Custom «A Movie Summary» Essay Paper

The difference between a summary, a review, and an analysis is the take of concepts and perception an individual goes by the subject matter. A movie summary is simply the restatement of the plot, while a movie analysis is the personal take on movies characteristics in terms of developmental aspects, such as themes, cinematography, character deployment, and film space. A movie review is a shorter version of summary and analysis blended in one presentation. The development of movies has taken various shapes since the boom of technology, causing people interested in creating films to start to invest. The history of movies dates back to the times of Jesus Christ, only that the Jews did not know anything about movies and cameras back at those times. The point in this writing is that movies are ancient inventories that have transformed with time and included the daily activities that influence people’s lives in personal perspectives. In this paper, two movies are analyzed and compared without summarizing any of their parts. The reason why no summary is required is that it is intended for viewers who are believed to have watched the movies and made their own analytical conclusions about them. The movies include Machuca (sad movie produced in 2004 but based on a 1973 setting) and Innocent Voices (representing violent times of the 1980s and produced in 2005). Special attention is paid to the thematic developments rather than the motion picture traits.

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Film Space

Machuca and Innocent Voices are movies that capture the attention of viewers through the presentation of activities and actions that each individual watching the movies would relate to. Since time immemorial, violence, war, life-threatening circumstances have been a part of our lives. In Machuca, film space is captured by taking a journey through history, as well as relating to actual crisis that took place in a physical world. The presentation of the Chilean lifestyle during the 1970s does not tell a historical story that we as viewers can learn from, but rather presents a picture that can be viewed from a first-person perspective. The fact that crime and war are portrayed in these particular movies does not connect with the viewers by either illustrating the presence or history of war; it is aimed at capturing the viewer and drawing him/her to the reality of the situation. For example, a crisis presented in the Machuca movie is viewed from two perspectives upon which a boundary is drawn to separate a crowd into two distinct perspectives. A poor or a middle-class member of viewers would be drawn to the perspective of poverty deployed in the Machuca movie’s character. On the other hand, a rich viewer would be drawn to the perspective of Gonzalo Infante; he/she would share a lot in common regarding their way of living.

Time is an element of film space that is well presented in the movie Machuca through the presentation of a child character that the movie is developed. Viewers presented with the story line of this nature watch and make conclusions about the situation from child’s thinking ability restrictions. Time in the Innocent Voices movie displays the hardships governments, innocent citizens, and society at large face at times of crisis. However, all these are viewed through a child’s perspective to draw and capture the motifs of directors and scriptwriters. For example, the movie industry takes extreme turns to create and forge stories that entertain viewers, and it not an issue if a gangster character is shot dead by a law enforcement character in the motion picture. However, the same happening to a child, whether guilty of some wrongdoing or not, captures a special sensory nerve of an active viewer.

The similarity of the two movies is through the development of children characters and their association with politically-driven uproars. For decades, the association of some Latin American nations and the USA has influenced politics of Latin America. Whether it is the history of the present, these two movies show a film space that relates to the current and future governmental reforms associated with political motivation and foreign government-sponsored atrocities. Machuca and Innocent Voices serve as motivational movies that influence current and future voters to make the right decisions in the ballots to avoid finding themselves in similar situations.

Sound and Picture

To enable viewers the comfort of the latest technology and thrill of involvement, movies are currently shot in 3D and presented in HD versions. Theoretically, a viewer is not involved in the production of a movie, but rather criticizes or comments on some leaked information about the ongoing process of shooting the movie. However, with the current technology and ability to shoot movies in 3D, every viewer is an accessory to murder if the plot of the movie involves killings. In 3D movies a viewer is involved in the activities taking place on the screen because the technology draws him/her inside the scene as if he is personally present there.

Movies shot using latest camera technologies, excluding 3D platforms, provide deliberately distorted high-definition pictures to convey time and space. The case of Machuca and Innocent Voices is no exception, as the movies are shot in high quality, despite being based on historical events. Machuca, for example, is not shot in true color so that it can portray the reality or convey the sense of the1970s. Innocent Voices, on the other hand, is shot in true color, but the sense of the1980s is conveyed by choosing a place of shooting. Whether artificial landscapes or design of art, the locations of shooting are modified to reflect developmental aspects of the 1980s. Given the fact that Innocent Voices is narrated from a child’s point of view, the scenes from this perspective convey a shaky picture to showcase first person view (Burlingame 305-331).

