Dirty Pretty Things review

Robyn Matthews Film studies

Dirty Pretty Things film review.

             This is a Stephen Frears production produced in 2002. Entwined in this film are the genre of social realism, drama and thriller, furthermore, embedded in this film are the themes of suspense, jealousy, love, violence, torture, escape, deception, survival and  determination. This film displays the affects immigration has on certain individuals, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Senay Gelik (Audrey Tautou) are the focus point of the film as the directors focus was to help the viewer understand and emphasise their situation. I feel the narrative of this film is very powerful as it had the capability to change my viewpoint on immigration.

              The mis en scene of the Okwes character was used to create a red-eyed, lazy  character, because he works double shifts. He also is a doctor that had qualified over in Jamaica. The movie doesn't elaborate on the troubles that have sent him so far from home; all we really know is that he has left a wife and a daughter behind, and part of his pain comes from pining for them.

I feel the target audience for this film is teenagers/ young adults, I feel this because this film needs your full concentration and a lot of dedication to each and every scene from beginning to the end and younger children may become distracted and miss a few scenes and then lose he whole story line of the plot. I feel that teenagers will be interested in Dirty Pretty Things as immigration is a headline that is constantly bombarded in the news and young children of today are constantly made aware of.

There is a scene in the film, discovering the heart, that particularly grabs my interest Owke enters the hotel room after being noted that there is a problem with the room there is a mid-shot of the bed which is messy which signifies that the room had been occupied recently, Okwe then alerted by the noise of overflowing water makes his way to the bathroom, there is a close up of an overflowing toilet which clearly displays the problem. The viewer at this point is unaware of the cause of the blocking but in unalarmed as this is a common problem that is easily caused and easily fixed. Older viewers whom have houses to themselves are sympathetic to Okwe after then seeing a close up of his face and noticing his expression of aggravation and frustration. He then uses tongs to try and remove the blockage, however, it is clear that there is not a usual blockage as the water begins to turn red as it had been diluted by blood from the cause of the blockage. The camera then shows a shot from inside the toilet looking up at Okwe. Confusion. Confusion is the main expression on Okwe’s face… what is in this toilet? He uses a plastic bag to enter his hand into the toilet and retrieve the blockage manually. As he then pulls out a “fully functioning human heart” tense music composed of violins start to play. This incorporation of music adds dramatic suspense and portrays Okwe’s thoughts through orchestra. The subject of the scene suddenly changes as the music stops and the door slams…someone’s entered the room.

I enjoyed this film a lot, I feel the plot was original as I had never seen a film of this dramatic intake before and the suspense created through music was a nice technique as all the best films in my opinion have the influence of music to add tension and suspence, for example Jaws and Psyco (Steven Steilburg and Michael Curtiz). The crudeness of the sexual exchange for work and the ghastly extents to receiving a passport made it a top quality film that had many unexpected events that kept changing. I love how the morale of the film was continually the same as Okwe and Senay’s main goal was always to escape Britain. It was made clear from the beginning that Senay wanted to travel to New York, which many people believed to be the land of freedom in these times and the government is run differently and the common law is everybody makes their own living for themselves. However, we are unaware of Okwe’s path and where he wishes to go until the latter half of the film where it is revealed that he has a daughter in Nigeria which he is evidently trying to reunite with.

FISH TANK REVIEW

Robyn Matthews Film studies Review

Fish Tank 

The film Fish Tank was created in 2009, directed by; Andrea Arnold. This was a BBC Film in collaboration with the UK film council. The genre of this film is a Drama/social realism and the themes explored throughout this film are innocence, love, lust, jealousy, revenge. This film is centered around Mia, a 15 year old girl whom lives with her mother on an estate in Essex. When the film starts we immediately judge Mia’s character by the way she talks to her friends over the phone, we can also interpret  that she is quite immature and blind sighted as she doesn't possible know when to stop this opening scene is crucial in relation to the rest of the events throughout the duration of the film and plays a huge contribution to the role of for showing up coming events based on how Mia approaches one of her assumed closest friends.

The acting within the film i thought was at a high standard. The actors made the characters situations believable and realistic is made the viewer able to experience empathy for Mia even though she is portrayed as being a rebellious teenager. It was clearly displayed to the audience that Mia was the main protagonist, however, I feel Connor played by Michael Fassbender was another protagonist as without his presence in the film there wouldn't be a plot, his fatherly role serve as a huge milestone in the progression of Mia's character.

