Bonnie and Clyde

This film was an exhilarating, comical, romantic depiction of crime at its moments of vulnerability, spontaneity and ignorance. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Had I not been required to view this film for my class I'm not sure it would have been one I would have watched. However, I am grateful tot he opportunity to have seen it. While the plot line was for the most part clear and concise, i wasn't exactly sure of how the two (Bonnie and Clyde) became initially acquainted. But once their journey began, it was non stop action from start to finish, literally. There were definitely establishing shots at the start of every scenario change. The establishing shots were then followed by the two shots which confirmed the Hollywood continuity style of filming. The more members of "the gang" that were added on, the more shots were included int he shots that followed the establishing shots. What did catch me off guard was the ending shot. After Bonnie and Clyde had been murdered, there was really no re-establishing shot to close with. Unless I am misinterpreting the content of a re-establishing shot, the gentlemen who murdered them standing there, guns in hand, did not serve as much of a re-establishing shot. Despite the fact that this was the man who Bonnie and Clyde had previously humiliated, it reiterated nothing about what was going on int he scene before they had been murdered.
Overall this film was a blast to watch! I enjoyed every moment of it. I laughed and cried (well I didn't literally cry but you know what I mean), and it was truly a roller coaster of events from start to finish!

RUN LOLA RUN

This film was among the most interesting films I have ever seen. By the time it had ended, however, I decided that I enjoyed it thoroughly. It recounted three differing story lines of how Lola and her boyfriend Manni acquired 100,000 marks which they owed someone but he had lost. In each of the first two scenarios, either Lola or Manni had close calls with death. Both of the first two story lines has detailed affects on others along the way as well. In the final scenario, neither Lola nor Manni were injured, and they not only paid off the money, but ended up with a great deal to keep for themselves!
There were certain aspects of this film that were quite disturbing to begin with. Initially, the "running" music was freaking me out a great deal. It was a cross between house and techno music and it was accompanied by this creepy animated Lola on screen, running. Also, the appearance of Lola was disturbing to say the least. However, all of these things came together as the plot unfolded. For example, it made sense for Lola to look this way when her father spoke in a heavily condescending manner to her, denying ever having fathered her. It also made sense for her to look unkempt when she was in the casino and finally won money, for others to be looking at her like she was insane; for this to have been such an unorthodox win. The deeper the plot became, the more the smaller details made sense.
I suppose I walked away still unsure of the point of the three different story lines. However, with both the first ones ending unhappily, I was very relieved by the movie's end. I am not one who is a typical fan of happy endings but the primary scenarios had such devastating aspects to them, it was refreshing to know that Lola and Manni made out ok. The turn of events sort of had me rooting for them a great deal! I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I would definietly see it again if given the opportunity.

DO THE RIGHT THING; a closer look...

When it comes to more technical aspects of this film, I was impressed. Spike Lee's use of color and camera tricks all blended well to allow the film to have an increasingly strong effect on its viewers. One thing I did take great notice of, was that there were times when Mookie (Spike Lee's own character) wore the Italian colors. Now, while he worked for Sal (who is Italian), he was yet black and there were actually friends of his who disagreed with aspects of Sal's business. I felt like the fact that he wore the colors represented the fact that he saw no need for the barriers that were being placed between the different ethnicity's within his neighborhood. He represented the start of prospective unity. Another example of Spike's use of color was the great red wall that the three gentlemen would sit in front of for the duration of the day and discuss everything and nothing all at the same time. Being as though it was repeated time and time again that the temperature was exceedingly high, I enjoyed the use of such a bold red to serve as their backdrop. It was not too suggestive, it gave the idea that they were at a very neutral corner on a very average day. It also gave off the impression that this was something these gentlemen did day in and day out. The red wall intensified the notion of the blazing heat, and the fact that these gentlemen remained here, only to discuss the ongoings of the community, suggested that either they had nowhere else to go, or they did not wish to go back to where they had come from when they traveled to this spot. Either way, the use of the red was brilliant.
If I had to choose one of the most important symbols within this film, I would undoubtedly choose the radio. From the beginning, we are introduced to the nieghborhood through the voice of the radio Dj and it goes on to show us that the radio is on in just about every household, It is important, a source of motivation. The radio Dj narrates most of the day if not the entire day. He acknowlegds Radio Rahim who is apparently known for carrying his radio and playing extremely loud music. The radio also causes discourse when he enters Sals and Sal orders him to turn it down. Despite the fact that he comply's, you can almost sense his frustration in that he expects that everyone understands the relationship he has with his rado. The same expectation applies when Radio Rahim is met by the latino's who are playing their cultural music nice and loud and Radio Rahim has no problem drowning their music out immediately. At the climax of the movie, when Sal destroys Rahim's radio, you get the sense that he feels as thoough he just lost his mother or something heavy such as that. This then leads to a huge fight which eventually leads to the death of Rahim and Sals Famous Pizzeria. Music served as the one thing that had the power to tie all of the differences among these people together and I believe that it why the radio was stressed so strongly. Also, the song Radio Rahim constantly played was "Fight the Power" which suggested a desire for change in some way.
The use of symbols, colors, and camera tricks in combination with the casting and acting in this film made it the classic film that it is! The various themes and ethical challenges and lessons that are compacted within this plotline are incomparable toa ny other movie i have ever seen.

DO THE RIGHT THING

I absolutely adore this movie! Spike Lee does an incredible job illustrating the affect of common stereotypes in close knit neighborhoods by allowing us to follow a day in the life of "Mookie" (Spike's own character) around his New York neighborhood. The fact that Mookie works iin an italian family owned pizza shop alone adds an incredible spin to the film. It demonstrated the fact that in order adequately remove racial barriers it will take more than simple effort. Sal and Mookie working together did not prevent the devastation from occuring at the movie's end. There was much hate among the residents be they black, white, asian, or latino; and hate only leads to demise. I believe that was Spike's intended theme throughout the film. Despite the fact that the nieghborhood was racially tense, it was still a functioning neighborhood until the riot occurred at the end. It was not just the black community that experienced loss witht he murder of Radio Rahim, but the entire community as a whole experienced a great deal of loss. Sal and his sons definitely lost their place of business which meant that the youth of the nieghborhood then lost a place to commune and enjoy good pizza. The asians across the street lost trust in its customers; the gentlemen felt the need to uphold a broom in defense of himself when the men were contemplating attacking him. Once the police officers came with the hoses to initially put out the fire at Sals and ended up resorting to using them on the neighbors, a great sense of despair came over me and I witness what could have been seen as a town headed toward equality, took great steps backward. Yes, there was a great deal of name calling and racial slurs that were made quite often, however, all it took was for one seed to be planted amongst those people for things to have possibly worked out for the better. Mookie was involved in several interracial relationships yet he maintained a significant deal of respect among his peers. If Mookie could accomplish this, so could the rest of the nieghbors.
All in all I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. Spike Lee achieved what he set out to achieve in my personal opinion. I would recommend this film to any and everyone.