netflix have definitely done a excellent job with this film, some of the camera work produced throughout the film is truly something. The simplicity in the shots through out the film was just what it needed to put the spotlight on the actors who put in a great performance. Trevor was played by Craig Roberts, whom also featured in Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom,' and Ben was played by Paul Rudd whom worked in a vast range of work, from the sitcom 'Friends,' to playing a superhero in 'Antman'. These two were seen as our protagonists, i feel it had a multi protagonist storyline.

The mise en scene through out the film was perfect and the lighting. As the film progressed the shots got brighter and brighter as did their clothing. This was suggesting that what our two main characters were looking for was eachother. Both of them gave eachother a new lease of life due to their company, and if you look closely at the start it is dull and bleak but with the progression the setting gets brighter.

One of my favourite scenes is one of the ending scenes, when Ben was able to fulfil Trevors dreaming of to be able to 'piss standing up'. This just cemented their friendship and showed to Trevor that Ben really did care as he listened to the little things, especially as Trevor grew up without a father figure. What also made this scene so very special was the 360 pan we had above the two as they looked over the world's deepest pit, was beautiful.

This film I will strongly recommend.
Below is the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSXn-lIs4Y0

13th

'13th,' released just this year (2016) is a Netflix original documentary which gives a very in depth insight to America's prison system and reveal's the nation's history of racial inequality.

It was directed by Ava DuVernay, who also co-wrote this documentary with Spencer Averick.

This doc highlights significant events and how they all link together and having an end result of racial inequality. The title of this film is based upon the 13th amendment, where it's illegal for the use of slaves unless it's a form of punishment from crime. This one law caused a spiral of events, which has most recently lead to the current state of America and the movement of 'Black Lives Matter'.

This doc is in the expository format due to the subject that is talked about. The use of talking heads is through out the film, as well as clips and images that weren't taken by the film makers themselves. This doc is definitely an eye opener and keeps you engrossed through out due to information that is now put in front of you and you would not have known about it unless you went searching for it.

Undefeated

-Released in 2011
-Directed by Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
-Sporting documentary and displayed many different themes ; friendship, team-work, family, love, football, violence, race, neglection, loss, triumph, coming of age.
-Was able to win an Oscar and 3 other awards

Undefeated is a sporting documentary based in Tennesse following Mannassas High School football team. Since the school opened 100 plus years ago the school had never won a play off game, and Bill Courtney a volunteering football coach had started to build a footballing platform at Mannassas over the 5 years he'd been there and now he had the greatest team the school had ever seen and was giving hope to young men that they may be able to beat the school's duck, but also that football will give them a better life. Whether that was it would help them with a scholarship or to help change their mentality that there were things out there bigger themselves.

This documentary can be seen as a drama due to the way it's set up and how the use of interviews is at a low considering the amount of distinctive figures through out the documentary but because it displays the theme of coming of age which is consistently involved with dramas, this provides even more reason that it can be mistaken for a drama.

What is a Documentary ?

Google defines a documentary to be;

1. consisting of or based on official documents.
2. using pictures or interviews with people involved in real events to provide a factual report on a particular subject

Both definitions are correct but do not desrcibe what a documentary really is. Yes everything is true or official that happens in them, nothing is staged, but a documentary is still a genre of film. Which means the film still has features that create meaning and help the audience to relate to the people that are involved in the documentary.

Documentary's will film/picture every minute of every day during a time period or until they have enough footage to achieve the goal, whether thats to tell a story through other people's lives or to show the audience the struggle and battles they have to go through on a day to day basis which in a way could also rest in a story from how they live. Usually documentaries have a certain effect on an audience, that they walk away feeling grateful for what they have or they feel sympathetic towards the lives they have just witnessed as they did not realise how bad some people had it until a film maker had to show them.

50 Shades of Black


-Released in 2016
-Production companies
     -IM Global
     -Wayans Alvarez Productions
-Directed by Michael Tiddes
-Produced by Marlon Wayans
-The certificate of this film is 18, it has a younger target audience due to it being a spoof and a lot of the jokes are stereotypes that of a younger audience are more likely to find amusing.


-Genre is a spoof comedy
-It has themes of sex, relationships, race, violence, family


-50 Shades of Black is spoof based film on 50 Shades of Grey, it constantly has references to the original film but by using a sarcastic tone to show the opinion on the original is very low. The original is about a college student who meets a very wealthy businessman but his sexual needs causes friction between the two, the storyline is the same throughout the film but looses track during various parts due to it's relaxed and jokey approach. Throughout the film there are constant racial stereotypes being used as in an amusement form, making fun of negative stereotypes that others may be offended by.