End of Year Film Introduction Blog
This is the introductory blog for my end of year film. Throughout
the remainder of the year I intend to update this blog at the very
least once a week (maybe more if I feel like I have something worth
sharing but who knows when that will be).
For this introductory blog I would like to break it down into four
categories starting with a discussion of the short film Hotel
Chevalier directed by Wes Anderson a name I know but should really
know more about (I'm a film student after all). Right off the bat the
film shows of how it uses dislocation as a central theme our main
male lead is shown to be an American living in France he is
metaphorically dislocated as he's far from home and making himself
settle in a hotel wasting a lot of money as a result. He appears to
have a very sloth ridden life as he watches television, doesn’t
dress very well and leaves his massive hotel room in a mess.
The theme continues as Natalie Portmans character shows up and is
the lead's love interest girl though that's hard to tell because the
conversation two have has all the chemistry and compassion of a loaf
of bread in a big pond. Granted this might be intentional as he has
shut himself off from the world and she's been trying to find him,
their conversation is stilted and the romance takes a while to
recover and it's not when they start making out because even then
that feels awkward.
One interpretation presented to me by a fellow classmate is that
they are friends with benefits (not the term she used but it's the
closest I can get without using an expletive) which could explain why
the passion between the two is loaf of bread like. It's only near the
end of the short where the two see the view outside of the male leads
room do they look like there is something more between them (or
perhaps more accurately a DESIRE for something more). Whatever the
case the romance itself seems very chaotic and their small talk is
just as awkward. It just feels like nothing happens for 7 minutes
because the two leads don't have a notion to go on.
Then after 7 minutes they start making out (if I didn't see how
long the short was I would've been convinced that a scene had been
skipped) the love scene starts off lukewarm and then reaches the
astonishing boiling point of tepid. Then Portman's clothes start
coming off and the film goes up a notch (or something went up a
notch). Funnily enough after the love scene is done it starts feeling
romantic thanks to the sweet music that plays (really lovely song it
is) and the nice embrace the two have as the film ends. It's solid
character development for something the length of a Dexter's
Laboratory episode.
The second point of this blog I'd like to discuss is initial
thoughts on the module. To be honest I don't have any reason to
complain. I'm actually excited, I have a chance to use this theme to
discuss things I like that I think work with the theme (I'm hoping to
have something on Dong Zhuo a Chinese warlord who's evilness more or
less lead to the destruction of the Han Dynasty and the war that
followed but that's getting ahead of myself). The theme itself threw
me off a bit at first mainly because I thought it was the literal
interpretation of the word. I'm not sure what I can make for a film
but I'm pretty eager to find out. This goes in line with my third
point the theme of dislocation, how I intend to explore and interpret
for my work. At the minute I'm not too sure but I certainly look
forward to making something out of it.
The fourth and final point is my ambitions, job roles, influences
and aspirations. Up until about 4 years ago the only time Scott and
the word ambitious showed up together was if the words “is not”
were in between. I envied the clouds (still do a little bit) but now
I've found a desire to get into media as a script writer (preferably
fiction but I've learned that reality isn't always boring so I'm
willing to adapt). My film influences include Stanley Kubrick
particularly his adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove and
the first half of Full Metal Jacket.
I (rather riskily at that) also cite Paul Anderson as an
influences simply because he managed to make a handful of movies
based on games that didn't make me cough up blood I'd even go far
enough to call Mortal Kombat great and not just because I can quote
it word for word 14 years after I first watched it. That was until he
got his wife into every Resident Evil film and destroyed all his
credibility in a way Yoko Ono could only dream of. There's also
Quentin Tarantino who made Pulp Fiction. Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2,
Django Unchained, Inglorious and Reservoir Dogs so saying anything
else seems redundant. My other inspiration would be Ed Boon creator
of the Mortal Kombat gaming franchise the man who can be held
responsible for my reality is boring approach as he's the man I got
it from because and I quote:
“ Reality is boring, no wants to pay for reality, we take
everything beyond reality”
That quote has stuck for 14 years.
As for aspirations I only have one: To get far enough in life that
I'm successful enough so that the people I care about need never work
jobs they hate again. That and maybe sleep in more often but mainly the first one.
