Lily of the Valley Productions
Scene Critique
Scene: "I can't carry it for you...but I can carry you."
This scene from Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King, is arguably the most intimate, human, and powerful scene in the entire trilogy
Frodo and Sam have finally make it to Mordor, where frodo must cast the Ring of Power into the fire of mount doom so that it would be destroyed forever, but as they attempt to climb mout doom together, the exhaustion both of them becomes very clear to the viewer.
Same sees Frodo collapse, too weak to move any further, and takes him in his arms. He sees the top of mount doom and knows that they are almost there, and that he must keep frodo awake, so he begins to talk about the farthest place he can think of from Mordor, the comfort and safty of the shire; their home.
The shots for the rest of the scene are close shots on the two characters' faces( most of the ones of Frodo are over Sam's shoulder). This gives the viewer the feeling that they are part of they are part of the intimate moment .
"Do you remember the shire, Mr. Frodo?" Sam says quietly
Seeing Frodo smile weakly, he continues :
"It will be spring soon."
It is in this moment that we can begin to hear a flute like instrument and a theme resembling "concerning hobbits"(the theme for the shire). Also, it is at this time that we can see the only wide shot in the scene. Sam is still holding frodo on the side of the mountain, but instead of the dark grey and black color theme that is present in the rest of the scenes on mount doom, there is some light that shines through, giving color to what little it can and symbolizing hope and comfort for the two little hobbits so far from the rolling hills, and of the shire.
Of course, meaning and symbolism of books and movies can be subjective to the person, but i believe that this scene, if not the entire plot line concerning Frodo and Sam, represents the debilitating effects that addiction, whatever that might mean, or even more simply, the trials and hardships of a true friendship.
Frodo is clearly suffering (it is this pain and suffering that make this scene so impactful to viewers) and Sam knows that there is only so much he can do to lighten the load (literally). This is also painful for the viewers to watch, as Sam feels utterly helpless, but seeing the fear in his best friend pushes him to stand up, and come to the realization that " I can't carry it [the ring] for you...but I can carry you."
Perhaps it is these words that speak to the audience the most, as they are relatable to all of our lives and ring true to every great friendship.
Documentary Critique:
Actual Measures
The Documentary Active Measures centers around how Russia came to have influence in our 2016 presidential election and the deep connection he has to our president. However, It is much more complicated than just that. The term "Actual Measures" is a Soviet term for the actions of political warfare conducted by the Russian security services to influence the course of world events.
The documentary details the shady past of the Russian regime under president Vladamir Putin and the disturbing ways in which he has been able to become the feared dictator that he is. The documentary is split in to two basic parts: The History of Russian interference and manipulation, and the 2016 election/ the present day
The background of Putin comes first. As a young man, Putin started in a couple of low level political positions and learned how to maneuver in the world of politics while holding those positions. This prompted the Former Russian president to nominate him as his parties candidate for president . Years before this, he also became a member of the KGB, a state security agency who's main functions included gathering foreign intelligence and counter intelligence on other nations, until the organization disbanded in 1991 after the fall of communism. Although the agency was no longer functioning, the acquaintances he made while working there still have an effect and are connected to Putin and therefore are now deeply embedded in our government.
Although the 2016 presidential election was a rude awakening for americans to the reality of russian influence in our politics, Putin has been meddling in elections around the world, ever since he assumed the office of president. One of these elections was the Ukrainian presideential election. Putin believed very strongly that Ukraine should have been a part of Russia and not it's own country. He pourded tons of money into Victor Yanukovych's campain, as he advocated for Ukraine to remain closely aligned with Russia. the other candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, had a reputation for being clean and fair, but most of all he believed in Ukrainian independence from Russia. As time went on, many grew afraid that Yushchenko would be killed. In a matter of months Yushchenko had been poison and almost killed, to the extent that it permenantly disfigured his face. There was no question that the KGB was behind it. Along with this, there was evidence of Russian hackers skewed the election results changing the outcome of the election.
This was only the beginning. As the years went on, journalists started turning up dead or poisoned, and even more elections were manipulated. One common thread in many of these events was the American Paul Manafort, who would later become the campaign chairman for president Trump in the 2016 election. He had history as a top camaign stratagist for president Bush and was a well established political consultant in america. He had close ties to Yanukovych and other Russian oligarchs (some of which were connected to the KGB or Russian mobsters). He signed a deal wot one of these oligarchs to promote the kremlin and its interests.
This is where the audience can see all of the pieces of the puzzle coming together. it is at this part of the documentary where Trump plays a big role. The film careful outlines and traces the time line of Trump's communication with Russia. For example, It is stated in the film that "anyone involved in organized crime in Russia", had a place at trump Towers"This communication traces back from over a decade and we can even see parallels in president Trump to other figures that Putin has used to disrupt the democratic process. This sort of archetype that Russia seems to look for is someone with "buesness resources, shady morals, and political connections or aspirations". It becomes clear that trump connections with Russia trace so far back, politically, socially, and especially financially, that at this point it is not a matter of "if" Trump and his staff had colluded with Russia, it is a question of how much more evidence is there still to find.
