Struggle Movie Reviews Samples For Students

The Pursuit Of Happiness Summary

Movie is a form of art just like literature, music and paintings but movie is much beyond that. Movie is a pictorial representation of a story one reads in a book. Movie is an expression of life in motion as one sees in paintings. Movie is a medley of colors and sound which provide a gateway to its audience from all the worries of life for a short while. Movie is a means of escape from the reality of life to find solace in something more cheerful. During Great Depression when people were bogged down with the distressing economic condition of the country, many Americans find something ...

There is a saying that silence is gold and evidence of it one may observe while watching masterpieces from Silent Era. One cannot help but notice how loud silent films are. Absence of sound is substituted by magnificent way of narration, director`s technique and acting capacity. I Was Born, but (1932) directed by Yasujiro Ozu is a Japanese representative of silent pieces of art. Skillfully and subtly Ozu presents adult problems, tough struggle in earning money, interpretation of social positions and adjustment and all these things come from children`s perspective. Through the eyes of pure and vulnerable ...

Waiting for “Superman”

Waiting for “Superman” is a documentary film produced by Lesley Chilcott and directed by Davis Guggenheim. This documentary produced in 2010 analyzes the shortcomings of the American public school system by following the struggles of several students and their families to gain access into a charter school (Guggenheim, 2012). It features students from across America that has been negatively affected by the public school system. These students together with their families have numerous hardships to overcome yet show a strong determination to succeed and an attitude of never giving up (Spina, 2011). The producer says that the problem lies with the public schools ...

- The preparation (becoming the chosen one);
In the passion of the Christ, Jesus is the main character who was born to die for the sins of humanity. Since when he was born to the time when he was baptized to begin his ministry, he goes through various preparation stages. We seem him learning obedience by being brought up by his parents and learning basic skills such as carpentry. His main test of obedience at a younger stage was when he remained in the synagogue and his parents had to come back looking for him. He recognized the fact ...

Film studies: The Drifters

The twentieth century opened the new era of development and led to collision of the modern industrialized world and pure untouched nature.
John Grierson was extremely fond of tendencies of the modern art. He would consider them to reflect the coming changes in their full extent. The other peculiarity was his interest in Soviet films, especially those of Sergei Eisenstein. All these things rolled into one were expressed in the brand-new technique of representing the reality.

After Lumier brothers John Grierson made another breakthrough which became the turning point in the history of the whole cinematography. He appeared ...

Hunger Games are the modern day phenomenon. The books have become bestsellers, and the films gathered millions of viewers. But behind the action scenes and fights were explored different moral and ethical issues. The most obvious questions uncovered were the change of personality, struggle against the system and the struggle for freedom. As the plot unfolds, we can see how Katniss's personality changes from an ordinary girl who loves nature and wants the best for her family into the active fighter for freedom, ready to spill the blood of the oppressors. The oppressive government of Panem turns our attention ...

Screening Reflection

Ride with the Devil, upon first glance, may seem like a movie that doesn’t deserve significant attention. In reality however, it relates to a deeper level with several of the other films that we viewed in class. For me personally, this film was able to relate to all of the other films we viewed in class on multiple levels.
Ang Lee’s films have dealt with a variety of topics in the past. Some of his earlier works that we watched, like Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman, deal with the relationship between tradition and modern ways ...

It needs to be reckoned that the television series, Prison Break, is surely one of the most famous programs ever aired in the history of television shows. Indeed, the immense popularity and critical acclaim of this show makes it a universal hit with its fan base transcending geographical boundaries and differences of cultures. A close scrutiny of the television show would provide an in-depth knowledge of the intricacies of portrayal and the thematic content of the program that have highly contributed to the show’s catapulting popularity and critical acclaim. There have been as many as four seasons of ...

Broculture and The Hangover

Abstract
The concept of broculture and bromance in the movie, The Hangover provides a new understanding into the changing conception of masculinity in the modern man as depicted in popular culture. It is both a celebration of uber-masculinity and the liberation of the individual, in particular, the male from traditional conventions through the experimentation with drugs and alcohol.This paper seeks to examine the treatment of broculture in by Phillips in The Hangover. The first part provides a short synopsis of the movie and explores the choice and treatment of the setting of Las Vegas. The second part looks at ...

