After watching "The Matrix" I was struck by how closely the plot of the movie resembled some christian ideologies . I was further intrigued after reading the Marxist reading, to see the parallels between Marxism and "The Matrix"."The Matrix" in both cases creates a separation of two distinct worlds: the matrix and the real world. Under religious parallel this could represent the material world and spiritual world. Under Marxism the two worlds represent a capitalistic society, which has destroyed society and the new world where revolt has eradicated capitalism.
In a more depth analysis there are many more parallels between"The Matrix: and Christianity. To begin with the main character Neo (stands for new and is anagram for one) greatly resembles the Christ figure in my opinion. He chose to live life outside of the matrix. In the real world Neo was able to bed the rules of the matrix. This parallels the life of Jesus, which did not consists of matter. Free from material restrictions, Jesus walked on water and completely reshaped our perception of reality. In the movie itself, Neo is called "my own little Jesus Christ". Neo's role as the "One" greatly resembles Jesus and his role as the savior. Jesus showed the spiritual way while Neo showed the non programmed way. Either way both saviors were shepherds herding the sheep away form a false life. Lastly both characters die and are resurrected this proving their dominion over matter of the matrix. In turn through their death, they proved their dominion over the falsified worlds.
Trinity in the resurrection scene seemed to resemble Marry Magdalene to me. Marry Magdalene was a close follower of Jesus much like Trinity was of Neo. Furthermore, Marry Magdalene was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection, just as Trinity was with Neo. Some reviews believe Trinity represented the holy ghost but I feel more compelled to believe my first assertion. Just as Trinity represented a biblical character, Cypher also parallels a biblical character. Much like Judah, Cypher a follower of the chosen one, sold away the secrets of his master to the enemy.
Lastly there are little biblical allusions throughout the entire story. Neo dies in room 303, and Jesus' resurrection took 3 days. The release of the movie occurred on Easter weekend. Different names in the movie parallel biblical names: Trinity, Nebakenezar, Zion and so on. It is evident due to the past evidence that there is at least a minor Christian undertone in the "The Matrix".
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is yet another distopian future movie that uses its dark lighting and scenery to invoke a very dreary and foreign feeling to the movie. All of the costumes, background, and overall props in the movie are all dark, the music is always heavy with a slow moving tempo. All of which depict a very eerie movie. I found the close up shots and use of silhouetted lighting also very interesting, such teqniques further proogated the mysterious feeling. Such amibiguity was most evident in the replicas and harrison ford. In such cases half of the actors face was often siloeted by light. Such ligh focus bring attention to the character but more importantly highlights the possible two sidedness of the character.
It is for this reason and a couple of others that i feel that Harrison Fords character is a replica. To begin with in the beginning of the movie, the creator of the replicas is oddly fond of Ford, despite his profession of killing off his creations. Furthermore he is very inquisitive about how he can tell if one is a replica or not. Lats form this particular scene the creator mentions that he was able to implement fictional memories into the replicas brains. After this discussion, the conversation is dubbed into the soundtrack on occasional times. On all occasions Harrison Fords character is looking perplexed, heavy in a deep state of mind. When he returns from his visit with the creator, he plays the piano while looking at some old insignificant pictures of his family. The odd assembly of them makes the pictures feel more trivial then sentimental. Lastly his interactions with his love finalize my belief. She at one point asks Ford if he had ever tested himself. There is an awkward pause in the movie following the comment. Lastly the parallels connected between the two are more than just coincidental. Both play the piano and are obsessed with the old photographs of their family.
Aside from Harrison Fords replica like character i found it very amusing that all of the replicas function better and more normal than the humans in the movie.Although they were all interesting and they individually seemed to be more developed and carry a greater persona than most other characters( not Harrison Ford). Regardless of my feeling the over all creation of this movie is very ambiguous and leaves many questions answered.
