The Godfather

The Godfather is a portrayal of an Italian family caught up in the mobster lifestyle. With drugs, robberies, and murders taking place daily within the Corleone family, it comes as a big shock when the patriarch of the family hands off this deadly business to his son. What really interested me about this movie was the idea of family and respect.

Throughout this movie, the central idea always comes back to the idea of family as being the most important thing in your life. It was clear from the beginning that within this society, you were to put family over everything. We see this first through the character of the Godfather, Vito Corleone. He delivers one of the most famous lines in this movie "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." He says this to his son Sonny, whom he perceives is not being a real man because he doesn’t put his wife and children first. All of Vito’s motives throughout the movie are based on bettering his family, and providing for them the ideal lifestyle. This is also portrayed through his sons and their vengeance on those people who attempted to hurt their family. They will stop at no length to get the revenge they think is equivalent to the pain that they have felt. All the way up until the end of this movie when Michael kills his sister’s husband for betraying the family- we are shown over and over again the vital meaning of family and what we do for them.

Another strong theme in this movie is respect. From the very opening scene we are shown the importance of respect within the mobster community, but also within the Corleone family. Vito is meeting with a member of the Italian community who is requesting a service and Vito responds “What have I ever done to make you treat me so disrespectfully?” From this moment on, we are taken through a world where respect is everything. The kissing of the hands, and referring to people with names of respect and stature is a big sign of appreciation and gratefulness within the community. It is regarded as having a high prestige. Disrespect is the highest form of insult. Which is why the ending is so powerful when Michael is referred to as Don Corleone.

Overall the underlying themes of this movie seem to come back to the main idea that there is nothing above your family. And if someone disrespects them or you- then you must seek retribution.

- Paola Ogadzhanvoa

Bonnie and Clyde By: Allie Lonneman

Bonnie and Clyde was an iconic film in the sixties because of its pioneering presentation of sex and violence. Specifically, the ending was noted as one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history. Whether it was Clyde shooting the bank manager or the blatant display of Buck being shot in the head, the audience reacted to the violence in a positive way. This violence peaked in the closing scene of Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie and Clyde are located at C.W.’s father’s house by Hamer. Mr. Moss devises a scheme to get his son off the hook. After staging a flat tire on the side of the road, and summoning Bonnie and Clyde’s assistance, the duo is brutally murdered via open fire. How can such a cruel display of violent behavior be so popular among viewers? In a sense, was this ending the start to the gore and new age horror movies that have begun to almost demagnetize our generation?

            The film Bonnie and Clyde is forthright in its display of sexual and violent behavior. The setting of the film takes place during the Great Depression. It displays a desperate, cruel world. It allows for almost a connection between Bonnie and the viewers. Making minimum wage as a waitress, the opportunity arose when Clyde attempted to steal her mother’s car. Bonnie took him up on his offer, and accepted a position as his partner in crime. The connection was formed via sympathy from the viewer’s and Bonnie’s need to make a living. Their outings started out few and rapidly multiply once the duo came into contact with C.W. Moss, a local gas station attendant, Buck, Clyde’s older brother, and Blanche, Buck’s wife. Time progresses and the violence begins to pick up starting with bank robberies. These outings are the start of the battle versus the law enforcement officials. The battle ends upon the violent death of the duo. The comic relief instilled throughout the film by director Arthur Penn, allow for a mild dilution to some of the horrific and graphically violent scenes, such as the scene in the bank or the final scene of the film as previously mentioned. Bonnie and Clyde also allowed viewer’s to feel the character’s pain via fake blood. With each gun shot the viewer served as a witness to a murder. The shootings were displayed as gore and heartless bloodbaths, which directly differs from the majority of movies made at the time, portraying shootings as non-violent. Bonnie and Clyde made strides as one of the first films to depict graphic realism, particularly in the closing scene featuring the open fire bloodshed. Referring back to the initial post questions of: how can such a cruel display of violent behavior be so popular among viewers? Was this ending the start to the gore and new age horror movies that have begun to almost demagnetize our generation? The wheels for graphic realism, in regards to violence, were already in motion. The film Bonnie and Clyde definitely gave these wheels a major push to lead us to where we are today in the film industry.