Many critics called the film Sholay (1975) directed by Ramesh Sippy the best film in the history of Bollywood, or the "Film of the Millennium". The critics praise it so much so that several critics insist that "innovation in Hindi films ends with Sholay and that everything after that is repetitious trash" (Banker 55). This picture is a mix of crime thriller with the elements of "Japanese samurai epics and American and Italian Westerns, most obviously The Magnificent Seven (which was based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai)" (Banker 55). The director involved a number of best Indian actors ...

I love Lucy is one of the pioneer sitcom comedies shot in front of a live audience in the US. The setting of the sitcom is in New York with the show following the life of Lucy Ricardo and her husband Ricky Ricardo, who is a professional singer. The show also includes the couple's friends, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The show follows the life of Lucy, who is naïve in her ambitions to become a star in the big city. Together, the cast gets into various hilarious situations that are brought about by the actions of Lucy in ...

Introduction

“Invictus” is a film that shows an inspirational story of how Nelson Mandela united his fellow countrymen by using rugby team as a catalyst, subsequent to the end of apartheid. During this time Mandela was serving his term as president and as he campaigned to host the Rugby World Cup in 1995, he used this opportunity to unite divided nation. After the apartheid, the white minority fears vengeance while the black majority seeks revenge. The movie portrays the racial trapping that prevailed in South Africa through the almost all-white rugby team, Mandela’s security and the divided nation to narrate ...

World War II was a time in which many people experienced destruction and depression. Throughout the world there was killing and the unforgettable deeds done by a man named Adolf Hitler. Schindler’s List is a movie in which portrays one man’s influence on the war and his actually influence on saving the lives of so many Jews. This paper looks to discuss World War II briefly so there is a better understanding of the war but also a detailed look at the movie of Schindler’s List. Oscar Schindler is the main character in the movie that was mainly pursuing the work ...

- Comparing and contrasting the attitudes of various authors
Novel Reflections on the American Dream is a collection of narratives that explores themes, character and plots of various novels that reflect a number of issues in America such as poverty, wealth and success in America. Some of these novels address the issue of conflict and struggle. This part of the paper analyzes three authors and the attitude they have towards the American dream.
No author brings out the struggles of life in America better than Ann Petry. His novel, which was published in 1946, is set in Harlem in ...

The movie Babies by Gerber is an observant documentary that offers a close look at four babies from diverse backgrounds and cultures as they grow in their first year of life. The exploration of how babies are raised in undoubtedly enriched by the four different cultural standpoints from Nigeria, Mongolia, the United States and Japan. The upbringings of the four babies differ regarding their dressings/ markings, play, parenting, and parental ideas of health care. I found the movie particularly intriguing in this regard.
For example, Bayarjargal from Mongolia interacts with roosters at a very tender age of infancy. When ...

Mean Streets (1973) Martin Scorsese

Introduction

A film is a story or an event that is a set of moving images or motion pictures and is shown in theater or on television. Films always portray different messages in them depending on the subject topic. The message they portray or carry mainly depend on the plot, setting of the movie and the role the different characters take up in the film or movie. The intent of the film is always in the main theme and this is always the beneficial part of the film to the viewers or the consumers (Merritt ...

The following analysis of Persona and Solaris reveals how movies from unlike countries and of different genres portray the development of opposite human personalities while losing or gaining humanity under the external influences and internal self-recognition. The attempts to create a fine movie about internal and external of human life do not often impress much, especially nowadays when we experience an endless flow of visual images. Probably, it inspires people to look back at the classic works that not only represent the unusual transformations in the forms of self but also produce extraordinary rhythms in the scenes (Tarkovsky 113). ...

____(3) 1.    Present a short summary of the plot (at least a paragraph; don't be too brief) IN YOUR OWN WORDS. (Please do not go online and cut and paste a summary of the film.)
In 1960 the federal government mandated that all public schools be de-segregated. In Louisiana, the governor refused to comply. Ruby Bridges was one of the black children selected to integrate the schools. When she arrived at her new school, with federal marshals as escorts, she discovered that the other black children did not show up and the white parents pulled their children from ...

Jane Doe

Abstract
In the documentary film, “Fed Up,” there is a frightening look inside America’s health crisis involving obesity. The lack of real food in American diets is to blame. The entities behind creating this problem are the big corporations in America that manufacture these foods. These “foods” are processed foods, with high sugar content that can lead to numerous health problems including heart disease and diabetes. Advertisers are marketing processed foods made of high sugar content to young children and putting sugar into the formulas to get them while they’re young. They have people hooked on sugar, ...

