The Otherness in Apocalypse Now
“The real ‘enemy’ the Americans were fighting was themselves,’ (2010). Apocalypse Now not only portrays a view about the Vietnam War that mostly affected the mind of the soldiers, it also portrays how much insanity and murder surrounded it. Horror in every form, explicit massacre, and a complete nightmare. The ‘other’ is the not knowing […]
All Quiet on the Western Front Discussion
Assignment Read the article “War, Memory, and Politics,” and contribute to discussion in the comments field below this post.
Apocalypse Now Discussion
Assignment In Michael Richardson’s book, Otherness in Hollywood Cinema, he states, “No film in Hollywood history, I think, has directly confronted themes of otherness in a more complex or a more uncomfortable way than Apocalypse Now. (pg. 139). What “themes of otherness’ struck you in the film, and what does this film tell you […]
Kurosawa’s Dreams Discussion
Assignment The character and plot line of a short film is distinctly different from that of a feature. After seeing Akira Kurosawa’s Dream’s, write a 2-3 page paper (typed/double-spaced) examining the structure of one of these short films and it’s relationship to the the other seven films in Dreams. How do you think these structures […]
11’09″01 September 11 Discussion
Assignment Choose two of the eleven short films of the anthology 11″09’01 to compare and contrast. Provide a short biography of each of the directors, then compare and contrast how the films depicted time, place, and perspective. Post your compare/contrast thoughts to the discussion in the comments below this post, and be sure to […]
Tsotsi Discussion
Assignment In the manifesto: “Towards a Third Cinema” by Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino, they state: “The anti-imperialist struggle of the peoples of the Third World and of their equivalents inside the imperialist countries constitutes today the axis of the world revolution. Third cinema is, in our opinion, the cinema that recognizes in that struggle […]
Paradise Now Discussion
Assignment… Hany Abu-Assad had a difficult time making this movie. The crew had to survive a missile attack on one occasion and a location scout was kidnapped. The director said that in retrospect he never would have made the film had he known the violence he would face. Even more, it is difficult for a […]
The Hurt Locker Discussion
Assignment… Some military friends of mine have scoffed at the technical portrayal of defusing bombs presented in The Hurt Locker, citing inaccuracies such as the fact that such a small bomb-defusing crew would be sent out alone, and that crews were more accustomed to responding to situations than sniffing for bombs on deserted streets. […]