Juan Antonio Bayona: The Orphanage

Director: J.A. Bayona
Writer: Sergio G. Sanchez

Plot:

A woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend. - IMDB.com

Cast                                                             Character

Belen Rueda                     ...                        Laura
Fernando Cayo                 ...                        Carlos
Roger Princep                   ...                       Simon
Mabel Rivera                    ...                       Pilar
Montserrat Carulla            ...                       Benigna
Andres Gertrudix              ...                        Enrique
Edgar Vivar                       ...                       Prof. Leo Balaban
Oscar Casas                       ...                       Tomas
Mireia Renau                    ...                        Laura nina
Georgina Avellaneda        ...                        Rita
Carla Gordillo                   ...                        Martin
Alejandro Camps             ...                         Victor
Carmen Lopez                  ...                        Alicia
Oscar Lara                         ...                       Guillermo
Geraldine Chaplin             ...                       Aurora

Thoughts:

The film opens top at Good Shepherd Orphanage. One girl is about to be adopted. Her name is Laura. Simone has a bad dream and is comforted by his mother, Laura. The ghosts are trying to communicate with Simon.

Laura is reopening the orphanage for disabled children. Simon has two invisible friends, Watson and Pepe. These are ghosts that he sees. His parents are concerned about his invisible friends. Simon goes to a cave near a lighthouse. Simon talks to his invisible friend in the cave and the mother, Laura sees footsteps where the invisible friend was. Simon doesn't know he is HIV Positive or that he's adopted. He is also on medication.

The seashells that Simon left for his invisible friend to follow him are all stacked by the front door which Laura sees.

Simon tells his mom, Laura, he is not going to get older like his 6 invisible friends. The invisible friends leave clues for Simon to find a treasure and make a wish. He finds some coins in the drawer Laura locks his medical file. They argue and he says he knows she's not his mother. At the welcoming party people wear creepy masks and the children arrive. A kid with a strange sack mask follows Laura and locks her in the bathroom. After getting out she frantically looks for Simon. They can't find him.

At the emergency room Laura is introduced to Pilar, a police psychologist. Carlos gives Laura his Saint Anthony medallion necklace that belonged to his grandmother. He is the patron saint of lost things. She has a dream of swimming in the water. Now in a wheelchair she hears the whistle of one of Simon's invisible friends. The house is haunted.

Simon now has been missing for 6 months. She believes he is still alive. Benigna gets run over by a car and it is revealed she worked at the orphanage and her son was there who was deformed. Laura remembers the same boy who had a sack mask at the party but no one else remembers him.

After talking to a professor he suggests a medium he knows to help her. She visits the house sensing the spiritual presence. She sees five children who are sick and dying. These are ghosts that only Aurora (played by Geraldine Chaplin) can see but they can be heard by everyone. Aurora tells Laura to believe and she will see.

Laura is desperate to reach her son. Carlos thinks the medium put on a show. Later Laura finds skeletal remains in a cabinet in their shed outside. In the bags we are to assume she found the skeletal remains of all 5 orphan children that were there before. Their names were Martin, Rita, Alicia, Guillermo and Victor. Laura knew them as a child. Benigna killed them. That's why she went to the shed, to recover their bodies.

Carlos leaves Laura in the house for two days as asked by her. She tries to make peace for the ghosts in exchange to find her son. She plays a game of tag and sees them physically. There are 4 of them. She gets trapped in a closet which a ghost girl led her there. She puts the door handle in a hole in the wall and opens a secret door to stairs going down.

She finds Simone and he tells her to stay and play with the children. He disappears as if he wasn't there. She finds his dead body. The lighthouse shines a light through the window and she sees herself as a child running outside. His body comes back to life and Simon is alive. The ghosts see Laura and recognize her and say she's grown old. These are the children she knew when she was a child. She tells them a nighttime story. Laura eventually dies and Carlos finds the St. Anthony medallion on the ground as the doors open by the wind or presence of Laura trying to communicate with him.

The movie is good about secrets needing to be shown to make peace with the souls of the dead.

