Themes and Movies

I do enjoy watching movies. I always have. I just wanted to point out of few different ones that reflect a theme throughout the ages. That is the sense of duty. The characters involved who take on of a “mission” even in the face of great difficulty. The “costs” involved with it.

Casablanca, the 1942 classic where a man named Rick (played by Humphrey Bogart) must decide between love and duty to help a woman from his past (Ingrid Bergman). She comes back into his life with her new husband who is Resistance leader fleeing from the pursuit of Nazi operatives.

Here are clips of two scenes from the movie.

“Of all the gin joints in the world”

And the final scene that sums it all up.

“We will always Paris”

Many of the all time great movies have classic characters that have their personal “code of living” and their difficulties living within them. The 1995 action crime drama Heat by director Michael Mann fits into this idea. The movie is about the determined cop (Al Pacino) who must go up against a career thief (Robert Deniro). In the midst of all this they have a mutual respect for each other. This movie sets up the characters and their dilemmas. Then the action takes place. It is a straight forward plot that does not pull tricks in order to tell the story. I want to focus on a scene in the movie. Let me explain some things first. In terms of script ideas there is something called the midpoint. It usually takes part in the middle of the movie (thus the term) but not always. It is a brief scene about 11/2 to 5 minutes long roughly where the main characters have an introspective discussion. They are very important in action style movies. It is a chance for the audience to “catch their breath”. When the scene ends the action will start to pick up very quickly to reach the film’s final conclusion. This movie has one of the great midpoints in film with two very good actors in what is known as the “Coffee House” scene. The set up and pay off of this scene is a classic. And it sums up each character very nicely. Also for action fans is this film has an intense shoot out scene. The film also has another thing that adds depth to story. There are a few sub plots about the women of these men who are caught up in this world.

I am a big fan of action movies. I especially like the ones that have come out what is known as “Hong Kong” cinema or as one friend of mine calls them the “Chinese Foot Operas.” You probably just call them “Kung Fu” movies. A fond memory of my childhood was watching them on what was “Kung Fu Theater” on TV. I know the action is “over-the-top” and borderline preposterous with badly dubbed dialogue. But who cares? They are just a lot of fun. There is a film company called Dragon Dynasty that is re-issuing many classics. I found a couple by action director John Woo. Best know in this country for Face/Off
and Mission Impossible 2. He has set a style for action throughout his films. I could not resist when I found DVD’s for two of his films.

The first one is the first John Woo action movie The Last Hurrah for Chivalry this features themes that are found throughout his movies. The main one being men who find themselves on opposite sides trying to find some loyalty. This clip here shows a sword fight scene. What I like about the “Hong Kong” cinema is that it creates action by using motion. There are too many movies try to create a sense of action by rapid film editing. The other title was Hard Boiled. This is not a martial arts movie. It is a cop drama. It follows the struggles of two cops who unknowingly find themselves on opposite sides of the same goals. The themes are still in this film too. I would like to say that the actor Chow Yun-Fat is “Hong Kong” cinemas equivalent of Clint Eastwood. He has a commanded presence on the screen. He does have to talk much to convey so much. The action in this movie has been described as being a “ballet with bullets.” And there are a lot of bullets. Here is a clip from the opening. (NOTE: This does not have dubbed dialogue but just watch how the action itself is staged). And here is another series of action scenes from the movie. John Woo movies have influenced many American movies such as Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2 and Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi” trilogy and the movie “Sin City”.

I cannot wait for The Killer to be re-issued on DVD.