Both Machuca and Innocent Voices use the 5.1 channel surround sound to convey various aspects of the movie settings and locations. For example, a 2.1 channel surround system would not pick up shivering and heavy to light breathing alternations. The atmosphere and various environments are represented with music that either portrays the nature of activities going on there or a contradiction between situation and environment. For example, when Infante gets to school, the music plays differently to create a tense situation despite the fact that everything looks normal from Infante’s point of view.

Thematic Message

Violence

“This is an awesome movie,” says one viewer to another, “I would watch it a hundred times,” he concludes. “Is there a particular reason you think the movie is awesome?” inquires the other. “Everybody likes Innocent Voices, it is a classic movie produced in the ‘dotnet’ era. If you don’t believe it, check out the spooky environments.” In the analysis of the Innocent Voices, everyone’s opinion counts and different people tend to be drawn to different things. Considering the above conversation between the two viewers, it is obvious that time and space captures the first viewer and draws interest in the spookiness’ of the environment rather that the theme of the movie. This section differentiates storyline themes from cinematography traits to analyze these movies according to what they are meant to convey rather than what they are conveying.

Violence is depicted in the Innocent Voices movie, while situational differences are conveyed in the Machuca movie. Considering that the two movies are set in historical backgrounds of Latin America, as well as their association with war and other nations like the US, it is obvious that the movies do not entirely intend to tell a story, but rather predict the cause of current situations (the time of production). The USA is considered by the research as the number one consumer of Mexican and Columbian drugs. However, the USA is actively associated with policies aimed at stopping sale of drugs. Instead of taking care of issues that matter within the boundaries of the USA, the US government is much interested in operations that eliminate presumed criminals outside the US. Set in El Salvador, Innocent Voices does not involve the USA, but rather shows deployment of government forces to carry out atrocities in the villages. Innocent Voices display the position of the people in times of violence when powerless people are forced to survive when confronted with the above phenomena.

In Sierra Leon, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, killings murders have been committed by government and non-government armies in order to control resources, people, and keep international communities at bay. Children are used as soldiers because they are easily persuaded to commit crimes without attaching sense or emotions. In the case of Innocent Voices, children of 12 and above are recruited into the army - a situation also witnessed in other nations. With violence the main reason of recruiting children into the army, Innocent Voices’ producer, Mandoki, aims to enlighten modern children and parents on the effects of violence and how one has personal responsibility to avoid such situations. On the other hand, Innocent Voices portrays the armies as the bad lot and tends to sympathize with the guerrillas. Many nations that have undergone coups and other situations would take a similar stance on the matter. However, referring back to the point made earlier in this analysis about perspectives, we, as viewers, can only interpret a movie according to the point of view the movie takes. In real life situations where children witness atrocities and become victims of civil unrest, circumstances do not make much sense to them except that the armies are the enemies – even if there are discrepancies that the armies need to address (White, & National Research Council, 54-67).

War

Poor leadership is the cause of economic and political unrest in Machuca. The resources and quest to be heard are the cause of political unrest and slaughter of thousands of citizens in Syria today. War causes deaths and can undermine a nation’s economic stability. As regards social matters, war separates people from their daily normal lives and casts fear and distance among people living within a war-stricken area. The USA, Israel, Chile, the UK, and South Korea are but a few nations that have been involved in war. These nations have won or lost a battle or two but the effects of wars are only quantified in terms of casualties and damage to property. One way to win a war is believed to be the destruction of amenities and infrastructure. Considering the case of Machuca, the serious atmosphere created by sad music and cries depicts the side effects of wars not limited to Chilean people.

Around the world, families live together and get to associate with other families or members of the society that they may or may not share the same social and economic backgrounds. Given the efforts that families of different social and economic standards apply to get along, issues associated with national unrest tend to disrupt the developments and set these people on different paths. War in Machuca is portrayed as an element of deceit that separates people, families, and society, and provokes distrust amongst them. With social and economic issues playing a role, the poor are unprotected unlike the rich (a situation that separates Gonzalo Infante and Pedro Machuca) and each side is left alone to fight through the crisis within its resource abilities. With a similar situation taking place in Chile around the same time the movie is based on, the movie intends to cultivate the effects, both social and economic, associated with separated citizens (Danner 65).