Throughout the film, the B-roll consists of Headings of news articles, documents in which key sentences, words and phrases are zoomed in on and highlighted. When there is an especially intense part of the film, especially towards the end, the entire pace of the documentart begins to increase and the words/phrases are higlighted in red. The music also intensifies. All of this creates a feeling of ergency in the viewer, as we are witessing a mass conspericy unfold right before us. Truly, the editing of this film adds just as much too it as the interviews, and makes it "that" much better.
I would recommend this documentary because of how masterfully it brings together so many moving parts but in en easy to understand and fascinating way. What is even more amazing is how it leaves a genuine sense of fear in the viewer of what is still unknown (i believe about 3 people in my family stared at the tv in silence and then said, "wow that's scary" after it ended). The general message that a person take away from this film is that we, as Americans are watching a conspiracy unfold in plain sight and there is nothing we can do about it except wait for what happens next. Truly, this is only the beginning.
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Scene Critique
Rebecca(1940) - Alfred Hitchcock
It took me a lot longer than was probably necessary to pick a movie scene for this project, which is why i'm probably late turning this in(sorry Muench), but the reason I had such a hard time is because I had never watched a black and white suspense/thriller movie before. I knew I hadn't HAVE to do this, but I wanted to challenge myself and try something new. After trying out a silent film and another black and white horror film, i settled on Rebecca, which is a dark, romantic, suspense film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. At first I was nervous and I’ve always been sheepish around the idea of horror movies(i have never watched one in my life), but i found myself picking apart cinematic details and the writing of the piece as i watched it rather than being all to invested in the story line, as i feel it is those cinematic details that make the storyline work.
A scene that is probably one of the most memorable to audiences is scene 8, where Mrs. de Winter makes a surprise costume for a ball that resembles Maxim’s(Mr. De Winter’s) favorite gallery painting. She does this at the suggestion of Mrs. Danvers, the chief housekeeper. She rushes down the grand staircase to show off her stunning costume but Maxim gets angry. “What the devil do you think you’re doing” he whispers, visibly tortured by the sight, and tells her to go change into anything but what she is wearing. The audience then can piece together that this was the same gown that Rebecca, Maxim’s late wife, wore at her last ball. Mrs. de Winter then confronts Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca’s old room -- a room that Mrs. Danvers obsessively keeps just as Rebecca had always had it -- about sabotaging her, asking Danvers why she hates her so much. The audience knows at this point that Mrs. Danvers is obsessed with Rebecca, but are startled to hear her true feelings come out as she aggressively replies that the new Mrs. dW will never be able to replace Rebecca or live up to what she was. Mrs. de Winter is now visibly distraught, sobbing and collapsing on Rebecca's bed. Meanwhile, Danvers opens the window and tries to coax the new Mrs. dW to jump to her death. Just as she is about to, an emergency flare for a shipwreck is seen and the scene shifts down to the shore
I thought that the details in this scene is what make it so memorable to the audience. If we didn't know the context of this scene, the audience would see it as overdramatic. However, we know the psychological effects of living in Manderlay has had on the new Mrs. dW, being constantly reminded that she doesn't belong there, always being compared to Rebecca by everyone, and feeling as if she can’t escape Rebecca’s “ghost” whatever she does. One detail that can be seen as a metaphor for all of these things is the embroidered “R” that is on almost all of Rebecca’s possessions, and that seems to be everywhere that the new Mrs. dW turns. Perhaps the most effective use of this detail is in scene 8. When Mrs. dW lifts her head off of the pillow she is crying on and sees a giant embroidered “R”. This also happens to be the last time we see the initial before the last scene of the whole movie, as the following scenes deal with her learning new information and shedding the mindset she has in this scene for good.
Another thing that becomes clear in this moment is that no one throughout the movie has ever referred to the new Mrs. dW by her first name, further reinforcing the fact that she feels like nobody and that her existence in that environment is meaningless. Given the fact that she threw her entire life away to be with Mr. dW, the audience can understand why she actually considers jumping out of the bedroom window.
That moment is also intimate between to two characters. Mrs dW is standing on the windowsill, sobbing, while Mrs. Danvers stands over her, speaking softly, and vocalizing all of Mrs. dW greatest fears and insecurities. Mrs. dWs face eventually turns numb and the camera pans out from a closeup of her face to show most of her body about to jump, and Mrs Danvers standing closely behind her.
While the storyline maybe somewhat formulaic to our modern view of film, the small details, writing, and acting of this film are the reasons it is widely considered a classic and one of Hitchcock's greatest masterpieces.
