One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The filmmakers go through a lot of trouble to research the material of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest because of their drive to present a film that could be considered real, and bring about change in the psychiatric system, despite the fact that Ken Kesey had researched the state of psychiatric help when he was writing the novel by working as a night attendant in a Veteran’s hospital. To help gather even more information, the director and screenwriter lived in the Oregon State Hospital so that they could have an even deeper understanding of the subject for when they produced the film. I believe that all actors were forced to be as committed as possible, to keep, at least the image, an air of authenticity and that the psychiatric treatment be presented as genuine. I believe that actors living within a psychiatric ward would be much better suited to playing the role of insane characters, as they would have a better understanding of them. While living in the psychiatric ward itself would not explain to the actors the effects of insanity, it can still help the actors playing these characters how to play a role in which they are confined to a small ward and are forced through there same boring routine every single day with no freedom, and no ability to change your life to better yourself.

The Hudsucker Proxy

When compared to other works of the Coen brothers such as Bartin Fink and Fargo, I do not believe that the Coen brothers made any creative concessions when creating The Hudsucker Proxy, at least when compared to what it is that they normally do. It is possible, as is suggested in the prompt that the films of the Coen Brothers are just so radical and unique that it would be impossible to truly be able to tell if they had changed anything because of studio meddling due to how very absurd the Coen Brother films usually are. It may in fact be impossible to answer that question as the ridiculous nature of The Hudsucker Proxy is equal to that of their other films, such as The Big Lebowski, which was easily as ridiculous, although in a different manner which was more concerned with its absurd plot, or rather lack thereof. It is also possible that the entire film of The Hudsucker Proxy was merely being used as a satire of the film industry that was attempting to control the Coen brothers during this production, as it was the Coen Brothers first studio film. I would also be able to understand the chance that the “proxy” in the title is a reference to the Coen Brothers feeling of being mere pawns in the immense studio system of the film industry and how they were being controlled to merely create profitable films for the studios.

Mon Oncle

In my opinion Jacques Tati’s incredibly meticulous and detail oriented directing style in Mon Oncle is incredibly important as his style creates a varied, unique, and interesting setting for the film. His A.D.D. style of meticulous filmmaking is justified when watching the final product, as it creates a world of its own, where the characters seem to truly be interacting with the world in a perfectly blocked out way so as to attempt to create a perfect film. One perfect example of this is during the short snippet of a bicycle ride where as the character is riding down the street he hits a puddle. However Tati wanted to have the water splash out at the nearby pedestrian. However, the bicycle would normally never create such a splash as Tati would have wanted, so instead he had his team rig a hose leading underneath the puddle so that as soon as the bicycle passed through it, the hose would go off and drench the pedestrian. This precise attention to detail, while assuredly annoying to those having to work under Tati, allowed him to create such perfectly blocked scenes, where everything could come together so perfectly.

The Big Lebowski

I can see a connection between The Big Lebowski and many of the other films, such as The Thin Red Line, that we have watched throughout the year in that it could be said that it has no plot. However, if you look past its mundane setting and its slow pace, I believe that a plot can be seen within the movie about a man whose entire goal is merely to exist peacefully, and while it may not be a very complex or involving plot when compared to movies such as The Godfather, it certainly exists to guide the movie to its completion. Despite what was discussed during class about the Coen Brothers and their position during the time I can’t really see anything in The Big Lebowski that could be considered bold and unique, aside from its liberal use of profanity and nudity. I can see that because of its rather confusing story and it’s near invisible plot it was not a highly successful film, at least not in the beginning. However, I can understand that it became what it is now, an incredibly popular cult classic, due to its ability to stand out from most other movies created during the time, as well as how very farfetched some of the action is at the time, and how that might come as a relief compared to how most movies made during these times are made to be more realistic.

Rio Grande

Rio Bravo is not the average Western film. While it does encompass many of the elements of a traditional western, it also changes around many themes, such as centering on a singular nomadic warrior. In Rio Bravo Sheriff Chance is anything but a wandering warrior, but is rather a stationary figure who keeps law and order within the town. Another element that has changed from the average western theme that doesn’t fit with Rio Bravo is that when normally the landscape of the film is in itself a character which brings forth the complications of the plot, the landscape here is only used to represent parts of the town. Also not presented in Rio Bravo that is traditional in most Westerns is a “damsel in distress”, not counting the incident where the hotel manager and his wife were captured. Another change from the traditional western is the choice of Sheriff Chance’s weapon, as he uses a rifle as opposed to most Western protagonist who use revolvers more often. Another important difference between Rio Bravo and traditional westerns is its use of minorities. While most westerns would use minorities as stereotypical villains, Rio Bravo instead uses them as people to populate the town, including the undertaker, an Asian man, and the hotel manager and his wife, both Mexicans. While all these differences may show that Rio Bravo doesn’t contain many of the hallmarks of a traditional western, at its core it still contains many of the important features, such as saloons, horses, tobacco, gun fights, and dynamite, as well as lessons of morality, such as Dude giving up alcohol and the love interest with gambling.

When Harry Met Sally

In spite of, or perhaps even because of, “When Harry met Sally” follows a lot of the romantic comedy clichés that are present in most romantic comedy films that are made in these days. Some of the examples of the clichés that are present are the cynical friends of both Harry and Sally, who end up getting married themselves, as well as taking place in New York City, which the movie brings attention to at one point when Harry says that “I live in New York City. There are eight million people living in this city, why shouldn’t I run into my ex at one point.” Finally, it contains, or perhaps created, the cliché of the final sprint, when Harry is running desperately towards the New Years Eve party and Harry has finally realized that he loves Sally and wants to be with her, a cliché that is still present in romantic comedies even in this day and age. As for whether “When Harry met Sally” is actually a good movie when compared to romantic comedies from this time, I would say that it was much better than most current romantic comedies because, while many parts of “When Harry met Sally” is very clichéd, it also contains a lot of originality and shows it with interesting characters and real drama that is lost on most romantic comedies that are more contemporary that rely more on ungrounded, unnecessary, and unrealistic “hilarity” to provide comedy. I believe that “When Harry met Sally” has more than withstood the test of time, and has actually become an ever greater film.

Sherman's March

The only thing that I can think of that would be the reason that people want to see a Sherman’s March, a film about Ross McElwee rather than Sherman’s March, is that they are drawn to the absurdity of it. By its absurdity I do not mean that the film itself is absurd, but rather that in the author’s own guilt of filming events of his own life, and then trying to tie them into events that occurred during General William Sherman’s March to the Sea which was what he was meant to be documenting. I do not mean to attack it by pointing out its absurdity, but rather show the film for how strange and bizarre it is. It could be argued that almost anyone could make a personal documentary about their personal insights and exploits and philosophy. However, along with that it must be said that most would fund such a documentary to be a huge waste of time, as most are not interested in the thoughts and adventures of others. Some people however have lives that most audiences would appreciate watching, and thusly it would be fine to watch a documentary based on their adventures and thoughts, because, isn’t a feature film very much the same, as it follows a protagonist on their adventures and follows their thoughts on what is happening on their adventure. In the end, it all boils down to how interesting the audience will find the subject’s life, and his thoughts on it.