Sugar Cane Alley

            Self-determination seemed to be the overarching theme in the film Sugar Cane Alley.  We can see this in a number of characters, but mostly in the protagonist, José.  His will to strive for a higher education and a better life for himself made him an extremely likeable character.  This film tells the story of a young boy growing up in the newly colonized West Indies, going through the hardships that follow such an event.   He is eager to learn about his surroundings and clearly wants a better life than that of a cane field laborer. José has a few noteworthy mentors, and people that help to get him on this idyllic path to a brighter future.  

            To start with, we have his grandma, Ma Tine, who is a very tough yet supportive guardian for the boy.  While she is a mentor for José, Ma Tine definitely has her own self-determination to power through her own work to support José.  She does not want him to work in the cane fields and forbids him from going off and becoming another unfortunate black slave. Even when they are hard up for money, she would rather put herself through those hardships than see José start to slide down that slippery slope.  Since José does not have a mother or father, Ma Tine has to be his main teacher and provider.  When José returns home from school everyday, she asks him what he had learned that day, and showed a noticeable interest in what he was saying.  Another example of this encouragement towards learning is when she asks him what the newspaper says that he is putting on the windows.   

            One scene that depicts her strength to continue to support José is right after he has just thrown a rock at Mrs. Leonce’s dishes.  Because he and Mrs. Leonce had a falling out, she will most likely stop making lunches for him, and provide him with a job.  Ma Tine is visibly upset to find out that José had not eaten that day and decides that they will move to the city.  She packs up their suitcases without a moment’s hesitation, which shows how dedicated she is to bringing up her grandson properly.  The dialogue in the scenes where Ma Tine is packing up her clothes, and then when she is washing and drying clothes are key.  She is asking for God, and the Virgin Mary to give her the strength in her old body to go on.  This foreshadows her inevitable sickness and death, but proves that she is striving to make it through for José.  

            Another character that contributes to José’s good intentions is Mr. Medouze.   If we consider archetype or stock characters, Mr. Medouze would definitely be the wise old sage.  He provides José with stories about his environment and his culture that José takes to heart.  In the first scene where Medouze is telling José about his ancestors in Africa, the cinematography plays up the influence that the old man has on the young boy.  The set is dark, except for the light of the fire that is reflecting off of both their faces. José sits across from Medouze and stares at him, almost in a hypnotic trance, just absorbing what he is saying.  The camera shots are close ups of their faces, and are shot reverse shots.  The look in José’s eyes is one of eagerness to listen, and learn of this man’s past.   

            WhenJosé finally does get to school, he sits up very proper in class and is attentive to his teacher.  He also does not partake in a conversation with his neighbor while they are in lecture, because that would be distracting to his learning.  Another example is when they are out at recess and he refuses to break things.  José just wants to learn and he does not want anything to stop him.  We also can see him as the mentor for Carmen.  In his spare time, José teaches his friend Carmen to write, and he enjoys sharing this knowledge.  

            One element that should be brought up is Joseph Cambell’s theory called the “Journey of the Hero.”  This is a set of steps that most protagonists follow in order to get what they are searching for.  Self-determination and want are key here, something has to be obtained at the end. When looking as José’s character, he follows the guidelines for this basic plot structure pretty closely. The basic three steps in the hero’s journey are the departure, initiation, and the return.  The call to adventure is when José’s teacher wants him to take the school certificate exam, which he passes.  The initiation section includes a road of trials, which for José would be going to Fort du France and then overcoming the accusations of plagiarism.  After he proves himself worthy, he must make the inevitable return back into society and put what he learned into good use.  This may be difficult for him now that his grandmother has passed, but he has his boarding and schooling expenses paid for, so the end is left open for us to decide what he does with his future, but his education will be useful to him.  

            José never would have been able to go to Fort du France without the belief in himself to strive for an education.  He realizes that he is not meant for the cane fields, and can better serve society with a degree from school.   With the help and support from his grandmother, Mr. Medouze, and his teachers, he will surely lead a life that does not include manual labor, but one of higher intellect.  His will power and want of education got him out of Black Shack Alley.  

Screenplay Vs Big Screen:

Fletch

            The film that I chose to do this screenplay over is entitled Fletch.  Phil Alden Robinson wrote the final draft of the screenplay for this filmfrom a draft by Andrew Bergman, which was based on a novel.  Michael Ritchie eventually picked it up and became the director for the film, with Peter Douglas and Alan Greisman on board as the producers.   Fletch is the story of an investigatory reporter named Irwin Fletcher who is trying to cover a story about drugs being pushed on a local beach in Los Angeles.  While undercover on the beach one day, a strange man by the name of Stanwyk mistakes him for a junkie and asks him to murder him for $50,000 dollars, because no one would notice if a drug addict bum disappeared for a while.  Stanwyk tells Fletch that he is dying of bone cancer and that he would just rather be dead. The story goes on with Fletch trying to uncover evidence as to why this man really wants to be murdered.  He finds out that he never had cancer, and that he had been married twice.  Stanwyk’s intentions were to pretend he was murdered by Fletch, but actually kill Fletch and burn his body so it looked like his own.  Then, take all the money from him second wife, and move to Rio with another woman.  Obviously Fletch does not let this happen.  In the screenplay for this film, it is set up very much like a detective story of sorts. The Fletch character goes on these little adventures to try to uncover some of the mysteries that surround this plot and it is all very intense.  There are a few puns thrown in every now and then, but for the most part, it is not all that funny to read.  When speaking about the film Fletchhowever, the director chose Chevy Chase to play the lead role, so naturally the film was a comedy, and he delivers some mundane lines in a way that only he could make funny.  

