Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Sex over love, sex over pain: an analysis of 'Nymphomaniac'

An analysis of Lars Von Trier's 'Nymphomaniac'


In this video, I will analyze key themes from Lars Von Trier's 2013 film 'Nymphomaniac.'  

The film’s all-star cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard (Insomnia), Willem Dafoe, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Shia LaBeouf as Jerome, and Stacy Martin as the teenaged Joe. This film challenges the social conventions of sexuality through a woman who pursues her desires openly while eschewing any emotional intimacy with or responsibility for those affected, including men to whom she declares false feelings to entire families these men abandon to be with her. The film works sociologically as well as a metaphor of how society’s growing appetite for and desensitization to stimulation is alienating us from ourselves and the emotional needs of others, a theme similar to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1975 film called Salo, based on Marquis De Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. Instead of pleasure, that film describes civilization rotting to a point where it is incapable of distinguishing pleasure from shit. The film was (and still remains) extremely controversial and is still banned in many countries. Charlotte Gainsbourg is incredible in this film, Nymphomaniac, as she is in Lars Von Trier’s 2009 film, AntiChrist, which also stars Willem Dafoe. Since leaving the Transformers franchise behind, Shia LaBeouf has become a seriously good actor (He is stellar in this film). If you like this video, I would appreciate if you'd like it, leave and comment, and join my channel for more videos like this.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Scene analysis of Raging Bull: a brutal spin on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible


Raging Bull is 1980 film by Director Martin Scorsese that is widely regarded as 1 of the greatest ever made. Actor Robert DeNiro stars as middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta whose  opponents in the ring pale next to his opponents within himself. The script was written by Paul Schrader and is based on Jake LaMotta’s 1970 memoir ‘Raging Bull: My Story’. In this analysis, I will examine the film's symbolism and its key themes such as:
  • Rage
  • Lust
  • Gluttony 
  • Jealousy
  • Atonement
  • Born again
  • "Now I see"
Clip 1
In the opening credits, we see the main character of the film shadowboxing in a boxing ring enveloped in smoke. Jake LaMotta is struggling with demons within himself. The boxing ring is his altar and the blood he spills in it pays for the sins he commit outside of it. The boxing ring is also an outlet for his passions. His nickname, “Raging Bull,” implies a creature that is driven by its emotions and appetites. But just as passion brings about the boxer’s downfall it is also what helps him to turn his life around. 

Clip 2
The story opens in the dressing room of a nightclub where a fat and retired Jake LaMotta is preparing to do a stand-up routine. He sits in front of a mirror but he is not looking at himself as he reads these lines: “and though I’m no Olivier and before Sugar Ray would say: “the thing ain’t the ring, it’s the play” so give me a stage, where this bull here can rage, and though I can fight, I’d much rather recite, ‘That’s Entertainment!’

Clip 3: Rage
Jake’s marriage is falling apart because his wife suspects him of infidelity. The explosive rage that makes him a great boxer is on display here as he and his wife get into a fight over a steak. Right off the bat we get to see 2 sides of Jake’s personality, rage and lack of discipline. This scene also introduces Jake’s little brother Joey, played by Joe Pesci, and Frank Vincent who plays the role of Salvy Batts, a member of the mafia. The clip following this one is a continuation of this scene where we get to see the brothers interact and learn that they are partners with Joey being Jake’s manager. 

Clip 4: Lust
Joey introduces Jake, who is still married, to a 15 year old girl named Vikki. Jake saw her in a nightclub with a member of the mafia and became obsessed with her. Joey knew her and introduces them in this scene, which takes place at a public swimming pool. The black and white clothes Jake wears in this scene represents the conflict he has within himself in contrast to Vikki who wears all white. Also, the chain-link fence enclosing the public pool and that also separates Jake and Vikki is in the pattern of crosses going along with the religious iconography throughout the film.

Clip 5
This scene is a montage of Jake’s fights and him marrying Vikki shot to look like a home movie and also shot in color in contrast to the boxing cuts,which are shot in vintage black and white. These brief clips are the only instances in the film that Jake looks happy. This montage was an efficient way to move the film along without being distracted from the main theme, that of Jake’s struggles within himself. 

