The movie Into The Wild released by Sean Penn in 2007 seems to be about a young adventurous man who wants to break up with his actual life. He needs something more exciting, something different because he doesn't feel satisfied yet. The movie tackles the current issue of leaving your life behing to start a new one : "There are people in this world who go looking for adventure"...
I think this movie deals with the notion MYTHS & HEROES because the main character is braver than ever. He breaks away from his former life to face the Nature. He is searching for himself, it's a kind of a quest in which he doesn't want to feel strong, he wants to be strong! He decides to face the danger of the Nature by living with nothing else than by his own means. He surely doesn't feed himself correctly but it's nothing compared the hurdles he has to overcome : in the trailer, we can see that he is beaten by someone else.
Besides, this film refers to the notion IDEA OF PROGRESS, but in an original way. Indeed, this film is a criticism of consumer society. The main character - the heroe - takes the decision to live with nothing in an opulence world. Therefore, he cuts his credit cards and burn his money before going towards Alaska.
Originally known as Paul Van Haver, Stromae was born on the 12th March 1985 in Brussels. He is a writer-composer-performer of hip-hop and electronic music.
His mother is Belgian while his father came from Rwanda where he got killed during the genocide. His mother raised her 4 sons and her daughter on her own in the capital city.
When he was only 11, Stromae attended to music theory and drums at Musical Academy of Jette.
In 2000, he takes the pseudonym Opsmaestro to launch his career in hip-hop. But then he changes his nickname to become the most famous ever Stromae. (Maestro in backward-slang)
CHEESE, 2010
He begins by releasing some lessons on the internet to teach people how to compose electronic songs.
Then, he releases his first single Alors on danse in 2009, thanks to it he wins NRJ Award and he also attends to MTV Europe Music Awards 2010 on the 7th of November in Madrid. RACINE CARRÉE, 2013
The first song of this new album was released in May 2013. Papaoutai quickly became a hit.
His second album is as famous as the first one or maybe more because Stromae is now getting known by the whole world!
This year he won the award of the Best Belgian Artist at MTV Europe Music Awards.
I really love his songs because he is avant-garde and I love the way he blends electronic music with powerful and meaningful lyrics. Moreover he is really gifted to perform, he was impressive in Le Grand Journal where he performed his new song Tous les mêmes few days ago.
The Reader is a movie released in 2009 by Stephen Daldry. Originally based on German writer Bernhard Schlink's novel (Der Vorleser), the movie is about a relationship between a woman and a younger boy.
The movie is actually divided in different parts.
Neustadt, West Germany, 1958.
Mickael is getting back from school and his whitish face makes the member of the audience that this young boy is sick. Few minutes later, he just vomit on the floor before taking refuge in block of flats hall. Hanah rescues him and take him to her appartment, then she leads him to his house when his conservative family is waiting for him.
The doctor comes, Mickael must keep into his bed for three months because he's contagious. After his quarantine he brings flowers to Hanah, to thank her but she's distant... But in the end, they kiss each other and make love. The young boy can't wait to see her again and he goes very often to her home, she decides that before making love, he has to read her a part of the book he's studying.
They go on trip together, it's an idyllic relationship but Hanah gets a promotion and she leaves without telling him. He's totally upset and destroyed by his Passion.
This part deals with the power of Love. Indeed, we can see the genesis of love through the character of Mickael, he's totally in love with her, he's burning of Passion whereas she feels less passionated than him. She's older and more mature. We realise that love is not easy at all, Everything is not black or white but on the contrary, love is a mix of different shades.
Heidelberg, Law School, 1966
Mickael is now studying law, he has forgotten, he has tried to...
With his class, he goes to a Court of Justice of 6 women accused to have sent to death hundred of women in concentration camp. Hanah is part of them, she joined the SS because they were looking for guards. Each guard had to choose 10 women each week, Hanah chose differently, she chose the weaks, the sicks and asked them to go to her room to read her books...
During the Trial, the 5 others convicted denounce Hanah and tell that she is the culprit because she's her who wrote the reports. The judge want to check it, he gives Hanah a piece of paper and a pen and request a handwriting sample to check. Hanah refuses to give it, she says it's true she's guilty. But in fact, Mickael understands that Hanah is illeterate that's why she asked him to read her book etc. She's sentenced to prison for life.
In this part the reference to Judicial Power is more than clearer thanks to the trial and jail. But this power is controversial because we can discuss the sentence. It's easy to sit in judgement on someone when you don't know the truth. The judge only based his judgement on one source, the one of the 5 others culprits. It's certainly an error among many in Justice. Moreover this court wouldn't have taken place if there wasn't Hitler's totalitarian government led by Nazism ideology which is another form of power.
Neustadt, West Germany, 1976
Mickael is older now but he's still thinking of her. He decides to record his voice and send Hanah some tapes of him reading. On her own, she booked The lady with a little dog and starts learning how to read and write.
We can link this part to the power of language, the power of words. Thanks to this movie I got aware of how important to be literate is nowadays. It's natural for us to read and write everyday during class but for some people it's difficult and they feel ashamed of it. What's more, some bad persons abuse of their power and prey on these illeterate persons like the 5 women did with Hanah Schmitz. We can related this form of power to the power of honnor because even if she risks the prison for life, Hanah keeps quiet about her illeteracy instead of proclaimig her innocence. That's a deseperate act of courage.
