Auteur - Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa was a man that had changed the film industry from his some 50 plus years of work.  He was prolific in making something of 30 or so films in his lifetime.  He shows his auteurship well and deserves the title of being an auteur.  By watching the films Drunken Angel, Ikiru, and Yojimbo, I could see Akira's perspective on how he showed his auteurship in film through different themes and subjects.  He had a common theme of having a noir motif throughout his films and having his characters take a stand by themselves.

    Within the movie Drunken Angel, we see an unusual friendship form between a doctor and a thug that he chooses to help after a gunfight.   This was Akira's breakthrough film and it shows.  The story is realistic and gritty in which he could express himself freely.  The 2 main characters interact well and produce the story with precision and realness.  Though, the thug, Matsunaga ends up being the big attraction to the movie.  He was a compelling character that showed the side of the yakuza and how he was being used as a pawn. 

    There's also the movie Ikuru which goes through the life of a man that has cancer and only has so much longer to live.  He wanted to live his life as freely as he could for the remainder of his life and accomplish something.  He does this by turning a swamp into a playground for children before his untimely death.  Having seen the movie, some of the dialogue between the main character and a woman really brings out the depth that Kurosawa is trying to convey.  Kanji, the main character, talks about how you should live life to the fullest because he didn't give it a second thought until he was face to face with death.

    The movie Yojimbo was a good example of how Kurosawa influenced other people.  A loner of a man comes to a city where there are 2 gangs that are on edge with one another.  The whole movie is setup in such a way that it reminds me westerns, and how they face off with one another in a dessert like town.  Kurosawa also goes all the way with making the characters and people of the town grungy and unclean.  Expressions are also played well throughout the film, giving the viewer some insight to what the character is thinking or feeling.

    I think these movies provide the foundation for Akira Kurosawa's auteurship and how he was a pioneer for such things as the main characters, feelings, and samurai slash movies which in turn inspired other film makers.  I feel that it gives him the right to have the title of being an autuer because of his many movies and strong influences of being innovative.

Director Notes - An Interview with a Vampire

The story of an Interview with a Vampire is just that, somebody by the name Malloy interviews a vampire named Louis over his life.  He talks about how he was turned into a vamoire after the demise of his wife and what hardships and traveling he did with Lestat, the vampire who turned him into what he is now.

Relationships- The character actions and relationships have an interesting vibe because much of it is a love/hate relationship between Lestat and Louis.  I think that Lestat at some parts of could show more of his arrogant and confident side.  His interactions with Louis were interesting and added drama to the story.  Louis' emotions also played a big part in the story so I'd want to have that more fleshed out.  His confusion for what he has become and Lestat's  mind games allow us to feel that Louis still has a human side to him even though he has become a vampire.  Claudia's character is important because it adds to the depth of what Louis feels as a vampire.  He regretted being part of what made her a vampire in the end.  They played a good father/daughter relationship at the beginning of their endeavors together which later turned into a father/lover relationship for Claudia.  Her sadness for not being able to grow up is played in a cumbersome way and I like it that way.  Also even though the relationship between Claudia and Louis would be considered weird in most cases, it was played well as to not seem that way.

Plot wise - I think the story takes off pretty fast, where as the viewer is somewhat thrown into the plot.  Though, the story does flesh out what exactly is happening by going back and forth to the present and future.  It wades through the story at a general and normal speed.  Nothing is necessarily fast paced.  I think at some of the later scenes that had Claudia and Louis running from Lestat could have a more frantic feel to them.

Struggle – Louis struggles throughout his life to come to terms at what he became.  He must bear the fact that he is immortal and would have a hard time dying other than by the hands of another vampire or by the sun.  The portrayal of Louis' power battle with Lestat about wanting to know where they originated from and how he sometimes ends up following Lestat's ideas emphasizes Louis' struggles.

