Film Persona

  Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" Steven Spielberg's 2021 adaptation of Stephen Sondheim classic musical is a technical mastery of efficiency in storytelling. Spielberg skims unnecessary bulk from the original, creating a much more structured musical. The casting is also more concise, casting a diverse cast to create the diversity the story requires. Through his direction, the story of the film is set against the backdrop of a city block being bulldozed. As the characters are inhabiting their world, the debris of bulldozed buildings surround them. This constant reminder by Spielberg of their backdrop visually creates pressure on the characters and their behavior. As their home and way of life is crumbling beneath them, the characters cannot do anything but blame each other. This also becomes pertinent to the social climate of 2021, as tensions are growing between Americans as they watch their home and way of life disintegrating beneath them. Despite these grey to...

  Fritz Lang's "Die Nibelungen" Fritz Lang's 1924 film series Die Nibelungen  is a fantasy epic that was split into two films are released separately. Part 1 dealt with the rise and fall of Siegfried while Part 2 focused on Kriemhild's revenge over her husband, Siegfried's death. The screenplay for the epic was written by Lang's wife, Thea von Harbou, who adapted the story from the German poem epic Nibelungenlied, which was written around 1200 AD.  The story itself tells the legend of Siegfried, who defeated a dragon and bathed in its blood. In the story, bathing in the blood of a dragon grants you physical immunity. However, while he was bathing, a leaf landed on his back. Because of this, there is one spot on his back that isn't immune to damage. After defeating the dragon, Siegfried goes to King Gunther and asks for his sister, Kriemhild's hand in marriage. Gunther accepts on the condition that Siegfried helps him marry Brunhild, the Queen of Ic...

  Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" Licorice Pizza tells the coming of age story of 15 year old Gary Valentine and 25 year old Alana Kane as they navigate the San Fernando Valley in 1973. Gary, played by Cooper Hoffman, is a high school student who is constantly coming up with entrepreneurial schemes to get by. Alana, played by musician Alana Haim, has become stagnant and doesn't know which direction she should go in life. As the two try to make it in the adult world, it becomes clear that growing up is a lot more arduous than they thought. Gary tries to act like an adult through all his business schemes and they way he postures himself. He is an actor, has a PR company, a waterbed company, and a pinball arcade. He is constantly throwing himself into different ventures, trying on different hats to find out what he wants to do in life. He hangs out with his 15 year old friends but spends his free time in the 'adult' world. Alana is stuck in life. She stil...

  Jon Watt's "Spider-Man: No Way Home" The new Spider-Man: No Way Home borrows heavily from 2019's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as it expands the idea of what a Spider-Man movie could be and what Spider-Man himself could be. The most important element of the new film is Peter's reconciliation with becoming an adult and what that means. Peter, MJ, and Ned are all graduating high school and are trying to get into MIT. However, Peter must adjust to the entire world knowing his secret with the added consequences of what it means for his friends. The film is full of action, emotion, and humor. The exploration of where the Spider-Man films have been before and the possibilities of where they could go in the future are on full display in this jam-packed super-hero flick. The film is a good watch for the whole family.

  Leos Carax's "Annette" In Leos Carax's 2021 film "Annette," Adam Driver plays a comedian who 'kills' on stage, while his wife, played by Marion Cotillard, is an opera star who 'dies' every night on stage. Their new baby, a wooden puppet named Annette, has an incredible singing voice. This wild absurdist musical, written by the Sparks Brothers, has heavily divided critics. Through the twist and turns of the story, as well as the characters singing about the structure of the story itself, it makes for an intriuging viewing. 

  Fritz Lang's "Dr. Mabuse the Gambler" Fritz Lang's 1922 film " Dr. Mabuse the Gambler " offers a look at a dystopian German society that emerged after the First World War. Due to the difficult conditions, Germany had dramatic swings in the stock market, overflowing gambling parlors, and miserable living conditions for the poorer communities. With the protagonist, Dr. Mabuse, Lang depicts a man of his own time trying to navigate the chaos in order to allow himself to prosper.  The film's protagonist, Dr. Mabuse, employs devious schemes to gain power in a society full of lawlessness, gambling, hyperinflation, frivolity, and chaos. Using disguises and hypnosis, as well as an assortment of henchmen, Mabuse amasses a fortune through gambling and murdering. Though he is careful to cover his tracks, a resourceful police inspector, Norbert von Wenk, remains determined to capture him.  The title of the film, Dr. Mabuse der Spieler , makes use of three meanings ...

  Fritz Lang's "Destiny" Fritz Lang, an innovator of the German Expressionist movement, was a director widely known throughout his career for his dark subject matter. He was even dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute. This is partially due to the dark nature of German films after the first World War. However, Lang would continue to demonstrate his flair for darker material all throughout his career. The film that kickstarted Lang's journey into darkness was 1921's Destiny . Destiny  tells the story of a woman trying to save her husband from Death. Death takes on a physical incarnation, represented by a man dressed in black. Lang created this representation based on a fever dream he experienced as a child. He recalled a dark stranger in a wide-brimmed hat, illuminated by moonlight. As Lang recollects, "the horror of the dream experience combined with a kind of mystical ecstasy which gave me, boy though I still was, the complet...