Kingdom of Heaven

This movie has been one of my recent favorites and it’s not only because my hubby Orlando Bloom plays the leading role. When my group members told me that we were writing about director Ridley Scott, I must admit that I was almost terrified because although he has amazing plotlines, I’m not into the battle scenes and such. However, Kingdom of Heaven totally changed my perspective because Scott directs his films with such authority and he truly understands the essence of making a film that contains violence and making it seem not so bad after all because the audience gets so hooked on the film that we begin to oversee the blood spouting out and we concentrate on the little things that make up the whole picture. For example, the countless battle scenes are emphasized dramatically because Scott uses the close-ups and the slow motion camera lenses. This almost forces the audience to pay attention the immense detail, like the swing of the sword or the muscles moving as if they were in free space and not in the timing of reality. Also, I thought that it was really cool how the slow motion parts look a little blurred and I think this helps to emphasize how the characters are moving so fast, yet the timing has to be precise and careful because a little mistake can mean a wound or even death. In all, I loved this movie and the plotline was typical like some other films from Ridley Scott because you see a hero troubled between wanting to fight for justice or vengeance and at the same time, they long for the peace of mind that exists at home.

"The general who became a slave, the slave who became a gladiator, the gladiator who defied and emperor."

Although I have seen Gladiator before, watching it for the sole purpose of analyzing it and such made it that much more enjoyable the second time around! The part or parts I should say, that I’m choosing to analyze are the places where there is either flashbacks or recurring images of Maximus walking towards his family. First of all, these images in the movie are of a different tint than the rest of the film. This is probably because Ridley Scott wanted to present to us the image that Maximus was in a place that wasn’t yet attainable. It wasn’t until the final scene where he is reunited with his family in his mind before he is about to die that there is light that shines through the door, light the illuminates the prairie, and this is where we finally see what his wife and son truly look like. Before this scene, all we knew was how his home looked because Maximus at some point described it to Marcus Aurelius (Caesar) and we also say these images when Commodus’s men burned and crucified his family. I think it was extremely interesting how Ridley Scott decided to only show the faces of his family once Maximus was reunited with because it’s symbolized the importance of finally being with them. The only connection to seeing them for the entire year was not through pictures, but simply by mere memory and by the little wooden figures that he carried close to him. Also, I noticed that these flashbacks seemed to only come around when Maximus showed signs of emotional weakness and pain, and when his life could potentially be in danger (i.e. first battle against the Barbarians, before the gladiator scene, while he was weak and riding home, the slave cart, and before he fought Commodus). After the movie, I came to the conclusion that Scott decided to include these images at these particular times because although he was a tough man, his family was his weak point and their death produced a bigger wound than any other wound he ever received in his life as a soldier.

Stalker Much?

From all of the Alfred Hitchcock films that we studied in this unit, my favorite was definitely Rear Window because it was so closely related to Disturbia, which was like a modern re-make of Rear Window. Anyway, the scene that I chose to analyze was the part when Lisa goes into Thorwald’s apartment to find the Mrs. Thorwald wedding ring. In this scene, when Lisa flashes the ring to Jeff, Mr. Thorwald realizes what she’s doing and he slowly glares up in the direction of Jeff’s apartment and it’s implied that they make contact. It’s really cool because we see Mr. Thorwald through Jeff’s camera, so it was nice seeing images through that kind of perspective. But more importantly, what was so captivating about this particular scene was how Mr. Thorwald not only appeared to be staring back at Jeff, but he was also staring back at us! It was so creepy because while I was watching this, I actually felt guilty and scared at the same time because I felt like a stalker who had just been caught! Totally freaky. So props to Hitchcock for being able to accomplish this cool effect because when the audience is intrigued by small details like this, then you know that it’s a film worth watching.