Argo: Not So Long Ago, In A Galaxy Not So Far Away

            Cast members of the movie Argo have won many Oscars for their performances as the American hostages. The hostages are the escaping underdogs in a bloodthirsty nation. In the time frame of this movie, Iranian students were holding around fifty Americans hostage, which made all Iranians public enemy number one. In the beginning of the movie, director Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez, emphasizes the ignorance that government officials show towards Middle Eastern countries. He humanizes the enemy, by finding common ground. What is one thing that all humans understand? According to Affleck, it’s Hollywood: movie making. However, as the film progresses and the concept of a movie, taking place in Iran becomes reality, the East becomes noticeably juxtaposed with the West.

            In the beginning of the film, when the CIA is just deciding on how to save these six hostages, they start discussing their best ideas. Their best idea is to send the hostages bicycles to travel to the Turkish border after the weather clears up. A ridiculous feat considering that there is snow on the ground, and the journey is 300 miles—300 miles with no cover of security. The men in this room all agree on this idea except Tony Mendez, who knows that the Iranians will realize that six people are missing before there is any chance of weather clearing up. He distinctly points out the ignorance of the members of the CIA, and what their perception of Iran is. All these men seem to know about the Iranians is that they are looking to kill Americans; they are the face of terrorism at this point. They have a certain depiction of what the Middle East is like, but they’re just making assumptions. It’s a classic case of Said’s Orientalism. Mendez has thought of a different approach however, because “they understand media. They’re not monkeys. The same men you see holding guns have cousins selling eight tracks on the street.” Instead of making assumptions about Iranian culture, Mendez convinces the men to focus on something that is universal: media.

            At this time, all American news stations were giving updates on the hostage situation in Iran. In Argo, many of the scene’s transitions were done by a showing of clips from news stations, reporting on the hostage crisis as it was happening. Said alluded to this same happening in the article “Islam As News;” the media in America created the image of the terrorist[1]. They showed angry men with beards and guns, much like the opening scene of Argo shows the angry men chanting “Death to America!” However, the idea of media also helped to get the plan to work. Perhaps the hostages were held so long because it kept America’s attention for so long. While watching a broadcast of a hostage update John Chambers says, “Do you ever think this is all for the screen?” They know how much the West covets their media, and suddenly the East has taken over that.

            Filming a movie for an exotic land in the Middle East is not a new concept, so it was the perfect disguise. The ideas for movies were a constant flow when Mendez asked John Chambers for his help. Once Chambers had agreed there began the process of choosing a script that would be popular enough to be convincing. They are looking for a movie that would make sense to shoot in the Middle East, which is stereotyping the Orient already. Lester Siegel, the producer for the fake film shoots down a suggestion of The Horses of Achilles, because nobody shoots Westerns anymore. The West is old news; it’s all about the exotic places. It doesn’t matter what the movie is about, the fact that it has horses in it mean people associate it with a Western film. It is a simple statement that shows exactly how susceptible Americans are to stereotyping. We have this depiction of what a terrorist looks like because he’s from a different country and plants a bomb in a big city, but a white man who kills over 30 kindergarteners is labeled as insane. However, when Mendez reads the first words of the script for Argo: “fade in on a starship landing. An exotic middle eastern vibe,” it seems as though the perfect fit. Where better to shoot a movie about a fantasy than a country that is so mysterious to Americans. When Hollywood’s Middle East comes to mind, people think of the Orient stereotypes: men with beards, tan skin, magic carpets, something along the lines of Aladdin’s home. Somehow this country makes for the perfect location to shoot a movie about aliens and women offering goods—or possibly themselves—up to the gods. At this point in the movie, Affleck’s character is no longer trying to humanize the people of Iran, but instead use America’s perception of this otherness that we know nothing about, to trick us all into believing there will be a movie.

            Argo is a story about saving Americans, but also a story about tricking the Iranian nation.  It turns into a story about America, the great superpower, pulling one over on Iran. The image of the stereotypical terrorist is ever present throughout the film, and that of the classic Eastern Orient. Although it’s an exciting story, it’s an inaccurate depiction of all Iranian citizens.

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[1] Said, Edward W.. "Islam As News." Covering Islam. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981. 169-194. Print.

Persepolis: Becoming A Hero--Film to Book Comparison

           There are many scenes in both the movie and the novel Persepolis that show acts of heroism. Heroism is laced throughout the entire story, because terrorism is a constant theme in the life of the author, Marjane Satrapi. Although some scenes from the movie differ from the book, heroism and terrorism are never mutated. A scene of terror that was almost as identical in the movie as it was in the book was directly after Marji’s family attended the party where the electricity went out. The family is being pulled over by the police. In this scene in the novel, Marji learns from her grandma how to be a hero in the face of terror.

