libelefs Reviews

Contact (1997)

Fear or hope for the unknown?

[8/10 · 17 April 2022]

R. Zemeckis's film pays homage to the novel of Carl Sagan, a scientist known to those who used to watch the TV series COSMOS. The idea of "pure science", knowledge for the sake of knowledge, meets with barriers coming not only from the scientific community itself (because of fierce and even unethical competition), but also government interests and fundamentalist groups. One can't help noticing that when the state fails, the eccentric billionaire (a prelude to space voyagers Musk and Bezos?) comes to support the effort of the lone scientist and her team. The film embraces Sagan's belief that science and religion do not necessarily conflict. This notion is personified by the protagonists: the female scientist and the male theologist. On another level, Jodi Foster plays the familiar type of a dedicated scientist, who shies away from relationships, due to a sense of guilt and trauma. The film also includes the first laptops, in a sense it is technologically archaic, but is still convincing to the digital natives. Finally, our cinema club agreed that its greatest contribution is the display of alien intelligence as non-menacing to mankind, reforming modern humans' fear of unknown.

Whiplash (2013)

The thin line between virtue and vice

[8/10 · 5 March 2022]

This is a film that speaks to everyone that has been taught by someone. It truly is multilayered, so our group chose the philosophical layer to comment. Concerning Kant's notion that everyone should be treated like an end in themselves, not as a mean to an end, Fletcher blatantly defies it, treating his students as a means to creating his -and only his- perfect band, to accumulate honors and prizes. To this end, he bullies, body shames and mistreats the musicians. He is especially tough with the promising ones, like the ambitious Andrew, the new kid in the band. His excuse is the "tough love" (inaccurate) urban myth about how Charlie Parker was bullied into becoming great. Fletcher's hot and cold treatment of Andrew holds the audience in suspense for a while as to whether greatness can suffer hardships. Up to the part where Fletcher has a human moment on the death of his former student and then becomes a tyrant again. His only moment of truth gone (the student was bullied by Fletcher into suicide), Fletcher is unable to see beyond his hybris. His nemesis is Andrew. On the other hand, Andrew, also a perfectionist, though likeable, has his own flaws. According to Aristotle, a virtue can become a vice when it becomes exaggerated. His ambition to become the greatest drummer alive, has turned him into a monomaniac, who readily climbs over other drummer's failures to ascent, looks down on his cousins and pushes away a promising romance with a great girl. In this manner, he does not exactly use her as a means to his end, but -in a twist of Kant's saying- makes her removal a means to pursue his dream without "obstacles" of a (to his own stubborn mind) needy partner. One shudders to think of Andrew as a younger Fletcher, but there is hope, since the film is open-ended.

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

Reality is still better (!)

[8/10 · 5 March 2022]

Director Woody Allen is famous for his philosophical pursuits. In his 1984 film he tackles the theme of free will. One of his secondary celluloid characters ponders on being fictional or real: ''choice is the most human tribute''. Allen's protagonist Cecilia, a working-class woman during the interwar period and the great depression in America, is faced with a real-life choice and a pseudo-choice. Her first dilemma concerns her future partner. She has to choose between the virtual Tom Baxter who escapes from the silver screen for her sake, and his real-life "twin", actor Gill Shepherd. The former truly loves her, while the latter is in love with the reflection in the eyes of his ecstatic admirer, Cecilia. Her pseudo-dilemma is about leaving her home or going back to her drunk and abusive husband. Basically, she is trapped (not only objectively but also trapped in her fears as well). If Cecilia chose Tom, she would choose the blatant lie of the Hollywood dream industry, with fake money and fake champagne. She would be trapped again, this time, in a permanent script and a stage without an exit. Again, even this seemed better than going back to her husband. In the end, she chooses Gill Shepherd the real man who pretends to be something he is not: in love with her ( in order to save his career, something that she doesn't see until the end.) Between the virtual and the real world the two loved ones jump into each other's worlds only to demystify both. Reality, however, with all its bitter-sweet elements is what they would prefer. Not its idealized on-screen presentation. This, after all, is the ironic conclusion of the director who obviously has read about Plato's cave!

