The Godfather

Anyone who's seen this movie knows that it's plot-heavy. If you haven't seen it, know that I'm about to spoil the crap out of the first half or so.

The Godfather revolves around the life of the Corleone crime family. The movie begins with Don Vito Corleone, the title character, on the day of his daughter's wedding. Like all fathers, he spends the day talking with friends, dancing with the bride, and negotiating the hit on a couple jerks. After all, what's a wedding without some violence? When the nuptial festivities end, the Don returns to the important aspect of his job. First on his list is getting his Godson, the famous singer Johnny Fontaine, a part in a movie. To this end, he sends his adopted son/lawyer, Tom Hagen, to talk with the director. The director remains adamant and Tom gently retorts with a bed full of horse head.

Back home, Don Corleone meets with Sollozzo. Sollozzo is asking the Corleone family to add "narcotics" to it's list of "business practices." The Don politely refuses, so "The Turk" replies with classic mobster etiquette: he has the Don gunned down. The Godfather lives, in part because of luck and in part because you just can't kill Marlon Brando with anything less than a machete. His eldest son, Sonny, is thrust into leadership of the family and demands Sollozzo's death. Meanwhile, the idiot Sollozzo, continues to try to finish the job on Vito. Finally, Vito's youngest son decides to be important to the story and kill Sollozzo and his police captain bodyguard. He then flees the law by leaving the film entirely to star in an informercial for Italy and shotguns.

If you decide to watch the Godfather in one sitting, make sure that seat is comfy. This movie is longer than Apocalypse Now and far more redundant. Every half hour or so features a murder of an established character, yet this is done with such routine that it makes the affair of killing rather mundane. This movie earns a three out of five. Watch it for it's renown if you must, but know that it isn't as fast pace as you think. Warning: don't get attached to any of the characters. They will invariably turn evil or die. Or both.

Shots in Apocalypse Now

This may be a controversial statement, but I'm going to make it anyway: Apocalypse Now and The Diving Bell and The Butterfly are very different movies. No where is this more apparent than in the choices in shots. Whereas the 'Bell dealt in medium, close, and extreme close shots, Apocalypse Now is almost exclusively medium and long shots. It's obvious the audience isn't supposed to relate as intensely with Willard as they did with Jean. When we do get up close and personal with Willard, it's because he's showing his more animal qualities.

Of course, not all of the shots are about our intrepid captain. Many of the shots create a surreal feeling of the environment. One of the best examples of this is in Willard's final stop before heading deep into the jungle. In this chaotic military base, we see Willard and his quite mad surfer friend walking in front of a fiery mess of lights and explosions while distorted carnival-like music plays in the background. It really captures the feel of the place as an alien landscape of terror. When the boat finally arrives at Kurtz' camp, we are treated to haunting shots of deteriorating stone faces and exotic ruins. It demonstrates the disjointed thinking of Kurtz and the possible outcome for Willard.

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Nowfollows Captain Willard as he travels through the Vietnam War to assassinate the rogue Colonel Kurtz. When the movie begins, Willard has fallen apart during his time away from the jungle. He is jumpy, paranoid, and shows all the signs of PTSD. The military does call him in and we learn he's used to missions of a sensitive nature. He's told to head up river after Colonel Kurtz; a man who's gone mad and taken control of a tribal settlement in Cambodia. The people there think he's a God and he uses them to continue military operations. The river is long, however, and he hitches a ride with Chief Phillips and his crew of youthful drug addicts. Their journey takes them deep into the mayhem of the war and, ultimately, to the insanity of Kurtz himself.

Make sure you get comfortable before throwing this one on; this movie is long and you feel nearly every minute of it. Don't confuse this with the movie being boring, it's quite a ride, but it's deep and hard to watch without reading into every image. War does terrible, yet fascinating things to the human mind and Apocalypse Now strives to capture it. The constant thrum of choppers in this movie is enough to drive even the audience mad. In this movie, we see both violence and compassion, it's just that the compassion is quickly torn away by more violence.

I'm gonna go ahead and give Apocalypse Now a Four out of Five. It's worth seeing, if only so you can tear it apart with your friends afterwards. Caution: this movie may be especially rough if you have strong feelings about puppies, cows, or Marlon Brando.

Visual Metaphors in The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

If there's one thing The Diving Bell and The Butterfly exceeds in, it's the use of visual metaphors. These uses of "picture-language" range from the obvious to the truly bizarre and downright senseless. For this entry, I'd like to focus on what is arguably the strangest metaphoric image of all: the ice shelves.

The ice shelves appear twice in this movie: once, in the first half of the movie, they are shown breaking off and falling into the ocean. At the end of the movie, they are shown again, but with one huge difference: the footage is shown in reverse. When the ice flows first fall, Jean says that "His life feels like a string of near-misses," suggesting that the ice represents his pride and sense of self. Following this interpretation through, it makes sense that these things would be rebuilt by rising above his significant handicap to write a novel. What doesn't make sense, however, is the placement of this "rebuilding" clip. It's shown at the end of the film, after Jean dies. The director was so committed to the initial use of this analogy that he was willing to wrench us from the film, yet he saves the final punch for the end? Perhaps he's suggesting that, in death, Jean's life is rebuilt. That would certainly give the film some Christian warm-fuzzies.

Another thing that confuses me about this metaphor is why in the world it was chosen. The metaphors of a diving bell and a butterfly make perfect sense: his body has trapped him, but his imagination breaks him free. These ice selves are significantly more difficult to figure out than that. Are they suggesting that Jean's locked-in syndrome actually contributed to global warming? And that, in death, he was able to save the artic from melting? Of course not, this isn't based on the personal memoirs of Al Gore. So why ice? Why not buildings being demolished or termites taking down a wall? I just don't get it.

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is a French film based on the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby. Exactly how "based on" the film actually is depends on who you ask. Jean is the editor of "Elle" magazine until a stroke leaves him totally paralyzed save for one eye. The movie opens as Jean awakes from the three-week coma resulting from said stroke. In time, he overcomes his handicap and writes a book (the book which the movie is based on). We relive Jean's life through flashbacks as he works to recover his lost mobility and in the end... Well, you can probably guess given the true story, but I won't directly ruin it. Just know that the last twenty minutes of the film are the best part.

Is it a good movie? I'm sure someone thinks so. Personally, I didn't like it. Firstly, the movie's in French with English subtitles. If movies were meant to be read, they'd be books. I just hate when I can miss an important dialogue by looking too deeply at an interesting visual element. Secondly, there's our main character. Mr. Bauby initially earns our sympathy due to his unimaginable affliction. As the movie continues, however, we learn about his lover and the mother of his children and how he basically treated them like crap. Certainly this is shown to us so that we can understand how his circumstances cause him to change, right? Wrong. Though he does seek some sort of forgiveness from his lover, he continues to lash out at the mother even as she tries to help him. Furthermore, the man continues to womanize, relying on his imagination to facilitate his desires. With that said, the scenes between Jean and his father are both excellent.

I give The Diving Bell and The Butterfly a three out of five. If you're into French artsy films, it's a must see. If you aren't, you'll probably continue to live a fulfilling life regardless.