            On the way home from a forbidden party, Marji’s family comes face to face with the police. In the novel, the only objects in sight in this scene are the car, and the characters. There is nothing in the background to distract my attention, as a reader, from the conversation and the faces of the characters. At first the only things that can be seen are silhouettes of the policemen running at the car at night. In this panel, Marji is clearly snooping by looking over her father’s shoulder with wide eyes, full of terror. The policemen are dressed in all white: stark contrast to the dark night. The brightness of their uniform interrupts the dark. Darkness allows you to cover your secrets, but the luminescent white of the officers uniform shows that nothing is private anymore. Once the policeman has ordered Marji’s father out of the car, Marji’s eyes are suddenly visible: peering over the backseat—observing with a look similar to that of a deer’s in headlight. The policemen are angry. In every panel of the scene the policeman is frowning, with his eyebrows arched. His features are over exaggerated, so that we know in what tone to read his lines. The face is not friendly, nor does he look negotiable, and Marji is terrified as she watches this man interrogate her family.

            On the contrary, Marji’s family is frowning in all panels, and look as if they’ve been caught red-handed. Their eyebrows are high; their eyes are wide, like scared little kittens. It’s not until the car pulls up to Marji’s home that her expression is visible, and she is completely terrified. Her eyes are huge: her mouth is quivering. Her grandmother is guiding her into the house. She has put all of her faith in her grandmother’s experience. She knows that these men could decide her entire future, and she has anxiety over doing something illegal.

The irony of the entire situation is that earlier in the novel, Marji so badly wanted to defy the government to become a hero. Now that she is faced with the opportunity, she looks sick to her stomach. When the policeman asks Marji and her grandmother where they are going, the grandmother says—with what appears to be a shaky voice, to match her shaky mouth—that she has diabetes and needs some syrup. Immediately the man’s face softens as he mentions that his mother also has diabetes. Marji’s grandmother has successfully humanized herself in the eyes of these brutal men. Suddenly Marji no longer has a look of fear, but of appreciation. This change in Marji is apparent as she walks ahead of her grandmother to their apartment, with a look of determination in her eyes. She knows that taking care of the alcohol is her duty in the family, and that she will be regarded as a hero for saving her parents. However, the end of the scene is very anti-climactic, for the people at the door are not the policemen she had anticipated, only her distressed father who had learned how easy it is to pay off a noble member of the government force.

            There are only minor differences in this scene in the movie. The facial expressions are not as big because you can now hear the tone of their voice. Here the only face visible in the car when her father gets out is Marji’s. She’s just observing, as her eyes did in the book. Her father gets mad at the officer, after he is accused of drinking. His tone with the officer is unclear in the book, because his mouth is hidden under his moustache; he looks more afraid than angry. On their way home, the grandmother smiles and tells them that she has dealt with this kind of behavior before; she knows how to handle it. In the scene where the officer questions Marji and Grandma on where they are going, Marji’s eyes go wide, giving away her terror, while Grandma keeps her steady gaze and smile. She calmly explains that she has diabetes—not with a quivering voice, like the book—but with confidence. Notice that throughout this entire scene the grandmother has a smirk on her face. She has been here before; she has lived through revolutions. She was a rebel. For this reason, Marji is always looking up to her grandma.

            According to the linear novel, this is the first scene in which Marji is confronted with the terror of an oppressive government. Her entire life she had believed that heroes are people who stand up and fight the government. It is apparent in the beginning of the scene that she is apprehensive, and completely terrified. In both the movie and the novel, there is a definitive change in her feelings towards the policemen, after she watches her grandmother stand up to them. Her entire life Marji has been looking up to her Uncle as the hero in the family, without even realizing that it is her grandmother she takes after.

Changes to Changez: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

After reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and then reading the film, the biggest contrast I see in character’s relationships is the one between Changez and Bobby—formerly known as the “American Stranger.” One of the key elements we discussed while close reading the book was the importance of the stranger. We never knew his back-story: he wasn’t even given a name. The stranger was anonymous so that we could picture being in his shoes. There was always an air of uncertainty when it came to his motive.

            Now, I know that in the world of film, having the name of just one real character may bore the audience. However, it has worked before with adaptations of books, such as the book (and now movie), Buried. The entire book takes place inside a coffin. He has memories, that include the names of people, but you only see from his point of view. Very similar to how we only saw from Changez’s point of view in the novel. We are introduced to Bobby early in the film when he gets a phone call, presumably from the people in the scene beforehand. The call led up to a meeting with Changez, however in the book the man who Bobby portrays ends up having a meal with Changez only by chance—or so we are lead to believe. The Stranger has no reason to tape what Changez is saying, it’s just friendly conversation. However, Bobby needs to hear his every word. With this in mind, Changez could have cut things out of his story. It’s no longer immediately a friendly vibe like in the novel, but more of a nervous one.

