Jake D.

I love how in Amores Perros Inarritu and Arriaga keep us confined to specific parts of Mexico in the first and second story, but then let us traverse back and forth through class lines in the third. A homeless person has a distance that separates him/her from society and allows him an observers perspective. It is perhaps a bit of a stretch, but there could be something said about the similarity of the artist and the homeless person to this respect. It is also interesting to examine the “evil” that el chivo is able to cary out before he is renewed and becomes a sadistic, guardian-angel prophet figure. I know it’s even more of a stretch, but one could say that this character relates directly to Inarritu and other artists who have to cary out the dirty-work of advertisers and large studios before they are able to use their talents to carry out their own agenda; and Innaritu and Arriaga are a lot like the sadistic, guardian-angel prophets of the movie-goer.

The Music of Pan’s Labyrinth is simple and haunting. It adds so much to the film and I love how Del Toro and Navarreta weren’t afraid to lace it directly into the script. The scene when Mercedes sings Ofelia the lullaby is so powerful, because it completely gives into the fairytale aesthetic of the film tying together the many parallel universes of the audience, the spanish civil war, and the eternal mystical realm of le fauno which are purposely kept ambiguous.

the music in children of men pretty awesome. I agree that it gets cheesy at times, like when the baby is shown, but I think that this is necessary and I don’t notice it when I’m into the movie. The bits I love are the high strings that come in and get higher and higher from the point of the first bomb on until the uprising which is the last disturbing conflict. It reminds me of Ligeti in 2001 and I love the way we are given the effect of after the bomb ringing in our ears.

I was curious at first about the large number of house hold pets that Cuaron has put into children of men. Jasper’s dog and cat. Marika’s Santo. The kittens and dogs at the farm. although it isn’t specifically said I think that these animals are replacements for the children. People even today will keep and obsess over pets sometimes it seems that this is done eerily in place of children. The fact that all animals seem to love Theo, perhaps just shows their instincts in picking a protagonist out of the crowd or they are sensing his loneliness, or they sense that he is the father of the future human race.

I like the moment when Pam Ferris continues to rationalize that Jasper was shot because everything happens because of some greater plan. Theo asked her to explain the justice in jasper’s death. The more formulaic response (in my opinion) would be for miriam to become silent and give Theo his space in this intense moment. Instead she starts right it with explaining herself. This moment made me think of the unformulaic way that dialogue occurs in every day life and how people who are more fanatical about a topic are often able to speak more quickly about it. In some cases this makes what they say seem incredible just by how frequently and freely they say it. This plays nicely in oposing the fact that against all odds they are somehow able to make it to the ship. It makes me think twice about her philosophy because it is so annoying at this moment.

hey.
this is a good scene and I think when I first saw this movie, it was luisa’s terrifying face at the end of this scene that made me certain that she was going to die. the way the shot is designed reminds me of two little picture frames on a cluttered, cheep wall. It is in details of design like this or like the leafy pool or the mess of a kitchen where the old lady is dancing where one can really see how mexico breaths with life. In this shot and probably many others in the film cuaron, brings that thrown together harmony asthetic into his own creation. However, I am more posting this video because Luisa’s face at the end of the scene is so fucking scary. if this doesn’t work you tube “y tu mama tambien 9/11.”

http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/short-film

hey I know that we haven’t gotten to Cuaron yet, but my room mate just showed me this short that he made. It’s pretty relevant to the style and themes of Children of Men and just damn intense to say the least. I don’t know how to post it so here is a link to the website:

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