Spaghetti Westerns

 Questions for American Beauty Homework:

1. Why do you think the neighbor is so homophobic? Explain.

2. Why does the mother commit adultery?

3. Why is the movie called "American Beauty?"

1.            I forgot to put up the questions from last week. I will do that tonight.

2.            I used to punish students who used AI to write. But I realize I didn’t say I would do this before class started. I also realize that it the way writing will be now. So, in the future, I need to change how I give scores. I can’t do that in the middle of a semester. The homework is 20 percent of the final grade. I will give everyone a full score on this (20 percent).

It was dangerous for French women to date German soldiers, because the French people saw them as traitors. In Holland, they shot the traitors (the men). The women had their heads shaved so everyone would know they were traitors. The narrator is Samuel L. Jackson. 

I wanted to show The Shining, but my external DVD player is not responding. I will get a new one and we can watch it later.

1.        Why is the father so homophobic? Violently homophobic?

Inglorious Basterds are a special unit in the American army during World War II. For America, WWII is 1941 to 1945.

For Europe, WWII is 1939 to 1945.

For Asia, WWII is 1937 to 1945. Actually, 230,000 Taiwanese people died. They fought in the Japanese army.

My wife’s grandpa fought for Japan. My grandpa was a pilot. He bombed the airport in Kaohsiang on July 7, 1945.

Germany murdered 7,000,000 Jewish people. This unit is ten Jewish soldiers; they are specialists. Even though it is WWII, this is still like a cowboy movie.

Spaghetti westerns. Cowboy movies made in Italy.

There is an idea in story telling called the allegory. If you show a famous image, you don’t need to explain. Everyone will know the meaning.

 

Technicolor is an old style of filming, when we first had color movies and not black and white movies. It started around the 1950s. A lot of famous directors still preferred black and white film then as there is more depth.

Jim Bridger was an Indian fighter.

1756 to 1763, England and France were at war in Europe. But both countries had colonies in North America. So there were fighting in North America too. Some Indian tribes fought for France and some for England there. They told the Indians they would pay them for killing French/English.

Tarantino is paying homage to the Italian/spaghetti westerns.

Anachronism: something is wrong based on time and the years

“He went yard.” Home run

The actor was adlibbing.

 

Epiphany

 

Bag Moved by a Benevolent Force

I said I would point out some camera shots or angles that are typical in film (often used).

Master shot: Camera stays back and the actors into and out of the shot

Turning point: when something important happens to change the movie

Epiphany: when we suddenly understand something very important about life

Static character: a person in a story who does not change

Dynamic character: person in a story who does change

Cutaway shot: the scene starts in a master shot. There is a conversation, but it continues in a closeup shot.

In English literature, flower pedals pulled off the flower mean loss of innocence. Growing up.

Roses represent the battle of sexes. Man against woman. Husband against/hating wife. I don't misogyny. x

Some famous directors, Roman Polanski, for example, say the music should not match the scene and guide our feelings. The music should be the opposite of the scene or clash with what is happening.

1.            They want you thinking of many things.

2.            They want to break a mindless focus or spacing out

3.            Irony.

Materialism: believing owning lots of stuff brings happiness

Irony: Did it make this woman happy?

Foreshadowing: Why does the father say "You can't just go around doing whatever you like. There are rules."

What are the rules for specifically? They are for having straight relationships, not gay relationships.

Why is the father so homophobic? Psychology going on here.

Gay people used to taught that being gay was wrong or immoral.

So, gay people had to hide being gay. But some gay people really hated themselves. So, the psychological idea is that people that are the most homophobic or violent people toward gay people do it because they are gay and are fighting themselves.

At the start of the movie, Lester says he will be dead in a year.

