The Lepard Part I

So, there's no questions or anything for this one so i'm just gonna write what comes to mind.

              I found the movie very bland, though the setting was interesting. I think that if I had a better idea about the background of Italy, the movie would make more sense, because to me it was just these guys fighting these other guys for some political reason.
               A lot of the scenes were really dragged out, such as when the Prince went on the hunting trip with his friend. The entire thing was one shot and I found myself staring at a deer or something in the background rather than paying attention to the dialogue.
               So, yeah, didn't really like it. It could have been better but there was just no driving line.

Bread and Tulips

       To me, Bread and Tulips does not seem like a road movie. Rosalba is only on the road for the first few minutes, then she finds her way to Venice and Fernando Girosole's apartment. I do think that it is, as Rascaroli's article says, a "journey....of the meaning and purpose of life." Rosalba seems to find little interest in her life at home and the thought of living in Venice offers a completely new experience. She becomes completely absorbed by the though of a change that she even goes as far as getting a job- an indication that the change might be permanent.
       Venice is like a whole new world to Rosalba. Everything about it is intriguing and imaginative. The camera takes  you, the viewer,  on your own personal tour of the city, showing you the beauty of the water and architecture. The glorified view of Venice is completely opposite to that of Pescara, Rosalba's hometown. It appears rundown, regular, and simplistic. There is no adventure or glamor to it- it is simply ordinary.
        Rosalba highly enjoys Venice, but while she's there she continues to have fantasies of life back home which all result negative consequences regarding her not returning. After finally running into someone from Pescara, Rosabla realizes that it is time to return home. However, she is unsatisfied with her normal life as a housewife, and after seeing Fernando and her friends from Venice, chooses to go back.
       The one thing I noticed about this movie was that no one really seemed to care that Rosalba left her husband, not even her children. I think this is because the husband was portrayed as a negative character and was not given any qualities that would allow him to appeal to the viewer. In contrast, Fernando is given to the audience as a kind man who was saved by this strange woman from the streets. I myself was even rooting for him to get the girl. ( I had watched many movies this weekend which I though were romance, but they were LIES!!!!) I was very satisfied to finally watch a movie with a happy ending.

Caterina in the Big City

         First off, might I say that getting this DVD took forever, and I am rather iratated because I just got it today, and had to have watched it by tomorrow, and since it's wednesday, I leave my room at 9am and don't come back till 8pm because of work, classes, clubs, and stuff, this movie is about 2hrs long, I have to do a blog for it, and I still have to read 53 pages in a textbook for my english class tomorrow. So, I'm just warning you, brave reader, that this blog is going to be very biased.
          Just so you are aware, I hate politics and the goverment, I find them boring and ineffective; we should all just go back to the barter system. Caterina meets two different groups of girls at school, Socialists and Fascists. The Fascists are presented as the upper part of society. They are rich and basically carefree people. They go to certian extremes, such as when Daniela was at the party, and seem to have no regard for the world outside their own. The Socialists are basically shown as the rebels of society. Margherita is pretty much the punk rock rebel recognizable today. Caterina becomes enveloped in these two worlds and comes to realize that neither is perfect. (Margherita's parents are seperated, and Daniela is a crazy shoping party addict.)
         Caterina is yet uneffected by the strange world of adults and politics. Like she says in the beginning, she doesnt really know whats going on, and when she is taken in by both girls, she sort of goes with the flow, never realing giving her own opinion. I'm not sure what her final judgement of teh world is, I personally do think that she liked either side. (Well, she may have liked the lifestyle, i.e. houses and cars, but not necessarily the life.)
       Again, not a fan of politics, so nothing really stood out to me as characterizing the different political worlds. There was the argument scene in the very beginning between Daniela's Fascists and Margherita's Socialists, and maybe the fathers outburst during the television show. The way he was booed off stage really made me mad- he was saying things that I totally agree with. That the individual person has very little say in his own life- the MAN is responsible for everything. I think that, by having the crowd boo at him, the director was showing what happens to people who speak out for what they believe in. That's my interpretation anyway. I didn't really like the father as a character, but he had some good ideas.

La Dolce Vita

             So, I found this movie very, very boring. All it did was follow this guy Marcello around for a few days. I had no idea who half of the characters were; they show up once for like a few minutes, then appeared hours later in some major plot development, got mass amounts of screen time, and all the while I was like, "Who is this?" When Marcello met Steiner for the first time in the Church, I couldn't figure out how they new each other. When Marcello when to the party, I didn't even recognize or remember who Steiner was. There was absolutely no plot development whatsoever (Was there even a plot??? I don't know), no rising action, no climax, nothing. It was extremely dull.
           I have no idea what the theme of the movie is, I have no idea what the movie is about. If I had to pick something, I would probably say romance or finding ones way in life. Marcello is surrounded by all these women, and is taken in by each of them. He has a fiance, Emma,but can't help sleeping around with all these other women, because he frankly considers she is smothering him with love. Emma also mentions that one day she and Marcello while have a life like Steiner, however, Steiner tells Marcello that he feels as if his life is empty, and he lost all ambition.
          The one scene in the film that I consider an essential moment is when Emma and Marcello have a fight, and he drives away leaving her on the road. The scene contains various Medium and Long/Establishing Shots, which offer intriguing views of the actors, as well as the barren surroundings in which they find themselves. By showing this type of landscape, with no noticeable nearby town or passers by,  audience members become even more shock at the idea of Marcello abandoning Emma there.