Undoubtedly, Terrence Malick is one of the most enigmatic artists of the modern cinematography. The majority of his films affect the most profound and controversial issues of human existence. The director is well known for his visual and poetic approach to cinematography, for which he is occasionally praised and scolded by critics. Recently, he turns to the Christian themes and speaks directly about God and with God in his films. In the film "The Tree of Life," Malick raises the question of the knowledge of God and the meaning of suffering, while his picture "To the Wonder" interprets love ...

One of the characteristic features of forensic anthropology is its deep moral load. What really makes sense is the ultimate goal which is pursued, and also the motivation behind the actions of anthropologists: they struggle for the truth, allowing the authorities to punish those who have not received their punishment. Therefore, this branch of anthropology functions as a link in the system of justice as it helps to reconstruct the scenes of massacres and find the evidence which may support or refute generally accepted facts.
In addition to that, this struggle is oriented not only towards identifying the names ...

Fists of Fury is also popularly known as the Chinese Connection in United States. It is an action movie that depicts the famous Chinese culture of martial arts. The plot of the movie revolves around the revenge of Chen Zhen. The entore movie portrays his struggle of finding the suspects of murder of his master and then killing them. In general, the movie has a political and nationalistic perception. It demonstrates the tension that existed among violent Sino-Japanese at that time .
Likewise, Yellow Earth is one of the highly famous Chinese dramatization movie. The movie was directorial introduction for ...

Film Essay Assignment: “Four Days in September”

The film “Four Days in September” is a movie based on the book of Rio de Janiero journalist, Fernando Gabeira, “O Que E Isso, Companheiro?” It is about a group of young middle-class Brazilian revolutionaries who wanted to overthrow the brutal military dictatorship of Brazil in 1969. Gabeira joins this young terrorist group, known as the MR8. Their initial move is the robbery of a bank. Although the heist was a success, one of their members, Cesar was captured. Since they did not gain much media mileage from the robbery, the group decides to kidnap the United States Ambassador to Brazil Charles Burke ...

J.J. Abrams’ serialized television drama LOST follows the stories of a group of survivors of a violent airplane crash on a deserted island, stuck without any hope of rescue and beholden to the mysterious forces that govern their new home. In its pilot episode, the filmmakers of LOST firmly establish the recurring theme of good vs. evil that establishes the characters’ journeys in their island setting. This is done through a combination of visual motifs, symbolism, and character moments juxtaposed through flashbacks and editing. Throughout the course of the pilot, the flaws, alignments and attitudes of the characters are weighed against a sense of ...

Documentary Food Inc., directed by Robert Kenner, is telling a story about food industry that is in control by huge corporations. Documentary itself is divided in several smaller portions that are connected. Every topic is well covered and explained, with appropriate witnesses and facts. Sometimes documentary is shocking and hard to believe. Shocking to see enormous fields full of cows that are waiting to be slaughtered and transformed to products. Fields full of corn, so long and wide that seems as there is no end to it. Hard to imagine how is possible to keep human population in dark and ...

The “Best of Both Worlds” has two storylines adapted from Star Trek: The Next Generation, American science fiction television series. It aims to describe the struggle between the two opposing factions, the Enterprise and the Borg. The Borg intends to conquer Earth, whereas the Enterprise is determined to prevent the Borg from accomplishing this. Before the cube can reach Earth, the Enterprise can destroy the Borg’s protective shield, leaving it/them vulnerable to attack and, therefore, increasing the Enterprise’s chance of success in preventing it/them from conquering Earth. This paper will analyze the second thesis in Cohen's Monster ...

The “Best of Both Worlds” consists of two storylines adapted from Star Trek: The Next Generation, an American science fiction television series. It aims to explain the struggle between the two opposing factions, the Enterprise and the Borg. The Borg intend to conquer Earth, whereas the Enterprise is determined to prevent the Borg from accomplishing this. Before the cube is able to reach Earth, the Enterprise is able to destroy the Borg’s protective shield, leaving it vulnerable to attack and therefore increasing their chance of success in preventing it from conquering Earth. This paper will analyze how the ...