Conflict -  There is definitely conflicts between Louis and Lestat as prviously stated.  There's also a conflict between Claudia and Lestat that arises later.  She ends up loathing Lestat and proceeds to get rid of him but fails.  From the fall of Lestat to his return into Louis' and Claudia's life is a cnflicting and somewhat scary piece of the story.  Emphasis in these scenes with expression of fear and hate, mainly Claudia, would be ideal.

Overall, I like how the pace and story flows.  There are scenes that would do well if emphasized more.

Lolita: Morality

    The morality in Lolita can be discussed and viewed in several ways.  I think that the narrator of the story starts with some disturbing imagery and words that our society  wouldn't be pleased to hear at all.  The narrator is very clear and distinct in the ways of expressing his love for young girls and doesn't try to hide this from the reader either.  The only ones he's hiding from is the unsuspecting adults of this story, in which he skillfully attracts the young girl of a woman he marries.  He has no shame or what our society would call a normal thought process saying that this situation was full of wrongs that he shouldn't have ever committed.  Cheating on a woman with a child is an embarrassment and a shameful act in itself but he doesn't give it a second thought it seems.  The morals would fall weak even if Lolita was of an older age because he is cheating and deceiving others to have what he wants.  In his pondering about young girls, he comes to call them “nymphets.” He's distressed that “she would not be forever Lolita” and one day “cease being a nymphet.” (pg 15)  This leads him to  say how he'd give up on the girl once she reaches the age of a young girl, saying that their innocence and the like would be gone from him.  He also mourns over not seeing his Lolita for two months because her time as a lolita would come to an end in a short amount of time.  Every instant counted for him to be with his Lolita.  The book in quick defining what the story will be all about and how Humbert's obsession will fascinate the reader with fanciful words but also disgust them at the realization that he's talking about a 12 year old girl.  He also had a peculiar and annoying way of always talking about himself as a high and mighty person.  He'd say how handsome or wonderful he was along with his lines and proceed to do this in a fashion of talking in third person.  It shows how he was a bit narcissistic and obsessed with himself.  Even Lolita's attitude and morality is shaken.  She at one moment kissed Humbert but when he kissed her on the neck at a later point, she wipes t away in disgust.  Lolita comprehends what Humbert is doing and yet doesn't in a sense.  Her morality is low to have let this happen and to also play along with what Humbert wants.  This could also be taken into account that she's a child trying to be a woman in which she has not become yet.  She goes as far as to say that Humbert is a “dirty, dirty old man” presenting that she knows that what they've done together isn't acceptable. (pg 32)  In realizing that both of the main characters come to know of how immoral their relationship is, they continue on with it.  Morals in their mind are thrown out, except for the gnawing fact that someone could find out about them. 

Farewell, My Lovely

    Farewell, My Lovely is a story about Philip Marlowe that was set up to find a woman by the name of Velma.  An ex-convict was looking for her, and while having met Marlowe,  killed a man in the club Velma worked for before she disappeared.  The story sets off from here and he continues to go through with trying to find Velma.
    Marlowe goes through several other endeavors to try and find information on Velma.  He meets the woman that was married to the man that was killed in the bar.  This women tells Marlowe that Velma is dead, but Marlowe is unconvinced This all leads to Marlowe being asked to help in handing over a ransom for a jade necklace by another woman by the name of Lindsay Marriot.  All of these women intertwine in the story someway, which all leads back to the case at hand.  Another murder takes place and Marlowe ends up finding Velma, alive, and under a new name. She had planned to kill Marlowe but it didn't actually happen, and in the end, she committed suicide after killing Malloy.  Marlowe finds out about her death and how her identity was revealed by the police.

Fairytale

Punch You in the Decision Maker

    A servant girl was sent on a journey by the Lying Queen to find a Sorceress to help cure her of her ill mindset.  Someone's life was filled with roads in which one had to make the decision to follow it, or stray from it. 

