LM-1471 Course package I-2024 FINAL updated

LM 1471 Communication and Pronunciation Techniques III Theory, Movie Analysis, and Pronunciation Booklet I-2023

Course Packet Contents 1. Movie Analysis Glossaries and Questionnaires: 1.1.1. Pleasantville page 2 1.1.2. Little Miss Sunshine page 7 1.1.3. Promising Young Woman page 16 1.1.4. Joker page 29 2. Film Theory Readings 2.1. Analyzing Movies page 37 2.2. Narrative & Genre page 55 2.3. Color page 89 2.4. Symbolism page 119 2.5. Mise-en-scene page 129 2.6. Monster Culture page 159 2.7. Sound page 182 2.8. Camera Work page 216 2.9. Feminist Theory page 250 3. Pronunciation 3.1. Intonation (Lesson 22) page 274 3.2. Intonation (Lesson 7) page 281 4. Evaluation Sheets 4.1. Oral Evaluation Rubric page 291 4.2. Oral Evaluation Rubric (Detailed) page 293 4.3. Self-Assessment handout sample page 300 4.4. Phonetic Symbols page 311

Glossary & Questions for Movie Analysis 1

Glossary for Andy Cadiff’s Pleasantville: 1. chock full—slang for filled up with. 2. put your thinking caps on—slang for thinking, hard. 3. pumpkin—an old endearing term for the person you love. 4. meat loaf—a type of meat dish. 5. custody—parental control over a child after a divorce. 6. swell/swellest—slang for great. 7. slutty—a slut is a sexist term for a "loose" woman; slutty means that the dress might pertain to such a woman. 8. measles—a childhood disease. 9. attire—clothes. 10.quit stressing—slang for stressed out. 11. busted—broken. 12.holy cow—an old expression of surprise. 13.ooompf—slang for power. 14.Muffin—nickname for Mary Sue. 15.pasty—white. 16.ham steak—a slice of ham. 17.play along—pretend to cooperate. 18.school pin—a brooch or pin with your school insignia and name on it. It is often given when one goes "steady" with someone. Hence, it symbolizes that you are the boyfriend/girlfriend of the person who gives you their school pin. 19.throw something out of whack—not working well or not in good condition 20.kinky stuff—kinky refers to strange and unusual sex acts. 21.go with the program—slang, for going along with things without causing problems. 22.wipe down the counter—to clean the counter. 23.keenest—50s slang for nicest, prettiest, the best. 24.haven't been steady with anyone—to go steady, in the 50s and 60s, was to be the boyfriend or girlfriend of someone. 25.lover's lane—a 50s/early 60s word for where lovers go, generally a secluded area. 26.[are] you up for it—are you capable, ready, or willing to do it. 27.dorky—slang for a nerd or something nerdy. 2

28.geeks—slang for nerds. 29.flagpole—a pole that holds up the flag. Often at meeting places in high schools. 30.get out of hand—out of control 31.mighty Mississippi—the river, of course, on which Huck Finn travels. 32.Huckleberry Finn—Mark Twain's famous 19th American novel. 33.hors d’oeuvres—a small savory dish, typically one served as an appetizer at the beginning of a meal. 34.Holden Caulfield—a character out of J.D. Salinger's novel Catcher in the Rye. 35.Titian—Italian Renaissance painter from Venice. Note that his name is mispronounced by Bill. It is correctly pronounced /tishen/ not /titian/. 36.reruns—old shows that are repeated on television. 37.cruddy reception—slang for bad. In this case, a bad reception. 38.D.H. Lawrence—20th century British novelist whose novels deal with love and passion. His most celebrated novels are Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Rainbow. 39.technicolor—in color. 40.T.V. dinner—a prefabricated dinner that you pop into the oven and can heat quickly. 41.deluge—a severe flook 42.rave on—invitation to continue to party, to be rebellious. 43.cock-eyed—slang for crazy, turned upside-down. 44.bridge—a card game. 45.desecration—to damage (a holy place or object) : to treat (a holy place or object) with disrespect 46.making out—slang for kissing. 47.admission letter—a letter admitting you into college in the United States. 3

Analysis Questions for Pleasantville: 1. Mystery and unpredictability seem to be concepts absent from the world of Pleasantville. Discuss how these two concepts fit into the ideological nature of the movie. What role do they play in life in general? 2. Discuss the concept of change as reflected in Pleasantville. How is change, as part of the life process, perceived by this movie? Positively? Do you agree? 3. Discuss the ideological structure of Pleasantville. What does the movie tell us about modernity versus the past? On what side does the movie come down on? Do you agree? 4. Music plays an important role in the movie as a means to mirror people’s emotions, evolution and ideas. Can you think of specific examples where music stands out? Why? 5. At one point in Pleasantville, Bill says that "It is always the same. It never changes. It never gets any better or worse." What do these comments tell us about the nature of life in Pleasantville? About modernity? About the ideological structure of the movie? 6. Discuss the concept of tradition in Pleasantville. Do you agree with this perception of traditional values? Is life, as the movie suggests, hopelessly doomed to a never-ending present that is irrevocably cut off from the past? 7. Discuss the concept of round and flat characters in Pleasantville. Give examples. Are there any changes in this regard throughout the movie? 8. Discuss the use of "flat" characters in Pleasantville. Who are the flat characters? What is their role? 9. Discuss the concept of the maturation of the self in Pleasantville. How does this concept apply to David/Bud, Jennifer/Mary Sue, Bill, Betty, and George? 10. In Pleasantville's code of conduct, rule #8 states that "all elementary and high school curriculum shall teach the nonchangeist view of history emphasizing continuity over alteration." Discuss this rule in the context of the movie as a whole. 11. Discuss the concept of cultural freedom in Pleasantville. 12. Discuss the symbolic importance of weather in Pleasantville. Refer to the rain, the rainbow, and the lighting. 13. Discuss the scene where the men of Pleasantville meet in the bowling alley. What is the significance of this scene? 14. Discuss the townsmen of Pleasantville. What is their role in the movie? 15. Discuss the use of color in the context of Pleasantville as a whole. What is the significance of the switches from black and white to color? How do they fit into the movie as a whole? 16. Discuss the scene of Bud and Margaret by the lake. What's the significance of this scene? How does it fit in with the movie as a whole? 17. Discuss the concept of the fear of not conforming to society's rules and regulations as presented in Pleasantville. 18. Discuss the concept of cultural conformity in Pleasantville. 4

19. Discuss one of the early scenes in Pleasantville—where we see three different teachers talking to students. What is the significance of these three sequential scenes? What do these three scenes tell us about the movie’s vision of modern life versus the past? 20. Discuss the concept of feminism as manifested in Pleasantville. 21. From the point of view of feminism, discuss Betty's, Mary Sue’s and George’s (Bud’s father) role in Pleasantville. 22. Discuss the concept of traditional versus contemporary values in Pleasantville. 23. At one point in Pleasantville, Mary Sue asks Bud why she is still in black and white given the fact that she has had more sex than most of the girls in town. Bud responds by saying that "maybe it is not just the sex." What do you think he means by this statement? Is he right? Why is Mary Sue still in black and white? 24. Why do you think the books were originally blank in Pleasantville? What is the importance of books in the movie as a whole? Why are they such a threat to the townspeople? 25. Discuss the topography of Pleasantville. 26. Discuss the concept of chaos and anarchy versus perfection and utopia as presented in Pleasantville. 27. Discuss the concept of cultural relativity as manifested in Pleasantville. How, if at all, are values determined by our historical time periods? 28. Do you believe Pleasantville is a cultural reality or merely an idyllic myth created by television? Justify your answer. 29. Discuss the symbolic nature of fire in Pleasantville. 30. Discuss the use of language in both Pleasantville and the modern town. How is language used differently in both towns? What does this mean? 31. Many people constantly and nostalgically complain that life was always better in the past, that, in other words, contemporary life is inferior to the past. How does this theme work its way out in the Pleasantville? What ideological position does this movie take on this issue? Do you agree? 32. Discuss the concept of rebellion in Pleasantville as experienced by the town’s youngsters, Jennifer/Mary Sue, David/Bud, Bill and Betty. 33. What do you perceive to be the symbolic nature of Pleasantville? What, in other words, does this town symbolize in the movie as a whole? How does this allusion work in this movie? 34. Discuss the Biblical allusion to the garden of Eden in Pleasantville. Compare Bud's two mothers in Pleasantville. How are the two similar? Different? 35. Discuss the concept of art in Pleasantville. What is the importance of art in this movie? Be specific. 36. The movie begins with the words, "Once upon a time . . ." What is the significance of these words? How do they fit in with the movie as a whole? 37. Discuss the opening scenes of "T.V. Time" in Pleasantville. What feeling does it evoke? How does this beginning set the tone for the rest of the movie? 38. Discuss the role of the television repairman in Pleasantville. How would you characterize what he does? What role does he play in the movie as a whole? 5

39. Discuss the juxtaposition of historical times in Pleasantville. Why does the director do this? What elements are highlighted through this comparison? 40. Discuss the values of Pleasantville versus those of modern life. How are they different or similar? 41. Discuss the concept of perfection as reflected in Pleasantville. 42. Discuss Bud's and Mary Sue’s role in Pleasantville. How would you characterize what they do? What role do they play in regard to the town as a whole? 43. During the trial in Pleasantville, Bud says that there are sometimes emotions in us that are "silly" or "sexy" or "dangerous." What is the significance of this assertion? How does it fit in with the movie as a whole? 44. What vision, do you think, does Pleasantville give us of life? What, do you think, are, according to the movie, the basic ingredients of what one might call the human experience? 45. Discuss the final scene of Pleasantville, where Betty and George sit on the park bench and then Betty and Bill are sitting on the same bench. What's the significance of this scene? How does it fit in with the movie as a whole? 46. At one point in Pleasantville, Bud tells his father that "people change." Discuss this concept in the context of the movie as a whole. 47. At one point in Pleasantville, George (Bud's father) asks him "if people can change back," and Bud responds, "I don't know. I think it is harder." What does he mean by this statement? How does it fit in with the movie as a whole? 48. Why do you think Mary Sue chooses to stay in Pleasantville and not return to her modern life? What has she learned or not learned? 49. At the end of Pleasantville, Bud tells his mother, "There is no right house, there is no right car" and that life "is not supposed to be anything." What is the significance of these comments? How do they fit in with the movie as a whole? 50. Discuss the final scene with Bud and his mother in his modern life. What is the significance of this scene in the context of the movie as a whole? 6

