The Full Monty (1997) Analysis

“The Full Monty”, the 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, tells
a complex economic story for the viewer with a critical eye. The end of the story, insofar
as we can see from the movie, may appear utterly ridiculous at first glance. A group of
regular guys stripping naked and dancing seductively in front of their wives and fellow
townspeople is shocking. But these guys reached this point as a result of a variety of
circumstances that deserve some examination. In this paper, I will consider four distinct
economic phases which I believe are relevant to the characters’ lives. No particular
economic theory is sufficient to explain what happened in Sheffield, England in reality or
within the film. I will utilize various economic concepts and draw from renowned
economic thinkers to present “The Full Monty”’s economic story. First, however, it is
necessary to give a little background regarding the steel industry in northern England and
the changes that occurred there by the time of the film.
The city of Sheffield is located in South Yorkshire, England where the effects of
the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century were extremely significant. In 1856,
Henry Bessemer developed a technique in Sheffield which allowed for the mass
production of steel (Investinsheffield). This development essentially made Sheffield king
of the steel world. Its products, which included stainless steel cutlery and railroad tracks,
were shipped around Europe and across the Atlantic to America. Though both the United
States and Germany had overtaken Britain in terms of steel output by 1890, Sheffield’s
dominance in the industry continued through the middle of the twentieth century.
Through two world wars, Sheffield provided arms for Britain. By the 1960s, however,
companies such as the British Steel Corporation faced problems of outdated technology,
poor assets, high coal and oil costs, and increasing competition from the world market.
The steel industry in England was re-privatized in the 1980s, and the steel work force was
drastically cut (Citizendium). Sheffield was hit particularly hard, and the city became a
symbol for unemployment and urban blight by the 1990s. This is the context in which
“The Full Monty” is situated.
When the movie begins, the viewer is shown a 1972 video proclaiming Sheffield
as “the beating heart of Britain’s industrial north.” The economic prosperity displayed
was, in reality, already being undermined by the downfall of the steel industry twentyfive
years before the film. By 1997, Sheffield had certainly moved beyond the first
economic phase that I believe is relevant to the film. This phase was a time of productive
laborers. Karl Marx’s Capital provides the best insight into the economic conditions of
the first phase, and it is crucial to understand the phase which provides the background
and gives rise to the events of the film.
Four of the six men who make up the ‘Hot Metal’ strip act were steel workers.
They were once able to find a consumer for their physical labor. This consumer was the
owner of the steel factory. We are never introduced to the owner in the film, but we
assume that because Sheffield was a thriving center of the steel trade, a man’s laborpower
could be sold readily as a commodity on the market. These transactions can be
classified as the sale and purchase of labor-power. For Marx, labor-power was “the
aggregate of those mental and physical capabilities existing in the physical form, the
living personality, of a human being, capabilities which he sets in motion whenever he
produces a use-value of any kind” (Marx 270). A person’s use-value, like any other usevalue,
can only be realized in consumption. Therefore, a person with labor-power will
protect his ownership of this labor-power and search for the right situation in which he
can convert himself into a commodity.

East is East (1999) Analysis

In the opening scene we see straight away close up shots of Jesus statues and this then leads to a pan downwards for us to find out that in fact it is Muslims holding these Christian symbols. The camera then gives us a birds eye view of the street showing a parade for the Christian faith and that the Muslim children are part of it, which for this era was a very rare thing to see. The scene then cuts to a older Muslim man watching the parade from the side streets and shots of a British woman watching at the side of the road nervously. This automatically tells us that there is some controversy within this family and being part of different faiths. The mood in the clip changes completely when we realise the woman is their mother and exclaims ‘George is home early from the mosque.’ We can presume that this is the man we saw previously and as he has arrived home from the mosque we can recognise that he is very dedicated to his religion. As a long shot shows all the children and the mother running quickly with all their decorations, again it is highlighted how there is going to be conflict between the two faiths.The birds eye view shot then returns, showing the parade in the main street and the family running to catch up down a back road, therefore highlighting how they are not the same as the other Christians. In the two shot of the mother and father, we can see the family hiding behind making sure there not seen and again this highlights how they are worried about how their father would react to them being part of this public event.Finally, the music playing throughout is talking about how proud they are of their faith. But also the lyrics relate greatly to the father as it says ‘I wish that I could be a better man’. This falls in to place later on in the film as we realise that he is trying his best to be a good Muslim father because he made mistakes and has a British wife. Whereas he wants his children to follow the faith religiously and properly.

