Cacique-Borja, Bad News

Bad News

Presumed innocence is a great thriller, with many twists and turns that leave the audience thinking about the protagonist actual innocence. Presumed innocence is “one of the deepest” movies that Harrison Ford has played in, and consequently of a different caliber from his normal action packed films (Pfeiffer 187). What makes the movie so thrilling is the pondering that the audience does, when the responsible for the act is finally revealed and no justice can be done because there is no way to convict two people for the same crime. The evidence for and against Sabich plays a tug of war during the movie but in three scenes Sabich’s innocence is undermined.

The first scene where Rusty Sabich presumption of innocence is undermined is when Rusty fails to run the finger prints that his police officer friend asked for. The finger prints are a key piece to determining the killer and his inaptitude to run the prints put Sabich’s innocence into question. During this scene, Sabich also asks his friend to keep part of the phone records out of the investigation because he repeatedly had called her the days leading to her murder. The second scene that undermines his innocence is when he is talking to the biopsy doctor and the doctor tells him that the rape homicide is a set up. Based on the previous conversation that Sabich had with his cop friend we know that Sabich had a reason and a motive to kill her.

After Sabich is found innocent, Sabich encounters the killing weapon in his house. He twirls it to see the dried blood all over the weapon and then, without a word, heads into the house. The tight frame around his face indicates that he has come across a key item that could prove him guilty. The angle in the frame is neutral giving no indication to about his actual innocent and his face expression gives no lead way either.  However, the shadow covering half of his face suggests a dark side that the weapon developed. To the audience it appears that Sabich has committed the crime and to avoid being convicted, he hid the murder weapon in his house.

These three scenes are what make the film an intellectual work because even to the last scene, the audience is left wondering if Sabich committed the crime. Alongside Rusty Sabich innocence resides corruption that is both the cause and the effect of Sabich’s dilemma. Sabich’s part in corruption is both the aid and the deteriorating factor that put him in his position. One wonders had Sabich had not been part of the corrupt system, would have been a scapegoat? But like his friend cop said, the lady was bad news.

Cacique-Borja, Bipolar I Disorder

Bipolar I Disorder

 

 

 

If I had to diagnose Allie Fox, I would diagnose him with Bipolar I disorder. During the movie, Allie suffers from multiple episodes of Mania. Mania is an intense high where the person feels euphoric. The audience is first exposed to this mania in act one, when Charlie wakes up to find that, him and his whole family, are moving to Mosquita. The event is turned into a celebration that no sane person would find worth celebrating. Allie is able to “convince” the family that they were leaving a rotten country for a paradise jungle. From the way the family acts to the news, the plan would appear bullet proof until finances, food, housing, all the things a person needs to survive come into question.

Once in Jeronimo, the Foxes get to work on transforming their newly bought village into home. Allie on the other hand has bigger plans in mind and sets the natives to work on his bigger and improved Fat Boy. The manic high reaches its peak when the construction of Fat Boy is complete. Once it is built, Allie loses grip on the high and quickly plunges into a depression as he struggles to induce another episode of mania. The high that sounded appealing once, leads to difficulty in areas of personal decisions. Allie, his sons and a group of natives, make a tiring trip across the jungle to bring ice to the other natives. His plan has two major flaws. One, the trip takes one and a half day by foot and two, ice melts. Allie’s need for the high, clouds his judgment and opens the door for misfortune. The trip damages his relationship with his sons and leaves a trail for intruders.

After his futile trip to the other natives, Allie remains in a deep depression. He attempts to rebuild the paradise he destroyed but every time he tries, the consequences of his past actions are apparent. Allie is both physically and mentally at loss. He loses the villagers of Jeronimo and he loses the respect of his family. In a frantic attempt to recover the high, Allie sets fire on Reverend Spellgood’s church. Allie blames the Reverend for the colonization of the natives when all he wanted to do was free them. Unfortunately for Allie, his actions toward euphoria end up being his final actions. His depressive episode is exacerbated when he is shot by the reverend, and uses his physical condition as an excuse for his family to remain with him. Allie Fox is a “monster, a clown, a fool and a genius” (Pfeiffer 157) but most importantly he is bipolar, who literally cannot help himself but over exaggerate his emotions to the point of destruction.