Glossary for Little Miss Sunshine 1. Status quo: is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regards to social or political issues. 2. Set back: a reversal or check in progress. 3. Color blindness: Color blindness, or color vision deficiency, is the inability or decreased ability to see color, or perceive color differences, under normal lighting conditions. 4. Proust: Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental novel À la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time; earlier translated as Remembrance of Things Past), published in seven parts between 1913 and 1927. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest authors of all time. 5. Apathetic: showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern. 6. Foul-mouthed: given to using obscene, abusive, or blasphemous language. 7. Raising the Stakes: To increase one's commitment or involvement. 8. Unleash the winner inside: Release the winner inside. 9. To finger: To handle something with the fingers. 10.Wall-mounted brace: A device that holds or fastens two or more parts to a wall. 11. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: (/ˈniːtʃə/[1] or /ˈniːtʃi/; [2] was a German philosopher, cultural critic, poet, composer, and Latin and Greek scholar. He wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy, and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor and irony. 12.Revenue: The income of a government from all sources appropriated for the payment of the public expenses. 13.To keep grinding gears: Gear grinding happens when you try to put the car in gear without the clutch, or if there is something wrong. As long as you clutch in when you shift, you won't have issues with grinding gears. 14.Pre-eminent Proust scholar: A Proust scholar is someone who focuses on studying the 20th century French author Marcel Proust. Proust's most renowned work was a seven-volume novel collectively entitled Á la recherche du temps perdu, which has been translated as both In Search of Lost Time and Remembrance of Things Past. A Proust scholar typically will focus his or her attention on this work but also will be interested in 7

Proust's life and his other writings. The word pre-eminent refers to a person who was second-best, very distinguished in some way. 15.To pitch ones business: The act of convincing others to do something with your idea is called “Pitch” – applied mostly in terms of a new business, site, startup, which means just the act of trying to get the attention of investors to your next-Google-idea. 16.Proprietor: the owner of a business, or a holder of property. 17.Slushee: A slushie, sometimes known as a slush or slushy, is a flavored frozen drink. 18.Squirting Rogaine: to cause (a liquid) to be ejected from a small opening in something in a thin, fast stream or jet. Rogaine refers to a vasodilator (trade name Loniten) used to treat severe hypertension; one side effect is hirsu tismso it is also sold (trade name Rogaine) as a treatment for male-patterned baldness. 19.To have a long eventful life: A life full of events or incidents, especially of a striking character: an exciting account of an eventful life. 20.To handle the remains: All human remains have social, cultural and spiritual significance attached to them; therefore, they need to be handled sensitively and differently from other teaching and research items. 21.Grief recovery support group: Support group to assist and encourage people grieving the death of a friend or family member. 22.Burial transit permit: It is the responsibility of the person presenting the Certificate of Death, and obtaining the Burial-Transit Permit, to assure that the fully completed Certificate of Death is filed with the local registrar as soon as possible. 23.To rev the engine: To increase the speed of (a motor, for example): revved the engine. 24.To be giddy: to feel extremely excited as if you just saw a rock star, crush, celebrity, that made you seem speechless or incompetent of acting normal. 25.To drop charges: In a criminal case, the state is the plaintiff in the case and the suspect is the defendant. So whether the state decides to move forward with a case is largely up to prosecutorial discretion. Sometimes the state decides to drop the criminal charges against the defendant because of lack of evidence to prosecute 8

Analysis Questions 1. What type of irony is present in Richard's philosophy of “winners and losers”? What is this philosophy about? Does his way of thinking change throughout the movie? If so, how? Are the Hoovers winners or losers? 2. Why is Frank in the hospital? How does the archetype of the journey of the hero (monomyth) is displayed in this scene? What does this tell us about his personality? His life? 3. Describe Dwayne. Why doesn't he speak? What does this tell us about his character and goals? Who is Nietzche and how does Dwayne portray this historical character's ideas? 4. How do the first scenes of the movie set the tone for the rest of the film? What do they tell us about the movie's main characters? Discuss character development and define tone? 5. What kind of woman is Sheryl? How would you describe her as a mother, a wife and a sister? What is her role within the development of the movie? What type of character is she? Explain by using examples from the movie. 6. When Frank sees Olive for the first time in the movie, he says she was almost “like a real person.” What do you make of this statement? How does this statement mirror Frank’s character? What type of character is he? Give examples. 7. At the dinner table, Frank says that he “is pro-honesty here,” but Richard disagrees. Why is Richard against Frank telling Olive the truth? What type of irony is present in this part of the movie? What is Sheryl´s position? What can be learned about these three characters based on this scene? What is your personal opinion about this situation? 8. What is symbolic about the mise-en-scene at the dinner table? How do characters develop (with special interest in uncle Frank? What does Olive’s reaction tell us about her character? What kind of child is she? 9. Is Dwayne Richard's son? What is their relationship like? How does it seem to affect the relationship between Dwayne and Sheryl? What type of characters are they? How does characterization help to the development of the movie as a whole? Provide examples from the movie to support your answer. 9

10.How does Richard's 9-step philosophy influence his daughter's mindset throughout the plot and story order of the film? Does she believe in it? What do you think of Richard's 9-step plan? 11.Explain what type of character grandpa is. How would you characterize him? Why was he expelled from Sunset Manor? Why does he behave like he does? How does he fit into the context of the movie? Explain by giving examples taken from the movie. 12.How does camera work help convey meaning in the scene when Richard discourages Olive from eating ice cream? Why does everybody else eat from Olive's ice cream? What does this tell you about them? 13.Explain what kind of character Richard is? How does his characterization differ from the rest of the characters in the movie? Is he, as a character, necessary for the movie´s development? Why does Richard constantly lie to Sheryl about reaching Stanley Grossman? What type of irony is shown here? How does his philosophy apply/not apply to the final outcome of this deal? Explain by using examples from the movie. 14.How did Grandpa Edwin react to Richard's turn-down by Stanley Grossman? Why did he react in that way? What is this character’s motivation? How did Richard respond to his father? 15.In terms of characterization, what can be said about Richard and Sheryl? What type of characters are they? How do they, as characters, work in the context of the movie as a whole? Why was Richard so determined to get to the beauty pageant after his dad's death? What was Sheryl's reaction towards Edwin's death? What does this tell us about her? 16.How did grandpa Edwin die? How did Richard react to his father's death? How did the rest of the family react? How does the mise-en-scene mirror/contrast the character’s reactions/behavior? 17.On several occasions during the movie Frank refers to him being the most eminent Proust scholar in the US. What does he refer to? Why does he say this? What does this tell you about his life? 10

18.Sheryl: “We've got to let Olive be Olive.” When is this phrase uttered? Does this statement reflect the theme of the film? If so, how? If not, why not? Give specific examples. Do you agree with Sheryl's decision? Why would Dwaye, Frank, and Richard have preferred Olive not to participate in the pageant? 19.Refer to the character of Olive? What type of character is she? What is her role within the context of the movie as a whole? How did the Hoovers react to Olive's dream to take part in the beauty pageant? How do they react to her performance at the beauty contest? What does this tell you about their family? 20.Choose one character from the film and discuss its development. Analyze the decisions made by him/her and if you consider there should have been other risks taken/decisions made. Explain. 21.As a character, how can you explain the role of the van? What is so significant about its color in terms of archetypes and meaning in the movie? In terms of archetypes, what type of archetype the van is? How important it is for the family and the development of the movie? Was the broken van a curse or a blessing? How did it help or damage the journey? Explain your answer by using examples from the movie. 22.How does the motif of dreaming work itself throughout the film? Choose one character and his/her dreams and discuss them in terms of character development and symbolic relevance. 23.In terms of the movie´s main plot, what is the main conflict the movie presents? What type of characters the movie has and how they help to the development of the movie´s conflict and its resolution? Is the conflict resolved by the end of the movie? Explain by using examples from the movie. 24.What may be a possible theme of this film? How was this possible theme presented through camera work, mise-en-scene, and sound?.Elaborate. 25.The beauty pageant Olive wants to be part of plays a key role in the development of the movie. Does the movie present it as something positive or negative? How is the Hoovers´s perception of beauty pageants, in general, shown in the movie? Does it change for them by the end of the movie or not? Provide examples from the movie to back up your answer. 11

26.How does camera work and mise-en-scene disclose the Hoover's conflicts? Is there any reference to a “fractured family”? If so, how? If not, why not? Are these dynamic or static characters? 27.Based on the theory on characterization, how does each character change throughout the movie? How does this change, if any, work within the context of the movie? Do all characters change by the end of the movie or not? What are some of the conflicts each character has to go through? Explain by using examples from the movie? 28.There are different symbols and archetypes in the film, is there any of these that mirror the theme of the film? Elaborate. Consider that in Latin, the meaning of the name “Olive” is “symbol of peace.” Is the name symbolic in the movie? Elaborate. Olive: Grandpa, am I pretty? Grandpa: You are the most beautiful girl in the world. Olive: You're just saying that. Grandpa: No! I'm madly in love with you and it's not because of your brains or your personality. 29.Is this offensive to Olive? How do blocking and narrative work themselves out to create meaning in this scene for the audience? How can grandpa’s statement reflect his type of character? Dwayne: You know what? Fuck beauty contests. Life is one fucking beauty contest after another. School, then college, then work... Fuck that. And fuck the Air Force Academy. If I want to fly, I'll find a way to fly. You do what you love, and fuck the rest. 30.The movie moves around the notion of beauty pageants. How do the Hoovers perceive them? Are they in favor or against beauty pageants? Do their opinion about them change by the end of the movie or not? The concept of beauty pageants can also be applied to other daily situations such as school, college, and work. If so, how? Explain by using examples taken from the movie to back up your answer. 12