The scene of the kids eating meat such as bacon and sausages clearly shows how they are not dedicated Muslims and live half their life as Christians. A close up shot of each child eating a piece of meat is shown at the beginning to make it clear to the audience that this is usually forbidden. A long shot of the house empty emphasises how their father isnt home and that this would normally not be allowed if he was present. The more religious son then comes down the stairs with the use of a low angle shot to show how he’s looking down on them for giving in and eating meat. He states ‘it stinks of burnt bacon down here, dad would smell it a mile off.’ This shows that their dad would definitely not approve and consequently the son Is spraying air freshener to try and mask the smell so they don’t get caught out. As soon as there is a knock at the door, they all stop what they are doing and look at each other in surprise. This is as there could be a chance of their father coming home, until they find out it isnt him.When the girl notices her father coming up the street, a very far zoom in on him approaching emphasises that he is not far away at all and will be home soon. Diegetic sound is also used to emphasise the worry on the girls face as the violins make it very intense. The girl then screams and runs inside the house to warn the others of his arrival. Fast cuts are used to make the scene seem more manic and that they are desperate for him to not find out. The music changes to an upbeat tempo, suggesting that the future events are not going to be bad and that they are not going to get caught.

In the closing scene, we see that the sons of George have stated that they are not going to be involved in the arranged marriage and consequently the rest of the family stick up with them and everyone tells George they are unhappy.A series of fast cuts highlights how there is tension between the family and here we can notice in particularly how boundaries are being broken as the father starts to break many rules within the religion. He starts by trying to hit his wife until he is held back by his sons which would be deemed as unacceptable in their faith. He then starts swearing and using taboo language which suggests how he is giving up the act of being the good Muslim father and has lashed out on his family instead.His daughter then states ‘Are you happy now dad? Is this what you wanted?’ and this is emphasised by a high angle shot to show the differences in power between he characters and how the female is scared of her father. This links back into their religion as women are often looked down upon.The film ends with the mother and father making up in their shop where the dad says his famous quote ‘I’ll have half a cup of tea’. This highlights how he is part of two religions and is never going to be a full dedicated Muslim as his life differs from the norm greatly.

Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee

Quentin Tarantino began his career in the film industry working as an independent film maker. His first independent films were an immense success with films as Reservoir Dogs, released in 1992 along with the famous film Pulp Fiction which was also released in the same decade, 1994, just two years after the release of his first successful film.  Both of these films were regarded as classics and were a cult hit at the time in Hollywood. Right after his first film was released (Reservoir Dogs), Tarantino immediately became a legend in the film industry due to how well the film had gathered critical acclaim and financially successful.

Tarantino’s films typically incorporate many characteristics in his work which are distinguishable from just watching the film without even knowing who directed it. This is Tarantino’s style, one can normally deduct who directed the film just from the characteristics alone. Tarantino’s films are characterized by satire, non-linear narrative structures, elements of neo-noir genres (Kill Bill 1 and 2) and a particular love for violence as to quote from the director himself “Violence is one of the most fun things to watch.”

However although Tarantino is a director, as stated some of his films he doesn’t direct but then the majority he is the director for and writes the films, while even fulfilling the role as an actor in a few films he’s worked on such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill. 

