Extra Cred: Beyond the Road by Alexandr Beran

Beyond the Road is an independent film directed by Charly Braun and features a young Argentinian, Santiago, who travels back to Montevideo to see about some land his late folks have left him. Rather than drive directly to his destination, he picks up a Belgian girl, Juliette, pulling a suitcase over a beach road and offers to giver her a ride. We learn that Juliette is on route to visit an Uruguayan commune leader she'd met in Costa Rica, as she has fallen in love with him, but along the way her and Santiago establish a dynamic relationship on the foundation of their English and love for bohemian experiences.

South American locations are beautifully realized and help to bolster the bond the two form. A feral dog follows the pair along a littered beach and they swoon at its antics together, of which establishes their wonder for the world. This film makes great use of beasts; they enter and exit the frame showcasing the patience of the camera worker.

Santiago says to Juliette that "We are slaves of our words," implying that silence among people should be celebrated, but the dialogue between the characters is perhaps the most successful part of the film. It's playful, lonely and ultra-realistic, and the pair's bond forming is never questioned. I envy the two for all their happy accidents and foibles, for it brings them to realizations that only adventurers can have.

"We can't do much with these memories," is a quote from the film that expresses the great fragility of every moment. Juliette jumps into a pen of sheep on a beautiful Argentinian farm; the sheep scatter at exactly the same rate in their respective directions and leave a wide birth for her to walk through. It's magical and serene and impermanent--worth remembering but not articulating. But then why am I so choked up.

Our experiences are randomly generated but it's our job to form a cohesion between them all. Our perspectives and desires help to bare the fruit, and Beyond the Road captures this in such a way that each viewer becomes instrumental in the overall meaning.

The Last Temptation of Christ - Benjamin Hilton

Title/Year:  The Last Temptation of Christ/1988
Director/Birth Country/Year Born:  Martin Scorsese/USA/1942
Budget:  $7 million
Gross:  $8.4 million
Synopsis:  Jesus of Nazareth, questions why God placed him on Earth.  While attempting to discover why he is tormented by demons and sin until he is hoisted onto the cross to die.  There he is faced with the temptation of leaving the cross and living a normal life.
Narrative and Visual Keywords:  Cross, death, sin, Jesus Christ, Gospels, Bible, God, Judas, Romans, Faith, temptation, Satan, prophecy, Crucifixion, Jewish
Characterization/Dialogue:  Scorsese faced the difficult challenge of giving human qualities to Jesus, and the other apostles.  Though moving almost completely away from the bible, he succeeds in make Jesus a believable person, instead of a idol for good.
Political/ Social Commentary:  The film was banned in several countries such as Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina.  The movie is still banned in Philippines and Singapore.
Historical Relevance/ Recognition
Notable Collaboration:  Leo Marks, writer of the screenplay, provided the voice for Satan.
Random fact, Etc.


Why is the film considered controversial? Where was it banned (considered controversial)?The film was banned in countries for several reasons, the most prominate being the alternate endings where Jesus chooses not to die on the cross and instead go live the life of a regular human.  Other reasons are that Jesus was a cross builder for the Romans, being tormented by the voice of God, and him lamenting in the "many sins" he has commited.

What societal "comfort zones" does it push the limit of?
The film pushes the "comfort zone" of society's religious beliefes.  The film shows Jesus as a human, instead of a devine savoir.  Jesus has doubts, fears, and gives into sin all for the feeling of comfort, a very human quality.  Jesus giving into temptation at the end of the movie truly shows the audiance the true "weakness" of Jesus.

Would it still be considered controversial if it were released today? I would not consider this controversial today.  The idea of challenging religious beliefes and questioning what life truly means is a common practice today.  And believing that truly devout individuals could give into temptaiton is something that is widely accepted and even expected to some degree (especially in politics).

Do you feel the director's choice to show the material is ethically sound?Yes, because without it the audiance would be deprived of the true character arc of Jesus.  We would witness Jesus as questioning his faith, then devotly dieing on the cross.

Would you recommend this film to a friend?
Yes, I would.  This film is both an excellent film for it's story and characters, as well as an important part in the history of film.

FINAL PRESENTATION SPECS

DFV363

Final Presentation Specs

Your presentation will be limited to twelve minutes, please plan accordingly. You must show clips from TWO (no more, no less) different films. You will construct a written response to the questions provided below for EACH FILM, to preface each clip you show. All questions must be touched upon.

One of the major aspects of this assignment is choosing appropriate clips to highlight the director’s work

·      You must bring in a PHYSICAL copy of your films, no streaming set-up will be provided.

·      You must post your written element to the blog. You will be able to read from your post, to guide you through your presentation.

·      You must provide the class with copies of your “Director’s Worksheet”

Questions to consider while preparing your Final Presentation.

The Film as a Product of a Single Creative Mind--the Auteur

1.     In terms of this film and other films by the same director, how would you describe his/her style?

2.     How does each element of this film serve to reflect the director’s artistic vision, style, and overall philosophy of film or even philosophy of life itself?

3.     What basic similarities does this film have to other films by the same director? How is it significantly different?

4.     Where in the film do we get the strongest impressions of the director’s personality showing through, imposing his/her unique creative intelligence on the material?

5.     5. What is the quality of this film compared to other works in his/her cannon? As compared to his other films, how well does this film reflect the philosophy, personality, and artistic vision of the man/woman who made it? Does this film suggest a growth in some new direction from other works? If so, describe new direction.

Your grade will be determined by: relevance of clips, clarity of presentation (written and vocal articulation, detail of answers to questions provided, completed director’s worksheet, and depth of research.