Richard: "I think we could all learn something from what Dwayne's doing! Dwayne has a goal. He has a dream. It might not be my dream, or your dream, but still... He's pursuing that dream with focus and discipline. In fact, I was thinking about the Nine Steps..." Grandpa: "Oh, for crying out loud!" Richard (evenly): "...About the Nine Steps and how Dwayne's utilizing at least seven of them in his journey to personal fulfillment." Sheryl: "Richard. Please." Richard's 9 Steps 1. Leaving Loserhood: Finding a New Address in a Winner-Takes-All World, 2. Aspiration, Inspiration, Perspiration, 3. No Hocus Pocus, Just Focus, 4. Say No to the Negheads, 5. Good Enough is Never Good Enough, 6. Trust and Be Trusted, 7. Think Big. Act Big... Be Big., 8. Reject Rejection., 9. REFUSE TO LOSE. 31.How does Dwayne formula resemble the stages of the hero’s journey (monomyth)? Is he really following 7 of those 9 steps? What’s the director really trying to say? 32.Based on the theory on characterization, discuss the concept of round and flat characters in Little Miss Sunshine. Who are round or flat characters in the movie? How does this notion of characterization help to the development of the movie as a whole? Explain by using examples from the movie to back up your answer. 33.Define the term symbol as a figure of speech in the film and discuss the symbolic nature of the mirrors in Little Miss Sunshine. What other symbols in the movie can you think of? 34.Little Miss Sunshiine deals with the concepts of society and family as key elements for its development. How does the movie show each one of these two concepts? Are they related? Does the film favor one of them or not? Explain by using examples from the movie to support your answer. 35. Discuss the beginning and ending of Little Miss Sunshine in terms of plot story and order. How do these two parts of the film juxtapose? 36. What is the difference between a symbol and an allegory? Define and explain. As a movie, Little Miss Sunshine may display fewer symbols than other films, which may be the main symbolic element? Elaborate. 13

37. Discuss the concept of symbols and archetypes. Is the title of the movie symbolic? If so, how? If not, why not? What specific archetypes can be found in the film? 38. The movie starts with Olive watching a beauty pageant on TV. There, the first thing we see is a close up of Olive eyes and glasses. How does the camera work here helps to convey meaning to the viewer? What is relevant about the més-n- scene of this sequence? Explain by using instances from the movie to back up your answer. 39. Discuss grandpa’s character development in the movie Little Miss Sunshine. What is his philosophy of life? How can this philosophy be understood by the audience? Why did he have to die? Does this event alter the plot of the movie? Explain. Excerpt of the song “Till the end of time” by DeVotchKa. “Like sisters and brothers we lean on each other Like sweethearts carved on a headstone Oh why even bother, it’ll be here tomorrow It’s not worth it sleeping alone And look at you and me still here together There is no one who knows you better And we’ve come such a long long way Let’s put it off for one more day “ 40. What is diegetic and non-diegetic sound? Considering this melody and lyrics, how do they help in conveying meaning in the film? What’s the significance of these lyrics? 41. Explain what diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are?Throughout the movie there are several occasions where western music accompanies the characters’ actions. Why is that? What does that mean? What type of sounds are these? Explain with instances from the movie to support your answer. 42. Considering character development, discuss the characters of Frank and Richard. What type of characters are they? How do costume and make-up mirror who they are? How do they relate to each other? What is their relationship like? Explain. 14

43. At the beginning of the film, Frank explains who Proust was. He, in fact, is a Proust scholar. What is symbolic about Frank’s interest in Proust? What type of irony is present there? Why does he share Proust’s suffering with his nephew in the dock? How did Dwayne react? Explain by using examples from the movie to support your answer. 44. What kind of character is Dwayne? What is his motivation in the film? Through his dialogue, how may he be perceived by the audience? How can the spectators of the film understand his feelings toward his family? Explain. 45. Based on the theory of colors, how are colors used in this movie? Refer to specific instances in the movie with the van, clothes and the misé-en-scene. What is symbolic about their usage? Explain by using examples from the movie to support your answer. 15

I. Glossary for Promising Young Woman ● Strip club: (noun) a club at which striptease performances are given in front of an audience. ● The ryde app: RYDE is a carsharing company focusing on production and event vehicle rentals around the world. It finds people with common interests to share a ride when going to the same destination. ● Before hitting the hay: To get into bed and go to sleep. I have to get up early for work tomorrow, so I think I'd better hit the hay ● Kumquat: A kumquat is an edible, orange-like fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. Though the citrus fruit resembles an orange in shape and color, it’s actually quite small—about the size of an olive. Typically, kumquats are round or oblong. The English name “kumquat” comes from a Cantonese word that means “golden orange” or “golden tangerine.” ● Walk of shame: The walk of shame is when someone goes back home the morning after partying and hooking up with someone, typically wearing the same clothes from the night before because they hadn't planned on the sexual encounter. ● Inventory: (noun) a complete list of items such as property, goods in stock, or the contents of a building. ● Zanzibar: Zanzibar is one of the Indian Ocean islands. It is situated on the Swahili Coast, adjacent to Tanganyika (mainland Tanzania) ● don't freak out: do not panic ● Striking up the place: 1. Idiom: To initiate, instigate, or begin something. I saw you striking up a conversation with Jack—what did you two discuss? 2. A. Trans. Verb: to begin or cause to begin playing, singing, sounding, etc. B. to begin (a friendship, conversation, etc.). ● Stoned teenager: a teenager under the effects of drugs. ● Working in a customer-facing role: one that entails direct interaction or communication with a customer, sometimes in-person ● Single-shot... latte: Usually the latte is made with a single or double shot of espresso (1/3 of your drink) and 2/3 of your drink is steamed milk with a small layer (around 1 cm) of frothed milk. ● Hammered: (past tense) hit, beat, attacked, or criticized forcefully and relentlessly ● Fallout: the adverse side effects or results of a situation. ● "almost as dramatic as the financial scale of the mess is the growing political fallout" ● A shitty café shop: a very cheap coffee store. ● Hipster: A person who is keenly interested in the latest trends or fashions. · A member of Bohemian counterculture 16

● Lit-student-chic: Chick is American slang for a young woman, and lit is a shortened form of the word literature. ● Renaissance Man: a person who exceeds in different areas of knowledge, art, or sportsman craft. ● Scab: a hard coating on the skin formed during the wound healing reconstruction phase. ● To jinx it: To unintentionally curse someone or something by talking out loud about bad things that could potentially happen in the near future. ● To do coke: to take cocaine. ● Play hooky: stay away from school or work without permission or explanation. Ex.:" he played hooky from school to go out hunting" ● Eggs Benedict: Eggs Benedict is a common American breakfast or brunch dish, consisting of two halves of an English muffin, each topped with Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. ● Hollandaise: a type of sauce used for eggs benedict. ● A real kick in the cunt: To Kick Your Cunt In or Have Your Cunt Kicked In is the act of being severely beaten up, ● Zillow: Zillow Group, Inc., or simply Zillow, is an American online real-estate marketplace company that was founded in 2004 ● Or Single White Female some girl (used as a verb): ● To euthanize: put (a living being, especially a person, a dog, or a cat) to death humanely. ● A turn-on: a situation, event, or circumstance that causes excitement. ● Psycho: a psychopath. ● No use in hiding from the piper. He has to be paid: The idea behind this idiom is that if you do not pay the piper (or pay your debts), something bad will happen to you. A variation of this expression is pay the fiddler. A possibly related idiom is he who pays the piper calls the tune. ● An epiphany: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience. ● To yank: to pull on something with a quick vigorous movement. 17

II. Questions for Movie Analysis: 1. Discuss the color palette of the film Promising Young Woman. Is it symbolic? If so, how? If not, why not? Which colors are used the most? Why do you think it is so? Elaborate. 2. Analyze and discuss the use of lighting in the film Promising Young Woman, give examples of how lightning helps in the understanding its themes/sub-themes. Pay special attention to the first section of the movie (the beginning) when Cassie is at the first club. Elaborate. 3. Define character development and discuss the concept of change as reflected in Promising Young Woman, focus on Cassie. How is change, as part of Cassie’s life process, perceived throughout this movie? Explain and give examples. 4. Define the term of moral ambiguity and discuss the concept as it is presented in Promising Young Woman. Does any character mirror moral ambiguous behavior? If so, how? If not, why not? Explain and give examples. Is there any other type of ambiguity? Elaborate. 5. Considering the definition of setting of the film, analyze and discuss the ideological structure of Promising Young Woman. What does the movie depict about the way of life in that city? On what side does the movie come down on? Explain and give examples. 6. Analyze and discuss the use of sound in the film, consider the definition of diegetic and nondiegetic sound. Does music play a vital role in the film (for example: mirroring Cassie’s mood/emotional state)? If so, how? If not, why not? Give examples and explain. 7. Analyze and discuss the use of sound in the film, consider the definition of diegetic and nondiegetic sound. Does music play an important role in the movie to mirror its development. Can you think of specific examples where music may stand out? Why so? Elaborate and give examples. 8. Discuss the concept of character development in the film Promising Young Woman. Which characters are flat/round, dynamic/static, foil? Provide specific examples and discuss their role in the film. How do they interact to create meaning/understanding of the film’s main theme? 18

9. Analyze and discuss Cassie’s character in the film. What kind of character is she? Symbolically, consider Cassie’s use of a “diary, “why does she do it? Does writing in her diary reveal any specific aspect of her personality? Explain in detail. 10.Analyze and discuss in detail Ryan’s character. Consider the scene, early in the movie, when Cassie spits into Ryan’s coffee, how can this action be understood within the framework of the film? Is this scene a relevant event in the film? Explain in detail. 11. Analyze and discuss the concept of the setting in the film Promising Young Woman. What is its function in the movie? Explain and consider at least 3 different functions. Can you affirm that setting may also reflect Cassie’s life? Her mood? Explain in detail. 12.Discuss setting and its functions and refer to the clubs Cassie usually goes to as an element in the movie. Can these places be seen as symbolic (define the concept of symbolism)? If so, how? If not, why not? Elaborate and give examples. 13.Define and analyze the concept of setting in the film. Does it reflect Cassie’s personal development in the film? How do setting and characterization intersect to create meaning? Use references from the movie to support your answer. 14.Define, analyze, and discuss the use of symbols in films. After watching Promising Young Woman, find at least 3, discuss their meaning and how they aid in conveying meaning/understanding of the main plot/sub-plots in the film? Explain in detail. 15.Analyze and discuss the use of “color as symbol” throughout the film Promising Young Woman. In this movie, Cassie wears many red or pink outfits, why may this be so? Does this fact say anything about her personality? Explain in detail and give specific examples. 16.Define, discuss, and analyze the concept of symbolism (symbols and archetypes) within cinema; and consider Cassie’s gold broken-heart necklace as one example, what role or function does it play in Cassie’s life and in the film as a whole? Explain in detail and offer other examples, 19

