The Godfather – ANDRE RIEU

a different kind of energizer

"Wrecked, poor, naked and blind… I’m yours – I’m yours right now"

Disability advert

DEMONSTRATE HOW CAN A POSITIVE PORTRAYAL OF DISABILITY CAN ENHANCE  THE CLARKS  BRAND

Clarks is a high street shoe retailer with broad appeal, over 500 stores in UK and an expanding network of stores in mainland Europe, USA, Far East and Middle East. 

The task was to create a press advert centred on the Images of Disability vision – promoting diversity in society through the fair and creative representation of disability. The product had to incorporate “Clarks” shoes proposition: “Enjoy expressing your own sense of style through fashionable shoes that are comfortable enough to wear every day”. The advert had to enhance the brand and at the same time be a positive portrayal of disabled people, not presenting them as heroes or victims, but as people. The idea was to focus on individuality expressed within the proposition – engaging characters rather than stereotypes.

Target audience:

• Women and men in their late 30’s to 40’s
• Practical but style conscious and fashion aware – everyday people who want to look good
• Not risk-takers – they appreciate the reassurance offered by well known high street retailers such as Clarks
• Not over-serious – enjoying fashion rather than posing and pouting
• Charming, attainable and real
• Creating this media artefact was engaging and interesting, as the task was not easy and while thinking at the concept I felt a bit like being in the shoes of professionals.
• Creating this media artefact was engaging and interesting, as the task was not easy and while thinking at the concept I felt a bit like being in the shoes of professionals.

Creating this media artefact was engaging and interesting, as the task was not easy and while thinking at the concept I felt a bit like being in the shoes of professionals.

Since I was not able to attend the course when the task was delivered, I had to create the advert by myself. However, I think this was somewhat in my advantage, since I had a clear image of what I wanted and it was easier to put it in practice by myself, rather than if in group. I did not have to “convince” other hypothetical members of the legitimacy of my idea and its relevance to the topic.

I chose this image because it shows a blind man who does not seem affected by his disability, on the contrary, he looks elegant and confident, somewhat determined and sure of himself. What I wanted to emphasise was that people with disabilities can lead a normal life and look their best, not acting as victims, nor as heroes, but as people who use their qualities to enjoy life. I do think there are many people in this situation, living and looking, at times, wiser than “normal” people.

Shadows in the palace

“Shadows in the palace” is a movie hard to place in a certain genre, being a quite well-thought mix, as to please as many possible: thriller elements, murder-mystery, history, (a bit extreme at times for non-fans) horror scenes, drama, dazzling images and authentic costumes – everything to guarantee viewers will watch it more than once.

 The time setting is the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. The location is the Joseon palace, divided in women’s area and men’s area, a metaphor, maybe, for the chambers of a heart. The movie concentrates on women’s life at the palace, hence the suggestive Korean title (“Gungyeo” = “palace women”). We enter a world where women are “predator” and “prey” at the same time, through their behaviour and attitude towards each other.

Plot:

In a “prologue” scene we see a woman giving birth by herself, in a forest, at night, while she’s struggling not to make a sound through the whole process. At dawn, though sill exhausted, she leaves the place. She won’t be able to take more than few steps before being haunted by the sounds of a new born, which can be heard throughout the forest.

Then the movie takes us “years later” to the Joseon palace where we enter the maids’ world, a place of harsh discipline, which, if not respected and obeyed, leads to cruel punishments and even death.

At the palace, the apparent equilibrium and daily routine is disrupted when Wol Ryeong, a court maiden, is discovered dead by her roommate. While performing an autopsy on Wol, Cheon Ryeong, the medic for the court ladies, discovers evidence that the girl was murdered and moreover, that she had had a baby, though court maids were sworn into chastity. The higher court ladies, who fear that the news of a murder would damage the balance of things, order Cheon to record the death as suicide; but she knows all too well the evidence she found clearly indicates a murder and she is convicted to reveal this murderous plot, ignoring the order and risking her own life.

The palace is also the lieu for a silent battle for power between the Queen and one of the King’s concubines. As the queen has been unable to bear the King an heir, he is on the verge of naming the son of one of his concubines, Hee-bin (Yoon Se-ah), to be his successor. This would of course greatly elevate Hee-bin’s influence and prestige within the court and the Queen and the Queen Mother are pulling various levers to be sure this doesn’t happen. Other women on the side of Hee-bin though are doing everything they can to make sure it does happen.

Into this unsettled decor, Cheon still wants to discover who and why murdered the young maid. As she investigates the case, it turns out that many people in fact might have reason to do so and it somehow seems tied to the contest for succession.  But will her determination be enough to untangle the mystery behind closed doors and unveil the murderer’s identity?

