Intersectionality is a large theme, present throughout the entire film. The movie follows Chiron, the main character throughout his younger years. Ever since he was very young, Chiron was curious of his sexuality, whether he was gay or not. He was even called a “faggot” as a young boy by other kids and asked Juan what it meant later on.

The categories of intersectionality being on display in this film are Chiron’s race and his sexual orientation. I would consider myself a person who watches all different types of genres of movies from different time periods and I cannot recall a movie I’ve watched that tackles the idea of an African American struggling with his sexual orientation. The director taking on this massive challenge and executing flawlessly in my opinion, is a major reason why I think this film deservedly so, got all the accolades it did.

When Chiron and Kevin kissed, it was a major moment in the film, that kiss assured to me that Chiron’s thoughts about his sexuality were valid in the fact that he suspected he might be gay. I think that scared Chiron and which is why he tried to block out of his mind for years. He admitted to just that when he met up with Kevin years later, saying he was the only man/person who ever touched him and that he tried to block out the memory of it happening for years. It’s a very difficult situation for people who don’t feel comfortable with their sexual identity and I hope that this film educates people to be more understanding of the hardships people face when it comes to intersectionality. 

The performance a character puts on really defines them in film. Joel and Clementine’s acting in this film is what helps us better understand them as characters and how they fit in the movie. I’d like to focus on the two of them as they’re the two main characters in the film and how the relationship between their performances and characterization correspond with one another.

Joel Barish is the protagonist in this film and can be described as careful or even shy to some. He is portrayed in this way because of the acting skills he uses that makes it so apparent, for example he tries not to make eye contact with someone if he does not have to. Joel expresses his personality physically through his reserved gestures towards other people. Jim Carey, who plays Joel understands the director’s vision for his character and because he does, we understand Joel Barish and can even make connections on a personal level with ourselves.

Clementine played by Kate Winselt is an upbeat and outgoing type of person as we find out very early in the film, the complete opposite to Joel I might add. Clementine seems larger than life in the beginning by the way she dresses, talks, and the aggressive movements even. Later into the film we find out how damaged and insecure she is, which I was not too surprised about because often those same character traits I mentioned before are used to cover up insecurities by many. Clementines role in this film was very complex because she needed carry out herself in a particular manner so that later in the film, we would understand what truly makes her tick and why she acts the way she does. Kaufman is excellent in this film at layering how characters are being portrayed all for it to even make more sense to the viewer the more we watch.

This film is very unsettling, even from the very start. Stanley Kubrick uses many different strategies to give off the unsettling and eerie mood that he desired for this film. The sounds, music, editing, and mise en scene all attribute to these feelings you get from the film.

            The music used in the film gives off a certain dramatic and scary feeling even for the simplest of scenes. The screeching sounds in the opening scenes tell the viewer right away what kind of film they are watching even though the camera is just panning views of the mountains and such. The slow zooming in of characters also adds a suspenseful factor to this film through cinematography. Extreme close up shots of faces paired with scary music adds to the unsettling of the film that you can see and hear all throughout.

            The mise en scene of this film is quite interesting because while its very open and large its oddly very quiet and remote so a lot of interactions between characters can go unseen by others, which plays into the unsettling theme in this film. Extreme long and wide shots of the Colorado mountains are particularly important in adding a scary dimension to the film because of the lack of civilians in those parts.

            Lastly, Jack, the main character of the film comes off very disconnected to his family, especially when it’s just them interacting and no one else is around to observe. When there are others around, Jack seems to be acting like he’s more connected to his family then he really is so that he comes off as a standup guy. Jacks lack of emotion and how he always seems bothered with his family, gives off the feel that he’s a cold human being with a negative agenda, something we see expressed often from Jack.

The themes of criminality and family are well represented in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather”. Don Corleone is not like the other bosses in the surrounding families. He runs his business with certain practices or morals that are not accustom to people in his line of criminal work.

While the Corleone’s run an illegal business, with operations such as gambling or extorting businesses with there protection, Don Corleone tries to separate himself and the family from risky propositions as they come up. The Don has strong political power from the relationships’ he’s made over the years and does not feel it’s appropriate for the family to get involved in certain illegal businesses such as selling narcotics. When Virgil Sollozzo presented an offer to the Godfather for that same business, he turned it down because it does not fit in the Corleone’s business model.

The theme of family in this film is twofold, one being that the Corleone’s are a family and second the Corleone’s are one of the five mafia families in New York. It can sometimes be tricky when a family is also running a business because to be a successful business, feelings cannot get in the way of decisions that have to be made, especially in the cut throat business the Corleone’s are in. Although Don Corleone wouldn’t want it any other way because it was his family, he was running the business with, he could trust them with any and all information and that is hard to come by. Loyalty to the family is above all else in the Godfather, not discussing any problems or even what you’re thinking outside the family is crucial. When Sonny chimed in seeming not a big deal during a business meeting, as soon as it was over, The Godfather made his son know that it’s not acceptable for him to let others know outside the family what they were truly thinking, and in this case it was how they wanted to run their business.