Clip 6
This is the 1st of 6 meetings between LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson. To research actual boxing matches, Scorsese went to Madison Square Garden and saw fights with a friend. He realized that he didn’t know how to shoot boxing matches. DePalma smiled at Scorsese and wished him luck.

Director Michael Powell (The Red Shoes, Peeping Tom, etc.) was the one who first noticed that the gloves in the movie were the wrong color. This is what prompted Scorsese to shoot the film in black and white.

The fights were patterned after dance styles such as the tango, the foxtrot, the mambo, and the waltz. 

The fighter playing Sugar Ray is Johnny Barnes. He was 1 of many actual boxers Scorsese used in this movie.

Clip 7: Gluttony
This scene shows one of the many battles confronting Jake: his weight. In between fights he picks up a lot of weight. But also in this scene we see that Vikki is unhappy. Also, we see the politics of boxing, that despite Jake’s success he is not guaranteed a shot. Joey convinces Jake to throw an upcoming fight with a weaker opponent named Billy Fox. Later, at a nightclub, Jake and his friends are having drinks and Jake is boasting about his upcoming bout with Janiro when Vikki throws in her 2 cents, saying that she thinks that Janiro is good-looking. Jake is consumed with jealousy and he is even more determined to destroy Janiro in the following scene after this one.

Clip 8
In this scene, Joey spots Jake’s wife, Vikki, in a nightclub with a local hood named Salvy Batts having a drink. Joey confronts them and he and Salvy fight.

Clip 9 
Once again, we have Jake and Sugar Ray in the 3rd of their 6 fights. This is an interesting scene because at this point in the film, Jake is battling on several fronts in his life and career. He knows that he has to win every fight to even have the smallest chance of fighting for the title, which the mafia controls. And his storybook marriage to Vikki seems to be falling apart. This fight is symbolic in that it shows Jake’s state of mind. The smoke, the groaning effects, the shimmering images as if through heatwaves all add to the surreal point-of-view Jake has at this point of career and life. Also, this match is a metaphor for Jake’s entire life in that he’s being led on blind instinct as illustrated when Jake sits on the stool in his corner and the rope covers his eyes. His life, like this match, seems to be occurring in a nightmare that is further reinforced by the camera techniques used in this match. The camera whirls around to show Jake’s perspective, as though the world is a merry-go-round. 

Clip 10
Jake throws a fight to get a shot at the title. He does this reluctantly at the urging of Joey whose theory was that if the mob saw that Jake was beatable that they would give him a shot at the champ. Jake, a man with a great deal of pride goes along with Joey and afterwards he breaks down. To a man like Jake, throwing a fight is the ultimate humiliation. But, in keeping with the Biblical metaphors used throughout this film, “Before honor, there is humility.” In the scene after this one, Jake finally gets his shot at the champ.

Clip 11: Jealousy
Shortly after winning the title, he questions his brother, Joey, about Vikki. Word got back around to Jake about the fight Joey had with Salvy the day Joey caught Vikki in the nightclub with Salvy. Joey won’t tell Jake about the incident. Jake doesn’t trust anybody, not even his own brother. This scene illustrates how Jake’s sense of reality has been distorted by jealousy. 

Clip 12
Jake is out of control. He confronts Vikki about whether she is having an affair with his brother. Vikki fuels his rage with her own frustration by suggesting that they did have an affair, also making a lewd reference to the size of Joey’s manhood, not thinking that Jake would actually take her literally, which he does. This scene further illustrates Jake as being enslaved to his impulses, doing things that he will later come to regret. 

Clip 13: Atonement
After brutally beating his little brother in front of the man’s wife and children, Jake faces his arch nemesis, Sugar Ray Robinson, for the 4th time, alone. He suffers a savage and bloody beating that results in him losing the title he worked so hard to win. 