17.Considering the setting of the film, discuss the characters’ concept of reality and its relation to the main plot of the movie. How may reality or illusion be perceived by the audience? Explain in detail and give examples. 18.What is mise-en-scene? Considering this definition, analyze Cassie’s house and/or family. Can her house/family be considered symbolic? If so, how? If not, why not? How may this relate to the movie’s development and Cassie’s personality? Explain in detail. 19.Analyze and discuss the film Promising Young Woman as a story in three acts (exposition, complication, and closure). How do you see the concepts of revenge, forgiveness, and redemption as they are presented in the film? Explain in detail and give specific examples. 20.Define the irony in cinema and its classification. What examples of each type of irony can you find in the movie? Is irony a key element in the development of the plot? Explain in detail and give specific examples. 21.How do the different characters’ stories intersect in the film Promising Young Woman? Explain and give examples. How do they reflect Cassie’s personal relationships in the movie? How can these relationships be understood? Do they evolve throughout the film? Elaborate. 22.Define, discuss, and analyze the concept of imagery in films; and refer to the religious imagery presented throughout the movie. Can it be considered symbolic? If so, what do they stand for? Explain in detail and provide examples taken from the movie. 23.Analyze and discuss the use of sound in the film, consider the definition of diegetic and nondiegetic sound. Refer to the first song in the movie (“Boys” by Charli XCX) and the last song in the movie (“Angel of the Morning” by Juice Newton). What do they say about the movie’s possible theme? How are these songs related to the main plot of the movie? Explain in detail. 24.Cassie wears make-up in excess in a way that sometimes she may resemble a clown. Discuss this fact in the film in relation to how her character and her character developments is presented through costumes, makeup, and hair. Why is it so? What is being portrayed/communicated? Explain in detail. 20

25.Considering the setting of the film, discuss the characters’ concept of reality and its relation to the main plot of the movie. How much of the movie is real and how much of it is pure fiction? Can it be said that the movie is a realistic portrayal of today's society? Explain in detail and give details. 26. Define, analyze, and discuss the concept of characterization focusing, especially, on the use of "flat" characters in Promising Young Woman. Who are the flat characters? Why? What is their role? Explain and give examples. 27.Discuss the concept of the maturation of the self in Promising Young Woman. How does this concept apply to Cassie, Ryan, and Al Monroe? Explain and offer specific examples of their development/underdevelopment in the film. Are gender roles discussed in film (how they are produced through everyday activities, social practices, dominant discourses, social institutions? 28.Analyze and discuss the use of the colors red, pink, and sky blue in the movie Promising Young Woman. Do you agree with the idea that these colors are the most predominant in the movie? If so, why? What do these colors represent or suggest within the context of the film? Explain in detail. 29.Considering imagery, irony, and symbolism, how can the film’s tittle be understood? Is the title symbolic? Ironic? Sarcastic? All of them simultaneously? Why is it called Promising Young Woman? What is it trying to say? Explain in detail. 30.Discuss Cassie’s character considering the fact that she works at a café and that she does not want to change jobs. Why would this be so? What does this fact say about her as a character and within the possible theme of the film? 31.Define the term mise-en-scene. How may the setting be related to this concept? How is contemporary life depicted? Pay special attention to the role of social media in the movie, how is it portrayed? Is it realistic or not? 32.Define, analyze, and discuss the concept of characterization focusing especially on Cassie. What kind of character is she? By social contemporary standards, can she be considered mentally unstable or not? Why? Explain in detail and offer examples that support your answer. 33.Analyze and discuss female characters in the film; compare the character of Cassie to the rest of the females in the movie. Are these portrayals realistic or are these common female stereotypes? If so, why? If not, why not? What do they 21

have in common or different? What does the character of Cassie portray? Explain in detail and give examples. 34.What is characterization? Define the term and include examples from the film and refer to the character of Ryan Cooper. Is he a flat or round character? As a character, is he believable? Is his performance authentic or not? Explain. 35.Who tells Cassie’s story? Does the audience approach her story through her eyes? Somebody else’s? Explain. Additionally, discuss the concept of sexual violence as it is presented in the movie. Why does it happen? Is it realistic? 36.Define and analyze the concept of setting in the film. Would you rate it as misogynistic? If so, why? If not, why not? Additionally, refer to the type of social complexity presented in Promising Young Woman in relation to today’s Costa Rican society. Are they alike? If so, in what ways? Explain and give examples. 37.When Cassie visits Dean Walker, at Forrest University, the Dean says to her that "she had to give the boys the benefit of the doubt. Accusations like this ruin lives." What can make of this quote within the context of the movie? Are females stereotyped in the film? Are there any “realistic” portrayal of females? Explain in detail and give examples. 38.What is character development? Define the term and discuss Cassie’s character development in the film, is she troubled? Successful? Both? Other? Justify your answer with specific examples and details to support your answer. 39.What is characterization? Define the term and include examples from the film. What type of character is Nina Fisher? What is her role in the movie? Is she an ever-present absence? How should this perceived “oxymoron” (contradiction)? Explain in detail. 40.Analyze and discuss the use of sound in the film, consider the definition of diegetic and nondiegetic sound. How do the songs that appear in the film connect to the movie itself? Explain and give examples. 41.Define and analyze the concept of a three-act film? Does the film Promising Young Woman exemplify this pattern? Explain and pay especial attention to the movie’s opening scene in relation to what happens to Cassie. Elaborate. 42.Do you think Cassie, as a character, achieves fulfillment by the end of the movie? If so, how? Explain. 22

43.Refer to the movie's ending. What happens during the last scene of the movie? What is your opinion of the film's ending? Do you agree with it or not? Explain. 44.What sensitive social issues regarding women may be discussed in the film Promising Young Woman? Is the notion of sorority/sisterhood presented in the movie? How are women’s relationship among them portrayed? Explain and give examples. 45.Refer to the representation of women and men in the film Promising Young Woman. Are genders portrayed stereotypically? What may be the differences or similarities in terms of character and character development? Elaborate. 46.In your opinion, what is the message of Promising Young Woman? How does the movie comply to develop this message to the audience? Do you think the movie achieves it or not? Explain. 47.Define and analyze the concept of a three-act film? Does the film Promising Young Woman exemplify this pattern? Explain and pay especial attention to the movie’s opening scene in relation to what happens to Cassie. Analyze the shot when Cassie pretends to be completely drunk and lies on a couch. What type of imagery can be identified? Elaborate. 48.What is feminism? Define what a feminist film is and discuss if Promising Young Woman is feminist/patriarchal, presents a feminist/patriarchal agenda. Explain in detail. 49.Define and analyze the concept of a three-act film? Does the film Promising Young Woman exemplify this pattern? Additionally, discuss how the movie´s beginning may set the mood and atmosphere for what happens later in the movie. Explain and give examples. 23

Songs QR CODE to Promising Young Woman Soundtrack on Spotify Scan the following QR Code with a QR Reader to access the soundtrack of the movie on Spotify. I. Songs (Below you will find the lyrics to the most important songs of the film) “Boys” by Charli XCX I was busy thinking 'bout boys Boys, boys I was busy dreaming 'bout boys Boys, boys (XCX) Head is spinning thinking 'bout boys I need that bad boy to do me right on a Friday And I need that good one to wake me up on a Sunday That one from work can come over on Monday night I want 'em all I want 'em all And when they finally leave me I'm all alone, but I'm looking down and my girls are blowing my phone up Them twenty questions, they asking me where I'm at Didn't hit 'em back I'm sorry that I missed your party I wish I had a better excuse like "I had to trash the hotel lobby" But I was busy thinking 'bout boys Boys, boys I was busy dreaming 'bout boys Boys, boys Head is spinning thinking 'bout boys In every city I got one with different ringtones Flying from LA all the way to Puerto Rico My girls are calling me asking me where I'm at Didn't hit 'em back I'm sorry that I missed your party I wish I had a better excuse like But I can't even lie, you got me I was busy thinking 'bout boys Boys, boys I was busy dreaming 'bout boys Boys, boys Head is spinning thinking 'bout boys Don't be mad, don't be mad at me (no, no, no, no) Darling, I can't stop it Even if I wanted Don't be mad, don't be mad at me (no, no, 24

no, no) Missed what you were saying I was miles away, yeah Don't be mad, don't be mad, not like I had a choice I was busy thinking 'bout boys Boys, boys I was busy dreaming 'bout boys Boys, boys I was busy thinking 'bout boys (boys) Boys (boys), boys (boys) I was busy dreaming 'bout boys (dreaming 'bout boys) Boys, boys (oh) Head is spinning thinking 'bout boys Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Ari Leff / Cass Lowe / Emily Warren / Ingrid Andress / Jerker Hansson / Michael Pollack Boys lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc “Last Laugh” by Fletcher Cross my heart and hope to die I'ma keep you up at night Wish you never met me, ya, ya I'm that bitch, I do the most Haunt you everywhere you go Makin' you believe in ghosts, ya, ya My revenge is sweeter than honey Lick it up with your mouth Never thought your jokes were that funny But ain't it funny how? I'ma have the last laugh, hahaha 'Cause the second you forget me Is the second that I come right back, hahaha Every whiskey that you're drinking You'll be thinking how I burn like that Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nah, it's me in your dreams Or maybe call 'em nightmares, hahaha, hahaha Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh Take it now and take a hit Karma is a dirty snitch Wish you never knew me, nah, nah (nah, nah) I'm crashin' your party to teach you a lesson Heard you get nervous whenever I'm mentioned So if you're scared, then go find a priest Go find a confession My revenge is sweeter than honey Lick it up with your mouth Never thought your jokes were that funny But ain't it funny how? I'ma have the last laugh, hahaha 'Cause the second you forget me Is the second that I come right back, hahaha Every whiskey that you're drinking You'll be thinking how I burn like that Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nah, it's me in your dreams Or maybe call 'em nightmares, hahaha, hahaha Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh How's it feel? How's it feel? Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh How's it feel? How's it feel? Yeah, I'ma, I'ma have the last laugh How's it feel? I'ma, I'ma have the last-, ha Credits Writer(s): Jeremy Dussolliet, Timothy Paul Sommers, Cari Fletcher Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com 25