 







Cacique-Borja, New Light.

New Light.

Harrison Ford wonderfully portrayed the paper of John Book through sincere responses that he was able to keep intact throughout the shooting by keeping “his distance from the Amish culture to enhance his characterization of John Book” (Pfeiffer, 150)At first glance, John Book is the sort of character that is followed by a long line of violence inherited from his job as a police officer. Regardless of whether he is fighting the good fight or the bad fight, violence is part of his daily routine. So often, that when Rachel and Samuel begin to tag along, the audience is only aware of the monstrosities that Book goes through because of Rachel’s and Samuel’s expressions. Book has become so innate to the situation that he is no longer affected by it and is consequently indifferent. That indifference extends to his personal life when the audience finds out through Book’s interaction with his sister that he has conservative values. Book disapproves of his sister having men sleep over while her children are there but at the same time Rachel points out to Book that he has been so caught up with being a good cop that he has lost sight of the simple pleasures of life such as having a family. Book has only one goal in mind, caching the bad guys. Thus when it turns out that the bad guys are within his ranks, Book kind of loses sight of his objective.

 The time with the Amish reinforces his main goal of out ruling corruption. Book enters the Amish world as physically and mentally crippled from the sudden realization that he has been living under false pretenses. The first interactions between both parties begin awkwardly as neither party sees benefit in the stay of Book. Both assume that Book would only stay temporarily and life as they know would return to normal. To everybody’s dismay, Book stays to learn the value of community.

The contrast between both worlds is visually apparent. Book’s world is closely knit but humanly distanced while the Amish are a mirror opposite with physically distanced but humanly close. This juxtaposition allows Book to realize that appearing to be a community by living in the city where everything is close by does not guarantee that people are part of a community. The Amish on the other hand realize the importance of getting to know their neighbors while allowing for personal space. Book’s time with the Amish allows him to appreciate the sense of community more in a way that was not possible in his isolated city life.

At the end of the movie, book has learned to let loose on his conservative values after deeply falling for Rachel who was previously married. His sense of community is strengthen when the entire town shows up to help Book shake the bad cops off and more importantly he realizes that he has a bigger meaning in life. Book understands that he has the responsibility of being the right hand of justice. Even with all the transformations, Book remains true to his violent ways. Despite having been exposed to the Amish gentle ways Book cannot let go of his old ways. This sort of “old habits die hard” dilemma, remind the audience that Book is human and no human is perfect.

Cacique-Borja, Oversimplified

Oversimplified

 

 

The 1991 film was a bad example of “American” movies. While Hollywood’s signature films require happy endings, there has to be something else to the movie in order for it to be a successful blockbuster. The 1991 film felt, for lack of a better word, dumbed down. The placement of the voice over was more annoying than helpful and the movie could have been more faithful to the book. In comparison to the 1991 film, the Director’s cut had some crucial cuts that were made explicitly to improve the quality of the movie. The major quality improvement was the omission of the voice over by Harrison Ford. The omission allowed the audience to make their own interpretation of what was happening in the film which also engaged the audience more.

The second improvement was the addition of an 11 second segment of a unicorn running through a forest. The unicorn was the visual representation of one of the book’s main points, the value of “real” animals. Throughout the movie it’s hinted and talked about the high price of “real” animals but it’s never explicitly explained why the prices are so high. Thus the unicorn is able to pull all those thoughts together to show that the “real” animals don’t particularly exist anymore but they are dreamed about just like a unicorn is.

The last main change between the 1991 and the Director’s cut was the last scene. The Director’s cut omitted the most of the country side shot while the 1991 showed Deckard and Racheal head into uncertainty in a car along a beautiful country road. Ridley Scott must have omitted that scene because the book did not have a happy ending. The book left the reader in an uncertain phase where nobody knew if Deckard was happy accepting androids and electrical animals as beings. The ending of 1991 was not true to the book which must have received a lot of criticism by the fans of Dick’s novel.

In my opinion the Director’s cut was a better movie because it didn’t try to over emphasize the importance of Rick Deckard’s feelings. At the same time I only saw the Director’s cut as a first draft to a movie that could have been a lot better. Scott was able to compress a lot of themes into either one character or short scenes but Mercerism and Friendly should have not been taken out of the equation. Blade Runner is a Lord of the Rings type of movie because the book demands obscene amounts of time to develop the plot correctly. I think the 1991 version should be completely erased from everybody’s memories and have the Director’s Cut be the baseline.

