POST 17: SPACES & EXCHANGES: ON THE ROAD / CROSSING BORDERS

A road movie is a film genre in which the main characters leave home to travel from place to place, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. The term can still apply to scenarios where it can be a misnomer, such as when the plot of a film involves off-road travel.
he genre has its roots in spoken and written tales of epic journeys, such as the Odyssey and the Aeneid. The road film is a standard plot employed by screenwriters. It is a type of bildungsroman, a story in which the hero changes, grows or improves over the course of the story.
The on-the-road plot was used at the birth of American cinema but blossomed in the years after World War II, reflecting a boom in automobile production and the growth of youth culture. Even so, awareness of the "road picture" as a genre came only in the 1960s with Bonnie and Clyde and Easy Rider.

 

Paris, Texas (1984)

The ultimate 'road movie'

I think this film can illustrate the notion 'Spaces and Exchanges' by maybe showing how the man (in general) looks for himself in space, in different places then the places where he lives his everyday life, and by loosing the everyday routine. Here, in the opening scene, we can see a man in suit in the desert, apparently lost. It illustrates very well the topic of the man looking for something in his life by travelling from places to places.

Under the Same Moon (2007) 

A MOVIE ABOUT EMIGRATION / IMMIGRATION

UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA) tells the parallel stories of nine-year-old Carlitos and his mother, Rosario. In the hopes of providing a better life for her son, Rosario works illegally in the U.S. while her mother cares for Carlitos back in Mexico. Unexpected circumstances drive both Rosario and Carlitos to embark on their own journeys in a desperate attempt to reunite. Along the way, mother and son face challenges and obstacles but never lose hope that they will one day be together again.

This movie is about immigration from Mexico to the USA, which is a very common thing in America. Here, the notion is very well illustrated because the journey from a space (Mexico) to another very different space (the USA) is not just a car travel but a life journey for a little boy from Mexico and the exchanges of cultures in the movie (mexican-american) might be very interesting for the notion we study.

POST 11: MYTHS & HEROES: THE AMERICAN DREAM

 

This is a debate from the Arthur M. Blanck Foundation between a journalist and a guest, i presume. They are talking about the future of the American Dream, and the journalist is wondering wether this ideal is about opportunities, home ownership, economic betterment, education or expecting that the next generation's lives will be better than now. The guest answers by using a notion that the journalist did not mention: jobs. He explains that nowadays, "kids" are better prepared for jobs that aren't available, and who, when they are, don't have health care, retirement benefits or payed vacations. And so he wonders what America might have to do to give all the young generation the jobs they need, because jobs are the cornerstone of this American Dream.

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This video is the trailer of a movie called In America by Jim Sheridan. It tells the story of a family of Irish immigrants who got away from the police in their country and arrived in New York City. It embraces very well the concept of American Dream because they came to America to start from scratch after loosing a child. They meet a black man, their neighbour, who is an artist and a loner and who has AIDS. They also try to have another child but the mother could die and in America, any medical intervention including delivery, is very expensive.

POST 5: FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES

 

Barton Fink: this movie is about a tortured playwright who takes a chance at Hollywood but finds himself in difficult situations such as horrible places to stay, alcoholic idol, lack of inspiration, a very exhuberant boss... 

Joel & Ethan Coen: the Coen brothers are very known american film makers who made epic movies like The Big Lebowsky or No Country For Old Man

John Turturro is an american actor who plays in a lot of the Coen brother's movie like The Big Lebowski and O Brother. He is also a film director and a writer.

John Goodman is an american acotr who also appears in a lot of the Coen brother's movie with John Turturro such as The Big Lebowski, O Brother and Raising Arizona. He is also a voice artist and he gave his voice to the character Sully in Monster Inc from Pixar.

POST 4: The Idea of Progress in Witness, a movie released in 1985

This video is the trailer of a movie called Witness, released in 1985.

This movie is a thriller, and it tells the story of an amish family who gets involved in a murder case because a little boy was apparently a witness to this murder. In the trailer we can see the little boy and his mother who are "protected" and followed by a police officer, played by Harrison Ford. Obviously it is a movie with a lot of action, because we see in the trailer scenes were people get shot, or scream, and the family running away with the police officer. Also, I guess it is also a love story because at the end of the trailer, the amish mother and the police officer kiss, and we hear a woman saying that people are "talking about them". I think it is the typical Hollywood action movie with a little love story in it to make even more interesting and not that violent because it still is about a homicide. I also would love to see it because it is kind of an old movie (1985) and old thrillers are the best, I love to watch them with my parents. Also, I love Harrison Ford and I think he would be an excellent police officer in that kind of movie because he is well known for his roles in action movies.