Repartee

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do2olZ49M54

Casablanca was filmed in a studio in California. But it does copy actual streets and buildings of Casablanca.

Rick’s Café Americain is still open today. Black and white photography has more depth than most color photography, especially eighty years ago. At the time Casablanca was filmed, color film had been around for three year.

Zinger: quick, snappy, funny, ironic response or answer. When two people can do it back and forth, we call repartee. I was saying last time this is Shakespearean, because the second time you watch it, you can get a different meaning, etc. Nothing is set or black and white. There are lots of gray areas.

Also like Shakespeare, many lines became famous and are part of English now to explain feelings. People who have not even seen Casablanca use them and know what they mean (these expressions).

Zingers: life sucks and is meaningless “They got lucky. Yesterday, they were just two German clerks. Today, they are the honored dead.”

“I stick my neck out for nobody.” I don’t help people if it could get me in trouble.

“Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon.” Politics are a waste of time and only stupid people think they are meaningful.

“A lot of water under the bridge.” I have experienced much since I last saw you.

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” Why can’t she leave me alone and just get out of my life forever? He is bitter.

Flashback: a memory scene from before

“Here’s looking at you, kid.” I like you a lot romantically.

Profile shot: camera shot from the side

Filter on the lens to make the shot fuzzy, but it has the effect of making woman look more beautiful on film.

When she pulls out a gun, what does Rick’s facial expression mean?

1.  He wants her to shoot because he is miserable?

2.  He wants her to shoot because she will have to go to jail and that is revenge?

3.  He wants her to shoot because he is cynical and thinks everything in the world is bullsh&*. That is the misanthropic idea that one hates humankind (because we think people are stupid).

4.  Other?

 Zinger. This line has become part of the English language.

Idiom: “We’ll always have Paris.” It means our relationship is over. We cannot fix our problems. We are breaking up. But let’s not be angry at each other or bitter. Let’s have our good memories.

“Round up the usual suspects.” Round up means arrest.

Idiom: There is no justice. Everything is corrupt.

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Cynical message that nothing is true and the world or life is just bullsh*&.”

Homework:

1.  Is Rick truly cynical?

2.  One reason Rick may have given them the letters of transit.

3.  Another reason Rick may have given them …

4.  Another reason…

Playing hooky

The genre now is horror. First generation idea. This is also important in Taiwanese film. Genre is going to be horror.

Dubbing versus subtitles in watching foreign film?

The Sixth Sense is a horror movie that came out in 1999.

The end of the last millennia. The movie is filmed in Philadelphia. The director is first generation. His parents are from India. The director also wrote the script. His father wanted to go to Philadelphia because his dad loved history. Philadelphia is a historic, old city. You will see this theme in the movie.

The five senses: touch (feel), hear, taste, smell, see. The sixth sense is a feeling that we don’t understand where it comes from, but it helps us.

The idea of the basement is important to the story. Why is the wife always so cold? Is it related to the season (autumn) or is there another reason.

The protagonist is a child psychiatrist.

My wife said the guy in the bathroom is the father of the little boy that the psychiatrist tends to.

Psychologist: no medicine

Psychiatrist: can prescribe medicine

It seems like the doctor is always wearing a blue shirt.

The boy comes from a single parent family. We do not see his father. Not introduced or even discussed

• The color blue has positive and negative connotations in color psychology. Some writers may use blue to represent serenity and tranquility, instilling a scene with a calming effect. Blue can also signify sadness, melancholy, or isolation.

The scratches on the back and wrist. What does it mean?

For What Kind of Man Would I Be?

 The Power of the Dog

The director is female. She won the Oscar (Academy Award) for best director.

Foreshadowing: “When my father passed [died], I wanted nothing more than my mother’s happiness. For what kind of man would I be if I did not help my mother?”

All four actors were nominated for an Oscar.

The two brothers are George and Phil. Peter is the young, effeminate guy.

1.    Is Phil a misanthrope? He seems to treat his workers fairly. He has a black worker (this is 1925) who he also treats fairly.