Group 7

Seventh Seal

A forth wall is used to cancel out the audience in order to make it seem like you, the audience, is behind   a wall. It was originally used in theater to create a more real viewing of the action, as if the audience weren't there. An Invisible wall in film is the same as a forth wall, that is created not as a wall but as a character. It's like putting a mask and seeing through the eyes of the character being used as the forth wall.  You don't think like the character but you see through the camera, being characters eyes. In the seventh seal, the second to last scene there is great example of this, where the audience becomes the character death. It's interesting because the audience not only see's the characters through a forth wall but also as get's to see the characters true last moment before death takes them to their  last journey. It is said that people show there true colors before they know they are going to die. A quote from Batman the Dark Knight from Heath Ledger displays this well, 

             "You can't savor all the... little emotions. In... you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are. So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did. Would you like to know which of them were cowards?"

So in the Seventh Seal it's interesting that the forth wall is being used when the characters spill out there last words showing there true identity before their death. I think the directors take on this is fantastic, because of how death is able to become the audience. To the audience each character reacts differently to death coming. Some franticly pray and hope for forgiveness while others accept there fate and understand that it is there time. Ironically they are doing all of this directly to the audience, who they think, is death. 

It gives the audience not only something entertaining to watch but an interesting aspect on how people react to death.  The audience is unaware, but they are playing a key role in the plot. The knight who has gone to battle and seems to be the bravest of them all, cowards and turns to god as a last resort because death has not given him the answers. His sire accepts the fate, but seems to have no relation to any after life. The middle ground on these two different reactions is the silent girl who lets out her last words creating a great conclusion to all there fates. The forth wall as death is needed to get the true confession out to the audiences.

The forth wall has element of insight on the characters in the film which is an interesting aspect on how films have a creative style that are hidden to the audience sometimes. 

Philip Shutler 

Psycho

Though many out there may not find Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho to be as horrifying as some of the blood and gore we see in horror films today, in my opinion Psycho is one of the scariest movies of all time. The storyline is so twisted and suspenseful, it constantly leaves you guessing, and the brilliance behind the way Hitchcock uses lighting and camera angles to help tell his story is amazing.

To me, one of the scenes that really stuck out is the Parlor Scene. It appears that Bates is innocently inviting Marion into his parlor to be polite, but he has altering motives that the audience isn't sure of yet. The lighting in this scene is interesting. The room is small and crowded and the only light source is coming from a small lamp on the table. 

Marion is positioned sitting sort of behind the lamp so that it's light illuminates her face. It's interesting because the audience of course knows of her crime of embezzling money from her employer. But the light signifies that maybe there is still hope for redemption, and we know that she does intend to pay every cent of the money back. 

Norman in this scene however does not have the same lighting appear on his face as Marion does. Instead, the lighting is split, shadowing one side of his face. Was this Hitchcock's way of foreshadowing Normans split personality? I believe so. You might also notice that Hitchcock filmed Norman from a very low position in comparison to the way Marion is shot, and Hitchcock moved the camera a lot as well to only obscure the right side of his face. 

Another scene that really sticks out in Psycho is of course the very famous shower scene. Marion is innocently taking a shower as we see and she has no idea of the horror that is to come. All we see is a dark shadow forming from behind the shower curtain, slowly creeping in, and then all of a sudden the curtain is violently ripped open. But the horror is not in the blood and gore of Marion Crane being slaughtered, it's in the way the scenes are constantly going back and forth between the killer and Marion. 

All we can hear is the terrifying score in the background along with the bloodcurdling scream of Marion Crane. We never actually see the knife going into Marion's skin, there is one brief clip where we see the knife touching her stomach about to go in but that is it. I believe that is the horror of the film, us not seeing that, because we are left wondering what is happening to her. We see the shadow of the knife constantly going back and forth, and then we see the blood starting to mix with the water in the shower and go down the the drain. Marion slowly creeps out, and the killer escapes the room.

In my opinion, this film has done great things for the horror film genre as we know it today. I do not believe that there are many other films that can give you the same eery feeling of anxiety, fear, and suspense that Psycho gives you. I like this film because unlike others, it's not all about building a high body count or showing teens being slaughtered, it's a very psychological thriller that will leave you guessing and keep you on your toes. Alfred Hitchcock is a genius.

--CS