It is for this reason and a couple of others that i feel that Harrison Fords character is a replica. To begin with in the beginning of the movie, the creator of the replicas is oddly fond of Ford, despite his profession of killing off his creations. Furthermore he is very inquisitive about how he can tell if one is a replica or not. Lats form this particular scene the creator mentions that he was able to implement fictional memories into the replicas brains. After this discussion, the conversation is dubbed into the soundtrack on occasional times. On all occasions Harrison Fords character is looking perplexed, heavy in a deep state of mind. When he returns from his visit with the creator, he plays the piano while looking at some old insignificant pictures of his family. The odd assembly of them makes the pictures feel more trivial then sentimental. Lastly his interactions with his love finalize my belief. She at one point asks Ford if he had ever tested himself. There is an awkward pause in the movie following the comment. Lastly the parallels connected between the two are more than just coincidental. Both play the piano and are obsessed with the old photographs of their family.
Aside from Harrison Fords replica like character i found it very amusing that all of the replicas function better and more normal than the humans in the movie.Although they were all interesting and they individually seemed to be more developed and carry a greater persona than most other characters( not Harrison Ford). Regardless of my feeling the over all creation of this movie is very ambiguous and leaves many questions answered.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Brazil Analysis
After watching Brazil I was on sensory overload. The cluttered framing and chaotic movement throughout the entire movie gave the movie a very crowded and active feeling. I feel that the chaos was created to show the viewer the downfalls of technology. Throughout the entire movie technology is constantly breaking, causing troubles, and generally inconveniencing others. By framing the scenes with such a crazy feel, the director is trying to show that technology does not make things easier, it makes things worse on occasion. This is further supported by the few scenes in the movie that are peaceful and happy. In the early dream sequences, there is barely any technology involved, the scene is beautiful and peaceful. In the final dream sequence the two main actors once again find themselves in a setting with little technology. The scene is peaceful and happy. The lack of chaos and brighter lighting emits this feeling.
As a whole I felt the movie was a satire bashing industrialism and the rush to better technology. Minor underlying themes such as the main actors subconscious played by Robert Dinero, totalitarian like state of the government and many others helped to further argue against technology. Most importantly though, Sam Lowry portrays a very important juxtaposed role in the movie. He is one of the few who is not satisfied with technology, constantly fighting against it he battles to find peace inside the insane world he lives in. There are a plethora of examples that exemplify his desire to escape. To begin with his dreams clearly depict a desire to escape the shackles of technology. He desires to fly free from the dark and decrepit city that has locked away his beauty. In reality it is much the same, he finds his escape form everything in the simple joy of love. In the restaurant scene he becomes enraged with the ordering system and the reliance of all the others at the table on technology. Lastly when his air conditioning goes out, he finds comfort in his old refrigerator. One of the few pieces of technology in the movie that was not altered.
Sam Lowry battles against society to show them the better way the entire movie. For this reason I also noticed that the director painted him to resemble the Christ figure. In the dream sequence he is mounted on the wings and positioned on them much like he would be on a cross. At the ending of the movie, when his mind leaves him as he is being tortured he realizes his highest desires (a world with love and without technology), when the dream ends the characters hands are both bleeding from holes in his hand, his head has been crowned with a helmet and his crusades have been put to an end by a totalitarian force.
As a whole I felt the movie was a satire bashing industrialism and the rush to better technology. Minor underlying themes such as the main actors subconscious played by Robert Dinero, totalitarian like state of the government and many others helped to further argue against technology. Most importantly though, Sam Lowry portrays a very important juxtaposed role in the movie. He is one of the few who is not satisfied with technology, constantly fighting against it he battles to find peace inside the insane world he lives in. There are a plethora of examples that exemplify his desire to escape. To begin with his dreams clearly depict a desire to escape the shackles of technology. He desires to fly free from the dark and decrepit city that has locked away his beauty. In reality it is much the same, he finds his escape form everything in the simple joy of love. In the restaurant scene he becomes enraged with the ordering system and the reliance of all the others at the table on technology. Lastly when his air conditioning goes out, he finds comfort in his old refrigerator. One of the few pieces of technology in the movie that was not altered.
Sam Lowry battles against society to show them the better way the entire movie. For this reason I also noticed that the director painted him to resemble the Christ figure. In the dream sequence he is mounted on the wings and positioned on them much like he would be on a cross. At the ending of the movie, when his mind leaves him as he is being tortured he realizes his highest desires (a world with love and without technology), when the dream ends the characters hands are both bleeding from holes in his hand, his head has been crowned with a helmet and his crusades have been put to an end by a totalitarian force.
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