Movies for Monday: A bit of Rock & Roll

Hey Guys,

This is the part of the week where I will be looking into films and reviewing certain aspects or even a whole film. I will be viewing my opinions whilst also asking what you feel about it.

The films I look into may be new releases, or films that I have just watched on DVD.

I thought I would focus mainly on music and how it affects people. What better way to focus on music than a film about rock stars, right?

This week’s film is Almost Famous (2000) Directed by Cameron Crowe.

Based in America in 1973, this film is about a high-school boy who is excelling in life. His mother is an over-protective teacher who has lied to her son and made him skip grades. His sister walks out and rebels against the mother because she felt that music was ‘speaking to her’.

The story follows the boy, William, and his story. He gets a chance to write an article for The Rolling Stone Magazine about an ‘up-and-coming’ rock band, Stillwater. William accompanies them on their concert tour, confronts life and befriends ‘the enemy’.

This was a rather funny, feel good movie about a band, their fans and how they connect. It is also about the tensions between the band members, as they reach their big moment of fame.

This film focuses on the raw talent and characteristics of a band, looking into the way they tour and focusing on how ‘The man’ (record companies, etc.) is trying to change rock and roll and make things much more mainstream.

William’s adventure goes further than he first expect, with him travelling the full tour and seeing things nobody else would ever see. Listening to the same music that was inspiring this band to tour and perform.

The long list of songs used as both diegetic and non-diegetic is endless. I was originally going to place the full soundtrack on here, but that would have made the blog go on for quite some time. I mean it is a film about a rock band. What do expect?

There is mention of some great names such as Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Black Sabbath (who Stillwater are touring alongside.), Neil Young, Lou Reed and many more (check out the amazing soundtrack at the bottom).

So this story, based on true events is one of charm and classic rock music, but what makes it so intriguing? Why do we watch these films telling us about how a certain band or person became famous?

Take Walk The Line (2005) directed by James Mangold and staring Joaquin Phoenix, for example, the story of Jonny Cash and June Carter; about the darker side of fame and of love.

We want to watch these films because they are real life stories. Stories where people have a raw talent, whether it be singing like Cash or Stillwater, or it be Journalism, they have a talent and they want the world to see this talent, they find difficulty in their journey and also might find love but eventually the bright lights of fame get too much for them and they stumble.

So do we watch these films for the stumble and the good music? Not at all, we watch them because it gives us courage to get out there and show our talents and skills, because no matter how bad they stumble, Cash ending up in Prison and Stillwater almost breaking up, they always seem to pull through and it’s their dedication.

This is why the music in films that are based on real stories are so important, because each band, each singer, has a story to tell. They will all inspire somebody in a different way, so overall it’s more than just the music. It is about inspiration.

Almost Famous (2000) Soundtrack: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181875/soundtrack

If you have any films or film topics you would like me to look into the comment below. If you have any views on what has been discussed this week, also let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt

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Film Thursday: Like Water for Chocolate

Hey Guys,

It is Thursday Film Day.

Here’s the part of the week where I will either review a film or talk about how film can affect us in certain ways. Each week I will ask you what you feel should review next or what area of film I should look into.

This week I had a request to talk over how certain objects or scenes in films convey a different meaning than what they first represent and how things aren’t always as they first seem.

I’ve been told to watch the film Like Water for Chocolate (1992) a Spanish film, Directed by Alfonso Arau. Now apparently to Tonya, the friend who recommended this to me, it has a lot of symbolism and representation about food and cooking with-in the story.

First I will give a short Synopsis of what the story is about, followed by what symbolism means to me and how to understand why actions may represent something completely different. It is all about Semiotics.

The story is about life in Mexico and how it used to be. This is a story of love and passion between two people, Pedro and Tita; who could not marry due to Tita’s mother, who wanted her eldest daughter to marry and have Tita stay and care for her. The story shows how marriage used to be imposed in the times and how love between two people can change the views of others, which eventually changes everything.

I will try not to put any spoilers in, so if you do wish to watch this film and see what I’m chatting about and help you understand you can.

This film starts by the old myth of onions and how they make you cry. It speaks of how to stop yourself from crying. ‘Once you have started crying it is difficult to stop.’

This film shows that food is a natural part of life and growing up. It explains that different things tickle our taste buds and that love is just like eating chocolate.

The narrative explains how Tita is feeling and always refers to her feelings as if they are like food items. The way Pedro looks at her burns like oil burns skin, the way it makes her feels like dough melting and rising.

As she has grown up in the kitchen and all she has understood is how food and ingredients react when they are blended together this explains why she expresses her feelings in this manner.

As in films such as Fight Club when the character, who goes by the name of Jack, explains his feelings of rage and anger as if it was an illness or a wound ‘I am Jack’s raging bile duct.’ This was set out due to the fact that the film is based around violence and him getting injured. It is also about the character’s mental state and how he collapses as a person.

In Like Water for Chocolate it explains that she knits a blanket as she cries, because she is upset. ‘Yet the she could not clear the cold’. This explains how her heart is broken from loss of love and it has grown cold.

The phrase I liked the most from this film was the one the cook/Nana spoke ‘Only the pot knows the boiling point of the broth, but I can easily guess yours’ This basically means that she is telling Tita to stay strong no matter what happens, as what is happening it is not down to her own doing but what her mother has done to her.

When Pedro gives Tita roses as a sign of her love, she uses them in her cooking. She wants to spread the love and make everyone feel full of joy as she has felt from these roses given to her. She says that her whole self had dissolved into the food she had prepared. In other words she had put her whole life and soul, including her love into this dish as the roses made her feel good again.

This continues through the film, explaining more about the food and how it represents the passion and love behind the relationship and how both intertwined together.

Other films that have symbolism in them are such films as American History X, where all of the flashbacks are shown in black and white, while the present day scenes are in colour. This is symbolic of Edward Norton's character's changes, as he becomes reformed and has progressed.

There is also a lot of symbolism in Shindler's List. One I can remember is where the girl in red who represents the struggle that all the Jews went through during the Holocaust.

Over all, the importance of symbolism shows the audience that objects and actions can mean more than what they show at face value. We as an Audience should watch for such things and try to understand what they mean, but we have to be careful because eventually everything can become a semiotic symbol and then what the director actually wanted to be meant may be lost by us looking too deep into things.

If you have any films that you recommend me looking at, or any themes that you feel need going over then please let me know.

Stay safe,

Matt