Every time Phil talks about Bronco Henry, his brother George ignores him.

He tells the story about Bronco Henry and the horse making the jump.

That is impossible. Remember that Phil studied Classics at Yale University, so he is interested in myths (stories that aren’t true)

2.    Is Bronco Henry a figment of Phil’s imagination or is he real?

3.    Homoerotic: Was Bronco Henry Phil’s lover? Is that why George doesn’t want to talk about him?

Foreshadow: give hints about what will happen later

4.    Is he really hitting the horse or is that a metaphor?

5.    Is Phil a misogynist (hates women)?

The soundtrack also won an Oscar. It is written by the singer from Radiohead.

Stark: empty, like landscape

6.    Does Phil want revenge for stealing his brother?

He is going to mentally torture her…

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Remember I was saying I think Phil is trying to torture his brother’s wife for reasons of misogyny or jealousy.

1.     Why is he befriending her son Phil?

Idiom: “got off on the wrong foot” means we can be friends now even though we had trouble and did not like each other at first.

Foreshadow: Pete says to his mother: “You don’t have to do this [get drunk and suffer]. I will see you don’t have to do this.

Peter isn’t completely innocent or a sissy. There is a sinister or evil side to his personality too. Another foreshadow.

2.     What is the final meaning of Pete saying: “My father said ‘obstacles? You need to try to remove them?” Who was the obstacle? Phil.

“on the sauce” means alcoholic

3.     What does Phil mean when he foreshadows: “Everything is going to plain sailing for you for now on?” Plain sailing means easy life for you.

Phil warned about anthrax twice in the movie – once to his workers and later to Peter.

4.     Why did Phil die?

5.     Why did Peter change back to the canvas sneakers at the end of the movie?

Casablanca: 1942, set during World War II: 1941-1945 / Asia 1937 – 1945

Taiwan also fought in World War II for Japan and 30,000 Taiwanese people died. It affected every country in the world basically.

This movie is set in Casablanca, Morocco, Africa.

There are actors from 34 different countries including two from Taiwan.

Critics say this movie is Shakespearean. That means every time you see a movie or read a book, you can get a different meaning. There are so many different ways to interpret the plot. That is what makes a story great.

 

Film Class Midterm (Quiz)

We have a midterm exam or quiz if you will in 13 days. This included with your homework accounts for 50% of your grade. This is what you should prepare. First, know the meanings of following words or expressions. I will provide the words and definitions. You just need to match.

1. Pay homage to

2. Misanthrope

3. Bird's eye view

4. Conformity

5. Cookie cutter neighborhood or school

6. Clique

7. Myth

8. Noble Savage

9. Angst

10. Match cut

11. Misogyny 

12. Genre

13. Tracking shot

14. Opening credits

15. Pulp fiction

16. Chronological

17. Washed up

18. Tracking shot (2X)

19. Nerd/dork

20. Basket case

21. Foreshadow

I will also ask some questions about what happened in the movies.

If you came to every class, this won't be a problem for you. I will

have a paragraph question as well. In my opinion, a paragraph is

five or move sentences.

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Gen X

People born between 1965 and 1980. It’s my generation. People say it is the rudest and most intolerant generation which worries a lot about conformity or being the same as everybody else.

You can see it her, when they call her strange. They don’t trust people who are unique.

They will return to their cliques on Monday and pretend they don’t know each other.

Next two genres: western (cowboy) and war

Terms to think about:

1.   Misanthrope: somebody (usually highly intelligent) who hates other people and humans in general

2.   Misogyny: hatred and bullying of women (usually by men)

3.   Narrator: person who speaks to explain the plot (but you don’t see them). This person is normally a character in the movie.

4.   Foreshadow: when we are given hints / clues about what will happen later

I want you to write down the first voice over (what the narrator says) because I think it is a good example of foreshadowing.

5.   Soundtrack is written by the guy from Radiohead, but it is not like Radiohead at all. They won the Oscar for the music.

All four main actors and actresses were nominated for an Oscar too.