This scene represents the fall of Jake as a boxer, it’s all downhill from this point. The fight in this scene is Jake receiving all the punishment his conscience makes him feel like he deserves because of the beating he gave his brother and wife when he accused them of having an affair. In this fight, Sugar Ray is the sum of all of Jake’s sins. The rope holding Jake up is a cross on which he is crucified and bloodied under Sugar’s barrage of punches. Reinforcing this symbolic ritual of crucifixion are Jake’s cornermen working on him as if they are preparing him for an execution; the cornerman applying the vaseline to Jake’s face does so as though he’s making the sign of the cross. On the documentary, the sound editor said that he went for unusual sound effects for all of the fights, but for this one, particularly. When Jake is on the ropes waiting for his punishment, the crowd noises die out and a lion’s roar is cued to match Sugar launching himself at Jake. Also, the sound of winds howling replace the roar of the spectators at ringside. Visually, cinematographer Michael Chapman surrounded the ring with thick smoke to make it look like Hell and used the lights to transform Sugar Ray into a god-like silhouette.

Clip 14
Jake is now retired and owns a nightclub where he flirts with the female customers. This clip comes just before a short innocuous encounter with a couple of young ladies. They are fans of his and to confirm that they are not underage, they each give him a big girl kiss on the mouth. 
Side note* After shooting the 1st act of the film, Scorsese suspended shooting for several months so that DeNiro could gain weight to play the film’s 2nd act after Jake retires from boxing. The transformation resulted in DeNiro going from a chiseled 150lbs to almost 215lbs.

Clip 15: Born again
Without boxing as both a way to maintain his weight and also as a way to regulate his moral excesses, Jake’s life spins out of control and he is charged with serving alcohol to a 14 year old girl in his nightclub. He goes to prison where he confronts the demons inside of himself and comes out of prison broke but spiritually reborn. He makes up with his brother Joey. 

This is the darkest and most powerful sequence in the entire film as we see Jake succumb to all of his excesses without the discipline and balance of boxing, his little brother, or his wife. As the film started with him in the boxing ring alone, in this scene he is also alone with himself to confront the question why? His unlit cell represents not only his isolation as a human with his own distinct emotions and appetites but also the darkness of his inability to see that out of all the men he faced in the ring that he has always been his worst enemy. Also, another note about his weight gain. Prior to his retirement, the training he underwent for his fights kept his weight from getting out of control. I interpret his weight gain as the total lack of discipline. Besides helping to keep his weight under control, the discipline of training and boxing and the beatings he took in the ring was a way of him repenting for his sins outside the ring. Jake, the boxer, is like those in the old testament of the Bible who offer animal sacrifices to God for their sins. After going to jail and dying, in a figurative sense, Jake comes out of this type of death as a man reborn. He realizes now that he can no longer sacrifice his body and flesh for atonement and that, now, he must seek forgiveness from those he has hurt. His eyes are open and he can see that his true enemy is, and has always been, himself. 

Isaiah 1: 11-16

“I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,”

In the scene in the parking lot, Jake cries and begs Joeys forgiveness. This is a very powerful scene and marks the final stage in Jake’s character arc, going from a man living on pure appetite and instinct (like his nickname, Raging Bull, suggests) to a broken man in touch with his humanity; from a man used to paying for sinning with his blood to a man who now pays with tears and asks for forgiveness. Also, in the background in this scene there is a cross, which serves as a sign of forgiveness.

Clip 16: “Now I see!”

This is the final scene, Jake is full circle from where he began in the 1st scene where he’s in the dressing room rehearsing his lines. In that scene, he is not looking at himself in the mirror but in this scene he is looking at himself in the mirror, reading the famous lines from “On The Waterfront” where Brando and his brother are in the backseat of the taxi. Here are Brando’s lines from that film “Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money. You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.” After reciting these lines, Jake, dressed in a tuxedo, shadowboxes and leaves the dressing room. Charley, in this scene, is himself; he has accepted responsibility for the mistakes he made in his life. 

The film ends with the epigraph from the book of John chapter 9 and verse 25: 24 The Jewish leaders[o] summoned the man who had been blind a second time and told him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.”

He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

A plot analysis of Stanley Kubrick's period drama film 'Barry Lyndon'



In this video, I will analyze key themes from Stanley Kubrick's 1975 American period drama film Barry Lyndon based on the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray.



