Film Review Essay Paper

Julieta (Pedro Almodovar, 2016)

The film was definitely a family melodrama, as the problems circulating in the plot were founded in their
family, as noted in the film. For example, the protagonist's daughter kept her issues and doubts to
herself, resulting in her development's psychological breakdown. Her mother's failure to be the family's
bastion caused her to distrust herself and live separately. Her daughter's early maturity made her feel
insecure around her, so she left and lived separately. However, a series of events turned the film into a
family melodrama. The film, on the other hand, idealized Julieta's adventures. The plot of the film is
flipped by a distinct problem that changes the protagonist. This change of events is based on the
scholar's dramatic traditions. Julieta was regarded as a dramatic picture. On film melodramas, as
described by Corrigan and White, there were conventions that make the film a melodrama.

First, the character is defined by their situation to express their feelings or emotions. With this
convention, the film highlights the protagonist's life and struggles when she was abandoned by her
husband. Julieta felt the guilt that straining her to confront her daughter to tell her that her father died.
Having this situation, Julieta's position was unstable since she still blames herself for the death of her
husband and tried to comfort her daughter, but it did not work out. In addition, Julieta’s guilt grew and
lead her to depression. However, her daughter did not leave her and helped her recover from her
relapse. As it has been worse until she got old and recuperate from her depression. The response of
Antia was a feat to Julieta. As she thanked her for not giving up on her when she was sick. But, after
Julieta’s recovery, she left and never came back for 12 years. The loss of her daughter brought her again
to anxiety. Since the protagonist's response depends on the situation where she/he in it. Thus, it
coincides with the first convention of a film melodrama.

Second, the narratives that rely on coincidences and reversals and build toward emotional or physical
climaxes. From the film, the abrupt change of mood impacted the plot and the characters within. For
example, Julieta’s family was happy and stable in the first part of the film until a climactic event
shattered the bonds and isolates them from each other. The relapse of Julieta made her daughter
matured at an early age and carried a burden of doubts and anger within herself. Moreover, the first
convention of film melodrama was somewhat overlapping with its second convention. Since the first
states that the characters were defined by their situation that set their mood in the film. Coinciding with
the second convention, physical or emotional climaxes were the situations that set the characters on
transformation or transition in the film.

Lastly, the visual style that emphasizes emotion or elemental struggles, whether in interior scenes and
close-ups or in action tableaux. This convention relied on visual effects and the cinematography of a film
melodrama. The importance of cinematography in the film was to enhance the understanding of the
plot and empathize the emotion of the characters through their appearance, actions, and the camera
angle used in different situations. Thus, these techniques are vital to learning in film making not only to
impress but to educate the audience on how the characters are made of and came from. Based on the
film, there were different camera angles and lighting utilized. As observed in the first part of the film, the
use of the 180- degree rule was evident in the train scene. Most of the frames did not break the rule and
the use of graphic match on Julieta narrating about the train was timely. Moreover, the use of lighting
styles contributed to the expressions of the characters. Especially in the dark days of Julieta, the shadow
lighting style was obvious, and the background palette was ominous. In addition, close-up shots were
also important in film melodramas. For example, Julieta was seen depressed all the time in the mid-part
of the film.

The close-up shots helped the audience empathize and focus on her development in the film. Not only
the editing style but also sound support was important in the film. Since "melo" means melody in
melodrama, the flow of sound is subjected to pair up to drama. It plays a major role in blending the
close-up shots and match action to pertain to the character's situation in the film. It helps to deepen the
connection of the audience towards the characters and brought hype to the mood of the film. As
observed, the music used in the film was mostly classical and sentimental. It is not connected to Julieta
being a classical history teacher, but it was the plot of her life with lots of struggles that made the
director chose those types of sounds. Also, the sound support blended perfectly as it was her theme
song. Having these elements or techniques present in the film, will greatly stress character expressions,
emphasized the film’s plot, and empathized with the characters. Thus, it is important to merge these
techniques and blend them into the existing conventions to make a great film melodrama.

Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)

Do The Right Thing film by Spike Lee released in 1989 highlights how racial differences bring forth
conflict in an African-American community. The film was inspired by the killings of African Americans,
specifically Radio Raheem and shows how the country has in the past and currently continues to devalue
the lives of the African American residents, since the film strikes the current audience with the racism
that was existent in the past, and is still present in the United States. Notably, the film does not provide
answers to the problems of racial inequality in America, but the film appeals to the audience to reflect
on their perspectives on prejudice coupled with the justified rage brought about by white supremacy
and the institutional racism and injustices. It is truly a masterpiece how Spike Lee used characterization
to portray Radio Raheem as a gentle giant of sorts who was well respected in the neighborhood.
Besides, the film utilizes some devices to intensify the film while using different camera shots and angles
to explain different aspects of the movie.

The film’s focal point is Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brookline on a hot Sunday. As usual, Sal opens Sal’s Pizzeria.
After 25 years of owning the pizzeria, the predominantly African American neighborhood has surely
witnessed extensive changes leading to major residents of the neighborhood being African Americans
and Hispanics, while all others were minorities. Pino, Sal’s son hated this neighborhood and would have
done anything to relocate the business, but for Sal, the restaurant had sentimental value and was a key
part of the community in the neighborhood. Confrontations begin rather simply when Buggin’ Out was
displeased by the portraits of the Italian-Americans, which was a symbol of the oppression of the black
community, while most of Sal’s customers were African-Americans. This eventually integrates into
extreme violence as most of the black residents show frustration, which brings out the worst in
everybody.

The film brings out Radio Raheem as an aggressive yet gentle advocate of equality among all the races in
the neighborhood. Radio was portrayed as an enormous man who had a serious face wearing an African
medallion which was very iconic. He is a rather gentle young man despite being huge since during the
music battle he does not use his large stature to intimidate the other Hispanics into starting fights, but
rather just smiles and puts his fist in the air, essentially saying that he and his black counterparts hold
more power in the racial fights. Despite Radio’s gentle image as portrayed by the movie, Radio was
prone to reacting after one of his most sentimental things, the Boom box that he used to play “Fight the
Power” by Public Enemy was smashed by Sal.

The film is successful in the description of different ethnic settings. First, the film exhibits the ethnic
Puerto Rican image by just portraying the salsa type of music, language, and clothing (Do The Right
Thing). This is a strong use of iconography to portray the stereotypes that existed in that setting. The
fact that the Hispanics listened to Spanish salsa music portrays how racially different this particular area
was in the entire African American neighborhood. Then, there is the introduction of a racial struggle
between the Hispanic community and the black community when the music coming from the Radio’s
boom box slowly overwhelms that of the Puerto Rican group.

The size of the boom box when playing rap music, which most African Americans identified with, and its
loud volume represents the status of the black community and their economic power. Essentially, as rap
music overwhelmed the Latino music, the black population was also larger compared to their Hispanic
counterparts. The fact that rap music easily overwhelmed the Latino music portrays that the Hispanic
group is less powerful, both racially and economically in the neighborhood, which is acknowledged by all
the residents of the neighborhood, which might have led to peaceful co-existence. Additionally, their
large number meant that the blacks held more economic power than the small Hispanic group, despite
having a low per capita income per individual (Do The Right Thing). Radio Raheem is a giant as his loud
boom box and the black community he represents has more power. However, Radio does not go around
flaunting this power to start unnecessary conflicts with the Latinos but rather uses it as a constant
reminder of the power held by the black community, which essentially makes him gentle and peaceful.

