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August 25, 2014 at 10:44 am #467Hannah GlaserParticipant
I chose this course because I don’t know much about Dickens; and as an English major I feel like I should have a pretty decent familiarity with his work. I want to get to the root of how Dickens’ books have become household names and what elements specifically create that connection with so many readers. I read A Tale of Two Cities in high school and Great Expectations a couple of years ago; but I’m not sure I got everything out of them that I should have, so I’m looking forward to another go.
April 27, 2014 at 4:55 pm #404Hannah GlaserParticipantMartin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths is definitely not my favorite genre of film; however, from a critical standpoint, there are several redeeming strengths in the movie, including some visually exciting effects, interesting self-referencing by the director, and a generous dose of ironic comedy.
The most compelling element of the movie is definitely the “movie within a movie” device. Because many events from the movie take place in the character’s imaginations and in Marty’s writing, it is often impossible to know what is real. After the entirety of the movie, which included sequences from Billy’s Hans’ and other character’s imaginations, we exit the action of the plot with a scene of Marty working at his typewriter, which begs the question, was the whole movie, including the imaginary sequences, Marty’s film? In the end, we might conclude that the line between reality and story is meant to be indiscernible, much as the writer’s mind does not discriminate between the two, whatever is shown or is thought is real, in its own way. This lack of devisor between reality and imagination is actually convenient rather than problematic for McDonagh, because it allows him to include all the outrageous stunts and improbabilities he wants, without much objection from his audience.
I was originally tempted to criticizing this movie for “making fun of itself” which many people find appealing, but which I think detracts from the film’s integrity. However, after thinking about it more carefully, I don’t think Seven Psychopaths ever really makes fun of itself, but of Hollywood, and movie stereotypes in general. By overtly contradicting film clichés, the movie generates a more intelligent brand of humor, and draws attention to stereotypes, such as the flat, voiceless female character, that need to change. Thankfully, the one paradigm McDonagh does observe is “you can’t kill the family pet.”
One of my favorite things about this movie is some of the great visual work that went into it. The opening scene is very carefully constructed so that the men’s discussion of eyeball stabbing is perfectly paired with a lovely slow-panning landscape shot. The irony here creates a source of humor in an otherwise tedious and gruesome discussion. Then, when psychopath 1 approaches, she is wearing a red mask, which paired with the complementary green background ensures that the audience will be in on the joke when she shoots the two assassins. The next thing I really appreciated was the use of the reflections in the Quaker legend sequence. The Quaker’s reflection is captured crystal clear in the metal blade of a knife, then again in the mirror in his victim’s bedroom, and several other times in windows. This striking visual effect is a continuation of McDonagh’s interest in reality and illusion, because we are tricked several times into thinking we are viewing the Quaker directly, and then after the camera zooms out we see it is only a reflection.
Amidst the unrestrained, remorseless violence endured during the film, I was very grateful for the more interesting gifts from McDonagh, of irony, visual effects, and most excitingly, the many ambiguous layers of imagination within imagination.February 2, 2014 at 11:49 pm #193Hannah GlaserParticipantI absolutely agree with your position that this movie should have been promoted by the U.S. I think the overall message comes across as honest and sincere; there is no perfect form of government, but even a single voice, if strong and enduring enough, can shed light on corruption and hold the institution to a higher standard. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” would have been received by other nations as a conscientious appeal to all peoples to defend their most basic moral values (in this case “love thy neighbor”) at all costs.
I also think that the attempt to keep this film from becoming popular was a dangerous choice on the government’s part. Trying to hide or divert attention from a film including corruption only reinforces the idea of government corruption and media control (such as the monopolization of the newspapers by Taylor).
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