In her essay “Revolutionary Attitude,” bell hooks says that the “mass media of specific images, representations of race, of blackness” are directly related to the racial domination in our society (hooks, 1992, p. 2). Hustle and Flow, a 2005 film written and directed by a White man and produced by a Black man, exists somewhere in between stereotypical and unique in its portrayal of African-Americans and African-American culture.    

It is a habit among most parents to assume that teen movies are harmful in their portrayal of teens. On one hand, some films do depict teenagers as sex- and drug-obsessed individuals with destructive habits. It is the fear of parents that these films may encourage these habits in impressionable teens. While this may be true, it is also true that teen movies are capable of illustrating the consequences of these behaviors. Teen movies can also support contemporary research showing that teens are not as destructive in their decision-making as their parents may believe. An example of a film like this is the 2007 comedy Superbad, which exhibits the complex relationship between the portrayal of teens in movies and their behavior in reality.    

When people find out I'm a film major, they normally do one of two things: they either feign excitement and say something thinly veiled like "Oh, that's cool" or fill my head with a list of movie recommendations.

Actual questions addressed to me once people found out I study film:

"Have you seen Ninja Assassin?"

"You haven't seen the Harry Potter movies? But you're a film major!!"

No, I have not seen any of the Harry Potter movies. And no, I have not seen fucking Ninja Assassin.

But I go around, every day, with my elitist attitude, shoving my artistic tastes and preferences down other people's throats. I cavort that my taste is the best and you are beneath me if you haven’t seen The Virgin Spring.

But what is the point of continually recommending movies and music to your friends if you do not trust their own tastes? Am I merely trying to make them more like me? That would be terrifying, an entire horde of Jeff Millers running around out there yelling at girls who like Animal Collective.

So as to be fair and balanced, and to broaden my appreciation, I have decided to take some people up on their recommendations. The first recommendation I’ve taken up is the 1989 movie Road House, starring Patrick Swayze and directed by Rowdy Herrington.

Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner is a rich visual experience that rewards repeat viewings. The film’s thematic material has been discussed endlessly in literature, with aspects of discussion ranging from Deckard’s true nature to the way in which the portrayal of futuristic Los Angeles closely resembles modern Tokyo. However, the film’s success should not only be attributed to the acting or set design, but also to the filmmakers for their great use of aesthetic concepts in manipulating the audience’s perception of the film’s events. These basic concepts help to enrich and enhance the experience of watching the film, and are one of the many reasons Blade Runner is still highly regarded nearly thirty years after its initial release.

Federico Fellini’s films are known for bypassing traditional, objective realism for a more subjective form of realism. The reality of the mind and what goes on inside it is much more important. Relying on memories, dreams, fantasies and fears, Fellini’s films offer biographical insight into the director’s mind. Perhaps the most famous and most illustrative example of this is 8 ½.

Every country that has a film industry eventually has a movement in which younger filmmakers inject a new vitality into the country’s cinema. Experimental techniques or narratives thrive, and new or controversial subject matter is addressed. if…. is a 1968 British film directed by Lindsay Anderson and written by David Sherwin about a few rebellious students in a British public (read American private) school. Like the Czech films Loves of a Blonde and Closely Watched Trains, the film showcases young characters battling with authority. Like Antonioni’s Blow Up (and the earlier films of the British New Wave) the film embraces sexuality, even going a step further in portraying homosexuality. Like Fellini’s films, it relies on subjective realism for some of its most important sequences. And like the films of François Truffaut, it includes many autobiographical details.

Lindsay Anderson was one of the founders of the documentary movement in England known as “Free Cinema.” A manifesto released by the main proponents of the movement stated that their aim was “making films which share an attitude: a belief in freedom, in the importance of the individual, and the significance of the everyday” (Cowie 52). Many of the leaders of the Free Cinema movement would go on to become important players in the British New Wave, which continued to champion the individual and the clashes with authority. Though if…. was made and released after these movements had lost much of their momentum, it still shares much of their spirit.

The Conversation excellently balances themes of paranoia and privacy with the political climate of Watergate. Coppola uses a moving camera to establish a watchful eye over his characters. In the opening scene, a long zoom takes an extreme wide shot of a busy outdoor court into a medium shot, in the process eliminating the notion of privacy. In a later scene inside of Harry Caul’s apartment, Harry seems to be attempting to avoid the camera’s gaze as he makes a phone call, but the camera moves and follows him. A third (and perhaps the most damning instance) is the final shot of the film. As Harry Caul sits in his torn apartment, the camera pans repeatedly from the right to the left from a high angle, imitating a security camera. Harry has torn his apartment apart trying to find the bug, but he still cannot escape the camera’s eye. Privacy is impossible.

The film is also full of allusions to the political climate of the 1960s and 70s. In the opening scene, a man sits on a ledge with a long scope, spying on the people below. Though he is only recording audio, he resembles a sniper, which recalls political assassinations. Bernie Moran, Caul’s rival bugger, talks about bugging a presidential candidate and how it ended in his opponent getting elected President. Of course the current President is Nixon, which screams of political conspiracy. And then later during the murder scene Harry Caul turns on the TV to mask the screams coming from the adjoining room. News regarding President Nixon is on the TV, further associating the President and politics with unsavory things like murder and conspiracy.  In this way, The Conversation is similar to Chinatown.  Chinatown can be considered a response to the Watergate scandal and deals with the same themes of conspiracy and paranoia.

Observation

I really enjoyed The Conversation. This was the second time I saw it and this time I appreciated the aesthetic choices in camera movement and audio. Something I found interesting is that in the scenes in which Harry is listening to the audio of the couple, Coppola uses cutaways that include the audio and picture. Of course these cutaways are probably psychological and in Harry’s mind, as evidenced by the changing of the phrase “He’d kill us if he got the chance,” (which is what Harry imagines) to its true form, “He’d kill us if he got the chance.” A subtle change which makes all the difference.