Themes on Thursday: Is there any Intergalactic Creature who Can Save us from this Parallel, Apocalyptic Cyborg?

Hey Guys,

On Thursday’s I will be looking into the different themes and genres of films. I will be looking into what classes a film under the certain genres and what themes tend to run through them.

There will be a lot of films being watched that I or you have probably never heard of, but that’s the experience of film.

This week’s focus has mainly been directed towards Sci-Fi. So why should today be any different? We are going to travel into the world of Science Fiction and discover great wonders.

So for a start let me explain that Science Fiction films are any film that is set in the future or has some reference to other worlds. Content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, parallel universes, aliens, and paranormal abilities can feature in these films.

There are a lot of Genres and themes that appear in Science Fiction films. So how would you know if you’re watching a Sci-Fi? Let’s list a small amount of traits and themes.

·         Is the film set in the future?

·         Is the film set on a different planet?

·         Is the film set in space?

·         Does the film contain a creature/monster?

·         In the film, Is there a scientific research that goes wrong?

·         Does the main character have super powers?

·         Is there an alien attack?

·         Is there some sort of epidemic?

·         Do any of the characters time travel?

·         Is there an alternate/parallel universe?

·         Are there any robots/cyborgs/clone etc.?

·         Can the characters live under water?

·         Are there any flying objects? (E.G Space ships)

Now some of these you would have already guessed, as did I, but others are quite a surprise. Did you know any comic hero movie is classed as a Sci-Fi film? Now that you know that, you will think over it and recognise some of the themes that run through. For example the Iron Man (2008 – present) films, Tony Stark uses Science and Computers to build his Ironwear.

Science Fiction films used to just primly be ‘about science’ it has evolved and transformed into something greater with many different sub-genres. Here are just a few of the subgenres with an explanation.

First of all any Apocalyptic, holocaust, or post-apocalyptic story which focuses on the end of the world, or the world just after "the end." Society is wiped out and must rebuild; humanity is destroyed; humanity must cope with an aftermath.

Cyberpunk stories are set in a high-tech, mechanical and advanced universe of computers, hackers, and hybrids. "Cyberspace” films fall into this subgenre. Humans may spend time "living" in a virtual environment.

First contact looks into the primary meeting between humans and aliens. These can range from horrific tales of invasions through to stories of gentle visitors bearing technology and peace. The meeting may occur on Earth, in space, or on another planet. "alien invasion" films fall into this sub-genre.

Military science fiction looks at futuristic combat locations such as space, against opponents such as aliens or machines, with advanced weaponry. This may include genetically modified warriors.

Near-future science fiction takes place in present day or in the next few years. Elements of the setting should be familiar, and the technology may be current or in development.

Space operas are similar to Western "horse operas," often contains good guys fighting with bad guys in space or on distant planets. Star Wars is a classic example.

Time travel is where characters travel to the past or future. It could also be where they are visited by other time travellers. Topics range from seeing what the past was like, to paradox of killing somebody who effected your future, through to "tampering" causing a massive ‘butterfly effect’ altering the entire future/world. "alternate universes" where each change in the timestream spins off a new universe can be classed in this sub-genre.

So hopefully you can understand more about how the Science Fiction works and you can understand why a certain character is doing one of the listed things above. Hopefully it makes you understand the film that little bit more.

For those of you interested in finding out more about current Science Fiction films, here is an Internet Movie Database link listing all the most popular Sci-Fi films at present: http://www.imdb.com/genre/sci_fi

If you have any views on what has been discussed or have any films, themes, or genres you would like me to look into then comment below.

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