Revised Top Ten Films List

1. Cloud Atlas 

2. City of Life and Death 

3. Schindler's List 

4. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

5. Psycho 

6. Casablanca 

7. Chinatown 

8. Rebel Without a Cause 

9. Stand By Me 

10. Gomorrah 

City of Life and Death

City of Life and Death is truly a spectacular film. Watching it is an experience you won't soon forget, however, it is by far an enjoyable experience. There are so many degrading and horrifying images throughout the film, and at first it's completely shocking. After a while, though, the viewer becomes slightly numb to the images--it really becomes an overload. The most enjoyable experience in the entire movie (and that's saying something since it isn't an enjoyable movie at all) is the character development. The different characters and their stories are really what make this movie so impactful. It makes the traumatic experiences shown on screen that much more personal. From Ms. Jiang (Yuanyuan Gao) and her mission to save those around her to Kadokawa (Hideo Nakaizumi) and his coming of age as a Japanese Soldier during the invasion of the Chinese Capitol Nanjing and the horrors enacted there. 

When I say this wasn't an enjoyable experience, I don't mean to say that it was a bad movie. Far from it. The cinematography, acting, and screenplay were all outstanding. It was too outstanding really, because it is truly heartbreaking and horrifying. It's possibly the scariest movie I've ever seen. That being said, what really made the movie outstanding were three things: The use of color/noise, the acting, and the use of the camera. 

The movie is shot in black and white, much like the 1993 Steven Spielberg Film, Schindler's List (which also happened to be set in World War II and also depicted horrifying images), and this makes the images much more effective. The audience isn't distracted by all the color in the scene and is forced to focus on what is actually happening around them. That, along with the camera movement, really puts the audience in the middle of the scenes as if they are experiencing it along with the characters. The sound also has a hand in doing this. Each and every sound (from the bombs and the crumbling buildings to the creaking of beds and the collective sighs, moans, and screams of women being raped) is crystal clear. The sound of the scene around you is emphasized more than the sounds of characters speaking. 

As I said before, the most enjoyable part of the movie was the character development. The most fascinating character, to me, was Kadokawa. He's a young soldier, most likely barely of age, still a virgin, at the beginning of the movie. He hasn't even begun to experience life and is thrown into the middle of this brutality while fighting for his country. His character really shows that even though someone may be fighting on the "wrong side" of history, that doesn't necessarily mean they are to blame. He looks around him and is just as helpless, trapped, and oppressed as the people who are being slaughtered and raped. Throughout his journey in the movie, he meets a Japanese Prostitute and falls in love with her. He finds some human connection with her during their interaction, and longs for that kind of connection amongst the evil he sees around him. He naively believes that she loves him too and is disappointed when he realizes that she views him like any other soldier out there who uses her for her services. Later in the movie, he meets another woman in a camp the soldiers have reserved for the women they are raping. He is completely disgusted with the degradation going on around him (and at this point the audience can hear the clear distinction of sound around the scene: The creaking of the beds, the moans of the suffering women, the grunts of the soldiers, etc). Behind Kadokawa, you can see the shadow of a man raping a woman and you can see the sheets separating each bed moving. It's one of the most horrifying scenes I've ever seen in a movie (and I almost contemplated leaving the auditorium while watching it). He sits in a chair beside the woman's bed who stares unseeingly up at the ceiling. Another soldier walks by and asked if Kadokawa is finished. Kadokawa replies yes, and the soldier proceeds to climb on top of the bed and rape the woman. She then turns her eyes to Kadokawa as if to say "you are all the same. It's just the system. You didn't rape me, but you allow him to. Neither of us can escape the life we live. We will both die trapped." Kadokawa then turns his back and leaves. A while later, we see the dead woman's naked body carried off along with other women while Kadokawa looks on. The interaction between Kadokawa and the woman was less than three seconds long and yet, I feel, it summed up the entire feel of the movie. In fact, it was foreshadowing. It not only foreshadowed the woman's death, but the end of the movie as well. At the end, Kadokawa releases two prisoners: a young boy and an older man. He then says "it's easier to die than it is to live" and kills himself. Had he lived, he would have been forever trapped and haunted by the images he had seen during the war. He chooses the "easier" way and kills himself. 

My favorite part of the movie was the ending (and not just because the horror was over at that point). The last image of the movie is of the young boy, who survived against impossible odds, laughing. His laughter is a sign of hope and humanity that wasn't present in the film. It's a symbol that even through the darkest of times, life and goodness will prevail (as corny as that message is, it's extremely important). 

Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie. It's actually a must-see, in my opinion. However, it isn't a movie for the faint of heart and even for the most jaded of us, you'd have to be in a certain mind set in order to handle the barrage of horrors portrayed in the film. That being said, it's a movie that definitely needs to be seen but with preparation, 

Cloud Atlas and the Human Spirit

There is so much I can say about this movie. When it ended and the credits were rolling, I couldn't decide if I just wanted to sit there in my seat and let the wave of emotions from the film ride over me, or if I wanted to jump up and text all of my friends to say that they had to go out and see this. Needless to say, for several reasons, it is now my number one favorite movie, and I cannot wait to see it again (I will definitely be buying it when it comes out). 

One of the many things I found interesting during the movie was all of the genres presented in it. The audience was shown dystopian, romance, adventure, philosophy, family values, etc., and it was all connected in the end to produce the ultimate message of the film (which was my favorite part of the movie). I happen to love the Dystopian genre, so that was one of my favorite subplots of the film. SonMi-451 and Hae-Joo's connection to each other was felt through the screen and was really touching I thought (though their romance wasn't the best in the film). What I really enjoyed, was how SonMi-451 was used to try and create a better society in the future for all of the citizens in the world (not just the "pure bloods" or the "replicants"). As my friends and I were discussing the film on the ride back home, we came to the conclusion that society was a cycle. We have the advancement of technology and civilization, more and more people have access to technology and can use it (the advancement of technology can also be shown in the nursing home getaway scene where the old crew was in the button-start car and didn't know how to use it because the technology was too advanced for them), but then as technology becomes more developed and we become even more dependent on it, it's used to control society and eventually only those in power really know how to use the technology they are using to control others (SonMi and her collar, or when she sees the "holograms" with Hae-Joo for the first time and thinks it's like magic) then we see society start to decline because we are not only destroying the Earth for the sake of technology, we are also destroying humanity and our lives. We eventually see the fall of SonMi's world, and Zachary's story is where civilization (what was left of it) starts back up, living a primitive lifestyle with limited technology. We see the cycle of technology and human society. 

Another theme in this dystopian-like society (as well as other stories in the movie) was the imprisonment of individuals, whether it be imprisonment from slavery (Adam and Auta), imprisonment from society (Adam, SonMi, Robert, etc), imprisonment from family (Timothy), and imprisonment in your own mind (presented in different aspects through mainly Zachary's character, but also Robert's character in a way--becoming enslaved to your ambitions). A few of these struggles, the average audience member can relate to in one way or another (imprisonment from our own fears, our own goals, our own selfish desires, etc). 

The film isn't all doom and gloom. By the end of it, the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer certainly presented their world view. There is hope within the human spirit and things will get better, even though it may take a long time to get there. This is the true masterpiece of the movie. The ultimate lesson in the movie: all humans are connected to each other with the same fears, the same struggles, the same emotions. We have an obligation to our fellow humans to leave this world a better place then when we entered it. We are connected to, not only those in our past, but also to those who have yet to come. The idea that we are all part of one human spirit and that our actions (whether positive or negative) effect everyone is fascinating to me. We have an obligation to each other, to love each other (as corny as that idea as has become). Not just to have romantic connections (as shown with Robert and Sixsmith) but to also have friendship connections (as shown with the nursing home comrades, SonMi and Hae-Joo Chang--even though that later became a romantic relationship, it was originally structured as a bond through friendship and human interaction, similar to Zachary's and Jocasta's relationship, and Adam's friendship with Autua, and Luisa's relationship with Javier), and connections to those we deem "different" or "inferior" (as shown with Adam and Autua as well as SonMi and Hae-Joo). As stated in the movie: "boundaries are only conventions." Once we overcome these boundaries, we realize the connection we all share to each other as human beings. To me, this idea was simply brilliant, not only in it's message and relevance to the current social struggles in the world, but also in the way it was carried out in the movie. 

There was also a hint of reincarnation; Robert's character and Luisa's character were possible reincarnations of each other as well as Joe Napier and Adam. Luisa knew the sextet even though she had never "heard" it before because her reincarnated spirit was the one who had created it. Also, she felt that connection to Sixsmith in the hotel because Sixsmith had been Robert's lover. Auta had saved Adam's life as a stowaway on the ship when Adam had been poisoned by Dr. Goose. Joe Napier had been saved by Luisa's father when they were in the war together. These are loose connections, but subtle hints to the idea that all human spirits are in some way connected to each other.

Overall, the move was outstanding, and if anyone asks about it, they will definitely receive a recommendation from me. I can't wait until I get to see it again (to see what I missed the first time, and what else I can pick up on). Also, I want to read the book to see how different it is compared to the Wachowski/Tykwer adaptation. In my opinion, this is the best Wachowski film to date and will be talked about for many years to come. 