6.   Homoerotic: subtle gay or lesbian themes

7.   Every time the brother talks about Bronco Henry, the other brother ignores him. Why?

8.   In the story, the misanthropic brother majored in Classics at Yale University and graduated first in his class. Romulus and Remus: it is the story of the founding or start of Rome. It is a myth. Stories we use to explain when we don’t have or understand science.

Why Are They Called the Breakfast Club?

 

Please look up the idea “fragment” for writing.

Want to eat bacon and eggs for breakfast. Every sentence needs a

S. V. O. The best sentence is the simple sentence. I have corrected a lot of fragments in this class.

Chronological order.

1.    Butch is a little boy. A soldier who served with his dad in the Vietnam War brings him a wristwatch.   The plot structure is bookends. The diner starts and ends the movie, with the stories in between.

Genre: Drama, dark humor (comedy), coming of age

Themes

Conformity: when the society forces you to be the same as other people; David Bowie is the opposite of conformity: “Turn and face the strange.” People conform because they are afraid of being noticed.

Cookie cutter: everything looks the same and built the same; this is a metaphor for a cookie cutter we use for cooking

Cliques: the different groups in a school (power)

The narrator is talking about cliques.

1.    Jocks: good at sports: athlete

2.    Nerd/Dorks: not strong, but good at studying (often bullied)

3.    Skaters or punks; rebels; criminal

4.    Cheerleaders: prom queen; princess

5.    Rockers or headbangers

6.    Weirdos? Basket case

Theme: Adults who don’t understand

Theme: Power tripping teachers who want respect but have not earned it

Opening Credits

Why is the student punished for giving an opinion and asking a question? The teacher asks: “Does anyone have questions?” When Bender then asks a question, he is punished.

Idiom: “You mess with the bull, you get the horns.”

In literature, the theme: “The myth of the noble savage.” When someone from a rich, industrial country meets someone from a poor, non-technological place and assumes they know more about things. Actually, the latter person might have wisdom which leads to asking questions that cannot be answered.

Notice how the janitor responds to Bender’s irony and questions compared to the teacher.

One of These Days / Cameo

 

Cameo

A famous person in a movie for a short scene, maybe a couple of minutes. Christopher Walken won the Oscar for his role in Deer Hunter, a movie about the Vietnam War. America invaded Vietnam in the 1960s. We said we invaded to stop Communism (the political system in China or Russia, etc.).

This game is called Russian Roulette.

The director Tarantino has Walken doing a cameo about the Vietnam War.

Please put Pulp Fiction into chronological order. This is actually the first scene with Butch, the boxer, as a little boy.

The time order is mixed up in this movie. The watch is important to the boxer Butch. The watch is a symbol of organization in this messed up time order of the movie.

Gimp is a rude way to call disabled people.

She is playing hooky.

Hillbilly: poor and uneducated white people in North America.

Chopper

This chopper scene is an homage to Easy Rider.

The director didn’t go to university. He worked in movie video store.

He knows movies like the back of his hand.

Conformity and cliques in school. The Breakfast Club. Coming of age movie.

Dorks or geeks.

Country bumpkin.

Pulp Fiction: Class Notes March 2023

 Film: Pulp Fiction

Attendance: I give everyone 10% for this. Every hour you miss, I subtract 1%. If you miss nine hours, you fail. Pulp Fiction works similarly to TV or when people go to the movies to watch crap like Marvel. They want to rest and not think.

Pulp is the flesh of an orange. Fiction means not true.

Genre is dark humor or comedy. Funny, but evil.

Trivia: they say f%$k 255 times. John Travolta, perhaps the most famous actor of the 1970s, was washed up. That means not famous or good anymore. He couldn’t get roles in the 1980s. He made a comeback in this movie. Travolta in the

1970s. Opening credits.

1994: Tarantino wrote and directed it. He wrote it while

drinking coffee in the diner which is at the start of the movie.

This movie is not in chronological order. It opens at the end.

Your assignment is to write a sentence to describe each

scene. Then put the sentences in chronological order and

give me.