Spike Lee

Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. At a very young age, he moved from pre-civil rights Georgia, to Brooklyn, New York. Lee came from artistic, education-grounded background; his father was a jazz musician, and his mother, a schoolteacher. He attended school in Morehouse College in Atlanta and developed his film making skills at Clark Atlanta University. After graduating from Morehouse, Lee attended the Tisch School of Arts graduate film program. He made a controversial short, The Answer (1980)

Spike Lee's role as a documentarian has expanded over the years, highlighted by his part in Lumière and Company (1995), the Oscar-nominated 4 Little Girls (1997), to his Peabody Award-winning biographical adaptation of Black Panther leader in A Huey P. Newton Story (2001), through his 2005 Emmy Award-winning examination of post-Katrina New Orleans in When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) and its follow-up five years later in If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010).

Through his production company 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Lee continues to create and direct both independent films and projects for major studios, as well as working on story development, creating an internship program for aspiring filmmakers, releasing music, and community outreach and support.

London Film

Weekly Film Analysis: Amores Perros (2000)

Amores Perros is a Mexican film directed by Alejandro Gonzzalez Inarritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga. The film had been released in 2000 and had been produced by Altavista Films and Zeta Film. The budget of the film had been at an estimated amount of $2,000,000 and had grossed at the box office earnings of $20.9 million. The language of the film is Spanish but had been provided English Subtitles when released in English spoken countries. The genre of the film belonged to a Thriller, however one could argue that this film only slowly introduces conventions of a thriller genre half way through the film when Daniel and Valeria are introduced as their part of trying to search for their dog underneath their floorboards builds tension and the cinematography creates suspense through the quick cuts between shots as they struggle to break open the floorboards, while also the use of a handheld camera shot underneath the floorboards looks as if the audience is taking a look at what the mystery is underneath the floor. This suspense and tension is also emphasized through the mise en scene, the dark use of lighting generates a suspicious feel to the mood and suggests something dark is about to occur.

The film's narrative is of a circular narrative style as at the beginning of the film we are presented to Octavio and his best friend Jorge driving wildly through the streets in escape from men who are chasing him, wanting him dead. The cinematography and performance here is exceptionally executed well as the cinematographer uses close ups on the dog's wounds before he presents if it's an animal or a human on the film, which makes the audience wonder as if it's actually a human in the back seat who's been shot and if that's the reason they're trying to flee from their pursuers. Octavio and Jorge refer to the dog as "he" such as using phrases like "is he still alive?". The director employs these techniques to question the audience to make them wonder if it's one of their friends or not, while also making the audience question the narrative that follows from here.

In the mise en scene, dogs are a main symbol in which the narrative is told. Each of the three protagonists of the film all own a dog in which this is the symbol which also connects the story together. What's to note is that whatever happens to the dog that they own, decides the fate of the protagonists lives. In Valeria's case, once her dog Richie goes missing under the floorboards she starts to lose her mind and enters a mental breakdown. Octavio's dog gets wounded and then Octavio get's killed by a car crash shortly after. El Chivo's dogs all get killed by the wounded dog he takes in, then realises that this is a turning point in his life where he can amend himself from being a hitman and homeless. El Chivo, the homeless bearded man is also seen as a stray dog himself. This is because he doesn't know what's going for him in life as if he's lost. The director captures this through the cinematography of placing him amongst a few stray dogs which is seen in one shot notably, where the outfit and hair colour is grey of El Chivo, whilst he's loitering amongst dogs of the same colour to show the similar comparison between the two and how they're no different than each other.

The narrative additionally features a multi-protagonist outline to the story which is told in segments that intertwine with each other close to the end of the film. All of these three segments tell a story revolved around love, which is the main theme of this film, which their lives become tortured by this love and ultimately connect into a tragic life changing event. Valeria's performance makes the audience feel negative emotions such as anger towards her because of her lack of compassion towards her husband Daniel while she focuses on her dog Richie instead. This could be a reason as to what caused her to be disabled, as a punishment for her actions.

Weekly Film: Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting is a film of the drama genre that had been directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The film was released in 1998 and had been produced by Be Gentlemen Limited Partnership, Lawrence Bender Productions and Miramax. The producers of this film was Lawrence Bender and the executive producing team was Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein and Su Armstrong. Themes that had been explored throughout this film include freedom, friendship, overcoming obstacles and loneliness.