Works Cited:

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-orphanage-2007
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464141/?ref_=nv_sr_1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464141/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
http://www.archbishopcurley.org/about/article/st.-anthony-lost-items

Brian De Palma: Scarface

Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: Oliver Stone

Cast                                                 Character

Al Pacino                ....                    Tony Montana
Steven Bauer          ...                      Manny Ribera
Michelle Pfeiffer    ....                     Elvira
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio  ...    Gina
Robert Loggia        ...                      Frank Lopez
Miriam Colon        ...                      Mama Montana
F. Murray Abraham    ...                 Omar
Paul Shenar                ...                  Alejandro Sosa
Harris Yulin                ...                 Bernstein
Angel Salazar            ...                  Chi Chi
Arnaldo Santana        ...                  Ernie
Pepe Serna                ...                   Angel


Plot:

In Miami in 1980, a determined Cuban immigrant takes over a drug cartel and succumbs to greed.  - IMDB.com

Thoughts:

Scarface is an intensely violent movie with tons of F-bombs and Machismo as well. It is a great study on uncontrollable greed and violence to attain the American Dream no matter how excessive it may be. It reminds me of Hollywood celebrities who have it all but want more and more of the physical pleasures and material things while neglecting their spiritual life if they even have one. "According to AMC's "DVD TV: Much More Movie" airing, Cher loved the film; Lucille Ball came with her family and hated it because of the graphic violence and language; and Dustin Hoffman was said to have fallen asleep. Writers Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and John Irving were among those who allegedly walked out in disgust after the notorious chainsaw scene. At the middle of the film, Martin Scorsese turned to Steven Bauer and told him, "You guys are great - but be prepared, because they're going to hate it in Hollywood... because it's about them."[24]" - IMDB.com The big question one might ask is this ruthlessness to succeed is it parallel to the belief one could sell their soul to advance in this physical world we live in?

The machismo is on full throttle as everyone tries to overthrow the other in a battle of manliness. Like Oliver Stone's Wall Street you have to ask how much is enough? How many cars, women and cash do you need to feel superior? 

The film opens up saying:

In May 1980, Fidel Castro opened the harbor at Mariel, Cuba, with the apparent intention of letting his people join their relatives in the United States. Within seventy-two hours, 3,000 U.S. boats were headed for Cuba. It soon became evident that Castro was forcing the boat owners to carry back with them not only their relatives, but the dregs of his jails. Of the 125,000 refugees that landed in Florida an estimated 25,000 had criminal records.

Tony Montana tries to charm his way with the agents who are questioning him. He has a tattoo on his hand that means he was an assassin. Manny and Tony are promised Green Cards if they kill a guy called Emilio Rebenga. Tony does the deed and proves quite early what a sociopath he really is. 

The two meet Omar Suarez. After an argument over not getting paid enough Tony gets an offer to buy 2 kilos of cocaine and get he and Manny get $5,000. Already Tony shows what a greedy little shit he is. 

Hector who tries to sell his the coke sets him up and tries to kill Tony but Tony gets away killing him on the street. Angel is killed but Frank Lopez gets to keep the money and drugs. At the Babylon Club, Frank Lopez tells Tony don't underestimate the other guys greed. Elvira tells Tony Rule 2 don't get high on your own supply. Elvira breaks rule 2 as a full blown drug addict. 

Tony describes Miami Beach as paradise. He says, "This town's like a great big pussy just waiting to get fucked." After trying to pick up a woman Manny is told, "In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women." The film is very quotable as everyone who has watched it knows. It has some 1980s trappings like a shallow soundtrack but it works in the selfish setting it takes place. 

Elvira describes Tony's Cadillac when being picked up to see Frank as "somebody's nightmare." He forces a kiss on her and this is really the only intimacy we see in the film between the two. Elvira's addiction is cocaine and Frank's addiction is greed. 

Tony meets up with Gina and their mom. Tony is borderline in love with his sister. Tony tries to give his mom a $1,000 but she rejects it saying, "It's Cubans like you who are giving a bad name to our people." The mom is strong but Gina is weak seduced by the charms of Tony and his money.

Suarez and Tony meetup with Sosa in Bolivia to be offered to buy 150 kilos of coke a month. "The tension between Tony and Omar peaks when Tony tries to negotiate unauthorized terms with Sosa. Omar leaves, but Sosa asks Tony to stay. As Tony and Sosa discuss business, Sosa discloses to Tony that Omar is a chivato (police informant), who years before whistled out on some of Sosa's business partners in New York. " (https://scarface.fandom.com/wiki/Home_Page)

Frank cannot accept the fact that Omar was an informant. He doesn't believe it. Later Bernstein, a narcotics officer, meets with Tony expecting some bribes every month since he's big time now. He tells him, "Every day above ground is a good day."

