elleglw Reviews

The Searchers (1956)

What is the main theme of The Searchers and how is represented within the films?

[8/10 · 31 August 2006]

The Searchers is another classic film that will go down in history for its controversial topics and its technical mastery, although upon its release it was disregarded by critics as "Just another Ford Western"(Eckstein).

Some of the film's topics are the miscegenation of sexes , a love that goes beyond the norms of society ( Ethan and Martha), but most of all are its bold attempts to depict the racism of some of the Americans. The characters that portray such anger and detestation towards the Native Americans or Comanche are Rev Samuel Johnson Clayton(Ward Bond), Ethan Edwards(John Wayne) and Laurie Jorgensen(Vera Miles). Taking into account Rev. Clayton , he seems to be confused whether or not to do the right thing and bring peace to the community which is one of his most important roles since he is after all a Reverand , one that brings people closer to God. On the other hand he is also a Captain, one that brings order to the civilians , and those who do not follow him shall be punished , even by death. So we as viewers and critics of our actions , cant bare to imagine how can a person be both captain and Reverend , when those roles oppose each other?

In addition Laurie Jorgensen has adopted some of Ethan's rude and maleficent nature. Even though she is head over heals for half English -half Comanche Martin Pawley(Jeffrey Hunter),and stands up for him through many occasions , she seems to not show equal measure to Martin's "sister" Debbie , who has been abducted by the Comanches at a very young age , after her family had been massacred. Furthermore we expect from her to represent the generic ideal , the woman that brings civilization to the frontier and reunites both cultures, but instead she represents the ideally sexual woman that condemns women from having relations with mix raced men.

Lastly Ethan Edwards is completely the opposite of what we might call a hero in any film, especially a western as the main character is meant to bridge the gap between the civilizations . Instead he is an antihero , full of obsessive bigotry and a dark , mysterious attitude. Ford doesn't waste any time in showing what a disrespectful person he is , and that is shown in the first few minutes of the film when we are first introduced to Martin Pawley. Even throughout the journey he is teased and humiliated in front of other Americans.

John Ford's mission throughout the film is not to cause an upset to the public but to show what a scoundrel some of the characters are and most of all to depict how people behave towards each other when they are trying to preserve their civilizations .

Citizen Kane (1941)

why did Citizen Kane create such an impact upon its first release?

[10/10 · 31 August 2006]

Well as a media student myself , i have come across this question many times in books and during lectures. There are simply 3 reasons the film, which was considered as the "Mona Lisa of all films" , created such a legendary appeal upon release in 1941: 1) This was Orson Welles first cinematic debut , even though he had been a huge star in theater , he was given an opportunity few first time directors were permitted to having. He had full artistic freedom and above all power, to direct , produce, write and even star in his own picture. Therefore the film industry and RKO pictures had absolutely no influence in the making of the film and were not to know what was happening on set .Of course this was bound to generate a number of problems as businessmen were curious about the nature and plot of the film , which takes us to the second reason the film caused controversy.

2)One of the main reasons the film posed contentions was because the main character , Charles Foster Kane(Orson Welles), featured a range of similarities with real media mogul and newspaper journalist William Randolph Hurst . Therefore the film was seen as depicting the life , problems and personal relationships of a real person thus fictionalizing his life. Some of the similarities between the two persona's are:

KANE: newspaper tycoon , worked for New York Inquirer , known as the Kubla Khan of Xanadu ,married talentless singer Susan Alexander Kane, he was a political aspirant to presidency by campaigning for governor, bought his wife the Municipal Opera House, Financier Thatcher, and threat Getty's. Hurst: yellow journalist , worked for New York Journal, political aspirant to presidency by becoming governor, married acress Marion Davies, bought his wife Cosmopolitan Pictures, financier JP Morgan , and threat Tammany Hall.

-differences: Susan Alexander Kane( Dorothy Comingdore) leaves Kane later in their life however there was no marriage breakdown for Hurst and Marion.

3) The last reason and most pivotal of all to why the film was regarded the way it was , was due to its technical and stylistic innovations . The film upon its release was misunderstood and unappreciated by critics as they couldn't comprehend many of its elements and were too concerned with its dark and mysterious nature which is one of Welles's characteristics in his films. The film after all was 20 years ahead of its time and was only regarded as a triumphant success upon its second release after the American Film Noir era in the 1950's. His most prominent artistic inventions were: -the low angled camera movements -extreme facial closeups -long uninterrupted shots -chiaroscuro lighting -overlapping dialogue , giving a realistic effect to conversations -subjective camera angles -deep focus shots and depth of field -flashbacks that make up most of the film All the above and more constitute to why the film is so influential to all would be film directors and for why many people regard it as the best film of all time. Lastly we musnt forget the exceptional score by Bernard Herrmann who had collaborated also with the best known director of all time, Alfred Hitchcock , and made him the chillin sounds of strings in Psycho and Vertigo to name a few . In addition the superb photography of Gregg Toland in regards to Welles's unique eye on details. After all he wanted to put in each shot everything the human eye can see if they were present.

There are many areas of the film which are crucial , these are some of the most important , and as you can see there is never too little or too much that you can add to this masterpiece .