History

“They say, you will never know where you are headed unless you have an idea of where you are headed.” The above expression is popular philosophical garbage that cannot be quantified, but it is a treasure in analytical applications. The current economic status and independence is attributed to the historical background that connects generations and passes on some elements of development or knowledge. Crises provide the world with the knowledge to create strategies and methods to deal with future issues. On this case, the historical wrangles in Chile and El Salvador contributed to deaths and separation of people creating an atmosphere of hostility. Given the portrayal of political incidents in countries like Libya or Syria, it is noteworthy to acquire knowledge about their regimes. It is difficult for a regime interested in national resources to take other nations as examples. In this case, Machuca and Innocent Voices triy to voice the lack of information and understanding to these regimes by setting an example through a motion picture that connects the past and current situations. These movies take a general but similar perspective in addressing the issues of politics and governance by creating a situation that shows the world where certain nations are coming from and the cost they have paid for being such situation (Bruhn, 245).

Poverty

About 72% of the world population is poor. Poverty is the state of being unable to acquire basic needs consistently and in sufficient quantities. Inspite of the GDP any nation generates annually, the poor exist due to the improper distribution of resources and amenities. In this case, the poor have been given a chance to explore deeper into poverty, while the rich generate resources for themselves to extract the little left at the disposal of the poor. The character of Machuca comes from poor background, while Infante comes from a rich family. It does not matter much whether you are poor or rich because if everyone was poor nobody would be able to pay for anything, and if everyone were rich, no one would require the services and products of the other. However, Machuca portrays poverty and wealth as immiscible and creates a foundation for retrieving reasons. Natural disasters cause devastation; despite the fact that these are instigated by politics of governance, different social groups handle them differently. For instance, the Haiti earthquake (CNN) destroyed homes and businesses but a majority of people survived. However, within a month the nation was thrown into food and water crisis with health issues looming. Given the fact that poverty-stricken citizens suffered the most, desperate actions of theft and crime ensued.

The above example can be connected with the theme of poverty portrayed in Machuca and Innocent Voices through the perception of life struggles and scarcity of resources. Machuca presents the theme of poverty through the expression of groups on the receiving end, as well as the cost they pay for being in that particular position. Innocent Voices, on the other hand, develops the theme of poverty through narrowing the chances of children and students in that region to ever get some education. Education is essential for any economy, and once it is broken, the stakeholders suffer as a group. Given the situation that El Salvadoran civilians faced between 1980 and 1992,it is likely that the economy suffered and will continue to incur a 12-year deficit of elites due to the civil war (Lyon-Callo, 75).

Cinematography

A shaky camera in Machuca gives the first person’s perspective and allows viewers to connect with the issues from a first person’s point of view. As Machuca is walking around, the viewers do not see Machuca in various scenes because the camera assumes an active role that acts as Machuca’s avatar (reincarnation). In the case of Innocent Voices, still camera is used mostly to depict a spectator’s position that allows a viewer to relax and make conclusions on specific character traits, as well as the producer’s point of view and the reasons for including some scenes (Malkiewicz, & Mullen, 174).

Machuca and Innocent Voices vs. Kite Runner

Kite Runner is a 2007 film portraying the same massage movies like to tell repeatedly. However, the movie uses flashbacks to refer to events as well as to how current people in the settings have been influenced by their past. Unlike Machuca and Innocent Voices, Kite Runner incorporates the daily-lives of people and tries to connect it with the guilt of previous mistakes that they committed. The movie uses flashbacks to portray war and misunderstandings between nations and therefore sets a tone similar to Innocent Voices and Machuca.  History of war and the repercussions of living within the war-stricken areas is displayed through the eyes of a child. However, the flashbacks give the historical sacrifices made by child characters while the current time shows how life has turned to be after making choices or after being forced to make unpleasant choices. With Machuca and Innocent Voices playing part in displaying how governance and war issues affect children, Kite Runner shows a social and sympathetic platform that people wish they had done differently. Therefore, Kite Runner is a future version of Innocent Voices and Machuca. The characters will mature, so does real life children in war stricken areas, and they have to live with the choices made for them and those they could not avoid