Must Watch: Lana Wachowski Speaks About What It Means to Be Transgendered | Women and Hollywood

Must Watch: Lana Wachowski Speaks About What It Means to Be Transgendered | Women and Hollywood

The way she describes the struggle I go through everyday is amazing. I love how the LBGT community is gaining more acceptance within society (although I wish it was at a faster rate).

Empathy for Lady Vengeance

Thursday in class we saw the film Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (South Korean, 2005, directed by Chan-Wook Park. Starring Yeong-ae Lee).

What can I say that hasn't already been said? While watching this film, I felt bombarded with the raw emotions and violence of the scenes and situations. It was horrifying, but not in the way that normal films in this genre are, which are usually generic and often times silly. The last time I felt this kind of emotion while watching a film was after I had seen the brutalizing rape scene in Last House on the Left (2009, Directed by Dennis Iliadis)

I was about sixteen and had never seen anything quite so traumatizing in movies. By the end of the scene, I was in tears and ready to throw up. Since I'm older and more corrupted by the entertainment industry (that is to say more desensitized to horrifying images), while watching Lady Vengeance (as it is known in western culture), I was not in tears. However the feeling of nausea and sadness was still present, and I was very grateful for these feelings. After watching so many violent images on tv or in movies or hearing about it on the radio or in books or even in music, one starts to feel as if they are losing their basic ability to empathize and connect with other human beings. It is very disturbing to me that I can see a child being blown up in a movie and not be all that effected by it. Violence has become a normal part of society and people have even grown to encourage it. Some people I know are disappointed if they go to a movie and there isn't enough action/violence in it. It makes me question whether or not this bloodlust has always been there within our society, or if it's just grown and developed as movies become even more adventurous, always looking to stretch the limit of what "going too far" really means.

Throughout the film I was very impressed with the character development for Geum-Ja Lee. It was very subtle and through the entire film she is portrayed as a callous person who emanated false emotions in order to survive in prison. However, I think deep inside she really was that good person who really did feel compassion and love. Not just for her daughter, but for the children that were killed and for her fellow comrades as they helped her with her plan for revenge. Don't get me wrong, I think she had limited feelings for everyone because she was so overwhelmed with her guilt and pain, but I think she was never as callous as she tried to be. No matter how evil she thought she was, there was always that good person inside of her. At the end of the film I didn't sympathize for her. I empathized with her. It was Empathy for Lady Vengeance to me, because while I didn't necessarily agree with her actions, I cannot say that I would not have done the same in a similar situation. Or the same as the parents of the murdered children did.

After watching this film and going home, I spent many hours staying up and thinking about it. I was completely convinced that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone because I didn't want anyone to have to feel the disgust and horror I felt while watching this movie. However, after sleeping on it and telling my friends about it the next day, I concluded that it was indeed a good film and that ultimately, despite the intense rape scenes and the gory violence, I would recommend this film to other people. My number one reason for recommendation was the fact that I actually felt something when watching it. Not just something, but something powerful. While sitting in the dark auditorium, I felt overwhelmed by the feeling of disgust and degradation in the movie. However, feeling this reminded me that I could still be effected by violence and disturbing images, and I think the director made the movie so disturbing visually for this purpose. What a relief it is that I can still feel a basic human emotion such as disgust, sorrow, and empathy while watching a movie. In a way, it was very liberating being that immersed in the movie. 

So in conclusion, I have decided that overall, though disturbing, it is an amazing movie and people should definitely watch it. They should be feel uncomfortable and know that it isn't okay to use violence as entertainment. Violence for education can be good I think, but it is never good for entertainment. 

Top Ten Films

1. Casablanca (1942 starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, directed by Michael Curtiz)

2. The Breakfast Club (1985 starring Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, and Molly Ringwald. Directed by John Hughs)

3. Psycho (1960 starring Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles. Directed by Alfred Hitchock)

4. The Godfather (1972. Starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino. Directed by Francis For Coppola)

5. Schindler's List (1993, starring Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Directed by Steven Spielberg)

6. Dial M for Murder (1954 starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelley. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock)

7. Pay It Forward (2000 starring Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. Directed by Mimi Leder)

8. Finding Nemo (2003 starring Albert Brooks and Ellen DeGeneres. Directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)

9. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002 starring Elijah Wood and Sean Astin. Directed by Peter Jackson)

10. The Dark Knight (2008 starring Christian Bale and Heath Ledger. Directed by Christopher Nolan)