“It's Raining Men” (original version by the Weather Girls) Hi, hi we're your weather girls Ah-huh And have we got news for you You better listen Get ready, all you lonely girls And leave those umbrellas at home Alright Humidity is rising (uh rising), barometer's getting low (oh low, girl) According to all sources (what sources now) The street's the place to go (we better hurry up) 'Cause tonight for the first time (first time) Just about half-past ten (half past ten) For the first time in history It's gonna start raining men (start raining men) It's raining men, hallelujah, it's raining men, amen I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get Absolutely soaking wet It's raining men, hallelujah It's raining men, every specimen Tall, blonde, dark and lean Rough and tough and strong and mean God bless mother nature, she's a single woman too She took off to heaven and she did what she had to do She taught every angel she rearranged the sky So that each and every woman could find her perfect guy Oh, it's raining men, yeah Humanity's rising (humanity's rising) Barometer's getting low (it's getting low, low, low, low) According to all sources (according to all sources) The street's the place to go 'Cause tonight for the first time Just about half past ten For the first time in history It's gonna start raining man (start raining men) It's raining men, hallelujah It's raining men, amen It's raining men, hallelujah It's raining men, amen It's raining men, hallelujah It's raining men, amen It's raining men, hallelujah Oh oh oh oh It's raining men Tall, blonde, dark and lean Rough and tough and strong and mean Hallelujah it's raining men Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Paul Jabara / Paul Shaffer It's Raining Men lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc 26

“Stars Are Blind” (Paris’ Version) by Paris Hilton I don't mind spending some time Just hanging here with you Cuz I don't find too many guys That treat me like you do Those other guys all wanna take me for a ride But when I walk their talk is suicide Some people never get beyond their stupid pride But you can see the real me inside And I'm satisfied, oh no, ohh Even though the gods are crazy Even though the stars are blind If you show me real love baby I'll show you mine I can make you nice and naughty Be the devil and angel too Got a heart and soul and body Let's see what this love can do Baby I'm perfect for you My love, ohh oh I could be your confidante Just one of your girlfriends But I know that love's what you want If tomorrow the world ends Why shouldn't we be with the one we really love? Now tell me who have you been dreaming of I and I alone? oh no, ohh Even though the gods are crazy Even though the stars are blind If you show me real love baby I'll show you mine I can make you nice and naughty Be the devil and angel too Got a heart and soul and body Let's see what this love can do Baby I'm perfect for you Excuse me for feeling This moment is critical Might be me feeling It could get physical, oh no, no no Even though the gods are crazy Even though the stars are blind If you show me real love baby I'll show you mine I can make you nice and naughty Be the devil and angel too Got a heart and soul and body Let's see what this love can do Let's see what this love can do Baby I'm perfect for you Baby I'm perfect for you Even though the gods are crazy Even though the stars are blind Even though the gods are crazy Even though the stars are blind Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Fernando Garibay / Francisco Saldana / Marco E Masis / Ralph Mccarthy / Sheppard J Solomon / Victor Cabrera Stars Are Blind lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc 27

“Angel of the Morning” (by Juice Newton) There'll be no strings to bind your hands Not if my love can't bind your heart There's no need to take a stand For it was I who chose to start I see no need to take me home I'm old enough to face the dawn Just call me angel of the morning, angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby Just call me angel of the morning, angel Then slowly turn away from me Maybe the sun's light will be dim And it won't matter anyhow If morning's echo says we've sinned Well, it was what I wanted now And if we're victims of the night I won't be blinded by the light Just call me angel of the morning, angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby Just call me angel of the morning, angel Then slowly turn away I won't beg you to stay with me Through the tears Of the day Of the years Baby Just call me angel of the morning, angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, baby Just call me angel of the morning, angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, darling Just call me angel of the morning, angel Just touch my cheek before you leave me, darling Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Chip Taylor Angel of the Morning lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC 28

Glossary for Joker: ● to piss off: (tr; often passive) to irritate, annoy, or disappoint; make very angry. ● Because I got jumped: Slang To spring upon in sudden attack; assault or ambush: Muggers jumped him in the park. ● Groundswell: a strong public feeling or opinion that is detectable even though not openly expressed: a groundswell of discontent. ● Brethrens: plural noun. Fellow members. Archaic for brothers. ● Coldblooded: adj. Without emotion or feeling, dispassionate; cruel: a cold-blooded murder. ● Peekaboo: a game played by or with very young children, typically in which one covers the face or hides and then suddenly uncovers the face or reappears, calling “Peekaboo!” ● In a heartbeat: in a second. ● To cut funding across the board: to stop providing financial assistance for all public programs. ● Creeps: informal, a feeling of fear, repulsion, disgust, etc. ● It’s a prop, for my act now: a person or thing giving support, as of a moral or spiritual nature. ● to punch out: to mark or record one´s time of departure from work. ● Delusional: adj. Having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions. In psychiatry, maintaining fixed false beliefs even when confronted with facts, usually as a result of mental illness. ● running for mayor: To participate in an election to be the mayor of a city. ● committed to Arkham State Hospital: bound or obligated to Arkham State Hospital. ● the show booker: the person who engages the services of (a performer, driver, etc.) in advance, in this case for Murray´s TV show. ● windup: verb, to bring to or reach a conclusion; noun, the act of concluding, the finish, end. ● delusional psychosis: see delusional above. ● narcissistic personality disorder: (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive craving for admiration, and struggles with empathy. ● stood by: past tense of stand by, to be available and ready to act if needed or called upon, to be faithful to, to stand by one´s principles. ● battered: adjective, subjected to persistent physical violence, esp. By a close relative living in the same house. ● Malnourished: poorly or improperly nourished; suffering from malnutrition. ● off-color material: adj. A joke or remark that is rude or offensive. 29

Songs: “That's Life" by Frank Sinatra That's life (That's life) That's what all the people say You're riding high in April, shot down in May But I know I'm gonna change that tune When I'm back on top, back on top in June I said that's life (That's life) And as funny as it may seem Some people get their kicks Stomping on a dream But I don't let it, let it get me down Cause this fine old world, it keeps spinnin' around I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet A pawn and a king I've been up and down and over and out And I know one thing Each time I find myself Flat on my face I pick myself up and get Back in the race That's life (That's life) I tell you, I can't deny it I thought of quitting, baby But my heart just ain't gonna buy it And if I didn't think it was worth one single try I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet A pawn and a king I've been up and down and over and out And I know one thing Each time I find myself layin' Flat on my face I just pick myself up and get Back in the race That's life (That's life) That's life and I can't deny it Many times I thought of cutting out but my heart won't buy it But if there's nothing shaking come this here July I'm gonna roll myself up In a big ball and die My, my Source: Musixmatch Songwriters: Gordon Kelly L / Thompson Dean K That's Life lyrics © Bibo Music Publishing, Inc. 30

"Send in the Clowns" by Frank Sinatra [Verse 1] Isn't it rich? Are we a pair? Me here at last on the ground You in mid-air Send in the clowns [Verse 2] Isn't it bliss? Don't you approve? One who keeps tearing around One who can't move Where are the clowns? Send in the clowns [Verse 3] Just when I stopped Opening doors Finally knowing The one that I wanted was yours Making my entrance again With my usual flair Sure of my lines No one is there [Verse 4] Don't you love a farce? My fault, I fear I thought that you'd want what I want Sorry, my dear But where are the clowns? Send in the clowns Don't bother They're here [Verse 5] Isn't it rich? Isn't it queer? Losing my timing this late In my career Where are the clowns There ought to be clowns Well, maybe next year 31

Joker Analysis Questions : 1. Based on the movie’s plot, refer to the following phrase which appears at the beginning and at the end of the movie: “I just hope my death makes more cents than my life.” Explain what it means within the context of the moivie? How is it connected to the movie as a whole? Explain in detail by providing examples from the movie. 2. Based on the concept of lighting, explain how it is used at the beginning of the movie, when Arthur talks to his psychologist. What is its function? Explain in detail. 3. The notion of change is present throughout the movie. Discuss the concept of change as shown in Joker. How is change, as part of Arthur´s life process, portrayed in this movie? Is it shown positively or negatively? 4. Taking into account the concept of ambiguity, define what it is and discuss thow it is presented in the movie Joker. Is Arthur Fleck an ambiguous individual? Why? Who or what else, if any, has an ambiguous function in the movie? Exmpalin in detail. 5. Based on the theory of Monster Culture, refer to how it is present in the film. Who or what is/are the monster? Are there more than one monster? What element(s) are the responsible one(s) for creating this monster? Explain in detail by using examples from the film to back up your answer. 6. Refer to diegetic and nondiegetic sounds; explain what they are and how they are used within the film. Are they important? If so, how? Explain in detail by using examples from the movie to support your answer. 7. Define what round and flat characters are. Now, based on the film Joker, which characters are flat and which ones are round? Explain in detail by using instances from the film. 8. Throughout the movie, Arthur's Mom calls him "Happy"; however, in the following quote from the movie, her mother seems to contradict herself. why does it happen? Is this ironic? If so, explain what type of Irony it is. Explain in detail. “Arthur Fleck: I don’t want you to worry about money, mom. I mean, everybody’s telling me that my standup’s ready for the big clubs. Penny Fleck: But what makes you think you could do that? Arthur Fleck: What do you mean? Penny Fleck: I mean, don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian?” 32

9. Based on the notion of setting, explain what it is and why it is relevant in a movie. In the case of the movie Joker, refer to how it relates to the movie as a whole as well as to the characters. Use instances from the film to back up your answer. 10.Based on the notion of setting, refer to the stairs as an important element of the movie. Can the stairs be seen as a character in the story and/or as a symbol? If so, how? Explain in detail. 11. Based on the notion of setting, explain how it helps to the development of Arthur´s personality? Use references from the movie to state your answer. 12.Universal symbols are very important elements in a movie. What universal symbols do you find in the movie and what do they represent? Explain in detail. 13.Based on the concept of diegetic and nondiegetic sounds, refer to the different voice tones or pitches that Arthur uses throughout the movie. Why do you think he does it? What does it say about his personality? Explain in detail. 14.Based on the concept of universal symbols, refer to the TV set as a symbol within the movie. What role or function does it play in Arthur´s life? Explain in detail. 15.The notion of reality is not so clear in Joker. Refer to the different situations that take place in the movie and that can be real or not. Why do you think the movie director chose to present the film in that way? Is it connected to any of the characters in the movie? Explain in detail. 16.Based on the notion of universal symbols, refer to the gun Randall gives Arthur. What does it symbolize? How does this gun relate to Arthur´s life and the development of his personality? Does it related to Randall’s life as well? Explain in detail. 17.What can you say about Arthur´s hysterical laughter? Is it a universal symbol? If so, what does it stand for? What does it say about his personality? Explain in detail. 18.Irony is a key element in the development of a movie, what can you say about the presence of irony in Joker? What instances of irony do you see in the movie? What can you make of the presence of irony in the film? What types of irony are displayed in the movie? Explain in detail. 19.Based on the notion of characterization, refer to Arthur and his mother as round or flat characters. How is their relationship throughout the movie? Do they change? If so, how and why? Explain in detail. 20.Based on the notion of universal symbols, can Arthur´s diary be considered as a universal symbol? If so, what does it represent? What does the diary mean to Arthur? Does it have the same meaning for other characters (Murray and the psychologist, for instance)? Explain in detail. 33