I also realised that, nowadays, we are not aware how lucky we are to be able to communicate throught any support we want to. The fact of speaking, of singing is beautiful on his own but we can't see it if we are not "disabled"...
West Berlin, 1988
Hanah will be revealed and Mickael is the only one she knows, he finds her a job and a place to live in but she hangs in prison.
January 1995
Mickael brings her daughter where he went when he was younger with Hanah, she's buried there.
By bringing his daughter on Hanah's tomb, Mickeal perpetuate Hanah's Memory. Obviously, the power of Memory is important to not forget our past but also to consider the future in a better way!
Redacted (2007), released by Brian de Palma, aims to make people aware of what the situation was in Irak. Indeed through hard realistic pictures, Brian de Palma tells us how the real situation was in the country. He shows how scared the soldiers were about dying, they are even wondering what they're doing there in Irak. We can hear screams and shots in addition to watching horrible things like dead corpses, raping scenes... The director makes people see what they don't want to see.
The intervention of USA soldiers in Irak tackles the controversial issue of the reasons which justify the war. George W Bush sent million of solidiers in Irak in order to pacify the situation. He said he wanted to fight against the spread of terrorism but actually he just wanted to impose American supremacy to have an access to oil wells in Irak. Therefore, we can see that there are economic reasons to the war. And these reasons are the main motives of the Military intervention. That's what we're used to calling an abuse of power. So we can say that the USA is as guilty as Irak.
A Review by Derek Armstrong :
In the years following the start of the second Iraq war, numerous
filmmakers tried to grapple with the thorny issues at play there. But
few made quite so clinical an approach as Brian De Palma in Redacted. Since many of those films were considered misfires, a different approach might not be such a bad thing. De Palma
presents an array of media -- a French documentary, an al-Qaeda
website, a blog by a soldier's wife -- as if stockpiling evidence for a
trial designed to determine some kind of universal truth. The story's
backbone is the amateur footage shot by a soldier named Angel (Izzy Diaz),
who hopes to parlay his observations into acceptance at film school
after returning home. Through this we meet the five central characters.
All of this is fictitious, of course, leaving Redacted in the category of "fictional documentary." The results can feel simplistic and on the nose, but that's partly intentional. De Palma's
scenario is constructed specifically to have an every-soldier feel to
it, dealing primarily with the brutal rape of an Iraqi teenager and the
killing of her family. In this way, De Palma
indicts all American soldiers in all wars (accusations of such behavior
ran rampant in Vietnam), and even the very mentality engendered by
invasions and occupations, regardless of who's doing the
invading/occupying. Nor does he let the locals off the hook, intimating
that they look the other way when roadside bombs kill American soldiers.
De Palma's
serious purpose doesn't mean he's overcome by sobriety, however. Some
of the camaraderie among soldiers is disturbing, but some is downright
funny. In all, the cast of unknowns convinces us they're real grunts
just caught up in a cycle far bigger than they are, one that has
repeated down through the decades, where no one is really innocent.
This video is a parody of a TV show where Steve Jobs ("The founder of Apple computers") is the special guest. This document deals with three notions out of the four we have to study.
First, we can relate this video to the notion entitled "Myths and Heroes". Indeed, when the presenter introduces "Mister Steve Jobs", the audience is getting crazy. Then Steve Jobs' double enter on the stage while flashing lights lighting up him on a mystical music. We have the feeling that we are facing God. He is like a heroe for the audience because he created incredible products.
But this video makes us also think of the notion "The Idea of Progress". Actually, this fake TV show refers to the Apple products, we can see the iPod, the iMac, the iBook, the iPhone, the iPicture frame, the iLamp, the iMicrowave and the iVacuum. Obviously this video aims to laugh at Apple Corporation and its wishes to release more and more products. Besides, these products are totally improbable so it adds a comic effect.
Moreover I think that there is a link between this document and the notion "Locations and Forms of Power" because Apple Company wants to be more and more powerful, that's why the Corporation never stops releasing new products. And the fact is always more and more people buy Apple products even if it's useless like the "Irack" in the video. Apple is getting richer thanks to people who waste their money buying new products.
I personnally think that each and everyone should wear iRan and run far away from Apple spreading.
This document is a TV advertisement, released in 2013 by Apple. Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation situated in California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. The company was founded on April 1st, 1976, and incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3rd, 1977.
The word "Computer" was removed from its name on January 9th, 2007, the
same day Steve Jobs was introducing the iPhone. Apple is the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics.
This ad introduces the new Iphone 5 and more particularly the Iphone application "FaceTime". It tackles the issue of keeping in touch with the ones you miss when they are away.