** AS ALWAYS CITE ALL SOURCES**

A Clockwork Orange - Vik Sklyarov

 Title/Year: A Clockwork Orange (1971)
 Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Stanley Kubrick, NYC, NY (US), July 28th, 1928
Budget: $2,200,000 (estimated)
Gross: $26,589,355 (USA) (1973)
Synopsis: Alex and his hooligan gain, go around town in a future England, having the enjoymeny of beating and raping victims, however one night after accidently murdering someone Alex gets caught by the police. While in jail Alex learns of an experiment that would "cure" him and cause him to detest violence and rape, but things to really go as planned.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Classical music, Ludwig Van Beethoven, visual, sex, violence, prison, ambient sound, gang, dystopian.
Characterization/ Dialogue:  Alex is the narrator in the film, from his POV. Some of the words used in the dialogue,especially coming from Alex are these random Russian words, which definitely fit into the context, they're just said in a different language.
Camera/lighting/editing technique: The techniques are very stylized, there is focus on high keys, silhouettes, etc.
 Political/ Social Commentary:  The police, the government and the mental institutions/clinics all are working together and are part of the high power. They all work together to help "cure" people of their sickness, cause them to be against violence, rape, etc and changing them back to the norm.



Why is the film considered controversial? Where was it banned (considered controversial)?
To do the violence and sexuality in the film, the film received miscellaneous ratings such as an "X" rating, which in our day would be considered an "NC-17" rating. However, one of the big reasons it wasn't shown in theaters for long is because there was a "copy cat" murder occured afterward, thus getting Kubrick to pull the film from theaters to prevent any further problems.


What societal "comfort zones" does it push the limit of? 
Sexuality, rape, violence, drugs.


Would it still be considered controversial if it were released today?
 Well it depends on what aspect of the film would be considered controversial, the violence would definitely not be controversial, compared to the recent films in the 21st century, the violence in these films is far greater than what was shown in Clockwork Orange (which was fairly minor). What can however be possibly considered controversial is the attitude towards women and the sexuality, but then again the culture these days has adapted to far worse, therefore I wouldn't think this film would be considered too controversial. The worst case would be that the film would receive an"R" rating for it's content. But maybe those that get disturbed too easily with offense towards women or sexuality would probably place this film in an "NC-17" rating. The film would still be highly appreciated though by many people who enjoy thought provoking, art cinema.

Do you feel the director's choice to show the material is ethically sound?
  The director adapted the story from a movie and to my knowledge he tried to keep the movie in context with the story. It first depends on the viewer and what they think is ethical or not, but overall if what is shown is part of the story and helps push the story forward, and gives the story "realistic" feel, then ethics doesn't really matter.

Would you recommend this film to a friend?
I would recommend it to a friend who's taste would fit with the style of this film, and to someone who would enjoy this film for what it is.

**Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/

The Last House on the Left by Ryan Haberman

Title/Year : The Last House on the Left (1972)
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Wes Craven , 1939, United States
Budget: $90,000
Gross: $10,000,000 (Worldwide)
Synopsis:  A band of ruthless criminals on –the-run, kidnap two teenage girls and all hell breaks loose.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Banned, rape, psycho, murder, revenge, horror.
Characterization/ Dialogue: Regular amounts of normal dialogue, mystery, tension, psychotic dialogue
Camera/lighting/editing technique: Very 1970’s-ish camera styles, lots of quick zooms, tracking shots, mostly close ups and average distances and angles. Mostly outdoor/ natural lighting. Some indoor lighting. This film is in color.
 Political/ Social Commentary : Heavily censored in many countries and banned in the United Kingdom until 2008 as one of the Department of Public Prosecutions list of "video nasties"
Historical Relevance/ Recognition: Has become a cult classic
Notable Collaboration : n/a
Random fact, Etc.: One of the more memorable aspects of the film is the advertising campaign. The film underwent many name changes, including Sex Crime of the Century (from the characters' dialogue in the car ride scene), Krug and Company (a version included on the DVD release), and The Men's Room (simply because one poster showed a men's bathroom). None of these names were particularly successful. Someone then came up with the title The Last House on the Left, along with the infamous "To avoid fainting, keep repeating-it's only a movie..." advertising campaign.

1. 

      This film was considered controversial in many countries and had to be heavily edited, but it had the most trouble in Great Britain, who banned it. They were concerned about the intense scenes of sadism and violence and it was put into a category of low-budget horror films that were made in either Italy or the U.S.  deemed “video nasties”, that were harshly criticized for their violent content.

 .

    2.

     There are some intense scenes of rape and murder of minors in this film and I think that really is what people were uncomfortable with. It’s just something that most people don’t want to see, or think about I guess. I suppose at the time it was something that hadn’t really been shown in cinema either, so it was super shocking for people.

    3. 

    I don’t think it would have been considered to be controversial if it was released today, unless they really made it a lot more graphic. In retrospect, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It even seemed a bit cheesy to me.

   4. 

     I feel like the director should be able to tell a story in whatever way he feels it will work best, to a certain extent. Obviously there are some things that are just universally unacceptable, but most things in cinema are fake anyway. So if Wes Craven decides he wants to use graphic violent material to get his point across, then so be it.  You don’t have to go see the movie if you don’t want to.

   5. 

     Personally, I would not recommend this film to a friend, unless they want to see a messed up movie or something. But I actually didn’t think it was that great.

  

Sources:

Parnell, Tom. The Last House on the Left (1972). Movies at Midnight Blog. Web. October 30, 2010. February 27^th, 2012.

The Last House on the Left (1972), 2012. Web. 27^th February, 2012. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055572/

The Last House on the Left, Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 January, 2012. Web. 27 February 2012.

Wes Craven, Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 30 January, 2012. Web. 27 February 2012.