“Bunny”- This film was rich, perhaps shamelessly so in religious symbolism. The choice of the use of a rabbit as the film’s protagonist is an interesting choice given the serious subject matter of the film. Perhaps it was meant to make the film more appropriate for a wider audience, or more simply it could have been that rabbits are easier to design using computers than humans. The moths in the film, analogous at times to angels, serve as the primary means of advancing the plot. The importance of the moths in bringing about the conflict reflect a theistic belief, namely that the agents of a higher power are acting in an attempt to influence or decisions in one way or another. The concept of climbing into an oven in approaching the afterlife seems to run contrary to the otherwise wholesome values of the film, perhaps this was merely overlooked by the makers.
“Northfork”- If I experienced any emotion while watching this film, it was boredom. Very few physical events took place in the segments we watched and even fewer of them were of any interest. The people in the film are confronted with a mandate to relocate, an event with which I admittedly have no familiarity. The focus of the film (or at least the segments) was to highlight the natural beauty of the land which the people were being forced to abandon. The religious messages of the film were not given ample time to develop, the extent of it was found in the preacher’s sermon in the to-be-relocated church. In general, the film seemed to have plenty of symbolism, but not enough happening in the primary story to generate any weight to those symbols.
“Paris, Texas”- The segments from this film were indicative of the highest quality of the films we watched in class. The protagonist’s appearance in the desert wearing a suit provides a stunning yet silent contrast. His appearance is supplemented by the sheer emptiness of his surroundings, the viewer can see nothing to explain why or how he is in the area. Unlike Northfork, there was enough in terms of a story to keep the viewer’s interest in the characters as well as the messages and themes of the images. There is a great sense of uncertainty in the film; (perhaps augmented by the fragmented manner in which we watched the film) not everything has an immediate reason ie: the man preaching his madness on the overpass, the fascination with airplanes and shoes. Finally, the protagonist’s reunion with his wife is fascinatingly improbable, she is working in a brothel but never has sex with the patrons, and we have no reason to question her fidelity. At the same time, there is a physical and mental barrier between the husband and wife represented by the mirror, formed by some significant event which was not revealed in segments we watched.
“The Wall”- This film can be difficult to understand, so much so that it brings one to question whether comprehension is at all a goal of the film. The symbols and messages shift so rapidly and violently that there is an additional sense of discomfort (additionally in that the themes of the movie cause that in themselves.) While a rejection of society is clear, it is less certain whether this is to be seen as a universal standard or whether this is the flawed view of a troubled young man who was plagued by a poor upbringing. The use of music is of course critical, but the music is atypically narrative-based; rather than long instrumental solos or even a balance between singing and instrument music, there seem to be long stretches where the music is more than anything else a monologue with music playing in the background. The message at times can be contradictory, most notably in the music video for the song “The Wall.” At the end of the video, the students reject the educational system and break free; while this is apparently what Pink Floyd would advocate, the aftermath of the rebellion seems just as if not more destructive than the system previously in place.
“Cabeza de Vaca” – This film was generally disappointing in terms of both its explicit and implicit messages. First and foremost, the dialogue seemed poorly written or at least poorly translated. I felt very little relation to the protagonist during his long monologue after his return to his captor, in part because I have no experience with his circumstances but just as much if not more so because the actor delivered the lines so poorly that I couldn’t help but be amused. There also seems to be an argument present that Christianity would in some way be compatible with the religion of the indigenous people of the Americas. While a happy idea, this overlooks the fact that Christianity was one of the major contributing factors to the atrocities committed to the Native Americans. Furthermore, if some were to argue that this was simply a poor representation of Christian belief, it should be apparent that no religion based on polytheism and ancestor-worship could be acceptable to a devout Christian. That de Vaca was willing to participate in a Native American ritual shows more that he was living in a non-Christian culture and less that Christianity has a universal message.
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