21.Based on the notions of characterization and the monster culture, how do you consider Arthur? Is he a victim or a victimizer? Is he a monster? Why? Explain in detail. 22.Trains are present throughout the movie. Based on the concept of universal symbols, can they be considered a symbol? If so, what do they stand for? Explain in detail and provide examples taken from the movie. 23.Early in the movie, when Arthur is fired from his job as a clown, he crosses the word “forget” out of the sign “Don´t forget to smile”. Why do you think he did it? What does it mean? How is this act related to the development of the movie? Explain in detail. 24.Refer to the meaning of the word “clown” in general. Is it the same as it is presented in the movie? Is this way of portraying the concept of a clown in the film positive or negative? Why? Explain in detail. 25.The concept of reality is very relevant to the movie´s development. How much of the movie is real and how much of it is a product of Arthur´s imagination? Can it be said that the whole movie is the product of Arthur´s imagination? Explain in detail. 26. Discuss the use of "flat" characters in Joker. Who are the flat characters? What is their role? 27.Based on the notion of characterization, discuss the concept of the maturation of the self in Joker. How does this concept apply to Arthur, Penny Fleck, and Murray? Explain in detail by providing instances from the movie. 28.Based on the notion of color, refer to the use of it in Joker as a whole. What colors are the most predominant in the movie? What do these colors represent or suggest within the context of the movie? Explain in detail by providing examples from the movie. 29. Discuss the scene when Arthur is dancing on the street stairs down his apartment and the two cops come in chasing him. What does it mean within the context of the movie? Explain in detail. 30.After Arthur talks to Bruce Wayne at the theater and is hit by him, he goes back to his apartment and gets inside the refrigerator. What can you make out of this scene? What does it suggest? Can it be considered symbolic? If so, what does it stand for? 31.When Arthur kills his mom, he says “my life was a tragedy, but now I know it is a comedy.” What does he mean by this? How does Arthur use the concepts of tragedy and comedy, which come from classic theater, in relation to what he just did and his life? Is this ironic? If so, what type of irony it is. 32.What can you say about Arthur´s final clown make-up? Not the mask, but the final make-up design he comes up with. Do you think it resembles his personality at that moment or not? Why? How does it differentiate him from the rest of the protesters in Gotham city? 34

33.Refer to the concept of wearing a mask (or make-up) as it is shown in the movie. How does this notion fit into the development of the movie? How does it benefit or negatively affect Arthur in the film? Is it symbolic? 34.What can you make of the movie´s ending in relation to Arthur? Is it positive or negative for him? How do people see him? How does he see himself? Is there a change? If so, where? 35.Refer to the notion of freedom as it is presented in the movie. Do you think Arthur is free at the beginning or at the end of the movie? Why? Are people in Gotham city free or not? Explain. 36.Discuss the concept of violence as it emerges and erupts in the movie?.What type(s) of violence is/are presented in the movie? Do characters in the film show violence as victims or victimizers of that society? Explain. 37.Refer to the type of society presented in Gotham City in relation to today´s Costa Rican society. Are they alike? If so, in what ways? Explain. 38.In relation to character development, is it justified the change Arthur goes through? Why? What type of character is he? 39.Refer to Murray Franklin´s role in the movie. What type of character is he? How does he relate to Arthur´s development? Is it common to have people like Murray Franklin in today´s society? 40.How do the songs “Send in the Clowns” and “That´s Life” connect to the movie as a whole? Explain. 41.Do you think Arthur Fleck, as a character, achieves fulfillment by the end of the movie? If so, how? What type of character is he? Explain. 42.Early in the movie, after Arthur is beaten by the kids, the camera, coming from behind, has a closeup to his back while he is tying his shoelaces. We, then, can see his back with certain features and characteristics. What do you think of this scene in particular? What do we know about his life from it? Is this symbolic in any way? Explain. 43.Discuss the notions of loneliness and alienation as they are presented in the movie. How are these two concepts interrelated? How similar or different is it from our actual society? Explain. 44.Do you think that Arthur´s outcome could have been prevented? Or was it imminent? Who is responsible for that result? Explain. 45.Do you consider Joker, as a movie and art manifestation, to have a message? If so, what is it trying to say? Do you think it succeeds in doing it? Explain. 46.Explain the movie´s beginning in relation to the rest of the movie? How does it establish the mood and atmosphere for what happens later in the movie? 35

Theory 36

1 Analyzing Movies The Cameraman (Edward Sedgwick, Jr., 1928) MGM/THE KOBAL COLLECTION Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 37

What do we talk about when we talk about movies? As with all first impressions, the conversation begins with likes and dislikes, subjective responses that reflect our experience, knowledge, and temperament. What we say and how strongly we say it—we often talk about movies in terms of love and hate—rather raise the stakes. If you love a certain film and recommend it to a friend, how do you feel when they like it, too? How bad do you feel when they hate it? Many of the subjective reactions we have to a movie are the consequence of careful creative design, the result of choices about story structure, visual design, camerawork, editing, and sound made to prompt us to react in certain ways, to get us thinking about things from a particular point of view, to make us see and hear things in a specific order and manner. Film analysis enables us to recognize how the filmmakers have worked their magic on us, how all the constituent elements of the film have combined to create that magic. Rather than rob us of the pleasures of watching films, this approach affords us the even greater pleasure of deep engagement. This first chapter begins with the question of why we are drawn to the movies and then introduces and models a scholarly approach to the cinema. LEARNING OUTCOMES After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following: 1-1 Identify the basic human desires and drives that cinema seems to satisfy and understand how various mental processes produce the illusion of motion pictures. 1-2 Recognize the art in entertaining films and the entertainment value in films that are complex or challenging. 1-3 Understand what it means to analyze films and recognize what makes the scholarly practice of film criticism different from more subjective and impressionistic reactions to and readings of movies. PLAY VIDEO ICON: This icon signals that a corresponding video clip is available in the eBook. The eBook can be accessed at cengagebrain.com. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 38

4 Analyzing Movies 1-1 THE MAGIC OF MOVIES As we ponder our attraction to motion pictures, it is worth thinking about the basic human desires and drives that cinema seems to satisfy, about what made cinema possible, even inevitable. Such a project takes us back as much as 30,000 years to the earliest pictorial expressions carved into and painted on cave walls at Chauvet and Lascaux, images viewed communally by our predecessors by torchlight, anticipating the phenomenon of going to the movies (fig. 1.1). What motivated the cave painters was perhaps not so different from what motivated early filmmakers: the fundamental human desire to express oneself, to preserve for posterity images drawn from everyday life, to render tangible and real a particular and peculiar take on the world. And the undeniable presence of an aesthetic, their attention to design and detail, suggests that these artists cared what their audience thought about what they produced. The artist’s urge to create an experience for an audience, and the audience’s ability to be engaged by that creation, are still at work in the contemporary medium of film. 1-1a The Moving Image Although the experience of viewing an image illuminated in the darkness extends back into prehistory, the projection of images for public entertainment is a somewhat more recent phenomenon, dating to the eighteenth century and the “magic lantern.” This device employed a lens, a shutter, and a persistent light source that projected etched images from glass slides onto a white wall in the dark. Audiences were fascinated by the power of the lantern operator (usually a magician) to conjure ghostlike images out of the shadows. Over time inventors improved on the quality of the light source, and by the early to mid-nineteenth century the magic lantern was used in conjunction with motion toys. Motion toys like the Thaumatrope (a round card with multiple images held on a string), the Phenakistoscope (a platelike slotted disc spun to simulate moving images), the Zoetrope (a bowl-like apparatus with slots for viewers to peer through), and the Praxinoscope (fig. 1.2) gave audiences their first glance at multiple, continuous, moving images, their first glance at what would someday be transformed into a new mass medium. © Bettmann/CORBIS 1.2 Emile Reynaud’s Praxinoscope moving image viewer (ca. 1887). 1.1 In his 2010 documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog explored the caves at Chauvet, France, where in the mid-1990s archaeologists discovered paintings dating back more than 30,000 years. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 39

1-1 THE MAGIC OF MOVIES 5 The content of these early moving images was rudimentary and largely irrelevant: hand-drawn horses galloping, two children playing leapfrog. The star attraction was the technology itself; the audience was asked merely to bear witness to the phenomenon of seeing pictures move. That phenomenon hinged upon a fundamental trick or lie, what film historians and theorists call persistence of vision or positive afterimages, and what many physicists understand as the phi phenomenon or apparent motion. Persistence of vision refers to the tendency for one image to persist or linger on our retina as the next image enters our perception, which explains why we do not perceive the black frames that separate the still images as motion picture film passes through the projector. Apparent motion, or the phi phenomenon, describes an optical illusion that allows us to perceive constant movement instead of a sequence of images. Together these phenomena create the impression or perception of a single continuous moving image despite the reality of a series of individual frames. Another trick, or misperception, involves critical flicker fusion, a phenomenon in which the light of a film projector flashes so rapidly with each new frame that we do not see it pulse but instead see a continuous beam of light. Motion toys and silent movies (which were shot and projected at the relatively slow speed of 16 frames per second) did display a distinct flicker (fig. 1.3), hence the slang term for silent movies, “flickers,” and the occasionally used synonym for movies today, “flicks.” Sound films do not display such a flicker because they are shot and projected at the significantly faster 24 frames per second (fps). 1-1b Modern Moviegoing Over time, the moviegoing experience has become more seamless. There is no flicker to ignore anymore; 35mm exhibition provides beautiful, gigantic moving images; and the advent of digital formats for production and exhibition have eliminated many of the the medium’s technical glitches. At the movies today we bear witness not only to the stories told in a given film but to the astounding technology that has made that work of art and entertainment possible. But even with the advent of advanced technologies, movies continue to appeal to our most primitive desires and anxieties: love, happiness, fear, despair. Moviegoing can be simply diverting, or it can be provocative and unsettling. Sometimes it’s both. The film reviewer Pauline Kael once quipped that she “lost it at the movies,” a wry joke about losing her innocence there in the dark. But it is fair to ponder the opposite effect, that more often than not we find things at the movies . . . about ourselves and about our world, things we have otherwise never considered, never thought about deeply. We study movies because our reactions to them are so powerful, because their role in modern life is so significant, because understanding them informs the way we experience the world. Moviegoing is a unique communal experience, a form of organized leisure that formalizes the expression of shared emotions (laughter, for example, at a screening of the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski [fig. 1.4]). This book introduces an objective study of such a familiar subjective and communal experience, offering a critical vocabulary for discussing, analyzing, and reflecting upon the movies in our lives. 1.3 A screening of a Keystone short in 1913. Silent film exhibition featured noticeable flickering light due to its relatively slow speed through the gate of the projector. © Bettmann/CORBIS persistence of vision The tendency for one image to persist or linger on our retina as the next image enters our perception, contributing to the illusion of motion pictures. phi phenomenon The optical illusion that accounts for the impression of movement when one image follows another at the proper speed. frame The smallest compositional unit of a reel of film: a single photographic image; also, the boundaries of the image. critical flicker fusion A phenomenon in which the light of a film projector flashes so rapidly with each new frame that we do not see it pulse but instead see a continuous beam of light. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 40