Two assassins try to kill Tony with Uzis but fail. He escapes fast with his Porsche. Frank Lopez was behind it and is disposed of by Manny accordingly. Tony shoots and kills Bernstein, the crooked cop and Ernie is offered a job by Tony. 

A blimp outside has the marquee that says "The World is Yours." Tony watches this. 

The just like blimp says the world is Tony's and he is able to buy Gina her own beauty salon shop and brings huge bags of cash to deposit in the bank. He marries Elvira and shows off the tiger he bought. It's ironic he gets married by a priest under the eyes of God considering he does nothing virtuous in his life. 

In a great shot that shows Elvira's addictions worsening is when she drinks alcohol, smokes a cigarette and snorts cocaine. In his tub Tony is mad about getting charged 10 percent to launder his money at the bank. He says, "You know what capitalism is? Getting fucked." 

When counting money that Tony Montana is laundering one guy fans himself with money. That is how ridiculously rich they all are. Tony is set up by cops and is told he has violated the Rico statute. 

Tony Montana makes a good point about the limitations of money by saying you snort, fuck, suck, eat and drink. Is this what it's all about he says. Elvira and Tony get into an argument and Elvira says, "We're not winners. We're losers."

Tony works with a crew of three people in his car after they put a bomb in a journalist car waiting for the right time to detonate the bomb. They see he picks up his wife and kids which Tony doesn't like. He doesn't want to kill women and children. This is the only humanity Tony has other than his superficial charm. The guy they were supposed to kill finds the bomb under the car and now has huge security. Sosa is pissed because they blew the one opportunity to silence this guy. 

Tony goes to Gina's house on Citrus Drive and finds Manny there. He shoots him pissed because he told him not to get involved with his sister. Back at his mansion Sosa's men are seen climbing the fence to kill Tony. His sister, Gina, wants him to admit he loves her in an unnatural way. She is killed by one of Sosa's men. Tony kills him in turn. 

Tony talks to Gina's corpse and gives it a kiss as if she's alive. He tells her he'll be back. This shows his dissociative state from reality. He is also plenty high on cocaine. 

In a shootout Tony kills several men at first and takes so many bullets while he is alive it is a bit cartoonish. He holds his gun between his legs like it is a penis that can shoot bullets. Ironic since the only person he sleeps with in the film is Elvira. Sex is one thing he lacks although it seems he has everything else. He is eventually killed by The Skull behind him by shotgun blast. 

The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht 

Trivia:

Oliver Stone wrote the script for Scarface while struggling with his own addiction to cocaine. -Wikipedia

Scarface was actually a nickname of Al Capone who was an Italian-American gangster. - IMDB.com

Tony's reference to "my little friend" when describing his tricked-out assault-weapon is also a reference to his drug-addiction --- this term is often used to refer to a bad habit, personal weakness, or irritating problem/situation; it is often jokingly described as an "invisible friend", just as the famous "little man upon the stair" refers to the poet's having mood/concentration-altering hypoglycemia. Or for another "classic" example, if a machine has an intermittent malfunction and/or sometimes produces an inexplicable noise/vibration/odor, the operators will say, "Our little friend is back" whenever the issue occurs. - IMDB.com

For all the love and desire that Tony professes to have for Elvira, you never actually see them kiss or have any type of physical intimacy. He tries to forcibly kiss her in the car, where she stops him and backs him off. Then, even during their wedding ceremony, you don't actually see them kiss, although it is simulated and obscured by her veil and a fake "Hollywood movie kiss". That's about as close as they get to any resemblance of intimacy. - IMDB.com

Final Thoughts:

Scarface is a good movie but it is detrimental to the image of Cubans and Cuban Americans. That being said it's just a movie but still.