The film stars Ryan O'Neal as an Irish commoner named Redmond Barry who sets out to make a name for himself by marrying a wealthy countess and and assuming the name of her dead husband, earl Charles Lyndon. The film also stars Patrick Magee, Marisa Berenson, Hardy Kruger, and Gay Hamilton. At the 48th Academy Awards in 1975, it won 4 awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Musical Score.

'Barry Lyndon': a scene analysis of Stanley Kubrick's 1975 period drama film


In this video, I will give a scene analysis of Stanley Kubrick's period drama film 'Barry Lyndon' based on the 1844 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray called The Luck of Barry Lyndon. 


The film stars Ryan O'Neal as an Irish commoner named Redmond Barry who sets out to make a name for himself by marrying a wealthy countess and and assuming the name of her dead husband, earl Charles Lyndon. The film also stars Patrick Magee, Marisa Berenson, Hardy Kruger, and Gay Hamilton. At the 48th Academy Awards in 1975, it won 4 awards for Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, and Musical Score.

A review of Martin Provost's drama 'The Midwife' starring Catherine Deneuve



This is a film review of the ‘Midwife’ by French director Martin Provost. 

Director Martin Provost's 'The Midwife' is about a midwife (played by Catherine Frot) who befriends and provides comfort to her father’s former mistress (played by Catherine Deneuve) who is dying of a brain tumor. Years earlier, Claire's father shot himself in the heart after Beatrice abandoned him. Now, Beatrice seeks forgiveness and closure from Claire although she has no regrets about leaving the woman's father or the life she has lived. 

This is a terrific, well cast, directed, shot, and acted film—led by Catherine Deneuve—at 2 extremely fast hours. Very refreshing to see mature actors in romantic situations and leading roles. Having an older cast made the film more believable as though the acting and direction needed any more help in this. Life, death, and reincarnation are the film’s dominant ideas which I won’t go into for those who haven’t seen the movie. This is 1 of those movies that you have to give yourself to and not try to follow but instead just let it explain itself, and it will, trust me. The unconventional relationship between Claire and Beatrice threw me initially but once I accepted it on its own terms, I found it easy to connect, emotionally, with the characters. On a technical note, the cinematography in this film is gorgeously understated and even poetic such as the scene where Claire's son-- who is the spitting image of her father-- is juxtaposed against a projected image of her father. If you are looking for a “human” story that engages feelings and not simply a film to jump out of the screen at you, a film more real than anything you’ll find in any CG heavy film this summer, ‘The Midwife’ is a pretty good choice to spend your time and hard-earned dollar!

Friday, August 4, 2017


A review of Lars Von Trier's ‘Nymphomaniac'

A middle-aged bachelor (Stellan SkarsgÃ¥rd) finds a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in an alley covered with bruises. He takes her home and nurses her wounds. In return, she tells him her life story: her name is Joe and she is a nymphomaniac. Even as a child, Joe was aware that she was different and that she possessed an inordinate craving for sex uncomplicated by love and jealousy. Then, she met Jerome (Shia LaBeouf), her boss, who disappears without warning but not before raising her awareness—sex is good, but love is the missing ingredient. Her journey to find this missing ingredient will put her in some strange situations.

This is part 1 of a 2 part film by art house director Lars Von Trier and it is not for everyone! This film contains sexually explicit situations that leaves nothing to the imagination. The film’s all-star cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgard(Insomnia), Willem Dafoe, Christian Slater, Uma Thurman, Shia LaBeouf as Jerome, and Stacy Martin as the teenaged Joe. This film challenges the social conventions of sexuality through a woman who pursues her desires openly while eschewing any emotional intimacy with or responsibility for those affected, including men to whom she declares false feelings to entire families these men abandon to be with her. The film works sociologically as well as a metaphor of how society’s growing appetite for and desensitization to stimulation is alienating us from ourselves and the emotional needs of others, a theme similar to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1975 film called Salo, based on Marquis De Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom. Instead of pleasure, that film describes civilization rotting to a point where it is incapable of distinguishing pleasure from shit. The film was (and still remains) extremely controversial and is still banned in many countries. Charlotte Gainsbourg is incredible in this film, Nymphomaniac, as she is in Lars Von Trier’s 2009 film, AntiChrist, which also stars Willem Dafoe. Since leaving the Transformers franchise behind, Shia LaBeouf has become a seriously good actor (He is stellar in this film). Thanks for reading this review and feel free to leave a comment.