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Cacique-Borja, No Sheep.

No Sheep.

The movie Blade Runner, 1982, portrayed Richard Deckard as a distant cousin of the Richard Deckard character in Phillip K. Dick’s novel. For starters, the Richard Deckard in the movie had already developed some sort of empathy towards the droid before the audience had even been introduced to him. The comparison point in the book, when Richard is informed of what happened to Dave and how he is being sent to test out the scale, Richard has just been introduced to this thought provoking idea. This first difference between both Deckard’s also ends up being one of the few similarities that both Deckard’s have.

Another prominent difference is the absence of the electric sheep. His obsession for acquiring a real animal in the book, which is the driving force behind the retirements, is nonexistent. Deckard in the movie does not have an electric sheep. The electric sheep in the book made it clear that society had a fixed idea of what was and what wasn’t. Everything else, the Sidney catalog, the specials and the nexus 6 were the little details that made the idea of there being a distinction between droids and human seem plausible. Instead, the movie relies on visuals to explain the book’s clear distinction between droid and human.

Following this time line, Richard in the movie is forced to entertain the request of his old boss while the Richard in the book embarks on the journey for the monetary value. As stated above, the ownership of live animals was a sign of power. Deckard in the book felt compelled to live up to the society’s standards which is why he was happy to have so many droids to retire because he could finally replace the electric sheep with a real animal.

The last eye sore difference between the two Deckard’s was the absence of Iran, Deckard’s wife. In the book, Deckard lives with his wife who is in a way, another role in Deckard’s ability to continue being a Blade Runner. He has to provide for his wife both financially and socially. With the bounty money he can buy her things (such as the real animal) and raise her from the miserable experience of being on earth. In the movie, Deckard does not have that reason to work hard which is where Rachel comes in and is completely transformed from the emotionless seducer to a soul mate. Someone had to take Iran’s spot to motivate Deckard and at the same time serve as the final say in Richard’s capability of sympathizing with droids.

Overall, there were a couple of main “beings” that were not in the movies that slightly altered the meaning of the movie to the book, but through the shifting of elements, the lack of beings were accounted for.

Cacique-Borja,Disappointment

Disappointment

From the first two movies, the audience develops a sense of Indiana as a tough, self-reliant adventurous man. Indiana becomes the protagonists in the movie where the hero can overcome even the most ridiculous task at hand. This picture perfect knight is intriguing to the audience in Raiders of the Lost Arc, but loses momentum in Temple of Doom as the audience is no longer appalled at the same story in a different context. Indiana’s character needed to be furthered developed to appeal to the audiences. There is no apparent reward for Indiana’s missions other than money and glory until The Last Crusade when the role of Indiana must become Henry Jr. instead of Indiana, in order to find his true place in the world. The only way he can accomplish this is to come to terms with his relationship to his father.

The opening scene slightly reveals the disconnect with his father as he approaches him with the Golden Cross, eager to tell him what happened only to be told away. Indiana was hopping to be given parenting advice as any young boy would when encountering themselves in a unique situation. The camera makes a point of view shot to emphasize this disconnect by creating a tight frame on the father’s hand to demonstrate his concentration on his work and a reaction shot on Indiana to show his reaction to his father’s way of telling him to go away.  The dismissal of his father can be noted as a sign of selfishness for putting his own work ahead of his son.

After this deception, Indiana is confronted with corruption which leaves him at an even darker place as he hands the cross over to the authorities who then hand it to the crooks. On this scene the character proximities change from personal to social to emphasize the shattering of confidence Indiana had on authorities, when the cross is taken from him it’s a social proxemics where there is no doubt to everyone that what is happening is corrupt. Then the personal shot is used to stress the change in Indiana from a boy to young man who is able to see that the world can be a cruel one.  As fedora hat approaches him, the angle of the camera moves from looking down at Indiana to a neutral angle. Here, Indiana’s journey begins.
Pfeiffer writes that in terms of Harrison Ford, Connery who playes as Indy's father played such convincing "paternal role that Ford was constantly reminded of his relationship with his father" which played well thorughout the entire movie ( Pfeiffer 2002). Out of the trilogy The Last Crusade was my favorite because it brought together all the loose ends that the other movies had left behind. I

