Category: Language: English
-
Planet of the Apes. Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner. Twentieth Century Fox. 1968.
Planet of the Apes is a story that takes a look at what the world would be like if Apes filled the role of humans, and vice-versa. What the film manages to do is not only point out how humans perceive animals as wild, and something that should be locked up and studied, but also…
-
Wake in Fright. Dir. Ted Kotcheff. United Artists. 1971.
Having been lost for decades following its 1971 release, Wake in Fright was restored to considerable acclaim in 2009. Its aesthetic, screenplay and portrayal of the culture clash between outsiders and the aggressive ‘mateship’ mythology of Australia’s outback emerged fresher than ever. Wake in Fright follows English teacher John Grant, who is obliged to work in the outback for…
-
Shooter. Dir. Antoine Fuqua. Paramount Pictures. 2007.
Shooter The animal presence in the film Shooter in form of the main character’s dog Sam plays into the theme of friendship and loyalty that is present throughout the whole film. The first time the viewer meets Sam is right after a 36 months time skip following the opening scene of the film. Through the events in…
-
Grizzly Man. Dir. Werner Herzog. Lions Gate Films. 2005.
Grizzly Man, Dir. Werner Herzog, (2005). Grizzly Man, directed by Werner Herzog, presents a mixture of actual footage collected from Timothy Treadwell’s archive as well as interviews with his friends and family, conducted by Herzog. Treadwell’s relationship with the Bears and other wildlife is problematic as although he champions conservation he is also arguably interfering…
-
Bringing Up Baby . Dir. Howard Hawks. RKO. 1938.
In the romantic comedy Bringing Up Baby (1938) Hawks explores the association between animalism (behaviours or feelings associated with animals) and chaos. The comedy emerges out of the interactions between the unlikely pair: Susan (Catherine Hepburn) and David (Cary Grant). This is because Susan is an eccentric, chaotic and a law evading romantic and David is a…
-
Breakfast and Tiffany’s . Dir. Blake Edwards . Paramount Pictures . 1961.
In Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) Audrey Hepburn performs as Holly Golightly, formerly Lula Mae Barnes. We learn that Holly has moved to New York to reinvent herself. As a consequence, she has changed her name. By destabilising her identity, she demonstrates that she takes control of her life. When Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into her apartment…
-
The Green Mile. Dir. Frank Darabont. Warner Bros. Pictures. 1999.
Adapted from Stephen King’s novel, The Green Mile tells the story of Paul Edgecomb, a prison guard on Death Row, and his relationship with John Coffey, a convicted of the rape and murder of two young girls. Large and burly in his physique, John arrives at the ‘Green Mile’ as a timid, deeply emotional man who doesn’t…
-
Milking the Rhino. Dir. David E. Simpson. Kartemquin Films. 2009.
David E. Simpson’s 2009 documentary Milking the Rhino is a groundbreaking, astonishing story of two cattle farming cultures, the Maasai of Kenya and Ovahimba of Namibia, caught between trying to conserve their ancient traditions amid the growing pressure of modern wildlife conservation. They represent the largely unseen inhabitants of the wildlife documentary, the conveniently ignored…
-
A Close Shave. Dir. Nick Park. BBC. 1995.
Following the great success of director Nick Park’s A Grand Day Out in 1990 and 1993’s The Wrong Trousers, eccentric inventor Wallace and his canine companion Gromit returned in 1995 with A Close Shave. The action begins as the duo – now running a window cleaning service – have their breakfast interrupted by Shaun the…
-
The Birds. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Universal Pictures. 1963.
The most horrifying horror of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds occurs in a single, fleeting instant. Thrown from the comfort and security of his own bed, we are allowed only a glimpse of the aftermath of a brutal attack by these inscrutable creatures, where what has happened just moments before is almost too awful to imagine. As the…