Santina's Film Blog

City of God - Analysis of opening scene + the kids scene City of God, a film considered to be a modern masterpiece of Brazilian cinema, tells the story about the hopelessness of living in the favelas and not being able to escape. In the first scenes of the film, the audience understands the themes as they are being foreshadowed through narrative and cinematography. The main themes presented being violence, the want to escape, community and the contrast between the present and the past. Firstly, these themes are foreshadowed in the first minutes of the film. The opening scene shows the audience what themes are going to be treated from the very first image: a knife being sharpened, mixed with the sound of reggae music, typical from Brazil. A fast paced introduction that captures the audience's attention, showing a poor community dancing, playing instruments and cooking outside on the rooftop of a two story building. The chicken’s attempt to escape from the same fate as the other slai...

  Shaun Of The Dead - Narrative resolution - Shaun's relationship with the family (especially Philip): Shaun ends up admitting that he sees Philip as his father in spite of saying in numerous occasions that " he is not my dad. He is my step-dad ". This happens when Philip is dying in the car, where he admits that he had always seen Shaun as a son. Their relationship gets fixed in a way, because of the death/turning into a zombie of Philip. If it had not been for that incident they probably would have not resolved their issues. On the other hand, Shaun's relationship with his mum is shown as broken in a way due to the resentment of having married Philip over fifteen years ago. Their relationship though is resolved the moment that Barbara finds the flowers in the bin of the pub. Once again, Barbara's and Shaun's mother and son relationship gets resolved because she gets bitten and their issues have to be solved before the character dies/turns into a zombie.  - F...

 Shaun Of The Dead - Analysis of opening scene - Shaun and Liz’s relationship: many people are shown to interfere in their relationship as there is always someone framed in between the two of them. Shaun makes a lot of promises that he never goes through with and does not listen to Liz. The very first image of Shaun is him ignoring what Liz is saying about what their relationships needs. Shaun likes his comfortable and easy lifestyle, to which he is already well adjusted to and does not want change, while Liz needs something new and spontaneous to do to save their relationship. Liz is also worried that she is missing out in life and that if she does not change soon she will be very unhappy in the future. The Winchester Tavern is a representation of this. It is comfortable and easy for Shaun, but for Liz is just a demonstration of the lack of effort from Shaun’s side. He does not like the new and unknown because it would force him to change the routine which he is so used to at this...

The Overdose and Withdrawal scene - Trainspotting These scenes should be considered the lowest point of “Trainspotting”, where Renton suffers an overdose and has to live through the consequences of getting sober. It is a moment of harsh reality that contrasts with the easygoing and fun approach that the film and the characters had been having. In these scenes the audience are brought back to the “real world” and realise that heroin is a serious topic in spite of how the directors had been portraying it until that point. The scenes themselves turn out to be the most realistic part of the film. They show the effects of drugs through Renton’s overdose, showing one of the many side effects that it can have. It is portrayed as chaotic and, sadly, the audience can identify with the moment as it was very common in Scotland at the time. Although the audience aligns with Renton as the scene is shot from his own eyes (in spite of the lack of his characteristic voiceover and using music instead, ...

Analysis of Narrative Resolution - Trainspotting The film Trainspotting has a full circle ending where the audience understands the reasoning behind the characters actions as the ideological themes are resolved. Themes such as friendship, betrayal, and addiction between others. Also, the moral message varies from person to person as the audience understands and becomes more empathetic towards the main character, Mark Renton.  Even though one of the most recognisable themes of the film is family and friendship, it is not represented as expected. Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy and Begbie are not friends. They all use each other for their own benefit and let themselves end either in prison or in the hospital with an overdose. Tommy dies due to Renton’s irresponsible choice that led Lizzy (Tommy’s girlfriend) to break up with him, making him depressed and rely on heroin to numb his pain. He contracts HIV and proclaims that he has AIDS when Renton goes to visit him after his own overdose...

The Evaluative Analysis Beyond is a short film that shows a mysterious woman having to choose between life and death on a subconscious level. This psychological drama portrays a symbolic idea of death as a decision that depends on the individual itself, based on what her subconscious shows her, trying to overcome bad memories. This film presents a lot of symbolism that aims to generate an effect on the viewer and to have them interpret what they represent. In spite of having a baleful atmosphere, the first idea of this short film was not to have it become a horror, instead, to use iconography, sudden transitions and intense sounds to show a dreamy environment where the woman is somewhat trapped. Its main objective is to make the audience doubt about what is real and what is part of her imagination, if she is in danger or if she needs protection from herself. Everything is aimed to make the viewer wonder and come up with theories about what they are seeing on screen. At the end, the mai...