Good Will Hunting

Until today I had never seen the film Good Will Hunting in its entirety.  I find this hard to believe when actually it is a very good film.  This movie focused strongly on symbolism and telling a story in more than one way.  The process of using different visual effects and indirect aspects to depict a story or symbolize and emotion are vast and shown throughout the film.  The significance of the title, the unique characters, the elements of a good story, and conflict involved made this movie a one of a kind hit.

As stated in our text it says,”In many cases, the title of a film has one meaning to a viewer before seeing it and a completely different, richer, and deeper meaning afterward.” So in analyzing the significance of the title Good Will Hunting I think that it needs to be broken down into pieces.  Good Will as we all know is the nature of doing a thoughtful act towards someone or something.  Now in this film many people attempted and for the most part succeeded in doing this.  For example in the end of the film all of Will’s closest friends came together and put forth their hard earned money and bought him a car.  They did this as an act of good will and I believe also to give him the ability to get out of Boston and pursue the life they all wished they could have.   If you add hunting into the equation I don’t think that it pertains to Will going out and hunting for someone’s good will, but rather the act of good will hunting down people who deserve it.

When looking into this film's unique characters and what effects they play on the movie you have to figure out what characterization the director is trying to depict.  Whether it is characterization through dialog, appearance, contrast, or through choice of name, all of these play a significant part in what makes a movie grab your attention.  In the case of Good Will Hunting I believe the director is attempting to draw a character through choice of name.  Like I had stated earlier the name and word “Will” tie together many different meanings in this film.  Will’s will to push through all the hardships in his life and show supreme intellect when coming off the streets of southern Boston speak for themselves.

This film definitely had all the elements of a good story involved.  Using a unified plot tying in both externally observable truths and internal truths of human nature, and keeping the plot both simple and complex all helped to make this movie a true classic.  The theme of this movie was simple; a lost and abused man who had been through a rough childhood wanted nothing more than to stay around all of the true friends he had made.  But after his friends and a professor from Harvard discovered his true intellect he needed someone to show him that there was more to life than what was presented in the streets of Boston.  And in the end love (which he had never truly felt before) guided him to follow the girl of his dreams, or as Sean put it his “soul mate”.  Putting both a love story and a story about overcoming adversity into play definitely pushed this film in becoming a box office hit.

The final part of this film I would like to discuss is the conflict that presented itself in this movie.  From the beginning to the end conflict always seemed to find Will.  Weather it was trouble with the law, or trouble holding a job.  As stated in the book conflict is the mainspring of every story, whether it be told on the printed page, on the stage, or on the screen.  The many conflicts that arose made you keep hoping to see each on resolved.  The main two that I saw in the film were keeping Will out of trouble, and leading Will to follow the love of his life.  Each of these kept resonating throughout the movie and tied the film together.  All in all this movie is great film about the lessons learned in life and a true testament to overcoming adversity.

On the Waterfront

               

            I am always open to watching new movies, especially ones that I have never heard of before.  In the case of On the Waterfront I was a little bit skeptical about how good this film could be due to how old it was.  I kept an open mind and was actually pretty impressed with how good the movie was, even while lacking the effects that a current movie would posses. Marlon Brando definitely brought the depth to the movie that modern day movie effects could have replaced.

I believe that the directors as well as the writer of this film were trying to focus on ideas.  And if I had to summarize what idea they were trying to focus on in one word it would be bravery.   It could also fall into the category of human dignity and social struggle.   Being that the film is based on a bunch of articles about twisted unions in New York.  It shows the struggle in standing up to these corrupt gangs and showing bravery by doing what is right instead of what everyone conforms to.  And in the case of human dignity it is shown when Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) who dreams of being a prize fighter tries to overcome everyone’s perspective of him being a bum by doing the right thing.  The “right thing” in this film being to follow in the footsteps of Christ and to prevail as a good Christian worker on the docks. 

                Watching the film at home on my 42” television had both adverse and positive aspects.  For example in the opening sequence of the film they toss Edie of the roof.  You can clearly tell that it is a dummy and for that I think keeping it as scaled down as possible helps to keep that image less significant.  At the same time I think the speech by Barry to the dock workers to rally up against the mob would have been even more impactful on the big screen.   In conclusion I feel the film’s aspects pertained to the idea of the common working man stepping up to the ideals of society and doing what is right by following in the footsteps of Christ.  This is portrayed very well and I think taps into the emotions of people even in today’s society.

Requiem for a dream

   

Requiem by definition is a song composed in memory of someone that has passed away.  So in the title of this movie Requiem for a dream, it is essentially talking about a song composed for a dream that is dead.  I find this to be very true in the fact that this movie depicts emotion and the mood of each part of the film by placing very vibrant music in to add depth.  The mood in this movie is primarily a dark one that revolves around a couple of younger guys and a girl friend to one of them trying to make it out of the slums by selling drugs.  What originally sounds like a great idea to the characters at first eventually flops due to their addiction to the same drugs they are selling.  It also falls on making a point that people will do anything in order to fit the Hollywood image including dieting and taking devastating weight loss pills.  This is shown when one of the characters mother wants to fit into a red dress to appear on a television show.  The red dress had ties to when her husband was still alive and everything was positive in her life.  But when it no longer fits she pushes herself to the limit and eventually ends up in a mental institution just to try and look great on television.

I think that in this film the director’s primary aim is to criticize society and social institutions and increase the viewer’s awareness of a social problem and the need to reform.   This movie does not focus on one character, but instead focuses on human nature and the effects that certain issues take on humanity.   The depth of Requiem for a dream falls far beyond the time that the film actually takes place.  A movie such as this pushes thought and perception of the ideals involved long after the movie has ended. 

This film makes a very significant statement in my eyes.  The statement is that it is good to dream big, but if your dream is to become rich, there may be more problems involved than meet the eye.  Even though they use drugs to pursue their dream of making it big, I feel that you could use many things as an example.  Ideally they prove the point the hardest through the world of drug dealing and addiction.  In conclusion this movie is definitely a classic and one that will be talked about for many years.  If you are looking for a very artfully directed and deep movie that will make you think about life as a whole Requiem for a dream is definitely a movie to watch.