Further, the film went ahead to portray that the inexistence of Radio Raheem only tipped the balance in
the predominantly peaceful African American neighborhood (Do The Right Thing). Radio Raheem had for
long been a symbol of balance between the races that lived in the neighborhood. however, everyone
has a breaking point, a point which Radio reached and could no longer ignore that Sal was white, which
was a symbol of the oppression of the black community. Radio Raheem was killed by police after his
confrontation with Sal, who Radio had pinned down, causing the response of the police. Despite using
the large stature to intimidate Sal, Radio would have been apprehended easily without the use of lethal
force since despite being large, he was only one man against the policemen. The black community was
in disbelief after the death of Radio since yet another African American had been killed (Do The Right
Thing). This had become the new norm in the neighborhood which the African Americans were no
longer willing to let continue.
The death of Radio, led to a situation where Sal unwanted in the neighborhood despite having worked
there for long, even employing some of the African Americans like Mookie. Mookie initially felt obliged
to stand with Sal since Sal was his employer whom he supported, but after the killing of Radio by white
policemen, Mookie’s position changed since the war had been announced between the white and black
folks. After the changing of sides by Mookie, Sal represented the few rich whites that oppressed the
blacks, who in essence had no power in numbers since they gained their influence from wealth, and not
support (Do The Right Thing).

Besides the devices used in the film to convey meaning, Spike Lee utilizes high and low angle shots to
make the film stand out, magnify the message of each encounter in the film and display tension
between characters. The use of several camera angles represents the anger and discomfort existing in
the neighborhood between the races. For instance, Lee uses high and low angle shots to show the
relevance of the conflict between Sal and Radio Raheem. Using the low angle shots, Radio is portrayed
as threatening and of the large physique (Do The Right Thing). Radio starts a confrontation with Sal
when he enters Sal’s Famous with his loud boom box. Further, during the actual incidence, the camera
goes back and forth between Sal and Radio Raheem, using low angle shots for Radio while reversing to
high angle shots of Sal while the two continue yelling. However, portraying his peaceful and gentle
nature, Radio Raheem turns off his boom box, thereby restoring the peace between the two.

Additionally, Lee uses these camera angles to show superiority and inferiority, essentially showing that
the black community was more powerful than the other races in the neighborhood, while still expressing
the tension. During the confrontation between Clifton and Buggin Out, Lee starts with a long shot which
establishes that the blacks are more dominant since the supporters of Buggin Out can be seen, against
Clifton, who was alone and to make the altercation more intense. Using low angle shots for Buggin Out
portrays his power and superiority in the argument coupled with the cheering from his supporters. The
sharp camera angle used on Bugging Out and his supporters portrays extreme anger while the camera
close-ups on Clifton portrays how calm and worried Clifton feels. The low angle shots on Buggin Out
shows the attitude that the character and the entire blacks had against their white counterparts.

Another camera technique Lee uses in the film is “breaking the fourth wall.” This technique essentially
lets characters speak to the camera directly, thus appearing to speak to the audience directly. Lee uses
this technique to let characters speak to the audience directly, although the characters are speaking to
each other in the film. For instance, this technique is used during the dialogue between Radio Raheem
and Mookie. The camera first captures both of them speaking, then Mookie is cut from the shot letting
Radio speak to the audience, and then goes back to capture both of them in the dialogue. The moving
back of the camera lets the audience know that despite being spoken to directly, Raheem was still
speaking to Mookie.

Conclusion

It is therefore evident that “Do The Right Thing” is a great film that uses different devices to deliver a
great story, which the audience easily derive meaning from. Spike Lee created this film to entertain his
audience as well as showing the audience those racial inequalities and social disparities if not dealt with
appropriately can lead to acts of violence from the powerless people. Lee also successfully portrays
Radio Raheem as a large person yet non-violent, the person whose death wreaked havoc in the
neighborhood. “Do The Right Thing” is an accurate reflection of today’s racist communities. African
Americans continue suffering from police brutality while only a few of these policemen are charged with
murder. Therefore, the film despite being over 30 years old, it is still relevant in today’s society.

Works Cited

Do The Right Thing. Directed by Spike Lee, performances by Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and
Richard Edson, music by Bill Lee. 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 1989.