MARTIN SCORSESE

After serious deliberations about entering the priesthood, Martin Scorsese opted to channel his passions into film. He graduated from NYU as a film major in 1964. He first caught the attention of Roger Corman with his 1960s student films (including co-editing "Woodstock" (1970).

Quintessential Scorsese style consists of New York settings, loners struggling with inner demons, pointed-shoes rock-meets-opera soundtracks and unrelenting cathartic violence.

GOODFELLAS (1990)

Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) admits, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster." As a boy, Henry idolized the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn, and in 1955 quit school and went to work for them. The local mob capo, Paul Cicero (Paul Sorvino) (based on the actual Lucchese mobster Paul Vario) and Cicero's close associate Jimmy Conway (De Niro) (based on Jimmy Burke) help cultivate Henry's criminal career......

The Godfather
(Francis Ford Coppola; 1972)

“Don’t ever take sides against the family.”
The film begins at the wedding of Don Vito Corleone's daughter Connie to Carlo Rizzi in late summer of 1945, on Long Island, New York. The Don's youngest son Michael, who has returned from World War II service as a highly decorated war hero, does not intend to become part of his father's business.

Don Vito lives his life in the way of the old country, but times are changing and some don't want to follow the old ways and look out for community and "family". An up and coming rival of the Corleone family wants to start selling drugs in New York, and needs the Don's influence to further his plan. The clash of the Don's fading old world values and the new ways will demand a terrible price, especially from Michael, all for the sake of the family.

KUBRICK REFLECTION
Reflect on the style and talent of director, Stanley Kubrick.
Some questions to consider:
- What did impressed you the most about this director?
- What are his views and interests on society/humantity?
- How would you describe Kubrick's style?
- What did you like/dislike about his films? (Full Metal Jacket; Dr. Strangelove;
A Clockwork Orange; The Shining)

Dr. Strangelove or:
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964): U.S. Air Force General Jack Ripper goes completely and utterly mad, and sends his bomber wing to destroy the U.S.S.R. He suspects that the communists are conspiring to pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of the American people. The U.S. president meets with his advisors, where the Soviet ambassador tells him that if the U.S.S.R. is hit by nuclear weapons, it will trigger a "Doomsday Machine" which will destroy all plant and animal life on Earth. Peter Sellers portrays the three men who might avert this tragedy: British Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, the only person with access to the demented Gen. Ripper; U.S. President Merkin Muffley, whose best attempts to divert disaster depend on placating a drunken Soviet Premier and the former Nazi genius Dr. Strangelove, who concludes that "such a device would not be a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious." Will the bombers be stopped in time, or will General Jack Ripper succeed in destroying the world ?






A Clockwork Orange (1971):
Protogonist Alex is an "ultraviolent" youth in futuristic Britianwhose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven. In the world of the novel and film, youth violence is a major social problem, and Alex represents a typical—though highly successful—teenager. He dresses in the “heighth of fashion,” frequents all of the popular hangouts, and is the undisputed leader of his gang. Ultimately Alex's luck eventually runs out and he's arrested and convicted of murder and rape. While in prison, he agrees to try "aversion therapy" to shorten his jail sentence, and is thus brainwashed to be proper citizen of society. "Cured," he has become adverse to violence and is eventually let out of jail only to find a world of rejection.....


Unforgettable images, startling musical counterpoints, the fascinating language used by Alex and his pals - Kubrick shapes them into a shattering whole. Hugely controversial when first released, A Clockwork Orange won the New York Film Critics Best Picture and Director honors and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. The power of its art is such that it still entices, shocks, and holds us in its grasp.







The Shining (1980):
A man, his son and wife become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel's past using a telepathic gift known as "The Shining." Along with writer's block and the demons of the hotel haunting him Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse......

Full Metal Jacket
(Stanley Kubrick; 1987)

This film takes a look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam era Marines.
A two-segment story that follows young men from the start of recruit training in the Marine Corps to the lethal cauldron known as Vietnam.....

The first segment follows Joker, Pyle and others as they progress through the hell of USMC boot-camp at the hands of the foul-mouthed Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second begins in Vietnam, near Hue, at the time of the Tet Offensive. The men face threats such as ambush, booby traps, and Viet Cong snipers as they move through the city.

The combat film, or war film genre, is the most prevalent and often used genre in most films produced in the 21st century.....

"The war film genre is also referred to as the anti-war film genre, since some of the war films do not only discuss war sentiments, but anti-war sentiments as well. War as a film genre ?often acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war, letting the actual combat fighting (against nations or humankind) provide the primary plot or background for the action of the film. Furthermore, war films can also be paired with other film genres, wherein the topic of war can be interspersed with comedy, drama, or romance as a co-or sub-genre of the film.

All Quiet on the Western Front (Delbert Mann; 1979): Paul Baumer is a young German who, along with his graduating high school classmates, enlist in the German Imperial Army during the First World War. Originally thinking war would be a great adventure, Paul and his friends discover exactly the opposite as the war drags on and one by one the members of the class are killed in action until only Paul remains......

Saving Private Ryan (Steven Speilberg; 1998): Saving Private Ryan opens with a 30-minute war scene that is without a doubt one of the finest half-hours ever on film. This sequence, a soldier's-eye view of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, is amazing not only in terms of technique but in the depth of viewer reaction it uses. Spielberg doenst hold anything back to the viewer of the horrors of battle, using every way he can to show the chaos and lives that were lost.

Formulate a film analysis using the following questions for both The Usual Suspects and 12 Monkeys.

Describe setting.
Describe the exposition of plotline.
Who are the main characters?
Can the narrator be trusted (explore this question in hindsight)?
What is the conflict(s)?
What changes occur in the characters - how is their true nature revealed?
What do the characters stand to loose/gain?
What is the over-arching purpose of each film?

*This assignment may be hand written/typed. Minimum 400 words.

DUE: Friday, April 3