Movie Week Extravaganza (sp?)

So, i did not attend the movies at the school - being very sick and then having a dentist appointment (where I found out that I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out, because at one point they were infected! SO FUN).. anyways...

I decided to see these three movies instead - Memento, Fur, and Barry Lyndon.

So first off,

Memento

Memento is about a guy, Leonard Shelby, that is looking for his wifes' killer and rapist. He himself was attacked, hit his head, and now suffers from short term memory loss. To help him with his "condition" ( as he likes to call it) he takes polaroid photographs of his belongings, people he has met, and stuff he does not want to forget.

The whole movie starts from the end and then at the end, you finally see the beginning (if that makes sense at all). Basically, you see the events backwards and they unfold to the start. It kind of makes you feel or gets you into the mindset of the main character, by keeping you guessing at what will happen next. Like him, we don't know what happened in the time that lead up to that point. There are also scenes in the movie where he is recalling the past. These parts are shown in black and white, instead of the colour you see throughout the parts in the movie that are happening now. I think he helps that they did that becuase when you first start watching the movie, it is kind of confussing until you figure out it is being told backwards. Having the black and white scenes breaks it up form past to present, so you are not lost.

The photographs play a major part in the movie, because without them leonard would basically be screwed. He would know no one, and remember nothing. The photos help him out a lot in the movie, but also screw him over in the end. Just because the photo is showing something, doesnt mean that you should always believe it, which was the case for Leonard.

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus

Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, is a movie exactly about what is said in the title. Diane Arbuss' life is imaginarily reproduced in this movie. It shows how she could have started her career in photography, and why she may have taken pictures of the people she did, such as "circus freaks." Diane Arbus, played by Nicole Kidman, is shown to have a romantic love affair with one of her new neighbours. During her afair with this man, he helps to bring out her artistic side and start her down the journey of her photographic career.

I quite enjoyed this imaginary story of how Diane Arbus started out. There were some very beautiful scenes, and the story line was quite interesting. I liked how they showed her as someone who was not afraid of people that were different from her, and that part I find to be true about her. She took beautiful pictures of "strange" people and was not afraid to do so. She was not afraid to do so in the movie, but also in real life. I was glad they showed that side of her. However, I think that they may have showed Diane Arbus in kind of a bad light also. They portrayed her as a cheater and a liar. I'm not sure if she did cheat or lie to start her career, but I wouldn't really like someone showing a side of me that was not true (or in this case MAY not have been true).

Barry Lyndon

Well I found this movie on the internet under the title "Ten Movies Every Photographer Should See" I figured it may be interesting - because of how it was shot - and decided to see it (also because I needed one more movie to see as part of my 3!)
Barry Lyndon is set in the 18th century and is about Irish guy, who leaves his home after he apparantly kills an officer. He ends up meeting a beautiful lady and marries her for her fortune.
Visually, it was a stunning movie. Some of the scenes are lit only with candle light (no artificial light at all!) and it held a very dreamy look to them. The lens that was used had to have had a very big aperature because some scenes were only lit by the candle light.
Besides that, I found myself kind of dozing off because it just was not that interesting to me.