 

Cacique-Borja, Knowledge of the Arc

In Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones transforms from a mercenary to an indentured knight through a journey that takes all movie. At the beginning of the movie, Indy is closing a deal with the Chinese mob in Shanghai until it goes south. Once he escapes he finds himself in a tight situation trying to survive a plane crash. When he survives the crash, he encounters a village and gets intertwined in their problems. He is mostly indifferent until they tell him about the theft of the sacred stone that brings peace to the town. Indiana enters the quest only because of the historical significance of the stone. Until this point, Indy’s actions are mandated through a reward and glory standpoint. Entering this retrieval journey will bring no material reward to Indy thus he skeptically takes on the challenge. After he retrieves the stone from the Thuggees, the village is transformed from a dessert wasteland to a thriving green setting. When Willy asks him why he returned the stone and not sold it for money, he said that if he did the stone would just be collecting dust in a museum, in the village it was helping people. Here, Indiana realizes how much the stone meant to the village and makes the transformation from mercenary to indenture knight.

In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy goes through a similar journey where at the beginning he embarks on the journey for the glory and reward aspect. Indy is very excited about making a discovery of a lifetime. To find the lost Arc containing the Ten Commandments and being able to study through the government leaves Indy with a sense of enthusiasm when he leaves for India. Indy feels as he has found an authoritative figure (the government) that takes him seriously and wants to use his talents for the greater good of humanity. When he is able to bring the arc out of its hiding place, Belloq wins once more and is able to acquire what Indy has recovered. Belloq tells Indy that the arc is history and that they are just witnessing history. This makes Indy reflect on why he is after the arc. He comes to the conclusion that his any finding he does on the arc surpass Indy and affects humanity as a whole. Indy acknowledges that the arc must be retrieved at any costs; he realizes that knowledge is more rewarding than money and fame. Thus when the journey is over and the United States has the arc under their power Indy is upset that the “top people are working on it” because he knows that is not true. Indy knows that the government has sized the Arc and hid it away. Here he loses hope on the government that set him abroad to find the arc and finds a new authoritative figure, knowledge. Knowledge is the only one that won’t betray him. As Pfeiffer writes, Indiana is a “kind of swashbuckling hero”, always raging an inner battle between good and evil or in this case glory and righteousness. Indy is human with  human frailties, fears, and money problems but overall a famous anthropologist.

Cacique-Borja, Not Lukewarm

Not Luke warm

Campbell's general idea of a hero consists of a male that overcomes "roadblocks" while gaining wisdom in order to return peace to its people. The trilogies visually display the hero's journey for Luke as the audience visually sees Luke depart, train with Yoda and ultimately kill the emperor that represents the Dark Force. During the entire trilogy there is more camera attention dedicated to what Luke and the force are doing. Seldom does the camera rest upon Han. Han's majority of camera time consists of unveiling a romantic relationship between him and Leia. Han is either seen flirting with Leia or combating clones with Chewbacca. .

As Campbell writes, "The civic hero is imbedded in the community", Luke rises from a small unknown settlement in Tatooine. When he is forced to leave he doesn't know anyone and has a very awkward feel about the entire situation. Han on the other hand rose from the multitude, was forced into the journey by the situation and became a hero of the people. In both journeys, both men succeed in their journey but the duration of each differs. At first Luke denies his calling, but is quickly convinced by Obi-Wan and his thirst of adventure. On the first movie we see, Luke rise to hero position by aiding in destroying the death star. His actions lead him to complete the journey of a hero in a superficial level for he created a tangible goal; the elimination of the death star, and fulfilled it. Once he fulfills this goal, Luke realizes that his actual purpose in life has a higher meaning, to defeat the Dark Force, a non tangible object. This second journey takes the entire three movies to complete but his journey is one that appears mystical and not relatable, that of a contemporary hero.

