Category: Year: 2011
-
Blue Valentine. Dir. Derek Cianfrance. 2010.
Derek Cianfrance’s 2011 feature film, Blue Valentine, explores the instability of the family unit in the rural American suburbs. The almost immediate death of the family dog Megan underpins this instability as her absence becomes symbolic of marital collapse. Through two temporally separated narratives, the film observes the story of Dean, Cindy, and their daughter,…
-
The Future. Dir. Miranda July. Roadside Attractions (US). 2011
The title of the film, The Future, is emblematic of the very thing the characters fear, what is the unknown. July certainly lets the cat out of the bag as she reveals her inner monologue through the narration of an anthropomorphic feline. The cat plays a central role in the drama, as it begins with…
-
Mr Popper’s Penguins. Dir. Mark Waters. 20th Century Fox. 2011.
Jim Carrey and Penguins. It does not get any better. Think Beethoven but with Penguins. Try to spot the difference between the CGI penguins and the real ones. Grab the popcorn. As you can surmise from the title, the film details Mr Popper who is played by Jim Carrey and his hijinks with the penguin…
-
We Need To Talk About Kevin. Dir. Lynne Ramsay. 2011. Youtube.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to mourn Mr. Snuffles, who was snuffed out.“ Lynne Ramsay’s psychological thriller We Need to Talk About Kevin portrays the debate of nurture versus nature through the relationship of an emotionally distant mother and psychopathic son. The purposeful inclusion of a guinea pig who serves as a vessel for…
-
Rio. Dir. by Carlos Saldanha. Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Animation. 2011.
Opening with the vibrant celebration of colours and exotic sounds of the Brazilian rainforest, our focus is drawn to a nervous exotic baby macaw bird called Blu who plucks up the courage to attempt his maiden flight. Predictably he tumbles towards the ground, making a soft spongy safe landing, before commotion strikes and an attack…
-
Rango. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Paramount Pictures. 2011.
As Rango’s terrarium hits the concrete and shatters, the bleak reality of human nature and the wake of destruction we leave becomes apparent. To humans, animal suffering is a mere bump in the road – literally. In the opening scene of Rango, the car in which Rango is travelling hits a passing armadillo attempting to…
-
Rango. Dir. Gore Verbinski. Paramount Pictures. 2011.
“Rango’s” animated Western storyline is narrated by an owl mariachi band with thick Spanish accents who tell the story of a nameless pet chameleon. The anthropomorphic chameleon sees himself as an exceptionally gifted actor in his terrarium with a wind-up goldfish and a damaged Barbie doll as his characters in his plays. After an accident,…
-
The Hunter. Dir. Daniel Nettheim. 2011.
The Hunter is a 2011 Australian drama film directed by Daniel Nettheim adopted from Julia Leigh’s novel. The chosen scene illustrates the parallels of a lone hunter named Martin and a supposedly extinct Tasmanian tiger, which creates an emotional crescendo and reveals Martin’s abrupt change in stance. The presented animal was subject to human caused…
-
Wuthering Heights. Dir. Andrea Arnold. Curzon Artificial Eye. 2011.
Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic 1847 romance/tragedy novel Wuthering Heights highlights the desolate and savage nature of the moors in which the love story takes place, and the violent nature of those who live within them (notably Heathcliff). This wildness is conveyed to the audience through the use of animals, particularly violence against…