Surrounding all of this is the fascinating and at times astonishingly cruel workings of the palace in which females either feared their hierarchal superiors, or, if part of this class, would not restrain from anything for survival or power. While the court maids were bound to serve the royal family (and similarly bound to chastity, among other rules), there’s a lot of hinting that power plays were happening behind the scenes on the highest levels of power and these activities had a massive psychological (and at times horrifying physical) effect on the court maids. Maybe this was why it came as great surprise to know the movie had a female director. Also, the cast was mainly of women, all of the actresses showing great performances. However, probably the public will identify more with Cheon’s, due to her “hero-like” character.

“Shadows in the Palace” is a mystery/thriller of a different kind, successful through its dense atmosphere and wonderful sets. And although horror movies fans would probably enjoy it more, because of the realism of torture scenes, for the rest of the viewers the director left magnificent visuals (as the scene focusing on the palace as a lone spot of light surrounded by miles of dense forest), a plot to keep them not breathing throughout the movie, and the constant feeling of actually witnessing the harsh life of people in a very different time and place.

Robin Hood takes another name and appearance in Japan ("Goemon" film review)

We’re in the late 16 th century. Japan has finaly been united under the rule of a single patriot leader, the warlord Nobunaga Oda, who fought for years in order to bring and keep peace in his shogunate. The hunger for power, as he himself states when asked about the reason of his deed, made Nobunaga’s military commander, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, kill the ruler to take over the power. Years later, Japanese folk legend Goemon Ishikawa, a Ninja/Samurai bandit without intention, sets in motion a twist of events in Japan whilst stealing money to give to the people. What he finds, in one of his Robin Hood actions, is the Pandora box, a valuable item containing the proof that Hideyoshi was Nobunaga’s murderer. In order to get the box, Hideyoshi’s administrator gets Saizo on Goemon’s trail, the latter former childhood friend who is now a formidable opponent.

In his quest to unlock its puzzle, Goemon rediscovers his teenage lost love, the lovely Cha Cha (Ryoko Hirosue), whom Hideyoshi is pressuring to become his concubine. Before he can sort out his relationship with her, however, he must deal with the powerful forces out to kill him, with the help of hundreds of sword-wielding minions.

In its unfolding, the story highlights Goemon’s character, and his quest to re-establish the interrupted equilibrium installed by Hideyoshi taking over the country lead. There’s also the archetypal story of three childhood friends (the titular bandit, a formidable ninja sent after him, and the shogunate princess). Pandora box is an interesting symbol/ metaphor of the movie, the name coming from Greek mythology,  where this box was in fact a large jar, carried by Pandora, and when opened by her, unleashed many terrible things on mankind – ills, toils and sickness, – but saved  “best” for last – it also unleashed “hope”.

 Goemon himself is actually a symbol, his character being loosely based on Ishikawa Goemon, the noble thief of Japanese folklore. Kabuki plays and video games – namely ‘Legend of the Mystical Ninja’ were created on the basis of his legend. All the major names of the period are featured, from Tokugawa Ieyasu down to Kirigakure Saizo (of the Ten Heroes of Sanada).

Besides Eguchi’s acting – who I thought was a good choice for the role – I particularly appreciated the actors playing “Saizou” and “Hideyoshi”, both credible, talented actors, who managed to give life to a more of a video-game kind of film. Maybe they were in a bit of advantage because of their demanding   characters; nevertheless, their acting was truly captivating.

As for the general concept of the movie, with an investment of  $8 million for production, no wonder computer graphics were not a problem, though maybe of a bit too much usage (some scenes reminded me of the excessiveness in “300”). Still, the CGI effects not only “fake” grass or thousands of soldiers in action scenes, they also carry the viewers in the mystical Feudal Japan through visuals which are surely memorable.

Great imagery and film directing, impressive costumes, very good performance of main actors, all these are ingredients which make of Goemon a great epic movie, telling the story of devotion and love in an “exotic” manner. An entertaining and emotional piece, it reminds us that determined goals and will combined surpass any “human-created” obstacle.

Sophie's revenge

 

Sophie is a slightly eccentric but successful comic book writer, whose career takes second place to her loopy romantic life. Engaged to “mostly perfect” Jeff, a handsome surgeon, she is dumped 2 months before wedding, in favour of film starlet Joanna. Since she does not want to disappoint her mother by telling her about the new state of affairs, Sophie comes up with a master plan: to use the remaining two months before the wedding date and do whatever it takes to get Jeff back. And she’ll chronicle her quest in her new comic book, “The Handbook of Love”. In it, she would explain women everywhere how to use a ‘scientific’ approach to win love back. Unfortunately, Sophie’s first strategy of “Generosity and Forgiveness” does not work too well…But to her luck, at a Halloween party she meets Gordon, a Taiwanese photographer. She sees a photo of him and Joanna together and she takes him to be Joanna former flame. She then tries to convince him to become her ally in breaking up their ex-lovers. Of course, he agrees to be Sophie’s fight-back partner and her new guest for revenge becomes a roller coaster of comedic turns and twists.

