The Red Pill

The idea of a home is something that every human can relate too, most animals as well. We all have our territories. Protection of said territory is one of the most primal instincts we have and can be one of the most emotional experiences one can have. Because of this, many forms of art and entertainment have used protection of home as a plot point. I will be discussing two films in particular that do not really stand high on scholarly ground. But rather are given breath by a large cult following.

When The Matrix premiered in 1999 audience had seen not much like it. Sci-Fi was not new but the cyber aspect of it was still in its infancy. The internet was only emerging from the fringe and was still foreign to many people. Beyond being a story about the weary's of technology and control, The Matrix is battle for home. After a cybernetic revolution, humanity has become the fuel for these new hyper-intelligent machines. With the majority of humans being supplanted in the simulated reality known as The Matrix while being hooked up to apparatuses, a small collection of humans have formed a resistance against the machines. We see here how humanities own home, earth, has been taken from them by their own creation, and now they are fighting to get it back. We see the deteriorated state humanity is in and how some are so displaced they don't even know what they are fighting for. But we see the certain visionaries that do not give up the idea of home, they are steadfast and unfaltering. And that's what inspires us as viewers.

Fifteen years earlier America had just started the 4th quarter of the Cold War and paranoia was high. The movie Red Dawn is a perfect example of how the fear of losing our home makes it's way into our culture. The film portrays an alternate history of a Soviet-Cuban invasion of American clay. In Colorado a group of teenagers resist the occupation, and much like in The Matrix they are forced to live in destitute conditions. We see in this film that even children will fight for their home when it is threatened. Our home is the most basic unit outside of a family, and we will protect it until our last breath,

A Family of Lions

A man's strongest bond is often considered to be his family. He is quite literally born and raised with them. This bond has been explored by many works of literature and cinema, often dealing with how far one would go in order to benefit his family, whether he is forced upon the mantle or the mantle is thrust upon him.One of the most famous films covering this is Francis Ford Coppela's The Godfather. 

I discussed several films that have been toted as the greatest of all time and The Godfather is no exception. This film is a miniature epic set in post-war New York, following the Corleone crime family and it's youngest son, Michael. Initially Michael is hesitant in participating in the family business, he has a serious girlfriend and is initially committed to her and their future. But after several events place Michael in a position where he must accept his role as the patriarch. We see Michael begin to betray his beginning values in order to secure his family's position, eventually transforming into an image of his father, the very thing he wanted to distance himself from.

Now is the part where I usually bring a second film up to compare it to, and I still am, but I'm going to change up my style a little bit in order to keep myself a little fresh. Normally I'd find some equally revered movie that I could couple with The Godfather, something that could tread on shared hollowed ground. However I could not think of something so I decided to go a bit off the rails discuss for the first time an animated movie.

In my limited opinion I believe The Lion King is the best animated Disney feature, and it shares several parallels with the The Godfather. We see Simba, the heir to Pride Rock, in contrast Michel Corleone. Where Michael was rejecting towards his family's business in the beginning, Simba on the other hand is eagerly awaiting his ascension to the throne. Both parties have groups invested in their demise, which leads to our protagonists exiles, Simba to desert and Michael to Sicily. And like Michael as well, Simba is called home by unforeseen circumstances to battle for his family and rise to his rightful position.

Both these films portray the lengths that a man will go through to protect his family and those who look to him to lead. Although these two films are extremely different in style, I believe they share a common thread in their core.

Wild Nostalgia

Nostalgia is one of the strongest emotions humans have. Our connection and longing for the past is something that can bridge any nation or culture, it is a vital part of the human experience. People people experience nostalgia over different things, for some it could be his childhood home, for others it could be the laugh of their first love, or it could even be as simple as a home cooked meal mom used to make. Being one of the most moving and emotional human phenomenon, many art forms have addressed this and handled it different ways. Two outstanding directors in particular handled this in different, but effective ways.

Soviet director Andrei Tarkovksey is considered to be a master at evoking emotion from the viewer. His sense of cinematography and direction strikes a chord in the heart. This was exemplified in his 1983 film Nostalghia. This film follows Andrei Gorchakov, a Russian writer researching an exiled Russian musician from the 1700's in Italy. During his research his becomes distraught and distant from his only companion, his translator. Andrei often experiences visions of his family he left behind at home, as well as Russian landscapes. He becomes an acquaintance of mentally ill man who through his past, makes Andrei reflect on his own.

When watching this film one must take in to account what was special about the production of it. Nostalghia was actually the first film Tarkovskey made after being exiled himself from Russia. Which adds merely another layer to the films already complex system of nostalgic overlays. This allows Tarkovskey to direct this film from his own emotion, which produces a beautiful account of the pain a man experiences when he longs for that he cannot have. In the film it is mentioned that the exiled Russian composer Andrei is researching, Pavel Sosnovskey, returned to Russia from Italy to go back to his life as a serf, because he could not bare the pain of being away from his fatherland. I believe this mirrors Tarkovskey's own attitude towards the USSR. He felt abandoned by his home, but returning meant he would allow himself to become a slave the USSR's strict film regulations. 