            Bobby also has power in his hands, while in the book Changez was more dominant. Changez was comfortable in his own country, helping out this man foreign man. He kept calm, and tried to keep the Stranger at ease throughout the meal. However, in the film, the stranger talks back to Changez. He has control over what is happening to Changez’s family, and the safety of his students. Changez on the other hand has obvious henchmen in the film. They work hard to make Bobby feel uncomfortable, any chance they can. It’s like watching a duel the entire time; who’s going to shoot first.

            Is there a misconception of the American director’s interpretation of the film? That’s a big issue. In the book the entire time you are humanizing Changez. He might look the part of a terrorist, but you’re learning that he lived the American dream. He was at the top of an American firm, making bank—if I may—and scoring the girl of his dreams. He is an innocent man, who walks up to a lost American and tries to comfort him, because he too is a lover of America. Here, however in this “appointment” with Bobby, Changez defensively tells him, once the phone starts recording, that he is a lover of America. The movie’s audience gets the idea that Changez may be involved in some sketchy stuff; after all the first thing we see is this man getting kidnapped by men in beards, and suddenly it turns into his problem. Who do we trust? That issue came out only towards the end of book, because Changez was walking the stranger home in the dark—a gesture friendly enough, but too friendly perhaps. But again, right off the bat, we are unsure what this foreign man is involved with.

            The concept of the “American Stranger” was completely lost in the film. I’ve said it once, and I just said it again. The tone set between the two at the café was completely different than it was in the book. Sure, the reminiscing followed the same basic plot line, but the outside world, which was normally just Changez reassuring the stranger, or trying to grab his attention, was suddenly way too intense. It was not as easy to watch, as it was to sit back and read. 

In the span of two weeks, my film studies class has watched the movies Beasts of The Southern Wild, and Moonrise Kingdom. Personally, I loved Moonrise Kingdom: one of the best movies I've seen in awhile.

In these weeks, we have been studying "Mise en Scene" which pretty much means the way that a movie is set up. The movie Moonrise Kingdom is very calming. It's dry, but still entertaining. I think that the cast's acting was a big role, although not in the way you would expect. I mean, the parts were fairly simple, almost too simple, but the choice of actors was really important. It was like the director put these big actors in the movie to draw people in, and when they got there it was nothing like you expected. Bruce Willis didn't blow anybody's brains out. In fact he was scared to even do his job as a cop, the Khaki Scouts did it for him. Bill Murray was a lame lawyer who didn't even sleep in the same bed as his wife--didn't bust up one ghost, might I add. These actors did their job perfectly, just the right amount of blandness in their character, without the character seeming empty. If you wanted an empty actor to play an empty character he would have just cast Nicolas Cage.Think about it, if Wes Anderson had cast a group full of nobodies, would this movie have been as notable? Maybe, maybe not, but the acting and the character choices definitely helped to improve the film.

Another thing that Wes Anderson is famous for is his scene composition. Imagine how clean cut his storyboard drawings were. We discussed in class that generally straight lines give people a feeling of calmness. That feeling was intermingled throughout the entire movie, from the tone of voice the actors took, to the straight lines in the blankets, or the stairs, or any of that. He definitely played up the rule of thirds. The whole, "what draws your eye" kind of thing, like in the scenes where Suzy's sitting on the window seat while her brothers play beneath her:

The whole thing just puts you at ease; it's simple, like the rest of the film. All very surreal, I give it five out of five cups of tea. 

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The other movie we watched was Beasts of The Southern Wild. The movie was pretty good with a lot of freaky metaphorical diegetic scenes. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl, but one of the first things I noticed about the movie's mise en scene was the costume's and props that the actors had. Instead of a boat, they used an old broken truck bed, tied to barrels to help it float, and I mean when you're living in the Louisiana bayou  what else can you use? It really helped to put things in perspective. They couldn't afford a boat, and they had no where to try and build one. They made do with what they had, and that's the way they liked it. The other thing I noticed was how simplistic the costumes were. The leading actor--a little girl--wore almost the same exact thing in every scene, up until she is sent to the mainland for help. She always wears a white shirt, which is stained a very light brown, giving you the impression that she is obviously dirty. The lack a clothing change shows how poor of hygiene the poor girl has, and she never wears pants. At one point she wears just a shirt and underwear, but you can tell even the underwear are worn out. Not only that, but the other characters dressed so simply. It was as if I could have grabbed the clothes off of a rack in Wal-Mart, and we would be set for the entire movie, which is how it should be. These people are not well off, and their limited supply of outfits helps to show that. Even the hookers in the ladies bar wore slips as lingerie, because they couldn't afford anything else, and the men weren't complaining.