6 Analyzing Movies 1-2 MOVIES AS ENTERTAINMENT AND ART 1.4 Cinema as communal experience and organized leisure. Two thousand filmgoers endure the rain to share the experience of watching Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski (1998), a film most of them have already seen. The unlikely setting for this outdoor show was London’s eighteenth-century Somerset House courtyard. By the time we reach our teens, we may have seen hundreds, even thousands of films in movie theaters, on television, laptops, tablets, iPods, and even cell phones. We are, as George Orwell predicted we would be, surrounded by screens in public and private spaces. This ubiquity of the moving image seems hardly a cause for alarm, as it was in Orwell’s 1984. Such access has made moviegoing simpler, easier, even cheaper, as more films are now available in more formats and in more venues than ever before. The medium’s continued popularity is a testament to its entertainment value. And this entertainment value has fueled the notion that going to the movies is primarily a means of escape. Escapism is certainly built into certain forms or genres of movies, and it is a design feature of the movie theater, the site of the so-called first run of the vast majority of motion pictures. Movie theaters have fashioned a built environment that is comfortable, dark, quiet, and temperature-controlled. When we enter this space, we are asked only to sit back and relax. Yet while such an environment seems to set the stage for escapism, the passive consumption of movie fantasies, it also narrows our focus onto one object: the movie we are watching. In our hyper-stimulated world, the movie theater is a rare secular site designed to eliminate distraction and allow for serious reflection. As critical filmgoers, we can begin to discover the art in entertaining films as well as an entertainment value in films that are challenging. We can bring a sophisticated analysis to movies that define themselves as escapist fun. And for films that are challenging or unusual, there is a pleasure to be had in figuring out a complexly structured plot, and in appreciating and understanding the filmmakers’ unusual choices in design, form, and style. © Gideon Mendel/Corbis Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 41

1-2 MOVIES AS ENTERTAINMENT AND ART 7 1-2a Appreciating and Understanding Entertainment To see how we might move past our first impressions and introduce a critical analysis, we begin with a popular film comedy from the silent era: Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. The film is entertaining; it’s funny, and Keaton’s stunts are original and exciting. Our initial reaction to the film as it unspools is likely one of appreciation—of Keaton’s skill as a performer, of the cleverness of the gags—and that reaction is characterized by laughter, an involuntary response that signals the film’s success as entertainment. Sherlock Jr. is particularly useful for us here at the start of this study because it cleverly displays—in fact, it incorporates into its closing sequence—two key processes that characterize our reception of films: identification (something in the film reminds us of our own experience) and idealization (we think: if only our lives were quite like this!). As we begin to read the film critically—much as we would closely read a novel or poem, for example—we recognize these two processes not only in the context of this film but with regard to our general filmgoing as well. The film tells the story of a shy and bumbling film projectionist who is falsely accused of stealing a watch, an accusation that promises to nix a budding romantic relationship. Forlorn, he returns to work and as the film he projects unspools, he falls asleep and dreams (fig. 1.5). In his dream he jumps into the movie screen and takes control of the story underway there. On screen he is the crack detective Sherlock Jr. He is everything he is not in real life: confident, remarkably agile, an adept deductive thinker. And most important (to this point in the film), unlike the projectionist, Sherlock Jr. “gets the girl” (fig. 1.6). For the hapless projectionist, movies are the site of dreams and aspirations. At this particularly low point in his personal life, he imagines what it might be like to be the hero of a movie instead of the man paid to project it. For the critical filmgoer it is important not to miss the parallels between the projectionist’s imagined participation in the fiction on screen and our own experience at the movies. When the projectionist wakes from his dream, we return to the “real world.” The dream—structured as a film within the film—has ended with his triumph over adversity. Waking up in the projection booth is at first a bit of a disappointment; he is no longer the hero in a miraculous rescue. But this disappointment is shortlived; his girlfriend has arrived, and she reveals that while he’s slept she has solved the case of the stolen watch. Her discovery clears the way for romance. But the film does not end there. In what silent comedians called a “kick-in-the-pants ending,” the film’s brief coda reflects explicitly on the processes of identification 1.5 Buster Keaton as a projectionist dreaming about an exciting life like those lived on screen. Sherlock Jr. (Keaton, 1924). 1.6 In the film within the film, Sherlock Jr. wins the heart of the object of his desire. identification A mode of engagement with film content; something in the film reminds us of our own experience, and we tend to identify with the relevant character and his or her situation. idealization A mode of engagement with film content; something in the film resonates with our dreams and aspirations: if only our lives were quite like this! Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 42

8 Analyzing Movies 1.7–1.17 Life imitating art. The hapless projectionist learns a thing or two about romance at the movies. and idealization. Still groggy and still unsure of himself, the projectionist is alone with his girlfriend in the projection booth, and all suspicion has abated. He wonders what to do. Then he looks to the screen for help. And there he finds some useful instruction. The film ends with a series of alternating shots of the projection booth and the film playing on screen (figs. 1.7–1.17). (A shot is an image produced from a single “take” on the film set.) By contrasting the “real” world of the projectionist with the contrived world of Sherlock Jr., Keaton both satirizes the movie melodramas that were popular with 1920s American audiences and also underscores how important they had become in the collective imagination. The ending produces not only a laugh but also an invitation to wake up to how we have identified with and idealized life as it is depicted in the movies. A film released three-quarters of a century later, The Matrix, poses a similar set of challenges as it asks us as critical filmgoers to see past its screen fantasy to find a more complex, more global, more philosophical work. The Matrix is an entertaining film in the way, or more shot A continuously exposed, uninterrupted, or unedited piece of film of any length; a basic unit of film structure with discernible start and end points. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 43

1-2 MOVIES AS ENTERTAINMENT AND ART 9 accurately, at a scale that only blockbusters can be. It is big, fast, and loud—a Hollywood spectacle par excellence. It is designed to transport us, excite us, and even thrill us. But it is also a deceptively complex work: a unique amalgam of stop- and slow-motion photography (fig. 1.18), a clever adaptation of cyberpunk sciencefiction literature, and an evocation of Asian action film and comic-book graphics and visuals. It may be good escapist fun, but it engages complex ideas in complex ways. Careful and close reading prompts an analysis that reflects upon our growing dependence on and fascination with immersive technologies—technologies that may well affect our humanity in profound ways. Examining what we sometimes call a film’s deeper meanings in no way detracts from the euphoric sensation of watching the film, of being pinned to our seats by the imagery and sound. Indeed, thinking about these meanings helps us situate the film and the sensation it produces in terms of our own lives and intellectual experience. 1-2b Appreciating and Understanding Complex Films Some films are more difficult to “get into” than others. They are deliberately designed to challenge our belief systems and our expectations about movies, life, and the world at large. When watching such films, we need to be a bit more patient. The pleasure is less immediate and the processes of identification and idealization are less easily engaged. These films require critical analysis for engagement, even entertainment, which makes them well suited to the task ahead in this book. The modern Japanese film Vengeance Is Mine is for many viewers an example of difficult entertainment. The film tells the fact-based story of Akira Nishiguchi (he is called Iwao Enokizu in the film), who went on a killing spree in the early 1960s. Shohei Imamura’s film gives us plenty of access to the killer, but it makes little effort to help us understand him. The performance of Ken Ogata, the actor who portrays Iwao, magnifies the character’s intent to keep others— including the viewer—at a distance. Vengeance Is Mine opens with the killer in a police car. As the plot works backward from his capture, we expect to find an explanation for Iwao’s actions in the film’s flashbacks (fig. 1.19). But Imamura resists such an easy sociology. The killer’s life is eventful but paradoxically empty. The film’s title also frustrates our attempts to understand what has motivated the crime. It offers a familiar New Testament allusion (to Romans 12:19) and more specifically suggests that the killings are meant as retribution. But Iwao hardly leaves the task of vengeance to the Lord, as the Biblical quotation requires, and nothing in the story supports the notion that he is 1.18 Even the most implausible of films can get us thinking about the world in which we live now and the world in which we may live someday. The Matrix (Andy and Larry/Lana Wachowski, 1999). 1.19 The banality of evil. Shohei Imamura’s Vengeance Is Mine (Fukushû suru wa ware ni ari, 1979) endeavors to challenge our expectations about crime dramas and the nature of crime itself. The film frustrates our attempts to understand why Iwao (shown here daydreaming during a police interrogation) committed murder. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 44

