Eastern Promises

(Official trailer of the film Eastern Promises)

                          I prefer being alone when watching movies because I easily understand the plot of the story. I mean, I get to think easily without distractions around. Honestly, when I first saw the film, I had a hard time understanding it, I even asked some of my classmates why this and that happened. Weakness checked.

                         I have lots of unanswered questions in my head about the film, so when I got home the day we watched the movie, I immediately searched for the plot. I felt amazed on the flow of the story. There were some parts that is included but I wasn't able to catch up while watching the film. After I read the plot, I quickly posted "OMG. Just read the plot of the film Eastern Promises. Great story!" in my twitter just to let them how I amused I was. 

                        David Cronenberg directed the British crime thriller film Eastern Promises which was released year 2007. The film is starred by Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai, the driver of an old 'thief-in-law'; Naomi Watts as Anna, midwife at a London hospital; and Vincent Cassel as Kirill, who, together with his father, abused and raped the 14-year-old girl Tatiana.

                       The film featured the subject of sex-trafficking as well as depicting the reality behind those Russian criminals which included the portrayals of tattoos as the symbolization of the organization. There were some twists that truly got me after knowing. First is that, it is Semyon who is the father of the baby carried by Tatiana. It was mentioned in the film that Semyon caught Kirill raping her, but instead of getting mad, he joined his son, and sexually hit her as she bleeds. Second, Nikolai is a member of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation working under license by the British Government, that is why he was the good guy throughout the film. With that revelation, my questions are now answered. Yes!

                       Its a mystery to me why the film is titled as Eastern Promises. I failed as I try to search for the definition of the phrase.

                      Of course, just like any other film, it ended happily. The baby was kept by Anna, whom she named as Christine; Semyon was arrested; Nikolai now became the boss of the organization.

 Epic scene from the film The Avengers. Probably my most favourite scene!

One of my favourite actors, Andrew Garfield, on the film The Amazing Spider Man. A film directed by Marc Webb. This scene was when a group of students, where Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) belongs, were having a tour guided by Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). 

The New Hollywood and Independent Film-Making (According to the book Film Art by David Bordwell and Kristen Thompson)

                     New wave film actually provided new ideas for the role of the protagonists, especially the hero ones. French film industry became healthy during the years 1947-1957 because the industry had the support of the government. But during the year 1957, film industry in France technically fell down because television has created a big impact on viewers thus resulting to the diversion of attention. Film-makers then, had to produce films with cheaper budget.

                      There were notable film directors during the New Wave era in French film industry.

Godard

Truffaut

Chabrol

Rohmer

                     1960's when Hollywood film industry became healthy. But it did not last long because of the widespread effect of television. Film-makers had to change the game of plans, they made films directed for young people. But it wasn't successful, until they changed the game again and made films intended for a broader audience. Films that made a mark to people included Francis Coppola's The Godfather, Steven Spielberg's Jaws, and George Lucas' Star Wars. Some of these New Hollywood ideas were mostly gotten from the ideas and concepts of Old Hollywood, while some films did not fail to portray and adapt the European tradition. 

                     1980's when most of the product of New Hollywood were recognized again for their notable works, together with the fresh talents, whose generation is already called as the product of New New Hollywood. Spielberg and Lucas stayed on track, still making excellent films during that time. Here are some of the successful films during the 1990's.

                

                  Wayne Wang was an independent film-maker and a product of New Hollywood cinema. He was the most successful Asian American film-maker. 

                  The concept of Classical American Cinema can still be seen in the era of New New Hollywood, including techniques in editing and cinematography, plus the idea of an effective mise-en-scene. New faces in Hollywood during the 80's and 90's improved the conventional way of telling a story. The presentation of a certain genre and the style of their cinemas were also enriched by new entrants of Hollywood. 

                       Independent film-makers provided films adapting a modernized version of New Hollywood. These independent directors even made films as a tool to portray their own feelings about a certain aspect, such as religion and politics.

                       These film-makers in the new century, probably born between 1960's to 1970's, has brought their eagerness to experiment to the next level on the history of film-making. They have provided a new innovation from classical films that is being used mainly by the present generation. But we must not forget the fact that these classical films has inspired and influenced a lot. the present-day cinema.

- ClarissaAlimot

Un Chien Andalou

( Un Chien Andalou Short Film)

                      First of all, after watching the film, I DID NOT UNDERSTAND ANY.

                      I was able to watch the film twice. Watched it first with the whole class at school during our cinema class. Since I wasn't able to understand it, I tried to give myself another chance to understand the film. Its heartbreaking that I've wasted time trying to understand something yet you end up gaining nothing. It brought so much headache for it manipulated my brain through the not-so-related events present in the film. I guess this is what Surrealist films really wanted, to surprise their audiences through the shocking events in the film.

                     The film is not boring for it showed disgusting yet interesting scenes. Let's just disregard the fact that Surrealist films don't have narratives. Some of those scenes are the following:

                             Un Chien Andalou is a film of the most famous film maker Luis Bunuel. He was one of the casts of this film. He was present at the prologue. According to French translation, Un Chien Andalou is translated as "Andalusian Dog". I searched for the definition of Andalusian, a region of Southern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocean. 

                            Honestly, I did not see any relation of the title translation to the plot of the film. Well there may be a subliminal message present, I just haven't figured it out yet, or maybe won't be able to figure it out anymore. 

                          I don't think Surrealist films will be a great hit for the present generation. I'm not closing any opportunity for myself to watch this type of film again in my life. Who knows, maybe one day, the thought of mine would be proven wrong. :) I'll be waiting for it. It would be really exciting if there would be a diversion of film that young people will look into. Looking forward!

- ClarissaAlimot