Unlike Luke, Han takes the entire trilogy to fulfill his hero’s journey, constantly battling his inner good and bad often giving in to the bad. Han embarks on the journey out of necessity to pay his debts, a story many can relate to. When he is invited to join the rebels and fight for the cause, Han is quick to think of only him and needs, refusing the call. When the rebels are in need he returns to aid and stays in a sort of conditional stay, until they recover. This is his way of sort of accepting the call, a position many people see themselves at while trying to aid others and trying to prioritize themselves at the same time. Han’s return also occurs during another conditional stay under the same premises. Becoming a hero happens by mistake while trying to save Leia who he has fallen for.  Fulfilling the romantic aspect of Campbell’s hero. In The Return of the Jedi, Han confuses Luke as Leia’s lover and is willing to let them be because this is where his journey as a hero ends, the same way many of us end our journey through a lot of hardship only to be rewarded by redemption.

While Luke appears to be on a mystical journey with the Force, Han’s sole objective is to survive. His role of survivor appeals to a wider audience and thus is the true civic hero.

Cacique-Borja, Toying with the Dark Side

 Toying with the Dark Side

In both movies we mostly see the concept of the Dark Side only apply to Luke, Darth Vader and the Emperor.  Luke’s relationship with the dark force is highlighted because he is the new generation coming to power. The Dark Side holds two main attractions for Luke; it offers him power and his father.

 In the movie The Empire Strikes Back, Luke begins to be truly acquainted with the force. During his training with Yoda, Yoda doubts Luke’s success because of his lack of maturity and his excess of anger. Yoda knows that what drives Luke to train is his anger towards Darth Vader, thus he cautions Luke that the same anger that has allowed him to win battles in the past will make him succumb to Vader. Part of beinga Jedi is being able to tap the force without using anger. Yoda explains to Luke that a Jedi never uses the force to fights only to defend. A concept that does not entirely manifests its way into Luke’s head until he is facing the emperor. Thus during his time with Yoda, Luke plays with the Force, routinely taping into his anger for Vader to complete the tasks Yoda gives him. It is not until Yoda lifts Luke’s aircraft that he realizes he does not need anger and the dark force to achieve complex tasks that he had seen Vader do which he had consequently thought as the only way to beat Vader. Momentarily Luke ceases to play with the Dark Side.

In The Return of the Jedi, the scene when the emperor makes a final case for the upsides of joining the Dark Side Luke puts a stop to toying with the Dark Side by figuratively putting his foot down. As Vader did, the emperor tries to convince Luke that his destiny is to join the Dark Side. The emperor makes Luke agonize by watching his friends battle the imperial fleets and thus tempting Luke to tap into his anger. During a stressful five minutes and a fight with Vader Luke ceases to use anger as a main access point to the force consequently winning against the Dark Side.

Another character that battles against his own Dark Side is Han Solo. For two consecutive movies we see Han try to leave the rebellion to go find Jabba the Hut to pay him. There is always a sort of inner struggle that manifests as soon as he announces he is going to find Jabba. Jabba represents the Dark Side for him for he knows that the moment he pays Jabba he will have no other option but to return to his old ways. Thus he toys with the idea of paying a debt to keep living his old life or continue to life he had created for himself. This struggle is most evident in The Empire Strikes Back, when at the beginning of the movie he announces he is leaving the rebel station. On one side he does this to make Leia proclaim that she loves him. He ends up not leaving Leia because the empire strikes and returns out necessity. This is a huge distinction between Luke’s dismissal of the Dark Side and Hans. Luke makes a choice to not join the Dark Side while Han does so out of necessity. In Pfeiffer’s The Films of Harrison Ford, Ford “initially balked at becoming part of an ongoing series” (Pfeiffer 105). In a figurative sense, Ford toys with the Dark Side of abandoning the film similarly to Han’s repeated try to abandon the Rebels.

