Movie Review on Hero (2002)

The author of this review states that "Yimou has an artist's eye for the screen and treats it as his canvas". It also states that the film has many great features such as the rich imagery consisted of sets and costumes coated in color.

The author also discusses the nationalism of the film. The review mentions that the film is driven by the complexities of the characters who struggle with their own passions. "The film depicts the King as an idealist, when many Chinese historians will tell you the real King of Qin who became China's first Emperor, was very much a tyrant responsible for many deaths. This could lead to concerns over the film's apparent pro-Communist message that sacrificing your life and more importantly, your ideals for a government that only purportedly represents the people is noble".

A lot of what is stated in this review was discusses in class in terms of nationalism. It supports the idea that it is still difficult to determine what exactly Yimou is trying to state in terms of nationalism. Just as we discusses in class, the author also supports our claim as to how we can see why the Chinese government gave Yimou their blessing to direct the film, but the film can be also looked at in a different angle.

From the Fifth to the Sixth Generation: An Interview with Zhang Yimou

This interview from Film Quarterly discusses Zhang Yimou's passion for using color, mainly red, in his films. The article says that his use of red as well as his other symbols, define narrow interpretation, because it rebels against tradition.

It also discusses Yimou's miserable childhood and how later on was sent to peasants to be educated by them. Yimou sold his blood and was able to buy his first camera, which opened up the opportunity to study cinematography at the Bejing Film Academy.

Since then he has worked on many films and has won a numerous collection of awards for them.

War Syndromes and Their Evaluation: From the U.S. Civil War to the Persian Gulf War

This article supplies information for people to have a better understanding of why the veterans of the Persian Gulf War might have had illnesses post-war. There have been many syndromes that have been associated with these veterans with symptoms including fatigue, headaches, forgetfulness, etc... The illnesses included serious psychiatric conditions dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder and acute combat stress reaction. This article mentions how there was not one specific disease that the veterans had, but that a good number of them were mentally damaged after experiencing the war. The research has many limiations, but "until we can better understand what constitutes health and illness in all adult populations, we risk repeated occurrences of unexplained symptoms among veterans after each war".

Three Kings Movie Review

This review discusses a lot on the political aspect of war, featured in Three Kings.
The author mentions how "one of the most consistently misunderstood and misrepresented peoples in the eyes of many Americans are members of the Arabic nations, a fact made painfully clear since September 2001".
The review also discusses how the film explores the Persian Gulf War, ideology of the film, and also gives a non-oppositional critique of the Gulf War.

The Green Mile Special Edition: Invisible Effects

This is just a video clip that shows how the film The Green Mile, by Frank Darabont was directed. Darabont himself as well as other producers talk about the process of filming the movie using special effects such as creating a larger image of certain characters.

Frank Darabont

This site consists of the movies that Frank Darabont, director of The Shawshank Redemption, has directed. It compares and contrasts a couple of the films that he has directed as well as the different techniques he uses while directing films. It also discusses Darabont's inspiration and the main theme of prisons that he chooses in his films.Publish

The Shawshank Redemption

In this link, the author discusses a general overview of The Shawshank Redemption, and mentions the different themes discussed in the film.

The author states that the film deals with perseverance and sacrifice, but also about joy and hope.

The author also discusses how the director, Frank Darabont, keeps his work simple by using "by-the-book structure" and techniques for this film.

The author ends by stating, "It’s all about how Earthly friendship and human connection are crucial for the heart, but faith – in whatever form – is good for the soul. That’s why Shawshank has found such a universal audience connection: because it expertly uses a straightforward moral-bound story to carry such weighty baggage."

Glossary of Film Terms

This website is consisted of an A-Z list of various film terms. The terms and their definitions are are from Bordwell/Thompson's Film Art and Monaco's How to Read a Film. Some of the terms are linked to another resourceful site with either more information about that term or images to support the defintion.