This video is made up of a succession of different (2 seconds) shots like the long shot of the father and his two sons on the beach at the beginning of the video or the medium long shot of the man and his dog with the sunset in the background. This kind of editing is very interesting because it gives us the impression that each person is linked to another in the video. It looks as if that they are speaking together even if they don't speak the same language - we can hear a Chinese woman saying "Ni hao." ("Hello.") and another German woman in her house garden whereas most of people in the video speak English - and even if they don't come from the same country (we can make out different types of places : we can notice Tokyo Bay in the background [00:36] or an airport [00:45] ). Besides with this application the two "speakers" can see each other which can be useful for mute people communicating through sign language [00:20]. You can also share your activities with friends and make them take part in what you are doing, at 00:23 a woman is visiting a house and asks the other "FaceTime" user :"Do you think you like it?". Moreover, Apple aims to make this "App" accessible to each and every one because even the little boy [00:43] is able to use it, he is cute because he is giving a kiss through the Iphone. At 00:49 we can see the layout of the application : in the top right-hand corner there is a little rectangle where you can have an outline of what you're shooting while in the middle of the screen you can watch what your friend is filming, then in the bottom left-hand corner there is a micro, it means that you can turn off your micro during the conversation, next to this icon there is another to end the phone call whenever you want, you can easily change the front camera for the one at the back of the Iphone thanks to the icon in the bottom right-hand corner. On the whole Apple wants to make people feel concerned about the progress of new technologies and thus getting more and more consumers : "Every day more people connect face to face on the Iphone, then any other phone" asserts the voice-over.
This video is carefully thought-out and well-edited. We never get bored during the video because it is short and there is a background music from the beginning to the end while the shots fade into the others fluently, the message is clear and summed up : the world "Iphone" and the Apple logo appear in the middle of the image at the end of the video. I find this ad really efficient and convincing! However it only shows the good side of this application (which is normal in advertising, they want to sell their products), indeed, they don't mention how it is difficult to be away from the ones you love, they prefer showing people laughing like the little girl sitting on a sofa [00:09]...
Nowadays, New Technologies enable us to access almost whatever we want. "FaceTime" is an example among many. In fact there are many social networks, free softwares (Skype), applications (Whatsapp) which give you the opportunity to communicate with the whole world. In my opinion, these different means have become essential to keep in touch with your friends or family and moreover to improve the international friendship.
This video is structured around two main narrative voices and a character illustrating what the voice-over says while a singer often merely (= simply) repeats what's just been said.
The setting is a christian home and church, so this particular context is particulary meaningful.
We can notice on various occasions that the main character is addicted to high-tech products, mostly smartphones.
He is shown as a family man unable to interact (= communicate) with his wife except through texting.
He is also shown as a church-goer incapable of attending worship without all his phones vibrating all the time, making him look like he's full of the holy spirit.
Finally, he is depicted as a computer geek/guru whose life has become extremely complicated instead of having been simplified.
Interpretation:
Basically, this video means that high technology has become a religion for many people, even christians who are not supposed to be materialistic.
Then, in a christian lifestyle, quite a few church-goers and believers tend to focus more on materialistic issues than on spiritual ones.
We can add that the technology reigns supreme for many people who venerate (= revere) is as a God enlightening his followers.
The question is : is this real progress for humankind?
WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS... MISSING
Description:
Two people are stuck on an escalator in a place that seems literally empty (= deserted).
The man looks upset (= annoyed). He might be an office worker walking to his job.
The woman claims that she's already late, so for her this is the last straw (that breaks the camel's back).
At one point, she's about to cry and asks (= begs) for a phone. She yells (= screams) for help.
In short, the two of them look helpless/ clueless/ powerless/ even hopeless.
Interpretation:
We can relate this situation to a fairly common one in real life : getting stuck in/on an elevator.
The difference is that in this situation, people have the right to feel panicky (= panic/ freak out) whereas on an escalator, there is no reason (whatsover at all) to panic (= be scared).
The video points out the increasing reliance (= dependance) of human beings on technology. If it goes missing, it is as if a crutch had been taken away, so these two people cannot even climb (= walk up) the escalator, which would be the normal thing to do. We could also think that technological progress makes humans lazy or at least less prone to (= inclined to) take initiatives/think by themselves.
This cartoon is taken from International Herald Tribune
We don't know exactly when this cartoon was published but at first sight, it's obvious it was during the Festival de Cannes event. This document raises the controversial issue of illegal downloading. What catches my eye first is the Festival de Cannes logo in the top left-hand corner but also the woman, dressed in a golden outfits, next to the actor or director... Actually the main character is signing an autograph to a fan. Behind them, in the background, we can make out a crowd of people and photographers shooting the stars on the red carpet. This document is made up of a drawing and we can read what the "geek" teenager is saying to his idol. In fact the cartoonist aims to criticize illegal downloading. On the whole, I think that the cartoonist wants to denounce the increasing prices in the Cinema Industry but at the same time he blames the ones who pirate films because these are also reponsible for the increasing prices of DVDs. In my opinion, I find this document well-designed and effective and I think it's thanks to the cartoonist's humour. This cartoon is clever enough to influence the readers but at the same time there is nothing to approve at all because each and every one can give their own opinion. Needless to say that document is linked to The Idea Of Progress There is so much to do with laws against illegal downloading but is it worse than stealing a DVD in a supermarket? What's your point of view?
