Film analysis essay

ENG 117/AAH 136/FMS 132: Introduction to the Art of Film

Film Analysis Paper #4

900-1000 words, due M 12/14, 5pm, uploaded to Blackboard

For this film analysis paper, you may use parts or the entirety of any posts you have made on Yellowdig. Your Yellowdig discussion activity should be considered preparation and material for the paper. (To see only your own posts and comments on Yellowdig, select Filter—By Member, then enter your name). Yellowdig discussion questions are available on Blackboard by film in the content area, “Discussion Board Questions.”

Choose one of these two topics. The first time you mention the title of a film, follow it with the director and release year in parentheses. For example: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000).

1. Some documentary films try to persuade the viewer to accept a particular perspective on a social or political issue. The issues are frequently controversial, and the films aspire to influence real-world activism and politics. As explained in the readings from Bill Nichols and in my lectures, documentaries can be categorized into different “modes.” We studied, in particular, the expository, participatory, and observational modes, and discussed how a given film may mix different modes. Further, we studied Nichols’ analysis of the different forms of “proof” available to documentary filmmakers invested in persuading the viewer: ethical, emotional, and demonstrative. For this paper, analyze Bowling for Columbine (Michael Moore, 2002) or another documentary film of your choosing. Explain what you think are the main arguments the film is trying to make, and how it uses documentary conventions and other cinematic devices to make them. You must identify which mode or modes of documentary the film employs, and which forms of proof it uses. Include close formal analysis of at least two specific scenes/sequences in the film. Discuss the film’s uses of documentary conventions (such as voice-of-God or voice-of-authority narration; archival footage; interviews; evidentiary editing, etc.) and any other formal elements you notice (cinematography, sound, music, etc.).

2. Sheldon Lu suggests that there is a tension for some of the characters in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) between the “Taoist ideal of personal and spiritual liberation” on the one hand, and “human responsibilities and emotional restraints,” on the other. This tension between freedom and responsibility, or personal happiness and debts/obligations, is significant for the film’s portrayal of many of the main characters. Discuss the film’s three main characters--Li Mu Bai, Yu Shu Lien, and Jen Yu (Yu Jiao Long)--in relation to how each character seems to experience these tensions, and how they affect the character’s choices and actions. Analyze at least one (or more) fight scene(s), with attention to the distinctive fighting styles of the characters (degree of effort or effortlessness, uses [or nonuse] of weapons, defying [or not defying] gravity, etc.) and formal elements of the fight (music, lighting, choreography, etc.) How do these scenes exemplify James Schamus’ comment that “…the fighting is a way of thinking and feeling and relating” (Lu, 224)? You should also discuss other important scenes and plot elements, such as (but not limited to) the long-suppressed romance between Mu Bai and Shu Lien; the backstory of Jen Yu’s love affair with Lo (Luo Xiao Hu); Mu Bai’s death scene; Jen’s jump off the bridge in the ending. You do not need to analyze all of these things, but incorporate into your paper discussion of significant scenes and plot points that enable you to compare how these three characters are differently affected and defined by the tension between freedom and responsibility.