Vincent (Travolta) says he doesn’t watch TV, implying that it is too stupid for him. But he loves to read pulp fiction = contradiction.

What does 666 represent? It is the sign of the beast

(devil). Tarantino is also paying homage to Stanley

Kubrick. When you copy a famous scene from another

movie to show respect.

1. We have a myth or superstition. You can make a deal

with the devil. He will give you whatever you want,

but he gets his soul. If you want to make this deal,

go to the crossroads.

If we say you are “square” it means not a cool person.

SShe says she is going to powder her nose. 

A cameo is when a famous actor goes in a movie for just

a few minutes.

Good Will Hunting Class Notes from Feb 13

Rules for this class. You lose 1% for every hour you miss of class. If you miss nine hours, you fail. This class is easy to get 90%. Just come.

Please do not sleep in here. This is NOT your bedroom. This is a classroom. I want to do a different genre of film each time: Drama, classic, comedy, western (cowboy), no animation, science fiction, horror, etc. Let us start with drama.

My dad told me a story about a janitor (cleaning person) who worked at the University of Toronto during World War II. He had a grade 10 education. He would clean the radar lab at night. Just by looking at the research, he could understand it. He invented advanced radar. They tested him and he had a 197 IQ.

I think Good Will Hunting is based on this story. The screenplay was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. They won an Oscar. Robin Williams did as well for Best Supporting Actor. He committed suicide nine years ago.

Questions for you guys: Why does Will (the protagonist) feel angst?

What does the title of the movie mean? It is a pun (two meanings). What does the psychologist (played by Robin Williams) mean when he tells Will “It’s not your fault.”  ???

 

Do you hear the Boston accent?

When the camera work in a movie is really good or stylish, we talk about the cinematography. This director is a gay man: Gus van Sant

When you slow down the film speed: slow motion

 

Overhead direct down shot is a “bird’s eye view.”

“Pay homage to” means to copy a scene from a famous movie to show respect to the director. Van Sant is paying homage to Stanley Kubrick and A Clockwork Orange.

 

Match cut. When the last image from the first scene is the same or similar to the first image of the second scene. It gets you from A to B in the movie. 

Will is embarrassed about being an orphan. Why? Oliver Twist is a novel by Charles Dickens from the 1840s about an orphan.

Tell me some background on the actor Robin Williams.

 

 

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Listen for the Boston accent. It is quite flat. They do not curl the r, for example.

The unabomber used to send letters to rich people who had companies that hurt the environment. The letters would blow up when they were opened. The police could not catch him. His brother turned him in.

“Paying homage to” is when a director copies a famous scene from a previous movie to show respect to that director. Students of film will quickly recognize what is going on. Here van Sant is paying homage to Danny Boyd and “Train Spotting.”

1.  Close-up shot

2.  Bird’s eye view (shot)

3.  Fade

4.  Tracking shot: when the camera follows

5.  Slow motion makes the scene more dramatic (they used for baseball and the batting cage plus the fight scene)

Why does Will feel angst?

Why is Will self-protective?

Why does Will push people away?

Why is Will afraid of relationships?

What does Sean mean when he affirms: “It’s not your fault?”

This is a theme of Good Will Hunting.

The irony of the film is in Will’s destiny. He was unlucky to be an orphan who was abused by his foster parents. But, he was also born with a lot of talent and smartness.

Smart: you are born with this; high IQ

Intelligent: work hard to learn a lot of things

Wise: is like old people who know of things through experience.

Good Will means to be nice to other people. Hunting is his search for what do to in life. Destiny = hunting.

We cannot change fate. That is an Asian idea. It is also a European idea before. We can change our destiny through hard work. Wheel of fortune that we could not get off during the medieval period. Fate must be accepted.

Closing credits: the list of actors shown at the end of a movie

Opening credits: the list of actors, director, producer, etc. at the start of the movie; the opening credits are a form of film art as well; they also set the tone for the movie; they create the opening mood

I will do attendance next week. Every class you miss is minus -2%. If you miss nine hours, you automatically fail.