A variety of camera angles were used this catch the viewers attention as the subject of the shot was constantly changing. The mis en scene of the film was a huge contribution to the overall  image of the film. The Essex based scene was shot in Barking London so the crew and cast did a convincing job to create the Essex like atmosphere.

Music features prominently in the film, particularly connected with Mia's dancing. The song she uses at her audition is California dreaming. Dancing is commonly used as movement therapy which suggests Mia has experienced deep psycological issue that are taunting her and she feels this  is the best way to express her self. 

At the opening scene of the film we are shown objects presumably from Mia's childhood such as photographs and souvenirs, the director may have done this to present Mia's emotions on her place in life right this Minuit. It's not clear to us until after we have seen these that Mia is infact a young 15 year old.  Therefore we are given the message that she feels in herself that she is a lot more mature than she is seen to be, as older people often have childhood memories around their room to remind themselves of their youth.

The film constantly referenced the

I feel this film was called Fishtank to present Mia's restriction in society and how Mia had boundaries given by her mother and the government; being forced to go to school. This didn't allow her to have the freedom she felt she deserved which persuaded her to rebel against the high authorities. However, at the end of the film we see a balloon reaching higher into the sky this represents Mia's first taste of freedom as balloons, once let go ( as her mum did), have the ability to go wherever they take themselves. 

TIM BUK TU REVIEW

Robyn Film studies review

Tim Buk Tu

The director of this film is Adberrahmane Sissake; it is a drama exploring the lives and experiences of Islamic rebels. The themes within this film are revenge, religion, romance and a hit of love expressed by Kidana (Imbrahim Ahemed) for his daughter, Toya played by Layla Mohammed. Tim Buk Tu allows us to gradually build an understanding and appreciation of the situation and story. As its characters are exposed and the scenarios coalesce that we get a deeper understanding of the events we are seeing, the viewer sees how society differed from that in first world countries. I feel Adberrahmane created this film to give the reader an insight to the control the government had and the restriction of people’s freedom. The uses of repition highlighted the ‘no music’ policy to the audience and how we, the viewer take for granted these unseen luxuries.

        

Overall I feel the film portrayed a vivid image of how these people were treated and controlled in society. I also feel the acting was very convincing as the characterization as at an exceptionally high standard. However I do feel that the way in which different scenes were collaged together sometimes confused the viewer as the weren’t quite sure why certain scenes intervened with each other as some seemed irrelevant to me.

         Sound played a major part in the making of this film such as in the first scene when the as a id shot of a gazelle running and you could here constant harsh bullet juxtaposing against its delicate nature. This foreshadowed that the men in the van chasing the gazelle were in the latter half of the film going to scare innocent people and use their guns as a shield to hide behind. Furthermore hen the were chasing the gazelle they were shouting not to shoot at it and kill it completely this also shows how they don’t like to be in the wrong and find alternative ways to torture the people of the town without disrespecting god, as religion is a major theme within this film.

        

Expanding on the previous point it is made apparent that religion is very important to the Islamic rebel’s as in one scene they enter a place of worship with their shoes and weapons which is seen shun upon in the eyes of god. An old man praying peacefully says to the gentleman that they are praying and should leave and the gunmen peacefully back down. By doing this it is clear to the reader that all these rules being created are in respect of god and they truly believe that it is the right thing to do.

Sofiane El Fani, who really understood the power of the human face, shot Tim Buk Tu and when to simply just frame it on screen, as you will also see from her work on Blue is the Warmest Colour. By reducing the amount of special affects it really grabs the readers attention for the right reasons. Instead of being drawn to the explosives are superpowers they are purely attracted to the actor’s emotions and emphasize with their situations.

         This film won two awards in the Cannes film festival, François Chalais Award and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury. Also at the Jerusalim film festival it won the “In spirit for freedom” award. Overall I think this film depicted a new take on life outside of the UK and in second world countries imparticular and is a real heart frob to the audience who now see how much they have in comparison to people whom have so little. I would recommend this film to those who wish to have a different outlook on the way we see our lives and objects and how much we have in comparison to the people who live on purely the comfort of music.

Elf

Prezi shots and sequences

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