Bird's eye view camera shot

Mid Term Exam

For the Midterm Exam, please learn these words or phrases: column, ice cream, synonym, misogyny, misanthrope, paragraph, homophobic, genre, science fiction, explain, disillusioned, director, disillusioned, hint, hatred, mistrust, chronological, hitman, briefcase, structure, respect, chopper, mistrust, picaresque, gold digger, pay homage to, is, dork, do, materialism, dysfunction, similar, match cut, image, eat, hatred, film, literature, pulp, good

Midterm Exam is next week. I will send the information by tomorrow night at the latest.

Part One: vocabulary I will tell you the vocabulary to study, so check your email

Part Two: comprehension questions. I will ask questions about the movies we have watched

Part Three: Paragraph

 

Who has seen American Beauty?

Genre: comedy, coming of age movie (turning from a child to an adult), drama

Themes:

Homophobia: hating gay people / being afraid of gay people

Adultery: having sexual relations with someone other than your husband / wife; cheating on your spouse

Family dysfunction: when you don’t talk to the people in your family; you live together, but you don’t really know those people

Materialism: love to buy things because you are a sad person; you think owning nice things will make you happy; shallow view

Mid-life crisis: when you get to around 40 to 50 years old and you hate your job and life becomes uninteresting

Am I talking about happy themes? This movie seems to be full of unhappy lives. So why is the title called “American Beauty?”

“In a way, I’m dead already.” He has lost feeling for his life.  

Mother: “I watched you closely. You did not screw up once.” 

Screw up: make a mistake

The mother actually expects the daughter to lose or not succeed.

Very negative parenting.

Let’s watch his posture.

Slouch.

Misanthrope

 

Misanthrope: someone who hates other people for being stupid

Misogyny: hatred of women

Homophobic: hatred of gay people

George just got married. Phil it seems is gay. Phil is also an angry man. Why?

This is 1925. America was very homophobic then. It was even illegal. You could go to jail for being gay. Before, people thought being gay was a sickness that could be cured. Now, we think it is just how we are born. So, maybe Phil is angry at himself too.

He keeps talking about Bronco Henry. His brother does NOT like to talk about Bronco Henry.

1.           Perhaps Phil and Bronco Henry were lovers.

2.           Perhaps Bronco Henry is NOT real. Maybe he is a dream.

The director is a woman. How does this show in the movie? She can see a woman being bullied by man and understand that better than a man.

Phil went to Yale University and graduated number one. He studied Classics, which are ancient Greece and Rome. He knows a lot about myths. Again, is Bronco Henry a myth or real?

Phil seems to be torturing her. What will he do next to torture Rose? How did he save his mother? By murdering Phil, who was torturing her.  He used the raw hide that was laced with anthrax. He poisoned Phil.

He is not as weak as he looks. Phil thought he was weak. Phil is super smart and educated. But Peter outsmarted him.

Homework: Answer the questions with a sentence or two apiece. Remember to explain your answer.

1.           How did Peter save his mother? Was it moral?

2.           Do you think Bronco Henry is real or a figment of Phil’s imagination?

3.           Why does Rose start to drink alcohol?

4.           What are some hints that the director might be a woman?

For What Kind of Man Would I Be?

 

genre: comedy, documentary, horror

Directors: this is a female director. She won the Oscar/Academy Award for this movie. She also won it for The Piano.

The lead actor, lead actress, supporting actor and supporting actress were all nominated for an Oscar, but lost.

The soundtrack (music) won the Oscar too. Listen to how the music, which is stark, matches the landscape. The composer is from Radiohead.

We need to know about the idea of myth. This is before science how we explained the world. Usually, God or gods did everything.

Gay

Straight

The movie has homoerotic ideas / themes. It also has straight themes.

It takes place in Montana in 1925.

This movie is also about revenge.

The narrator or voice over will foreshadow this movie is about revenge.

Foreshadow: give a hint about what will happen later

“When my father passed, I wanted nothing more than my mother’s happiness. For what kind of man would I be if I did not help my mother? If I did not save her?”

 

Why does his mother need to be saved? The hint is his mother is in a bad situation.