For romantic-comedy fans, the movie it’s an easy to deconstruct exponent of the genre.

If I was to go to the exact stimulant of “catharsis”, in my case that would be the delightful quirky disposition of the main character, played with grace by Ziyi Zhang. It was quite surprising and interesting to watch her in an Asian comedy role, after her memorable Hollywood performance in the 3-Oscar-winner of 2006, “Memoires of a Geisha”.

The movie might be arguably hyperkinetic, though I would opinion the rapid succession of lines was what “flavoured” the characters and made the movie enjoyable. The set-up was well-thought also, maybe slightly reminding of the easy-to-indulge-in Hollywood romantic movies, where scenes happen mostly in Upper West Side of New York. Similarly, “Sophie’s revenge” sticks to the most attractive areas of Shanghai.

CGI is used to excellent effect here, animating Sophie’s emotional disposition and fantastical take on life. We can therefore “imagine”, along with her an interview as wartime film noir interrogation, or  a-bit-freaky, animated, soul-sucking bugs, or “watch” her literally tearing the film down around her, a scene meant to picture her inner turmoil and hyper-active imagination.

The cast fit to the roles but I must give more credit and appreciation for her performance to supportive actress Fan, playing Joanna.

Using many easy-to-recognise clichés of the genre, one would not mistake in categorising Sophie’s revenge as a commercial popular culture production, tailor-made for international distribution; successful in captivating the genre-lovers, nonetheless.

Gabriel Garcia Marques

The Puppet
If for a moment God would forget that I am a rag doll and give me a scrap of life, possibly I would not say everything that I think, but I would definitely think everything that I say.

I would value things not for how much they are worth but rather for what they mean.

I would sleep little, dream more. I know that for each minute that we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when the others loiter; I would awaken when the others sleep.

I would listen when the others speak, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream.

If God would bestow on me a scrap of life, I would dress simply, I would throw myself flat under the sun, exposing not only my body but also my soul.

My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hatred on ice and wait for the sun to come out. With a dream of Van Gogh I would paint on the stars a poem by Benedetti, and a song by Serrat would be my serenade to the moon.

With my tears I would water the roses, to feel the pain of their thorns and the incarnated kiss of their petals…My God, if I only had a scrap of life…

I wouldn’t let a single day go by without saying to people I love, that I love them.

I would convince each woman or man that they are my favourites and I would live in love with love.

I would prove to the men how mistaken they are in thinking that they no longer fall in love when they grow old–not knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love. To a child I would give wings, but I would let him learn how to fly by himself. To the old I would teach that death comes not with old age but with forgetting. I have learned so much from you men….

I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain without realizing that true happiness lies in the way we climb the slope.

I have learned that when a newborn first squeezes his father’s finger in his tiny fist, he has caught him forever.

I have learned that a man only has the right to look down on another man when it is to help him to stand up. I have learned so many things from you, but in the end most of it will be no use because when they put me inside that suitcase, unfortunately I will be dying.

translated by Matthew Taylor and Rosa Arelis Taylor

122 MC : 2nd and 3rd lecture impressions

122 MC proved extremely engaging and interesting from day 1, when we were presented with the projects we had to create by the middle of may. So far we have come up with a radio advert for a product that was 100% “designed” by ourselves and I am extremely pleased with the result. It s a catchy, funny advert and we all worked for it as a group. First assignment – checked! The second task is a movie trailer that will promote the work of a charity organization (Global Care). I’m really passionate about this new one, since I’ve always been interested in NGOs activity. I always wanted to see how they manage to engage people in helping them and more than that, how they manage to raise funds for their projects. It’s a great opportunity and hopefully we’ll be creative and talented enough to use it properly. I’ve got an idea, and looked at similar videos in relation to the theme, but we’ll decide tomorrow with whose idea we’ll work. I’m looking forward to it. The lecture today (3rd one) was troubling (because of the intense videos we were shown). How videos render meaning. I have a better understanding of the relationship between image and sound (words) after today’s session. Because we live in a visual world, image has a huge impact on sound-product, improving its message or by contrary, destroying its goal. The videos we’ve watched in class were provocative, disturbing at times and all of them highly expressive and (for me at least) – unforgettable. That kind of videos that would stick in one’s mind after watching them. I had that “being in a different time and space and dimension” sensation. It was definitely a great lesson about delivering the right message through harmonization of sounds and pictures.