A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.
I really enjoyed this film as it really knew how to build suspense, in one scene the main character (Liam Neeson) is lying on a hospital bed, and a man who has been 'stalking' him has finally found him and has started injecting this poison I think it is into his blood. And you see the man (Liam) reaching for the scissors, but you only see the man's hand getting slowly closer to them to the the tube off of him. There is very daunting music playing at this point and the camera angles switch from the man's hand and the footsteps of the stalker who noticed what the man was trying to do. I found this technique very thrilling and it really built up suspense really well.
This film is also set in Germany where there is lots of snow and ice to the feeling of the film is quite dark and dreary and most scenes are shot at night.
Trailer
The Butterfly effect
Evan Treborn (Ashton Kutcher), who suffered severe traumas as a boy (Logan Lerman) and a teenager (John Patrick Amedori), blacks out frequently, often at moments of high stress. While searching for an answer to heal his emotional wounds, he finds that when he reads from his adolescent journals, he travels back in time, and is able to essentially "redo" parts of his past, and thereby causing the blackouts he experienced as a child. There are consequences of his choices, however, that he then propagates back to the present; his alternate futures vary from frat boy to prisoner to amputee. As he continues to do this, he realizes that even though his intentions are good, the actions he takes have unintended consequences.
I found parts if this film very distressing but in a way quite realistic, it brings out real crimes that people really take part in and shows you everything about them. For example in one scene, one of Evan's friends when he was younger, kidnapped his dog, but it in a potato sack, and left it to burn on a bonfire whilst you can here the sound of the dog whimpering whilst the camera is focused on the boys arguing and Evan crying. I remember this so vividly because this scene made me really distressed. Another scene is where his lovers dad made them participate in pornographic sex scenes when they were only seven years old. I thought that this was disgusting, however, they did this scene well and made me feel this disgust by just showing the man and his expressions whilst he is holding the camera, that shot is what made that scene shocking and realistic.
Both of the films you have identified would be suitable case studies though "Taken" is also driven by Hollywood style high production values and explosions which are conventions of action films. But the film looks very entertaining and utilises conventions associated with thrillers, for example a subway.
ReplyDeleteJessica could you sort out the font of your labels, they are very difficult to read!! Large print - if the examiner's have problems navigating your blog you will lose marks!!!
Whoops also the font of your posts!!!! I can't read my posted comments.
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