            There were noticeable changes in most aspects of the story Fletch when comparing the screenplay and the end film.  When comparing the plot for example, some scenes were added in, while others were changed or omitted completely.  The scene in the movie where Fletch dresses up as an engineer and infiltrates Boyd Aviation was not included in the screenplay.  It really did not add much to the plot, but aesthetically it added more costume changes for Chevy.  A scene that did not make it to the film is when Larry calls fletch and tells him that Frank was planning on firing him.  In the movie, he just kind of figures it out for himself.  Another omitted scene is when Fletch follows Alan and sees him buying gasoline.  This is definitely a plot hole now, because later, he already has in the letter that he knows he is going to catch something on fire, but he would not have known this at this point in the film yet.  

            When speaking on character, I think that Chevy Chase embodies Fletch very nicely.  He is definitely funnier than his character was originally written.  His demeanor and wardrobe all matched up except for the scene at John Boyd’s office.  He was dressed up like a stuck up snob, which again, just adds to the fun of costume changes. One addition that the film made that I did notice though was the back-story that they gave Mr. Underhill.  Although it was brief, it made him out to be quite a lowlife, so we do not feel as bad when Fletch charges all of his expenses to his account.  Also, I do love Tim Matheson, but when I was reading the screenplay, I imagined Stanwyk to be older, and more convincing of a cancer patient at the beginning of the film.  I just pictured someone who was cold, turned empathetic, then switched back to stone faced.  Matheson was just cold throughout the film, his character did not seem as dynamic as it did in the screenplay.  

            Moving on to the setting, the screenplay describes the film almost word for world.  For example, the realty house in Utah that belonged to Swarthout was exactly how I thought it would look.  The place was kind of run down and clearly not a million dollar corporation.  When Fletch was in Sally Ann Cavanough’s house though, the film built up the scene to be much more intense.  The anxious eighties music mixed with the low key lighting made it feel a lot scarier.  

            As for scene specifics, there were a few differences that I noticed.  Like with the

Dialogue.  It matched up pretty closely to the original screenplay, but had a few exceptions.  I have a feeling that Chevy Chase probably contributed to this however, because most of the changes from the script come from his quirky one liners, which were most likely ad -libbed over and over knowing him.  For example, when he is at the hospital pretending to be a doctor, he says his name is Rosenrosen, not Rosenpenis to the main surgeons.  Another time is when the lawyer notices his cash and Fletch tells him he saw his pimp today, when in the screenplay he says he found it in his taxicab.  Comedians are generally given leeway when it comes to these jokes, so I am not surprised. Also, the film added a voice over for Fletch so he was our narrator.  This gave the film a noir-esque feel to it, and made it seem like the detective story that the screenplay vibe was giving off.  The voice over helped to sort out the plotline as well, which has a lot going on.  

            Some subtle differences is when we are at Marvin and Velma’s house, Fletch is sitting on the porch talking with them, rather than on couches in the living room like the screenplay says.  This made it seem like Stanwyk comes from a very poor background, where his folks are just content sitting and talking on the porch to strangers. Another change was the very last scene. In the screenplay, Fletch goes to Rio alone and Gail ends up surprising him after some time apart.  In the movie, they run off together.  Their relationship seems to be a bigger deal on screen than it does on paper.  This is probably because Hollywood romanticizes relationships more and puts a bigger emphasis on that particular aspect of stories.

            All in all, I think that the film did an excellent job visualizing and bringing to life the story of the Fletch screenplay.  Chevy portrayed the Fletch character very well and the director made the movie aesthetically pleasing for an eighties audience.  

Metropolis: In Relation to the Weimar Republic

            Metropolisis a visual representation of the German society during the Weimar Republic.  It is the director, Fritz Lang’s ideas about the failing government around him.  There are a number of elements that we can bring up that portray this time in German history.  I want to analyze how the economy, class conflicts, religion, as well as the rising idea of totalitarianism and revolution in the film can all relate back to the Weimar Republic.  