    Decisions were things that people had to make.  They were not something that were material or had any physical form.  Everyone had to make them throughout their lives, unless they had no mind of their own.  No opinion for themselves.  Much could be said for the small child that grew up listening very well to those around her.  She was a follower, it was all she knew.  To make a decision, no matter how much or little it would impact her life, she would not make one for herself.  This girl went by the name Lycia.

    Being indecisive didn't make her alienated, though.  She gravitated towards people, as people gravitated towards her.  The people she had met didn't even seem to find she was indecisive till some time later through their friendship.  The girl was asked many questions in her childhood by those of her family and friends. The girl sat there, motionless.

“I don't know,”  was her reply.

Those were her favorite words, and they worked well to answer any type of question thrown at her.  Though, this wasn't the only response given to those who asked her anything.  Sometimes she answered, “No,” when she was really saying, “Yes.”  It wasn't that she wanted to be confusing and indecisive, she just didn't want to impose anyone with her opinions or wants.  Even though this was true, the Lying Queen sent her on a road off to the side of her castle.  The road led to a sorceress who could cure her of her decision making dilemma.  The Lying Queen said it was the beginning of the servant's own decisions in life.  So the girl set out up the road to find the sorceress.

    With a small bag in tow, she walked along the dirt-ridden path, surrounded by plains.  She watched as she grew farther and farther from the castle that was her home.  There was no one walking around the area as far as the eye could see.  The path continued onwards in a straight manner, making the girl feel at ease.  What decision making was there in a straight road? Life was as simple as following a straight and narrow road to her. But it this happiness of her didn't last, for she approached a a fork in the road. She looked back at the road she had walked for all this time, and looked back at the fork in the road. Though, this time there was a small child sitting at the fork. All she had to say was this, “Which way?”  The servant girl looked at her with confusion and answered.

“I don't know.”

The young girl stood up. “Which way do you want to go?”

The Lycia just stared at the paths, then at the girl with pleading eyes.  “You must know which way the sorceress lives.  Which way is the right path? Please tell me.”

“That's for you to figure out.” The young girl sat down.  “Don't let other's make up your mind for you.”

The servant girl looked at the left path, and then at the right one.  They both looked the same, which could possibly be the right decision?  She chose the path based on which hand she wrote with, that would make things easier for her.  She pointed left, letting the small girl know her intentions.  The child just nodded.  Lycia continued on her way down the new path.  She only hoped that this was the right way.

    As she traveled, she began to wonder if her forced decision was the right one.  Couldn't the child sitting at the fork make that decision for her? She must have known the area better and chosen the right path to walk down, but she didn't.  Maybe this was part of the Lying Queen's wish for her to be more thoughtful of her own wants and needs.

    Lycia soon came upon a small house, the one the Lying Queen had previously described to her at the castle.  She was happy that her decision led to the destination she wanted.  She walked up to the front door and knocked a few times. A small voice came from inside the house telling her to enter.  Though, when she had a look at who was talking to her, she was shocked.  It was the young girl back at the fork in the road.  “W-why are you here?”

“I am the Sorceress of the Lying Queen's domain.  You have done well for yourself.”

“What do you mean?” The servant girl asked.

“No matter which way you chose, it would have led to my home.  The important part of the journey was that you made the decision on which direction to choose by yourself.”  The small child smiled.  “There was no one to rely on except yourself on this journey, so you could make the decision.”

    Lycia thought otherwise.  How could a small decision be that important to her? People had made them for her all her life.  She expressed her thoughts to the Sorceress.  She came all this way for her to cast a spell on her to cure her of this, but the Sorceress expressed that she had no powers.  She helped those who helped themselves. This made for no regrets for letting someone else make decisions in your life for you.  Lycia accepted the help, not even fully feeling that she had been given the choice of decision by accomplishing such a  simple task.  She bid farewell to the sorceress and left to return to her home at the castle. The Lying Queen will be happy to hear of the news.