reviews
1: Jaws
Jaws is a very impactful and deep film that shows lots of expression and different elements than any other movie. This film was very important to many people, and it became a big hit as soon as it was out in the world. Every scene is very important and shows a slight deeper meaning. Stanley Kubrick, the director, brings in different aspects of color in his film to capture the important pieces. For example, the beach scene where all the children go out in the water, there are certain things that people don’t take a lot of consideration of. One piece would be the yellow raft or board, while the boy wearing red trousers tells us that those two colors are very detrimental to what will happen later in the scene. During this part, you can already tell that the director is trying to pull the audience towards the boy, as the bright colors in the shot capture a clever sensation. While talking about the scene, other aspects can be shown to scare the audience, as this scene is supposed to be very tense. One aspect could be when the couple is yelling, as this can say to an audience that a climax is going to happen, but when we actually see the shot, a couple is just playing around. Stanley chooses to incorporate this and different people in the film to bring the audience more emotion and to capture something that isn’t actually that important. The film jaws also captures many shots, such as low, dolly zoom, and medium shots to show the setting, characters, and to bring more depth into a scene rather than keeping it in one shot the whole film. Kubrick’s expertise in the film industry is incorporated in this film, as the plot and storyline is one of a kind, and overall the film comes together very nicely and clean towards the end of the film. All in all, this film captures a lot of tension as the director captures effective shots, while also trying the best at making it a complete thriller. There's a lot of character development, and a great capture of how people in real life would truly react to this situation. Lastly, the effective role in music plays a heavy part in the film, as the film mostly focuses on the shark, so the film needed to effectively capture a similarity and connection with the animal and music that would follow his footsteps. In one of the scenes, you can see this play in effect as the shark is trying to grab a human, they first need to show angles from the shark’s perspective and as this is happening. Deep suspenseful music needs to be in the background to tell the audience that danger is in place at the moment. Jaws is a perfect capture of the real world as the setting is captured in a small town, with real characters with true personalities, while a mix of plot stirs with the intense addition of the shark making this film a lasting hit.
rj; school purposes only.
2: Lost Highway
David Lynch’s Lost Highway is a mesmerizing film that deep dives into paranoia, memories and identity, driven by its hypnotic and illusive cinematography. The film's main characters would be the Mystery Man, Fred Madison, and Renee Madison, as they are the most significant and connect deeply with the psychological storytelling. The films concept of color and its mystery with the connection of deep shadows, glows, and strategic contrasting colors are creating a world where reality feels constantly on the cliff of collapse, and that there are certain visuals that are created to have a deeper meaning, such as the house burning on fire, and towards the end you can see this unfold and recast into the fire getting swallowed right back into thin air, leaving the house normal. This could represent the dream coming and leaving, as the “mystery man” correlates with this house since towards the end it is morphing back to normal visions, telling the audience that it reversed and now is back into the more real world; representing the reverse from the dark subconscious of Fred Madison's mind. The director David Lynch, masterfully manipulates light, color and space as he can make a scene seem like we are devlving and watching through a actual dream,exploring dark corners of people’s experiences but also he strategically involves realism to pull slowly towards a deeper situation. The plain highways stretch into creating the film more dreamlike and uneasy, as this highway is shown towards the start and end of the film. The use of extreme close-ups and oblique shots adds to the disorientation, establishing the story’s themes of identity loss and psychological distortion/thrill. An example within the film would be when Fred Madison’s younger self, gets trapped into a room with different doors, unfolding a secret meaning with the other girl in the fake universe, showing certain cinematography that captures interpretation from the scene, without actually telling the audience the true meaning. This provides the audience with many answers and questions and can bring in a vast variety of views and how others created meaning. One interesting thing about this film is that it’s hard to fully grasp on the first watch. The story unfolds without clear answers or conclusions, making it feel elusive and open-ended. But with each rewatch, new details can be spotted, leading to deeper insights and fresh information that help uncover its true meaning in your opinion which is what the director wants. With its eerie visual language, unsettling camera angles, and meaningful contrast with colors and scenes, Lost Highway feels less like a film and more like a waking nightmare the more you delve deeper into the actual significant meaning within characters and the storyline. David Lynch perfectly replicates paranoia and unsettling imagery with his use of interpretation and visual effects, allowing the audience to bring in many opinions and creations of their own explanation.
-rj; school/works purposes only.