'Dunkirk' review 2

My 2nd review of Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk'




I guess my expectations were a little high because of Nolan's track record. I like movies and directors for different reasons. Nolan, I like, because I find thinking stimulating and most of his films are both intelligent and stimulating. Every director and every film has a different aim. In this time of dumbed down films overly dependent on safe plots, CGI, sex, violence, action, etc, it's good that there are directors out there who are not afraid nor embarrassed to make smart movies. I went into Dunkirk expecting a war movie with a fresh perspective of WW2 but it just seemed like a rehash of movies I'd seen too many times before. The film was so cliche'd that I felt disconnected from the scenes where I was supposed to feel something. This wouldn't have been that bad if there had been some action to hold my attention but there wasn't other than the sporadic shot of an aerial dogfight. Watching this film was like eating a lettuce sandwich. I saw this at the Chase (in Saint Louis) and they had the nerve to have a guy playing an organ prior to showing the film. Nolan had always impressed me as a rebel but with 'Dunkirk' shows that he has lost that spirit.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

The Biblical symbolism in 'Pulp Fiction'




This analysis will look at the Biblical themes in Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction'

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 crime drama that follows 2 hitmen named Jules and Vincent whose boss, Marcellus Wallace, sends them to retrieve his stolen briefcase, the mysterious contents of which are never revealed in the film.

The story unfolds in scenes that are arranged out of order to draw a contrast between Jules and Vincent at the beginning of the film and at the end of the film. The film’s main theme is forgiveness. In this video, I will analyze this theme and other elements from the movie. Thanks for checking out my video and I would appreciate it if you would leave a comment let me know what you think of my analysis of this film. 

Blood Sacrifice: an analysis of 'Raging Bull'


An in-depth analysis of 'Raging Bull' from a Biblical perspective




Raging Bull is widely regarded as 1 of the greatest films ever made directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro as middleweight boxer Jake LaMotta whose troubles outside the ring brought him as much fame as his wars inside the ring. The script was adapted by Paul Schrader and is based on Jake LaMotta’s 1970 memoir ‘Raging Bull: My Story’. in this video, I will take a closer look at the themes and symbolism in the movie. Thanks for watching and don’t forget to leave a comment.

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

A short video analysis of Hitchcock's 'Rope'


An analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope'


Rope is a 1948 crime noir directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a play of the same name by Patrick Hamilton and adapted by actor and writer Hume Cronyn and Arthur Laurents. Rope was Hitchcock’s 2nd “limited setting” film with the 1st being 1944’s Lifeboat. Rope was also Hitchcock’s 1st film shot in Technicolor. But the film is best known for being shot as a stage play in, seemingly, 1 continuous shot; actually, the film is composed of 10 takes of up to 10 minutes each that were seamed together by zooming the shots on walls and characters’ backs to hide the cuts. Another unique element in Rope is the cityscape of the large window which was the largest background cyclorama every used on a sound stage at that time (Wikipedia) that used the slow transitioning from day to night as symbolic references to the story’s 3 themes: shame, fear, and vanity. Thanks for watching this video and don't forget to leave a comment and share your thoughts.



Born To Kill: A short video analysis of 'Full Metal Jacket'


An analysis of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket

In this video, I will analyze key themes from director Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket'. Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war action movie shot in London, England and directed by Stanley Kubrick who co-wrote the script with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford, based on Hasford’s 1979 novel “The Short Timers.” The film stars Mathew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Ermey, and Dorian Harewood. This is Kubrick's 2nd war film, his 1st being Paths of Glory from 1957 Starring Kirk Douglas and George Macready. That film, set in WWI, took an anti war position from the standpoint of a French officer ordered to execute 3 soldier's for cowardice. By contrast, FMJ is an ambiguous look at war through the eyes of a soldier conflicted by his nature to kill and his desire to see peace. Thanks for watching this video and I would appreciate if you would like it and leave a comment.