Works Cited:

IMDB.com
http://remezcla.com/features/film/scarface-cuban-representation-35th-anniversary/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarface_(1983_film)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086250/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
https://scarface.fandom.com/wiki/Home_Page

Wolfgang Petersen: Troy

Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Writers: Homer (poem), David Benioff (screenplay)

Cast                                       Character

Julian Glover             ...        Triopas
Brian Cox                  ...        Agamemnon
Nathan Jones             ...        Boagrius
Adoni Maropis          ...        Agamemnon's Officer
Jacob Smith              ...         Messenger Boy
Brad Pitt                   ...         Achilles
John Shrapnel            ...        Nestor
Brendan Gleeson       ...        Menelaus
Diane Kruger             ...        Helen
Eric Bana                   ...        Hector
Orlando Bloom          ...        Paris
Siri Svegler                ...        Polydora

Plot:

An adaptation of Homer's great epic, the film follows the assault on Troy by the united Greek forces and chronicles the fates of the men involved.    - IMDB.com

Storyline

It is the year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age. Two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband, Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy. The whole movie shows their battle struggles and the foreshadowing of fate in this remake by Wolfgang Petersen of Homer's "The Iliad."Written by Mensur Gjonbalaj (IMDB.com)

Thoughts:

Our story of Troy begins 3,200 years ago in Greece. Two opposing armies, the Trojans and Greeks, meet in Thessaly. Agamemnon taunts his enemy saying his opponents soldiers and land will belong to him. They agreed to have both sides fight with their best fighters. One against one.

When Achilles is found he tells his king, "Imagine a king would fight his own fights. Wouldn't that be the sight?" Very True. Achilles is the son of Peleus. Achilles doesn't respect his king. At Sparta there is a feast. Paris seduces a beautiful blonde woman named Helen. He sneaks her on boat with the Trojans and because of that Hector is mad. They have to return Helen to Troy.

Achilles is tempted by glory to fight in another war to have his name immortalized. His mother tells him he can have a family that loves him or eternal glory through war and death. She tells him, "The world will remember your name."

Menelaus wants to track Paris and Helen down. Achilles is on his way by boat to take Troy. Archers with fire arrows kill several of Achilles's men. Achilles after storming the beach says the men can take any treasure they can find. The Greeks and Trojans fight. To put it bluntly Achilles is not a humble soldier but he can fight and kill well.

Agamemnon shows the "spoils of war" which is a slave girl he found in the temple who tells Achilles, "If killing is your only talent, that's your curse."

The Greeks approach the city of Troy. Their army is massive. Paris fights Helen's former husband. Paris is beaten. He cowers to his brother like the coward he is. His opponent says, "This is not worthy of royalty." The Greeks charge for Troy and the Trojan archers kill a lot of Greeks. Eventually the Greeks retreat. The Greeks put a coin on the dead's eyes. "Greek and Latin sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as payment or bribe to Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead." (Wikipedia) Hector fights for his country. Achilles fights only for himself.

Because Achilles desecrated a Trojan god the Trojans feel the Greeks are cursed and should be attacked. Hector attacks and kills Achilles's cousin thinking t was him. Hector is challenged by Achilles at the city gate. Hector goes to meet him. Achilles kills him within minutes. Achilles told him he would cut out his eyes and ears so he would be blind and deaf in the underworld.

Priam goes to Achilles and begs him to get the body of Hector in order to give him a proper burial. The face is mutilated of Hector. Achilles cries out of guilt to what he did to Hector's face. Priam and Paris burn the body.

A wooden horse is given to the Trojans. People celebrate the gift. A Trojan scout sees that the ships of Greece are still there. He is killed by arrows. Inside the horse the Greeks and Achilles emerge at night. They open the gate and the Greeks enter Troy.

Helen and others escape by the secret tunnel. The Greeks show no class in desecrating the gods. Achilles's heel is hit by Paris's arrow. He shoots Achilles in the stomach as well. Achilles tells Briseis, "You gave me peace in a lifetime of war." She is devastated. Achilles dies as does Troy. The Trojans bury the body of Achilles with class without mutilating the body like Achilles did to Hector. 