Tracking shot: the camera follow

Misanthrope: hatred of other people, usually a smart person who thinks the world is stupid

Misogyny: hatred of women

Phil and George

They talk about this guy Bronco Henry three times in the movie. Every time Phil talks about Bronco Henry, George ignores him or does not like it / the topic.

What is the importance of the comb?

The ancient Romans believe that Rome was started (founded) by two brothers, Romulus and Remus. 753 B.C. Myth. They were raised by a wolf mother. Romulus murders Remus.

He is a cowboy. Why does he know about Roman history?

He has a black man working for him. So, he is a fair man.

Myth: what he says about Bronco Henry now is impossible. Watch his brother’s reaction to this story

Jealousy

 

 

Banjo

Small river: creek, stream, brook

Socio economic: different positions in the society

Maid: clean and cook

Ominous: foreshadow, we know something  bad will happen

He called the son Miss Nancy.

Gold digger: marry someone just to get their money

 

 

 

Random versus Meaning

The first time I saw the Internet, I was in graduate school.

 

No Country for Old Men. The American wild West was very dangerous 150 years ago. It was lawless. You had to be a good fighter, dangerous man, killer, etc., in order to survive.

 

2007. But it is set in 1980. It is directed and written by the Cohen brothers. Also, it is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy, who is an excellent and original author.

 

That guy in the movie is unexpected. He is poor and leads a simple life, but we find out he is quite trained at survival, guns, etc. He was a soldier in the Vietnam war, in the marines.

 

We need to talk about camera work from time to time. Match cuts in film are to move from scene to scene. Or to show time progressing. They take two similar images and match them. The rug / carpets melts to the field. They have similar texture and colors.

 

Random is the opposite of purpose or meaning. He tells her to call the coin flip heads or tails. If she wins, she can live. She says she won’t. It is him, not the coin. Coin tosses are random. They don’t kill. He does and he is crazy.

 

Match cut to this psychotic guy that is impossible to kill randomly getting hit by a car.

 

When I read Cormac McCarthy, I need to use a dictionary a lot. I have to look up the landscape vocabulary he uses. The names of different rocks and how the land changes shape. I think the director gets this idea and makes the land a character. There is no music because they you to hear what’s coming from the land and the noises of it.

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

 

Homework: Explain the following. 

·              I think the old sheriff is disillusioned. Do you agree? Why is he retiring?

·              I said Lleywelyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) is an unexpected character. What I mean is he surprises us, the viewers. How?

·              Why do you suppose there is no music in No Country for Old Men? Do you agree with the director’s decision to avoid music? Explain.

I Don't Know What to Make of That

 

If we say, I don't know what to make of that, it means I don't understand. It is folksy, like someone in Texas might say. 

Homework: Remember you have to do three assignments. The first  choice is Pulp Fiction. Write one sentence to describe each scene. I think there are seven or nine scenes. Write them in the correct chronological order.

1.              An army friend of Butch the boxer’s dead father delivers a watch to him.

We are almost finished Pulp Fiction. The movie will end with the scene that it starts with. The diner scene. This is called Bookends.

 

Why is he calling him Ringo? He is making fun of him. He is calling him cute little guy. Ringo is the drummer in The Beatles

 

 

 

I want to watch a different genre of movie each time. This time let’s watch a Western movie. It’s a cowboy movie

The directors and writers of this movie are two Jewish brothers. The movie is also a picaresque. This is when the hero / protagonist must travel, go on a journey, etc. to escape danger. The protagonist usually does not have much money and gets into a lot of adventures.

 

 

Narration. Voice over. It is used to explain the movie. Some filmmakers do like it. They think the movie should explain itself. The narrator went to Harvard University. His roommate at Harvard was Al Gore, the Vice President of America. Can you hear his accent. It is a Texan accent. Texas is more conservative. They still have the death penalty.

Why did he shoot the bird on the bridge.

Psychotic.