10 Analyzing Movies killing because he has read or misread the Biblical passage or that he is seeking vengeance. Indeed he feels no discernible euphoria in dispatching his victims. Vengeance Is Mine is hard work, but the payoff is considerable. Most crime films are satisfying because they reduce evil to narrative formulas. When Imamura’s film forces us out of this comfort zone, so to speak, we have to look for another reason why we’re witnessing this story, another reason why the evil we see in the film exists. As we analyze the film, we come to reconsider the nature of evil in modern society and arrive at the chilling notion that sometimes people do bad things and even they don’t know why. In his popular 1968 feature 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick takes up a familiar sci-fi story: in deep space a computer malfunctions and the crew is put in grave danger. But despite this familiar hook, he seems up to something else in the film, something more. As we look at the film’s narrative structure and pacing, for example, we find the first of many challenges posed by the filmmaker. Kubrick takes us slowly into the narrative. The film begins not in deep space but with a long section titled “The Dawn of Man” in which a series of connected scenes track the evolution of human ancestors, shown first walking on all fours, then upright; first truly primitive, then capable of transforming found objects into tools and weapons (fig. 1.20). As with many such complex and challenging films, we need to be patient. We need to find pleasure in the director’s resistance to formula and his thwarting of audience expectation. Certainly Kubrick is using these early scenes to comment upon human nature, but it is fair to wonder even late in the film what the “Dawn of Man” opening has to do with the rest of the story. Filmgoers for over a generation have pondered these questions, which is evidence of the pleasure that can be had through the hard work of making sense of this difficult film. One of the pleasures of critical analysis is experienced when we finally feel like we are in on the joke, so to speak, when we begin to “get” what the filmmakers seem to be doing with all the painstaking detail in the design of the sets and, with regard to 2001, in the re-creations of objects and machines floating in space. We are shown a space toilet, for example, complete with warnings about its use in a weightless environment. The camera stays on the instructions long enough to give us time to read them so that we can imagine ourselves in the world of the film, having to use that bathroom, thinking about the travails of space travel in a way we likely never had before. In the film’s climactic confrontation, which hinges on the struggle between human beings and the technology they have made (fig. 1.21), Kubrick refuses to play the scene straight. To defy our expectations, the tone is that of an absurd comedy. The goal here is not really science fiction but instead a familiarity that fuels identification. Anyone who has struggled with a piece of technology or with some mindless operative on the other end of a phone line has a sense of how the astronaut Dave feels when he asks the supercomputer HAL 1.20 “The Dawn of Man” in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) asks us to ponder the nature of humankind. 1.21 The film’s climax portrays the nature of modern humanity in a struggle against the machines we’ve made. But what does this have to do with the film’s opening gambit, “The Dawn of Man”? Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 45

1-2 MOVIES AS ENTERTAINMENT AND ART 11 to open the pod-bay doors, and HAL rather blankly and calmly remarks that he’d prefer not to. Some films, like Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, deliberately refuse to deliver escapist entertainment and instead challenge audiences to engage with complex questions of morality and social justice. Lee’s film is set in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, in the late 1980s during a heat wave (fig. 1.22). The milieu is atypical for a commercial American film; most of the setting’s inhabitants are people of color, and there are few images of wealth or privilege in sight. The setting is not used as a means of comparison (to life as it is lived in “better” parts of town); we never leave the neighborhood. Here, again, identification plays a part. For an hour or two we are asked to experience imaginatively and intellectually the everyday dramas that emerge from the incipient racism, white paternalism, and abject poverty that impact life there. The two successful businesses we see in the film— the mini-mart and Sal’s Pizzeria—are owned by neighborhood outsiders, Korean Americans and Italian Americans, respectively. Their success seems at odds with and perhaps at the expense of the African American denizens of the neighborhood. In play then are matters of class and race that complexly come into contest. While no one in the film is wealthy, a separate set of distinctions among the working class, the working poor, and the out-of-work are first drawn and then complicated by exaggerated racial stereotypes: the hard-working Korean store-owners (fig. 1.23), the patronizing Italian-American restaurateur, and the shiftless African Americans who sit in lawn chairs drinking all day or hold menial jobs they halfheartedly perform (fig. 1.24). The film so obviously 1.22 The neighborhood matriarch, “Mother Sister,” looks out on another hot sunny day. Note how details like the peeling paint on the windowsill and the broken concrete on the step suggest not only a setting but a certain social-class milieu. Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989). 1.23 The working poor: the oft-abused Korean storeowners in Do the Right Thing. 1.24 The nonworking poor. ML, Sweet Dick Willie, and Coconut Sid hold their daily vigil across the street from the Korean convenience store they so despise. 1.25 Radio Raheem captured in low-angle close-up, his size and his African features exaggerated as he looms above the camera. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 46

12 Analyzing Movies The goal of this book is to help you develop the vocabulary and tools for critical thinking and to facilitate the critical analysis of any film that you see, whether it aims to be a work of entertainment, a work of art, or both. As a first step in that process, let’s consider the bigger picture. What does it mean to analyze films? What makes the scholarly practice of film criticism different from the subjective process of reviewing movies for a thumbsup or a thumbs-down assessment? How do we move beyond the basics of whether or not we like a film? We begin with close observation, of the sort suggested by the questions that are provided at the end of each chapter. We might focus our attention on the distinct formal elements of a film (the subjects of chapters 2 through 5) and how those elements interact. We might also think about the film in the context of other similar films and/or in its larger historical, cultural, and industrial contexts (chapters 7 and 9). As we put these ideas together, we construct an interpretation of the film’s meaning(s) and significance. 1-3a Form and Style In its most basic sense, form is the visual and aural shape of a film. Form embraces all aspects of a film’s construction that can be isolated and discussed: the elements of narrative, mise-en-scène (the “look of the scene”), camerawork, sound, and editing. Film style refers to the particular or characteristic use of these elements. Film style may be associated with a time and place (e.g., classical Hollywood), with a type of film (e.g., a western), with a director’s body of work (Hitchcock-ian; Fellini-esque), or it may be unique to an individual film. We might characterize a film’s style as realistic (fig. 1.26) or we might recognize it as highly stylized (fig. 1.27). To illustrate what it means to examine form and style in a film, let’s take a close look at a key scene from the French New Wave director François Truffaut’s first feature film, The 400 Blows. In this scene, the film’s adolescent hero, Antoine, has been detained at a police station after stealing (and attempting to return) a typewriter from his father’s office. In terms of story structure, we are at the film’s turning point. Antoine has been at odds with his parents and teachers, and his attempts to escape punishment have gotten him into deeper and deeper trouble. Now he faces truly serious consequences. So far the film has alternated between episodes of freewheeling youthful hijinks, 1-3 HOW TO “READ” A FILM form The visual and aural shape of a film. Form embraces all aspects of a film’s construction that can be isolated and discussed: the elements of narrative, mise-en-scène (the “look of the scene”), camerawork, sound, and editing. style The particular or characteristic use of formal elements. classical Hollywood The so-called “studio era,” roughly from the advent of sound through World War II. Distinguished by an approach to filmmaking that strove for an “invisible style” that allowed viewers to become absorbed by the world of the film. French New Wave A group of post–World War II French directors including François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Claude Chabrol, Eric Rohmer, Alain Resnais, and Agnes Varda, all of whom strove to create a more spontaneous and personal style of filmmaking. Many of these directors began as film critics for the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma. panders to cultural stereotypes that it asks us to examine them. It is important when accounting for the social implications of a film to focus on its formal elements and its formal system. For example, it is well worth noting that to highlight racial differences, Lee uses exaggerated close-ups, often featuring characters looming over and talking directly into the camera (fig. 1.25). Like the film, this stylistic choice is unsubtle but effective. The film explores gender issues in the AfricanAmerican community, and again Lee exploits familiar stereotypes: the benevolent but weary neighborhood matriarch Mother Sister, the young unwed mother Tina, the shiftless delivery boy and absentee father Mookie (played by the director himself), the politicized but mostly uninformed Buggin’ Out, and the boom-boxtoting, ever-angry Radio Raheem. Cultural studies scholars use the term “identity politics” to discuss the relationship between the artist and the artist’s message about race, class, and gender. This is very much at issue here. The producer-writer-director of Do the Right Thing is Spike Lee, an African American who grew up in Brooklyn. It is relevant then that the film is not the work of an outsider looking in but that of an insider looking closely at social problems and issues in his own community. Lee’s well-suitedness for such a social critique is essential to appreciating the film’s authentic commentary and larger cultural significance. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 47

13 truancy, and moviegoing and episodes where Antoine is under scrutiny, disapproval, and control. While the police station scene is part of that larger pattern, it signals the beginning of a new phase in Antoine’s life, one of greater confinement and harsher penalties. Watching this scene, we might begin to wonder what has brought Antoine to 1-3 How to “Read” a Film this point (his anti-authoritarian nature? his parents’ neglect? his oppressive school?), whether he deserves to be here (does the punishment fit the crime?), and what will happen to him next. Antoine is taken down a tight corridor into a holding area, where he is placed into a cell with an adult. Time passes. The camera scans the room, taking in the scene: the dingy windowless space, the police officers killing time playing chess and reading the paper (fig 1.28), the adult prisoner asleep (fig. 1.29), and finally Antoine, asleep as well, oddly at peace with his unfortunate circumstances (fig. 1.30). This is not a melodramatic jailhouse scene but rather one that seems true to the reality of confinement: it is dull and impersonal. Another moving camera shot follows (fig. 1.31). It chronicles the arrival of three female prisoners (presumably prostitutes), followed by one police officer’s decision to move Antoine to a much smaller cell of his own. All of this is done without a single line of expository dialogue (dialogue meant to advance the story or reveal something important about the characters). Indeed the dialogue in the scene is often drowned out by sound effects (footsteps, the jailers’ keys jingling, the jail cell doors opening and shutting), another aspect of the film’s realist style. In addition to these effects, we eventually hear some childlike music (a simple scale that suggests a child playing the piano) on the soundtrack. This background music, or underscoring, adds a lighter, almost comic mood to the scene. The next moving camera shot pauses twice to offer two beautifully framed shots from Antoine’s point of view, looking out through the fence-like cell door 1.26 Natural light, real locales and interiors, and improvisational acting are aspects of the realistic style of John Cassavetes’s The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). So, too, is the inclusion of shots that “break the rules” of Hollywood filmmaking, such as this one, where the woman’s arm obscures our view of the film’s principal character in mid-sentence. This “mistake” gives the impression that the story is captured “on the fly.” 1.27 In Joseph Lewis’s gangster drama The Big Combo (1955), the highly stylized lighting, sets, costuming, dialogue, and line delivery place us in the hard-boiled urban jungle. This style, known as film noir and associated with crime films from the 1940s and 1950s, creates a distinct milieu (a time and place) that evokes feelings of suspense, decadence, and dread. film noir A French term for a style originating with American crime films of the 1940s and 1950s, characterized by deep shadows, night scenes, shady characters, and plots involving elaborate schemes and betrayals. Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. 48