Rob Marshall: Nine

Nine 

Director: Rob Marshall

Writers: Michael Tolkin, Anthony Minghella, Arthur Kopit, Maury Yeston and Mario Fratti

Cast:

Daniel Day-Lewis         …            Guido Contini 

Sandro Dori                    …           Studio Superintendent

Nicole Kidman              …           Claudia

Marion Cotillard          …            Luisa Contini

Penelope Cruz.            …            Carla

Judi Dench                     …           Lilli

Sophia Loren                …           Mamma

Kate Hudson                 …            Stephanie

Fergie                             …            Saraghina

I'm just a storyteller, and the cinema happens to be my medium. I like it because it recreates life in movement, enlarges it, enhances it, distills it. For me, it's far closer to the miraculous creation of life than, say, a painting or music or even literature. It's not just an art form; it's actually a new form of life, with its own rhythms, cadences, perspectives and transparencies. It's my way of telling a story. 

-Federico Fellini 

             GUIDO
            You kill your film several times,
            mostly by talking about it. A film is
            a dream. You kill it writing it down,
            you kill it with a camera; the film
            might come to life for a moment or two
            when your actors breathe life back
            into it - but then it dies again,
            buried in film cans. Mysteriously,
            sometimes, in the editing room, a
            miracle happens when you place one
            image next to another so that when,
            finally, an audience sits in the dark,
            if you're lucky -- very lucky - and
            sometimes I've been lucky - the dream
            flickers back to life again. That's
            why I'm secretive.

                         REPORTER (O.S.)
            So what's your favorite pasta?

                         GUIDO
            Finally, a serious question.

Guido in Nine is our Federico Fellini. He is both tormented and enamored by women. There are many in this film that get to him. Contini enters Cinecitta Film Studios in Rome 1965. Claudia enters in, one of his muses and many others. The sets are pretty incredible in this film. Everyone hounds Contini for solutions to the problems of filmmaking. He is stressed and busy. Lilli tells him a director's job is just to say yes or no to everything. The Italian scenery is quite picturesque. A banker called Fausto hounds Contini over a plan and budget for the film.

Guido Contini sings he wants everything arranged for him. Earlier at the press conference is a reporter who asks if he has anything left to say. I am sure this is a fear and reality many film directors have. At the hotel he wants his wife, Luisa to be with him. In his room Carla calls and sings all sorts of sexual innuendo she wants to do to him raising his heart beat worrying his doctors. 

Carla arrives by train wearing red like temptation itself and is Contini's mistress. "Penelope Cruz's character, Carla Albanese, is based on Giovannini, the long-time mistress of director Federico Fellini." -IMDB.com After sex Guido puts the crucifix in the nightstand perhaps out of guilt. Contini is suffering from writer's block and being distracted by a bunch of women doesn't help. 

Guido Contini talks to a priest and is asked if he is a Catholic. Guido says not as much as would like to be. The priest says to try harder. The priest asks do people need to see so much sex in Contini's films. It's not necessary. He tells Contini, imagination is God's garden. Don't let the Devil play in it. He tells Contini, "Teach our Italian women to be wives, not whores."

Later the producer tries to calm people at dinner because Contini, the director, doesn't have a script yet. This Segways to Luisa singing about Guido having dreams about some romantic theme. She sings he can't distinguish what's his work and what's his home. She sings she is his number one fan. This is sad because Guido loves her when it is convenient for him and is frequently cheating on her in one form or another. 

When Carla comes Luisa leaves angrily at Guido. She is angry at his lies and cheating. 

Stephanie sees Guido at the bar and says she's seen his movies like a million time. This starts the song and dance scene. He meets her at her hotel room with the key he is given. He leaves instead and goes to his wife. Getting a phone call Guido is called to Carla's room who makes herself sick by taking 5 or 6 pills. The doctor says this is a sordid business with movie people concerning having a mistress. 

Claudia wants a script for the movie as everyone else. She reveals he doesn't know how to love and that he has a wife who loves him. 

Luisa in a dance and song shows her inner desire to get back at Guido by being provocative with other men. She thinks he is just an appetite and greedy. She is upset the ways he flirts with the ladies on his film set. Luisa says it's hopeless. Their marriage is over. 

Guido tells his film crew there is no movie. Luisa is later shown with another man after being split from Guido two years later. He meets with Lilli and tells her the only movie he could do now is about a man trying to win back his wife. He begins working on his next film called "Nine."

Final Thoughts:

All in all Nine is a good movie and a fun one at that. The only thing is the film lacks a depth that the film 8 1/2 has which it is based on. The sets aregreat and the singing too.  

Works Cited:

www.imdb.com

https://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Nine.html