The film ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence,’ is the story of three young Aborigines who dared to challenge the extreme and hostile terrains of the Australian bush country and desert to escape from captivity to freedom. The movie is touching and deals with cultural anthropology to the hilt. Right from the onset when the camera runs across a spectrum of barren land and reaches the eyes of an innocent girl who looks at the distant mountains and the bird in the sky with an emerging smile, the viewers are quickly moved to understanding that the eyes talk of the crave for freedom. On ...

In the 2010 documentary Waste Land, directors Lucy Walker, Joao Jardim and Karen Harley focuses on the modern artist Vik Muniz, whose works are created with the garbage and recyclables found in one of the biggest landfills in the world – Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Muniz employed people to pick out material from the landfill that was recyclable for Muniz to make mosaics from. The film is an uplifting piece that focuses on the importance of art and conservation at the same time, while also demonstrating the strength of the human spirit in the lives and thoughts ...

Introduction

The Hunger Games, based on the series of novels by Suzanne Collin’s, is about a televised competition in which two teenagers are chosen at random to fight to the death. The film is “directed by Gary Ross, with a screenplay by Gary Ross, Suzanne Collins and Billy Ray, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik” (Hunger Games). The story follows the struggle of one girl, Katness Everdeen, who graciously takes the place of her younger sibling in the games. Thus, The Hunger Games is extraordinarily packed with deep sociological concepts and ideas within ‘ ...

Introduction

Set in the timeframe of 1981, ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ is based on the real life story of Chris Gardner who ascended from a destitute to a stock market magnate. Cast in the role of Gardner, Will Smith did an astounding job in essaying the character to perfection. The movie bagged many accolades and awards upon its release in 2006. The most notable one was the Academy Award rewarded to Will Smith for best male actor. The opening scene gives a glimpse of the phrase ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ as mentioned by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence that the Americans are ...

In the 2007 film Charlie Wilson’s War, US Representative Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) finds himself working to increase funding and support for the mujahedeen freedom fighters battling the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, often through underhanded and clandestine means. The film presents Wilson as a champion rallying behind a cause, idealistically hoping to help the mujahedeen defeat the Soviet Union and give them the help they desperately needed. Charlie uses substantial political bargaining and maneuvering to get the funding for CIA agent Gust Avrakotos’ group, something that places his actions in a bit more ambiguous area with regards to political ethics. In ...

American Feature Film Critique

The Pursuit of Happiness
Introduction

An emotionally wrenching story of a father and son's struggle for survival from life's challenges has been the thematic foundation of the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness (otherwise spelled as Happyness)”. The film starring Will Smith as Chris Gardner together with real-life son Jaden Smith have delivered a remarkable performance portraying the characters based on real-life accounts. It was directed by Gabrielle Mucciono and was released in cinemas on December 15, 2006. The movie was inspired by the life story of the now CEO and founder of Gardner Rich & Co. Christopher Paul Gardner (Henning, n.d., ...

The Flower Girl was an inspirational movie released in 1972, in North Korea. This movie received considerable appreciation and was turned into a book, and the leading actresses face was found on the North Korean bank note for quite some time, due to the extreme success.
I believe that almost every scene in the movie is placed perfectly to depict sadness, and induce a feeling of pity for antagonist named Kim Il-Sung, referred to as the flower girl. She belongs to a low-class family, facing a financial crisis and consisting of an ill mother and her blind sister. Every day she picks ...

Michelle Williams becomes Marilyn Monroe in the film My Week With Marilyn. It is obvious that Williams spent hours studying both movie and news footage of Monroe. Williams perfectly portrays Monroe’s voice, body language, and facial expressions. This film gives viewers a glimpse into Monroe’s fragile ego. Monroe’s low self-esteem causes her to be late on the movie set and influences who she chooses to have in her inner circle.
The story is told from the perspective of the young Colin Clark. Clark was only twenty-three years old when he landed his first job in filmmaking ...

Strike is definitely a movie which brings together a number of themes largely focused on the workplace and how these affected the lives of those who were participating in the Solidarity movement in the Polish shipyards of Gdansk in the early 1980’s. The film initially begins with the problems the workers have to face in their inhospitable environment at the shipyard which is full of problems and safety issues are also almost non-existent. Danger is actually being portrayed as part of the job as the bosses of the shipyard who are beholden to the Communist Party couldn’t care less ...