Cacique-Borja, Initiation of a young Skywalker

Initiation of a Young Skywalker

In Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces, the hero embarks into a journey consisting of three phases; departure, initiation and return. Star Wars: A new Hope is the first of a trilogy of Star Wars movies, where a young Luke Skywalker is made into a hero. In the initiation phase, Luke is faced with doubt. He wonders if the force actually exists and if he should aid the rebellion against the empire. After his aunt and uncle’s death and the recording of princess Leia he accepts to aid Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The first step of his initiation begins in Han Solo’s ship, when he is practicing deflecting the droid with the light saber. At the beginning he has little success deflecting the rays, he’s even mocked by Han that the force is a joke. When Obi Wan puts the helmet on Luke’s head, Luke takes a “leap of faith” by blindingly believing in the force. The audience hears a (disguised) sound of Obi-Wan’s voice prompting Luke to blindly trust his instincts.  After a couple of tries, Luke succeeds in deflecting the rays and deflecting any doubt that the force existed. While this scene only lasts a couple of minutes it serves to further propel the hero’s journey.

Luke’s meeting with Leia affirms that Princess Leia is both the Goddess and the Temptress. While she is the final test of talent and the gold medal she is also an obstacle due to her good looks, which pray as a weakness on Luke. Successfully rescuing Princess Leia dictates Luke’s success or failure to become a hero. Thus after Han, Chewie, R2, C3P0 and Princess Leia are able to escape, Luke feels as if he is truly a hero. While he might have lost Obi-Wan, Luke was aware of the risks the mission entailed. The scene in where Luke aids Han in destroying the empire fleets after their escape shows the end of initiation. Luke understands that he is now on a journey greater than himself.

Even during the creation of the actual film, both the director and the cast have a hard time making the movie. Harrison Ford describes the experience as incredible he remarks that he was “one of the few people who thought it was going to work” (67). A film that was thought to burn a crash finds itself creating a new hero and a new culture. The initiation stage for the actual film began with the authorization of 20^th century Fox films, granting Lucas the necessary monetary bed in which he set afoot his entire process.  Just as Luke had doubt that the force existed, Lucas had doubt that the film budget would ever cease to increase. In a similar manner to Luke the mentorship of 20^th Century Fox film gave it the necessary faith it needed to soar and fly.  Making both the film and the making of the film a representation of Campbell’s work.



Cacique-Borja Yunuen, True Hero.

True Hero

The concept of heroism has been around since the Greek and Roman period. The way heroes have been interpreted as has changed with the course in time. Heroes have been portrayed as demigods, individuals from another planet to a little boy in a Batman suit with leukemia. In either interpretation the individual has embarked into an event in a selfless manner. The movie Hanover Street directed by Peter Hyams brings to life yet another interpretation of the highly esteemed word hero. The film set in World War II London is partly a love story and partly an action film. The first part is a love story carried out by Harrison Ford as Lieutenant David Halloran, an American Air Force pilot assigned to bombing Germany evaded parts of the United Kingdom, and Lesley Anne Down as Margaret Sellinger an English nurse. The two quickly fall in love shortly after their first encounter, dramatically changing them and forcing them to view life in a different manner. Halloran begins to feel less lonely and more afraid when embarking bombing missions and Margaret begins to lead a double life.

 Amidst their internal chaos, the second part of the film begins; Halloran is assigned to fly a British spy into German evaded Britain. Unknown to Halloran the spy is Paul Sellinger, Margaret Sellinger husband. Due to complications in the mission, both Halloran and Sellinger end up embarking on the mission together. Here, Sellinger tells Halloran that he is a hero for being part of the air force. Sellinger views him as a hero for embarking on a dangerous mission. As they continue the journey together and get to know each other more and more Sellinger tells Halloran that he is also brave after Halloran confesses to Sellinger that he is scared. Sellinger characterizes fear as a key component in bravery. The journey is action packed with World War II fighting scenes that do justice to the Americans and just like any other American movie of WWII both Halloran and Sellinger return safely with spy information about the Germans. Upon their return Margaret finds out that both her husband and her lover had been on a mission together. Distraught but with a sense of justice Halloran tells Margaret that they can no longer continue their affair and that her husband is a good man.

Halloran ends up being a hero in both parts of the film. He is a hero romantically because he gives up Margaret and doesn’t make her chose and he is a hero at war because as Sellinger described, he embarked on a dangerous mission with the thought of fear hanging over him. In a way Sellinger also becomes a hero for being able to obtain the spy documents of Germany but Sellinger does something that Halloran does not do which is try to prove to someone he is a hero. The films of Harrison Ford by Pfeiffer lee also describe young Ford as a hero for being the star actor in Hyams movie after the director’s stars had withdrawn.