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Psycho: Norman Bates

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On my first watch through of the film Psycho, I found the character of Norman Bates to be interesting and complex. In actuality he is one character holding two personalities, Norman and his mother. As a child he was very disturbed, murdering his mother and step father, possibly out of sexually charged, possessive jealousy and presenting traits of the Oedipus complex. After the murder, Norman suppressed his memories of it and kept his mother alive through his own body, having his mother be a secondary personality alongside his own. However as time goes on, the mother side of his personality becomes increasingly more dominant and controlling. Now his trait of sexual jealousy has shifted to the mother side, so much so that if he feels attraction for another woman, his mother side becomes more dominant and enraged, creating an internal conflict between the two sides of his personality. The mother side fully takes over and commits murder in order to resolve the conflict, mirroring Norman...

Pan's Labyrinth: Initial Thoughts

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Pan's Labyrinth is an enthralling piece of film, being aesthetically pleasing and Guillermo del Toro twisting the themes of Fantasy and fairy tales and combining it with the setting of Fascist Spain was very exiting and fresh to see. Overall, I initially enjoyed the film and it's ambiguity as to whether The Faun had truly innocent intentions or not. Alongside this, having the very grim backdrop of the Franco-Spanish setting creates a distinct set piece compared to other works of film, blending Fantasy with a harsh grim reality. The Fantasy elements of the film didn't take away from the struggles of war, nor did it distract from it. This to me was strange as the genre of Fantasy for the audience is an escape, however here the themes are blended together well and the escapism element of fantasy is presented through Ofelia. It's not like the themes of war have never been in fantasy; Lord of The Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones and of course the many of the wor...

Blade Runner 2049: How the Opening Enthralls the Audience

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Blade Runner 2049 is a visual masterpiece. While this movie does have issues with plot and pacing, I still enjoy it and consider it one of my favorite films. Throughout the film, the combination of practical and visual effects is used spectacularly to build the world of 2049 and has resulted in some of the most iconic shots in recent cinema. Here, I will analyze how the opening  5 minutes  of the movie demonstrates this, establishing the world and its characters  The first opening credits aren't anything special, however I appreciate the attention to detail, theming them around the movies Sci-Fi, dystopian world. When the movie properly starts, the first bits of text which show exposition about the world of Blade Runner are shown. The word "replicant" is the first thing the audience sees and reads; it's in red text and shown in the upper left corner of the screen. This is an extremely important aspect of the movie and it's introduction. In the film, the way to tel...