Final Part 3 - Reflection

I think that Zhang Yimou, the director of The Road Home, chose to incorporate fairytales and myth in the plot because it was a way of showing the innocence of Zhao Di’s love when she was younger, and was also a way of having Zhao Di express her feelings when she was older – so we as an audience understood why she was experiencing so much grief at the loss of Luo Changyu. The fairytale is demonstrated by showing the present time at the beginning of the film in black and white, but then making the transition to color with Zhao Di’s memories of how she fell in love with Luo Changyu, and then back to black and white when she finishes telling the story. I thought the transition between black and white and color in the film effectively demonstrated their love story and how their fairytale both began and came to an end when he passed away. Using this strategy added to the emotional journey that we, as an audience, felt while watching the film; seeing their fairytale journey allowed us to view their struggles and hardships, as well as gain insight as to why Zhao Di and Luo Changyu fell in love with each other. It was extremely enjoyable to watch overall.

Final Part 2 - Visual Style Analysis

Enchanted and The Road Home have many similarities including the characters love story, and the symbolism throughout each film.
 

Symbolism is relevant in both films through the use of the color red - it represents the hope each of the protagonists has that they will get to be with the person they love. In The Road Home, Zhao Di falls in love with the new school teacher, Luo Changyu, and wears a red scarf each time she goes to visit him at the school. Her red scarf symbolizes the hope she has that he will notice her. Later on in the film, Luo Changyu gives Zhao Di a red barrette before he has to return to the city. The red barrette demonstrates that Luo Changyu reciprocates her love for him and that he hopes she will wait for him to return. In Enchanted, Giselle is tempted with a red apple before she gets married to Prince Edward. She’d been having doubts about getting married to Prince Edward and the apple represents the life she wishes and hopes she will have with him. As the film progresses and she develops feelings for Robert Philip, the apple later comes to represent the hope that they will be together and that he will reciprocate the feelings she has for him.

The characters behavior is also similar between both films. In The Road Home, Zhao Di and Luo Changyu develop a close and intimate relationship with each other, but when Luo Changyu is summoned to return to the city she becomes sickly distraught at him not being around anymore. This despair causes her to fall ill until he returns to her. In Enchanted, Giselle focuses her efforts on helping Robert with his relationship with Nancy by showing him small ways he can demonstrate his love for her. As she spends more time with him she realizes that its Robert she has feelings for, not Prince Edward, and when she attends the ball she becomes distraught when she realizes that they won’t be together. Queen Narissa takes advantage of her vulnerability and convinces her that everything will turn out okay if she eats the apple. Once she does, Giselle falls into a deep sleep from which she can only be awoken by her true love. These two love stories are similar to each other because both protagonists’ fall ill when they realize they can’t be with the person they love most. It’s only when their love interest returns to them that they can wake up.

 

Visual Style:

The visual style is similar in the way the directors portray each film. In The Road Home, the director uses black and white to represent the present time, and color to represent the memories and flashbacks Zhao Di is having as she recalls the life she had with Luo Changyu. In Enchanted, the director uses animation to represent Giselle’s past life, the life she will soon leave behind, and the use of real people to represent her new life and the one in which she’ll find the person she truly belongs with.

The color scheme in The Road Home and in the animated scenes in Enchanted is vibrant and full of life (warm color palette), which demonstrates the desires and good feelings they once had. To demonstrate the present time, the director of The Road Home showed the scenes in black and white, and in Enchanted the director portrays the real world (when she first appears in New York) as dull and lifeless so it was almost bordering on a black and white color palette.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The visual style between both films is also similar in the way the characters are viewed by others, specifically by their love interests. Both Robert and Luo Changyu look at the protagonists with affection, which is demonstrated in the shots below. Both Giselle and Zhao Di are looking away from their love interest, whereas their love interest is completely focused on them. The directors choice of a close up for these scenes allows the viewer to see the expressions and emotions on each characters face; this demonstrates the love story between both characters.

 

 

 

Pan's Labyrinth Featured Blogger Question

Prior to entering the Pale Man’s room, the faun warns Ofelia not to eat or drink anything off the table, no matter how tempting it may be. Despite successfully collecting the knife from the cupboard, and the warning not to eat or drink anything on the Pale Man’s table, Ofelia decided to eat a lush red grape anyways - blatantly ignoring the faun’s warning.

1. Why do you think Ofelia chose to eat something off the table?

2. What do you think would have happened if she hadn’t eaten something off the table; was this action critical towards her completion of the three tasks?

 

Final Presentation Proposal - Enchanted and The Road Home

Enchanted and The Road Home have many similarities that I’d like to explore further. Zhao Di falls in love with the new school teacher and follows him on the way home after school hours so they’ll meet.

In Enchanted, Giselle reminds Robert that the best way to show his girlfriend he loves her is to bring her flowers or sing to her. The similarity here is in how both protagonists have simplistic ways of getting their love interest to notice them.

The color red is also a symbol in both films, in that in each it represents hope (through the scarf and banners in The Road Home and in the apple in Enchanted).

Interesting Use of Music

An interesting use of music occurs in The Polar Express (2004) when the kids are about to receive hot chocolate on the train. The music incorporates the sounds of the waiters footsteps/dancing, the chairs revolving, and the tablecloths being put down. Each of the waiters movements are also emphasized by an instrument being played in the background. I thought it was interesting to incorporate sounds as a part of the music, rather than just having them be left as background noise. The music also conveys the mood of the kids in the scene (they are in awe and excited) and the waiters, as the instruments are very light and bouncy to match their dancing.

Water: Cultural Perspective

 

The film, Water, portrays the livelihood of women widows in India during that time period. Widows were not allowed to remarry because it was considered a sin, although many of them wanted to. Widows also faced poor treatment and suffering. A comment is made in the film when the older widow dies; they hoped she’d be reborn as a man. This comment demonstrates the unhappiness the women found at becoming widows and the treatment they faced because of that status. Alongside the treatment widows faced, the film also included brief scenes that focused on messages from Gandhi’s movement. These scenes demonstrated how public views on the treatment of widows were in the process of changing, including the views from the widows themselves.

Tsotsi: Sound and Music

 

I thought the opening scene’s sound and music worked perfectly together. The scene shows Tsotsi and his friends at Tsotsi’s house when one of the friends ask Tsotsi what they’d be doing that night. An upbeat and almost powerful song begins playing when the camera focuses on a close-up of Tsotsi’s face. The scene then cuts to them leaving the house and walking along the street towards the city.

I thought the scene’s action and song combination worked well together because the song seemed to give us an insight into how others viewed Tsotsi. As the song plays, Tsotsi’s movements are very controlled and purposeful, like he knows how to handle himself and what he needs to do in order to survive in that environment. He also seems to be very focused during this scene and the music seems to emphasize that since the music was also very controlled and had a very direct beat to it. Tsotsi’s friends also walk slightly behind Tsotsi which shows that they view him as the leader of their group.

As the scene progresses, the sound of train tracks and a train whistle are heard in the background. These sounds being used in addition to the song seem to direct where the scene is going. It’s almost like a preview of what’s to come is being shown because their robbery at the train station is what started Tsotsi off on his journey to find value in his life.