The new wave to me is all about reflection to one’s self. It’s a movement young filmmaker took head on to discover more about themselves than anything else in a sense. I believe that Francois Truffaut had a strong connection to Antoine Doinel and why he made him the way he is. I can only speculate how similar this character is to Truffaut but knowing what I know about the new wave movement, I believe it’s more than likely the director drew from his own personal experiences as a child and implemented them into this film.

The protagonist Antoine Doinel finds himself struggling with social and political issues that arise. Whether they be from his home life or from school. What I found difficult to understand during this film was it seemed as if Antoine was a wounded soul from the get-go, as if he’s already been hurt from something or someone before we even see him in the film. As the film progresses and Antoine runs away from home, I believe that and all the other troublemaking decisions he makes is not because he’s a bad kid but because he is lost and does not know who he is so he’s trying to discover himself in a sense. He only feels that’s possible on his own and some may say he discovers himself when he finally gets to the ocean he’s been meaning to see.

This film is so immersed into the new wave era because of the self-reflection taking place in Antoines life, something we have not seen much of in earlier films. Take a film like “Psycho” for instance, we only see Norman Bates as a deceiving murderer for much of the film. We do not see him show any real emotion after his heinous crimes. We see him for what he truly is as we progress through the film but I feel Norman himself does not learn anything new about himself, something I mentioned earlier that movies prior to this era lacked. 

Norman Bates is the main antagonist in the film “Psycho”. It really took a lot of critical thinking to try to understand Bates and why he acted the way he did. I do not think it was possible for me to have an idea of all of this without the psychiatrist’s opinion given at the end of the film.

Now that I have had the time to watch the film in its entirety and reflect on what I just watched, I do believe I understand Bates to a certain degree. Bates has a certain disorder where he believes he can act as his controlling mother. Bates believed his mother was convincing him of doing terrible acts because she believed that they would arouse him, and she was not accepting of that. So, to make his mother happy he would carry out killing these women that would arouse him and he would dress like his mother with a wig because he believed he was her for periods of time.

Clearly Bates was shaped by his mother and he spent his whole life trying to appease her even if it meant killing people. Bates mother has been dead for years and I believe he killed her. I also think he preserved her body in the home for so long to keep the idea of her being alive so that he can carry out these acts of killing people because she said so. You could hear her voice from time to time in the film even know she’s past away because those are the voices Bates hears constantly in his head. Those voices are a vital reason why he became the monster he was in this film.

Jefferies in this film exposes himself as being voyeuristic or what some like to call a peeping tom. I believe this is something that comes natural to Jefferies as a pleasure because he is a photographer for profession. Photographers are naturally very observable to the environment around them. In this case Jefferies shows his level of pleasure in observing others through his rear window.

I do not think it’s any coincidence that Jefferies’ apartment has the ability to look through a lot of other people’s apartment. It’s fascinating that us the viewers are pretty much put in the same scenario as Jefferies is in the film. Hitchcock has managed where both the viewer and Jefferies are both peeping at same people and speculating the situations, they’re in, all while staying anonymous to those same people.

This film shows that voyeurism is a common pleasure among all walks of life. It’s natural for you to be intrigued with how others live their day to day lives. Hitchcock shows the curiosity many people have and watching other people is a result of that. I think one major reason why this movie is so acclaimed is because voyeurism is not often discussed and some would say frowned upon.

There are many reasons as to why “Casablanca” has stood the test of time and is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential American films of all time. 

To begin with, at a crucial moment in American history, “Casablanca” impacted our perception of intervention in the Second World War, and of intervention in foreign affairs in general. “Casablanca” helped to start a trend which continued in such events as the Gulf War, where America intervenes in difficult world situations. No longer could America stand idly by and permit undemocratic evil to overtake the earth. This was the message of Casablanca in late 1942. It was time for America to flex its muscles and enter the fight. America was to become the reticent guardian of the whole world.

“Casablanca” is a great example of the classic Hollywood film. It was shot entirely on Hollywood sets, while using studio actors, directors, and writers. “Casablanca” shows the beautiful collaborative effort in studio production. The story itself is straightforward, but the film is hardly simplistic, partly because of its unresolvable central conflict and partly because it functions as both a realistic movie and a political allegory. The film’s lasting nature is due to its dramatic conclusion.

While “Casablanca” is considered a legendary Hollywood film, I’d be remised to say that it does not follow all the same guidelines as other Hollywood films and is maybe another reason why the film has stood the test of time. In a standard film, conflict and romance would not conflict, they would actually go hand in hand. Also, in the end Ilsa would have chosen her love and they would ride into the sunset and that clearly was not the case.