13/10/2011

The short film I will review today is "Skin Deep" made by Yusef Ali Khan in 2001. The general theme in the film was the main characters feeling of alienation and inability to fit into any social group. The other quite obvious theme was racism and how it affected the protagonist. I would say the directors primary aim is not only to tell a story but make people aware of how difficult it is to be considered different and that behaving like the antagonists of this film does not help at all. The main focus of this film is the life of the protagonist and his struggle with his own identity, he does not know where he fits in. I liked the film and thought it was quite well acted and very well written/scripted. The storyline was quite simple but also very effective, meaning the film sucessfully covered the subject matter. The thing that stood out to me in this film was the way you emphasise with the protagonist when technically he is betraying his heritage in a way and doing things the majority of the audience will disagree with. The style of the film is quite gritty and realistic, this blends well with the story. The style of the 80's when racism was quite a hot topic was a very good time period to choose and also meant that the director could add an even more gritty mood because of how the country looked in the 80's. The techniques that I found interesting in this film include the use of flashbacks and at the end when the men from his flashbacks appeared in the present (in his head) I thought that was a very effective way of implying that the things they said never really left his head and he cannot get over it. Other than that I thought the general framing of the shots were very good as I always apreciate that in a film. to summarise I would say the story flows very well and seems to build up gradually and then climax very well at the end with the protagonist finally breaking down and shaving his head while crying into a mirror, this is a very emotional scene.

06/10/2011 - Short Documentaries

I will be writing about a short documentary called "Christmas with Dad" made by a film maker called Connor McCormac in 2008. To outline the general theme and purpose of the film I would say that it is trying to outline different stereotypes and how they can turn out to be quite inaccurate. This is shown by the way that the dad in this film strives to become a better father and do everything he can for his children whereas on first glass most of the audience would stereotype this man as being lazy or selfish because of social stereotypes and how well he visually fits into that stereotype. The film focuses on the life of this family and the kind of conditions that the family live in, the most common subject is the dads relationships with the rest of the family. I like this documentary because it takes a step back and allows the family to represent themselves and in doing that highlights the fact that certain social stereotypes can be very inaccurate. I also like the fact that it does not appear to have an agenda it is literally just telling the families story and because of this I would say that the film is very succesful in covering its subject matter. The thing that stood out to me most in this film was that at the beginning I had a prediction in my head that I would not enjoy the film and would also dislike the father in the story but by the end not only did I form a liking for the family I also wanted to see more. For example if there was another film showing how they had progressed I would watch it. The structure of the film is very clever because it slowly drip feeds you information as to take you on a small journey of discovery and does not just throw all the information at you in the first five minutes, also the fact that it saved the story of the dads difficult childhood until the end meant you could get to like him before knowing this therefore not being forced to simply symphasise with him from the outset. There was main technique in the film which stood out to me and that was the relaxed state of the filmmaker and the way that they did not get involved or try to force answers from anybody. This caused the film to have a more comfortable feel and a less aggressive or journalistic mood to it.