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

OUR COMMON HUMANITY

[10/10 · 5 January 2022]

Capra's movie still moves us with its ingenious plot and black-and-white photography. After the falling out of George Bailey's plans and dreams, when the wheel of fortune spins so fast that even the spectator is left reeling, an unexpected happy ending comes from the angel "ex-machina". One wonders if the community also plays the part of the saviour, since everyone who was benefitted by George reciprocates in his time of need. An important point is the female presence in the movie, breaking the stereotypes of the woman-behind-the-man. Mary and Violet represent the two different paths for George Bailey to choose; A happy family with the girl next-door in his hometown or a life with a Monroesque belle, the dream of every (other) man, in the big city. Mary is worthy of the male protagonist, with her lifesaving interventions in two critical situations. She can create a small paradise out of nothing (the memorable scene with the chickens roasting in the fireplace and the gramophone). Also twofold is the model of the good versus bad capitalist with George's friend, Sam, and Potter. Clarence, the cuddly guardian angel, is a catalyst in reshaping the hero's viewpoint. What would the world look like without each one of us? (while someone would wonder if the hero could come to this insight on his own, without the supernatural element...). Either way, the movie pays tribute to all unsung heroes of the everyday life. That's why it is a timeless film.

The Wave (2008)

IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!

[7/10 · 18 December 2021]

The concept of the movie is fascinating and the fact that it is based on a real-life event makes it even more shocking. The acting was decent and the pace was satisfying. I think it portrayed very accurately how drastically Nazism and fascism can change a person, even more, a whole group of people. I think this is best shown in the scene when Karos's boyfriend slaps her; that was his wake-up call that things had gotten out of hand. After that he snapped back to reality. He realized that he put his "beliefs" above his love for her.

The best part about the movie is how, thirteen years after it was released, teenagers can still relate to it. It makes you think about Nazism from a completely unique perspective. The odd thing is how this movie does a better job of educating you about the dangers of fascism and Nazism than school does.

Overall, it is a great movie, I would totally suggest watching it.

The Class (2008)

Same as it ever was -minus one.

[2/10 · 9 December 2021]

From my sixteen-year-old perspective (not far from the actual age of the pupils in The Class), I found that reality was exaggerated in the film. No doubt, Art can do that, but I saw no common ground with the characters. Race and class may differ, but teenagers have a common understanding more or less. In my case, it was less. Another thing is that problematic behaviours are not explained, we see a superficial treatment of the cause of the kids' negativity. Their background is absent. Are we supposed to fill the gaps, just by looking at their faces? Finally, the film offers no katharsis. Problems are perpetuated, minus the boy who got expelled. I am sorry to say that the film left me with a feeling of emptiness.

The Turn of the Screw (2009 TV Movie)

Innocence and cruelty

[6/10 · 13 November 2021]

The intentionally ambiguous plot of the film (based Henry Jame's book) is well-known. However, the script and the director of the film leave room for one more interpretation: to what extent did the two children contribute to driving the governess to the end of her wits? We are informed that all the previous governesses had left them, with the exception of the tragic miss Jessel, who committed suicide as an act of despair owning to her unfortunate love affair with the ruthless Quint. We come to witness that the children sometimes form a "clique" of some kind, against Ann: they secretly whisper to one another, laughing behind her back, rejecting her, occasionally seeing ghosts and misbehaving. The corrupt Quint-Jessel couple had indeed exerted an influence upon the orphans. They acted as wicked substitutes for their deceased parents (the boy actually blames his parents for dying!). The evil influence takes the form of ghosts to point out how crucial it was to shaping the childrens' psyche, ghosts that only Ann and the children can see (the maid's testimony is refuted due to her aberration). Their angelic innocence alternates with cruelty and an absence of limits in their upbringing. Freud's theories had already started to gain ground when the book was written disproving the notion of "childlike innocence". Proof in relation to this version is to be found in the film, which aligns with Herny Jame's style leaving scope for other interpretations.