The narrative that follows throughout this film is of a clear linear style narrative, as the film presents the protagonist, Will Hunting, his progression from a simple Janitor to discovering his identity through a course of events such as going to therapy and learning from his mistakes in order to become a better person, despite his cruel past. The narrative of the film is essentially the protagonist, Will, is an undiscovered genius who hasn’t explored his true potential in the field of mathematics. While working as a janitor in the top university in North America, Harvard University, he solves near-impossible math equations on a public chalkboard in the halls of the university, up until a Mathematics professor notices who it is, this is when the film out folds from here on out.  

The cinematography that the cinematographer, Jean-Yves Escoffer, captures is significantly clear that himself and the director understand the use of shots to make the film appealing to the audience, such as instead of using the ordinary mid shots and long shots of most stock characters acting in the scenes, sometimes there is a switch up of shots to present a character performing a simple action such as in the first scene where Chuckie Sullivan goes to pick up Will from his house, (birdseye)

Weekly Film: Harlock: Space Pirate

COULSDON COLLEGE: MEDIA TEXT INFORMATION SHEET

TITLE:

Harlock: Space Pirate

YEAR OF PROD:

2013

TYPE:

FILM X

TELEVISION

DOC.

MUSIC

ADVERT

MUSIC VID.

OTHER:

DIRECTOR

Shinji Aramaki

PRODUCER

WRITER

Reiji Matsumoto, Harutoshi Rukui

PRODUCTION COMPANY

Toei Animation

KEY CAST /ARTIST

Yu Aoi, Jessica Boone, Ayano Fukuda

KEY CREW

GENRE

Animation, Adventure, Sci-Fi

BUDGET

$30,000,000 (estimated)

BOX OFFICE

?

THEMES

Hope,

AWARDS

NARRATIVE: The year is 2977. For many years a mighty battle has been raging across the galaxies as 500 billion humans, whose forebears were exiled from Earth, plan to return to what is still called home. Forced to flee a ravaged Earth, humans have now depleted the corners of the galaxy to which they fled. Earth has now become the most valued and precious resource of all, controlled by the corrupt Gaia Coalition which governs the human race across the different galaxies. Having been exiled and vilified during the battle of the Homecoming War, Captain Harlock and his trusted crew of the Arcadia battle cruiser are the only hope mankind has of discovering the secrets that the Gaia have kept hidden. The Coalition has demanded Harlock's death and the Gaia Fleet's new leader, Ezra, calls on his younger brother, Logan, to infiltrate the Arcadia and then assassinate Harlock, thus forever eradicating the one man standing between the Coalition and their complete control of the Universe. Logan must make a very personal sacrifice and discover that things are not always as they seem. All the while Captain Harlock and his crew will continue his mission, seeking revenge against the Coalition and establishing the return to Earth.

KEY SCENES: Once on the planet, Harlock dropped his 100th detonator. Harlock pointed his gun at Yama and remarked that the Earth will eventually recover, but it will likely re-spark another Homecoming War; Harlock suggested they could prevent it by unraveling the Nodes of Time. However, believing that this world is a gift from Nami and Isola, Yama didn't want the world to end and similarly pointed his gun at Harlock. Harlock liked his answer and he gave the detonator to Yama and gave him the power to end humanity and the universe if another disaster like the homecoming war happens again. Harlock, with high self-esteem, remarks that so long as mankind exists, so will the myth of how Captain Harlock resented the government, destroyed the Earth once, and almost ended the universe, for all of eternity. Yama was given an eye-patch and he accepted the legacy of being the next Captain Harlock. As Gaia's fleet confronts the Arcadia again, the crew wakes up, seemingly healed by the dark matter power plant, and the Arcadia takes off and escapes into space, leaving the meadow of white flowers behind.

COMPARABLES:

PROGRESSION OF KEY CONTRIBUTORS:

ANY OTHER BUSINESS?