Where Tarkoskey's method was quite abstract throughout Nostalghia, director Ingmar Bergman took a more grounded approach in his 1957 film Wild Strawberries. It begins with a voice over by the main protagonist, Professor Isak Borg, who covers his distaste for many things, as well as his confessed distraught at the world. Following this we see his journey to a University across Sweden, along the way he accompanied by his daughter in-law, as well as a young couple and their friend. Throughout the trip, we begin to see glimpses of Borg's past, though he reminisces about them, we see that he was plauged by several misfortunes, producing the sour man he is today.

Bergman is helped out in this film by superb acting from Victor Sjorstrom, who plays Prof. Borg with flawless emotional mimicry. By allowing to see deeper and deeper into Borgs past throughout the movie provides us with keener understanding into why Borg is the way he is. However even in light of the bad things that have happened to him, we see that Borg still longs for the past, a part which I believe is telling the viewer that we must enjoy our experiences now, because they might be all the bit of happiness we have in our future.

The Wolf of Lyndon

One of the oldest and most tragic tale is that of the man that who fights and claws for his goal and achieves, only for it to slip from his grasp. There are many films that be placed under that description, way too many for me to list. So in this piece I'm gonna be focusing on two in particular made by two great American directors.

As often as I've paraded Stanley Kubrick around as being one the greatest directors of all time, and in my opinion the greatest American director of all time, I haven't really talked about enough of his movies I feel like. So I'd like to cover what I feel like his most underrated and under recognized film, Barry Lyndon. Set in 1750's Ireland, Barry Lyndon covers the tale of Redmond Barry, a man who runs off from his quaint village and enters a the subtle world of the upper class 18th century Britain. Throughout the film, we see Barry rise and take advantage of his predicaments and be rewarded, culminating in his marriage to a very wealthy widow. We also see him grow colder and ruthless through this transformation. Only for his harsh ways to lead to his downfall.

Among great American directors, Martin Scorsese is always mentioned. Many of his films fall under the idea of a man fighting for what he wants, but I think the comparison with Barry Lyndon would fit best with one of his most recent films The Wolf of Wallstreet. While being a drastically different tone than Barry Lyndon, this film does not fail to mirror the raise and fall of an ambitious young man. We see Jordan Belfort  began as an optimistic honest* stock broker, and through a fall of bad fortune, he begins to resort to scamming techniques. Gaining phenomenal success, Jordan rises to the top as one of the premier investment firms in New York, living life the executives of dream. And much like Barry, his own tactics that got him to his high position, ultimately lead to his life's entire collapse.

November Update

Monster Movie Madness: The Reckoning: The Final Chapter

With Halloween come and gone I figured I would give this series one more incarnations and raise from the grave. Since we've discussed films with similar techniques and themes and what they brought to the horror genre, I think my last article should be about what are arguably the parent films of the horror genre, and often considered the two most influential of the overall genre.

Being considered the father of American horror as well as one of the greatest American directors, Alfred Hitchcock had a very large impact on the entire genre of horror. I have mentioned many "parent films'' in my posts, including citing Halloween a the parent film of the "Slasher" sub-genre. That being said, I'd like to discuss the grandparent of the slasher genre, Hitchcock's Psycho.

Usually topping most top ten horror lists, Psycho's story of Norman Bates is often referenced but never beaten. The film starts out following Marion Crane, a young woman who steals a large sum of money from her boss and ditches town. Coming across the Bates Motel, Marion befriends the odd-behaving Norman Bates. After her apparent murder in the showers by woman. A private investigator and her sister begin in to take interest in Norman and his elusive mother Norma.

Psycho uses shadowy imagery and noir-esque cinematography, to create a hostile environment that keeps the viewer constantly on edge. In the famous shower scene, Hitchcock used almost strictly close up shots, which made an intense, fast paced scene that left much to the imagination. Hitchcock made the twist ending a big hit, which many horror movies followed in suit.

The silent era did not not boast many horror films,, mainly because they didn't really catch on in the mainstream until Hitchcock introduced into the main. Out of those that were produced in the silent era, none of which stand out and still send shivers down the spines of viewers like of the German Nosferatu. I remember being 8 or 9 at a time and seeing a still image of Nosferatu's Count Orlock and being freaked out, even though it was used as a joke. The physical horror of this creatures appearance still creeps me out as a 20 year old. Nosferatu sprouted from unofficial adaption of Bram Stroker's Dracula, Simply with the names and some details altered.

Nosferatu centers around Thomas Hutter, a German business man who travels to Transylvania to meet with his client, the grotesque Count Orlok. During his visits, he notices Orlock's strange behavior along with his own physical ailments, and begins to suspect what Orlock really is. After his suspicions are confirmed, Hutter must race to home to save his wife from the clutches of Orlock.

With the film relying heavily on visual terror, this film successfully disturbs and unsettles the viewer, making every time Orlock is on screen a palm-sweating experience. This physically exhausts the viewer, making each appearance more dreadful than the last.

Together these films set the path for every horror film afterward. It is in the small club of films that can claim the same impact on their genre. Without these two, the landscape of the genre would be climatically different.