I think that the most amazing part of the film was the setting. Every single one of their settings was really from Louisiana. Like hello, that's America. And that's what some parts of America look like. While the rest of us are out worrying about how much cell phone service we have at our house, they're wondering if they can get any clean water. The houses that they created on the bayou were also intricately unique, again emphasizing the point that they work with what they have. Not only that, but the fact that these little girls have to swim to a boat in order to go anywhere, just shows how secluded these parts of America are. No one really notices them, unless they want to be noticed. And these people know that their life won't get any easier, but they choose to live this way. In a way, the bayou seems like a completely unfit place to raise a little girl, but by the end of the movie, you see how much she has grown as a character. She has to grow up a lot in a short amount of time, and you realize that all this time she's spent living this hard life will only help her when she gets older. 

It's a great film, with a good lesson, and had I not watched Moonrise Kingdom right before, I probably would have liked it even more. Four out of five cups of tea. 

Let me drop some fancy film terms for you: fabula and syuzhet.
Although the words sound confusing, when you break them up you get some simple definitions. Fabula is known as the story, from beginning to end. It's explicit; it leaves nothing out. So, recently I watched Christopher Nolan's film, Memento, and boy does that movie mess with your mind.
Major spoiler alert: I'm about to explain the fabula.
So this guy, Leonard has "this condition" where he pretty much has short term memory loss. One night he wakes up to find that his wife is being raped by some unknown man. When he rushes to his wife's rescue the masked man attacks him, and Leonard can't remember anything that happens to him after that point in his life. His wife survives the attack, with no after-effects (except some emotional scarring I assume). But she has trouble handling Leonard's condition. He doesn't recognize her as his wife, and she thinks that he's just faking it. She acts as though he's a liar, and tries many cruel tactics to try and wake him up from this "condition," however, none seem to work.  Eventually she tries the ultimate test. She tells Lenny over and over again that it's time for insulin shot, hoping that he will wake up and realize that he is killing her. When she realizes that the condition really is serious, and Lenoard's doing the best that he can, it's too late. She overdoses and lands herself in a coma that she never wakes up from. Lenny however, does not remember any of this. The only thing he remembers is that someone raped his wife. And now he has convinced himself that she is dead. Not knowing any better, he sets out to avenge the "death" of his wife. He writes down everything he learns as he goes, otherwise he has no way of knowing what is true, or even remembering who people are. So he knows that this guy's name is either John or James, and his last name starts with a G.This is important, so he gets it tattooed on his arm, that way it's a permanenet reminder. He get's a number of other things tattooed across his body. Things that he will remember everyt time he looks in a mirror, such as "John G. Raped and Murdered My Wife" and "Find Him And Kill Him."

And Lenny does just that. He finds and kills the man who raped and "killed" his wife: the man that took his life away. But he doesn't remember doing it. But he develops this system where he takes pictures of important accquaintences and places with a polaroid camera, and makes note of what he knows about them on the back, so that he can remind himself every day.
On his never-ending hunt to find the John or James G. that killed his wife--who he has already killed mind you--Lenny moves into a motel room at the Discount Inn. There he talks to a police officer about his quest for this "J.G." man, however he doesn't remember talking to him. The police officer, who's real name is John Gammel, tells Lenny that his name is Teddy. Teddy uses Lenny's condition against him, convincing him that big drug dealers in the area are te man who killed his wife. He get's Lenny to kill them off one by one, because of course Lenny doesn't know that he's already killed them.
One of the "J.G."'s that Lenny subconciously kills is the boyfriend of a drug-dealing bar tender, named Natalie. Of course he doesn't remember killing her boyfriend, and when she finds out that his condition is the real deal, she too uses him for her dirty work. Teddy warns Lenny that Natalie is no good. But all Lenny knows is what he writes down about each person, and he doesn't record everything. By the end of the movie, Natalie has proved that Teddy's real name is John Gammel--another John G.--and that the police officer that's trying to bust her for drugs is really the man that killed Lenny's wife. Not knowing any better Lenny writes himself a note, telling him to kill Teddy. Right before Lenny shoots Teddy, Teddy tries to reason with him "there are a million John G's out there, and you can't kill them all," although his feeble attempt to explain to Teddy that he's arleady killed the man who raped his wife goes awry, and Teddy is shot. Lenny is left to travel to another town and find another John G.