            Let us first discuss the economy.  During the Weimar Republic, Germany was in a state of huge hyperinflation. The economy in Germany took a drastic turn for the worse around 1923. This was due mainly because Germany was forced to pay reparations to the Allied forces after the First World War. This caused a huge devaluation of their currency.  By the end of 1923, $1 was equal to about 4,200,000,000,000 marks.  That is an absurd number.  However, in 1924 they made some progress by switching their currency, and with some aid from the United States.  In 1927 the standard of living went up and the cost of living went down, so this was all positive news for German economy.  During this time, the industrial output number was huge, almost doubled what it was prewar.  I think that we see this particular aspect shown throughout the film Metropolis.  Most of the characters in the film that are nameless are very poor.  We can tell this by their clothes, their jobs, and where they live.  Only the few elite get to reside in Metropolis and dine on expensive meals.  

            This also brings up the idea of class struggle during the time of the Weimar Republic.  On top of a failing economy, this was a combination for disaster.  “Unemployment meant that the lower classes waned towards the left wing.  A lack of national pride led to right wing movements gaining in popularity.  Economic disasters led to the middle classes and even the aristocrats looking to the extremities for answers.”("School History")  Classes are depicted in the film quite clearly.  The sets and area space are all designed in an upward fashion.  What I mean is that there is always a hierarchy in the set designs.  In the city of Metropolis, there are huge skyscrapers, and Joh Fredersen’s office is atop the tallest one.  The laborers are forced to work underground, and even there, the machines have different levels, organizing the citizens further.  

            Another element that also segregates certain groups is religion.  The two major religious groups in Germany during the Weimar Republic were Protestants and Catholics.  Only about 1% of the population was Jewish.("http://weimar.facinghistory.org/content/religion")  I thought that all the Christian imagery was quite fascinating and very telling of the times.  I am not really sure if that is at all Anti-Semitic, but there is a chance. More so than that, I feel like organized religion in general was a key factor here.  Maria was their leader, and they were buying every word she said. Even when her evil counter part was telling them to destroy the machines, the workers were obedient.  The real Maria is like the Virgin Mary, always dressed in light colors and saving the children. When she is preaching to the workers underground, she is a symbol of hope to the failing nation.  The notion that Rotwang is going to “resurrect” Hel is also very Christian. To add to this, I thought that the statues of the figures representing the 7 deadly sins, along with death were quite powerful.  Especially the scene where they come to life, this implies the reality of these Christian beliefs.  I also noticed a very large number of crosses in Maria’s churchlike venue for the workers. This seems to be saying that this is the resounding religion in Germany, and that most people are adhering to it. That being said, upon watching the film again, I noticed that there are a few instances where stars are shown. When we are first presented with Hel in robot form, there is a huge star behind her.  It is not the Star of David, just a regular five pointed star, but I have seen a number of other German films and these motifs are always depicted as symbolizing Jews.  In this case, I think that we can assume she is meant to represent the “other,” or that 1%. The same goes for Rotwang.  On top of all of the doors in his house, there are stars.  This could also be because there was a fear throughout Germany that the Jewish population was going to take over, and become “worldly” Jews.

            Revolution seems to be an emotion that is seen in a few key scenes in Metropolis.  The memorable scene where the workers destroy the “Moloch” machine, “illustrates the resentment that had been boiling beneath the surface of the lower class since the Industrial Revolution.”("Computer Certification Centers")  I also want to add in that while I was watching this film, the soundtrack had an impact on me. When the workers were about to destroy the main machine, the music that was playing in the background was very reminiscent of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”  The original song is about Russia’s defense against Napoleon’s invasion of Moscow, so this too harkens back to the idea of revolution.  We also see hints at an uprising when Maria is addressing the machine workers towards the beginning of the film.

Clearly, this film has a bigger agenda than just telling a story about some machine workers.  I think that the idea of critical thinking is one that seems to be longed for, as it also did during the early 1900s.  What I mean by this is that scholarly activity was not really booming at this time in Germany.  I realize that the Frankfurt school was established already, but it was still in its infancy.  This film seems to be saying that these harsh industrial jobs are for the weak minded, and that they needed to get away from these jobs and focus more on social researches and new technological advances.  The workers were so easily persuaded throughout the film, and I think that is evident in the mob scenes where they refer to Maria as a witch.  No one is using any rational thinking, and the crowds are always shown in big groups.  This shows us that the masses are not individualistic or intelligent. Using mind control for the greater good was also some of the ideas behind Nazism.  Metropolis could also be thought of as a precursor to the totalitarian age in the sense that the workingman was looking for a leader to guide them.  They all looked toward Maria, because she seemed saintly, and represented a beacon of hope for them.  All of these emotions would emerge full force within a decade’s time when Hitler would take power in 1933.  This thesis is common among German films of this time. (Myles)

As I have shown, Metropolis is a film that reflects the state of and the mentality of the society in which it comes from.  Through the visual elements of economy, class conflicts, religion, and the notions of totalitarianism and revolution, Metropolissuccessfully depicts the period of the Weimar Republic in Germany.