Tag: Drama
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Labyrinth. Dir Jim Henson. Warner Bros., Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, TriStar Pictures, FilmFlex, EMI Films. 1986.
Teaching a Teen, Canine Companions, and the First CGI Animal in Movie History The last Jim Henson release, Labyrinth, a cinema flop but since a cult classic, follows a teenage Jennifer Connelly (Sarah) trying to rescue her baby brother from David Bowie (Jareth) by making her way through a Labyrinth “where everything seems possible and…
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The Edge. Dir. Lee Tamahori. 20th Century Studios.1997
A classic tale of attempting to survive against the odds, The Edge (1997), follows erudite billionaire Charles Morse (Anthony Hopkins),duplicitous photographer Robert Green (Alec Baldwin) and personal assistant Stephen (Harold Perrineau) as they trek through the wilderness pursued by a bear (Bart the Bear). The men are part of a larger group, including Charles’ model…
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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,…
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Storm Boy. Dir. Shawn Seet. Sony Pictures. 2019.
The 2019 Australian film Storm Boy captures the special bond between a boy and pelicans on the beautiful Australian coastal landscapes. The story is based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Colin Thiele, and it serves explorations on complex issues surrounding the natural environment and human lives. The story is enriched by…
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Roar. Dir. Noel Marshall. Film Consortium, Filmways Pictures. 1981
“No Animals were harmed in the making of this film. 70 cast and crew members were”. A film tagline that instantly grabs your attention. The Drafthouse re-release in 2015 coined this moniker for the 1981 box-office blunder[1] “Roar”, which lacks plot, conventionality and, as the curious tagline suggests: a lack of safety measures for the actors…
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The Darjeeling Limited. Dir. Wes Anderson. Searchlight Pictures. 2007
Animals Articulating Emotion and Inspiring Growth in The Darjeeling Limited In an attempt to remedy their stagnant relationship, three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) board a train travelling around India. Each brother harbours his own inner turmoil which contributes to the complex relationship between the brothers and is often…
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Two Brothers. Dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud. Pathe. 2004.
Set against the backdrop of 1920s French Indochina, Two Brothers chronicles the poignant journey of two tiger siblings, Kumal and Sangha. From playful cubs roaming freely in the wild, their lives take a turbulent turn when human intervention tears them apart. Kumal, captured by treasure hunters, ends up as a performing circus tiger, whilst Sangha,…
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The Banshees of Inisherin. Dir. Martin McDonagh. Searchlight Pictures. 2015
“Do you think God gives a damn about miniature donkeys, Colm?” “I fear he doesn’t. And I fear that’s where it’s all gone wrong.” Martin McDonagh’s, “The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022), is a Tolstoyan tragicomedy combined with macabre naturalism which works to present the asperity and invaluableness of life and friendship. One significant friendship occurs between…
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The Little Prince. Dir. Mark Osborne. Paramount Pictures. 2015
“One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” In The Little Prince the depiction of foxes defies conventional animality as they generally symbolise perfidy. But The Fox here is characterised as holding pragmatic intellectual power. He is a teacher but does not hold any other forms of power,…
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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…