Okay, so that was confusing. However, that was only the fabula: the story.

The other term that I dropped was syuzhet. The syuzhet is the plot in a movie. It's the timeline of events that the director chooses to show. The movie Memento was based on a book called Memento Mori, written bty Christopher Nolan's brother. When Nolan turned it into a movie he could pick and choose the aspects of the book that he wanted to incorporate in the film. The thing that makes this movie the most memorable is that it is told completely backwards. The first thing you see is Lenny shoot this Teddy guy, and it moves backward to Natalie handing him the information saying that Teddy is liar and hasn't even given him the right name. Automatically you're set up to believe that Teddy is the antagonist, and actually killed his wife. It's not until the end that you realize that Lenny has been killing people since his wife went into a coma, determined to avenge this death, that didn't even happen. And although Teddy was using him for his own dirty work, he was really trying to help Lenny understand his conidtion. Also, throughout the movie they tell the story of some man named Sammy Jankis who mysteriously has the same condition Lenny has, and ends up putting his wife in a coma with her insulin shots. It's not until the end that you realize that Sammy really is Lenny's story.

Watching the syuzhet, without knowing the fabula is sometimes frustrating, however it's a brilliant directing technique that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats the entire time.

Last week in my film studies class, we researched and then watched the classic movie Dr. Strangelove. The movie is set in the 1960s, after nuclear weapons were introduced in World War Two. The conflict arises when an Air Force general, Jack Ripper, overrides his power, and sends his planes on a secret mission, without asking the president for permission. General Ripper was feeling threatened by those darn Russian commies, and chose to attack the greater part of Russia with atomic bombs. The movie flashes between the bomber pilots, slowly heading towards their targets, the War Room, housing the important political figures, and the Air Force base where it all started.

General Ripper has completely cut off all contact with outside parties, including the president in the War Room. (Fun fact: Ripper and President Muffley are played by the same actor.) President Muffley refuses to listen to any of the reasoning that Air Force General Buck is trying to spoon-feed him. Buck is trying to tell him that all this would have happened eventually; Russia can't be trusted. Buck says there's no way to really get a hold of these B-52s, so why not just let them run their course? However, President Muffley will not stand for that. He invites the Russian Ambassador into the War Room, in efforts to make peace with Russia, and get them to understand his predicament. He ends up aiding the Russian military in shooting down and diverting as many American Air Force planes as possible. President Muffley ends his conversation with the Russian president, feeling accomplished, until he finds out that one of the American planes had been flying so low that it was off the radar. That plane succeeds in dropping one atomic bomb over it's target in Russia, which President Muffley fears that he has set the president of Russia into a fit. The political figures consider hiding out in an underground bunker, to save most of the American race, but the movie is cut off with a series of bombs, leading you to believe that Russia has already retaliated.

This movie is chuck full of symbolism. Every single character represents a stereotype. There are the army generals, ready to attack anyone who dares to look at them funny. Then you have the Russian president and the Russian Ambassador, who swear they're there to promote peace, however the ambassador proves to be a spy, and their president was already sending bombs America's way, before they knew whether America's planes could be stopped. The American president was somebody who was ready to betray his soldiers, by helping the Russian military shoot them down, making him appear as a traitor. Not only that, but let's look at how sexist the political figures in our country were made out to be: "of course there will be ten women to each one man, and they have to have the right genes, and we'd have to allow polygamy of course." Bring up the fact that each man gets at least ten women all to himself, and suddenly the government is ready to pick the most attractive girls in the country and throw them underground.
The movie is also very anti-war. It pretty much showed how much of a disaster we get ourselves into when we shove our nose in other countries business. I noticed the motto "Peace is our Profession" shown in multiple places in the Air Force Base. It was visible in all of the rooms in the Air Force Base, including the room that General Ripper was in when he ordered the attack.However, as the movie wore on the motto seemed to disappear. In the last hour of the film I couldn't find it anywhere. And you know, speaking of symbolism, Jack Ripper? The same name as the infamous London serial killer, who ended the innocent lives of almost 300 people. Just consider that as food for thought.

In my own opinion, I wasn't a huge fan of the movie. I thought that there was too much exposition, and not enough climax. I got sick of the idiotic public figures in the War Room bickering, and wanted to see what was going to happen to Russia. Here you're waiting for Russia to get inahilated, and the only thing you get to see is some bomb falling from the sky at an itty bitty target, and boom. That's pretty much it. I thought the script was funny, and I was impressed by how well Peter Sellers played all three of his characters, but it was just not my cup of tea.

two of five cups of tea