In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to the character of Giorgia. A younger girl who had lived in a clinic due to her medical and mental disorders. Matteo is assigned to work with her and to walk with her to better understand her mental differences. But after discovering the electroshock therapy marks left on her head, Matteo takes her away from the asylum and leaves to find her family with her brother who obliges to help him, even being able to talk to the girl better than he ever could. I chose to write about this specific scene due to the foreshadowing that we see in the two characters through Giorgia's short appearance in the movie. With Matteo, we saw a character who had a short temper with almost no patience at all, especially when it came to how she acted in the first place. With Nicola, we saw a calm and relaxed approach towards talking and interacting with Giorgia, even getting her to smile multiple times when he was with her. Although the two both wanted to help the girl, they both had different means in going about it and that is where the foreshadowing comes from in what the future holds for their lives. The first part of this comes from how Matteo simply leaves to go back home while Nicola continues to travel on his own, despite not knowing what is to come for him. Matteo is a character who needs structure, someone who needs to follow the rules, while his brother is the complete opposite as he goes out to find meaning on his own. From this we see the serious and temperamental Matteo join the army, and the calm and collective Nicola has joined movements that represent peace. Both brothers still wanting to help people, but one believes in authority and the other believes in change through peace, all previously seen through how the two helped Giorgia in the opening moments of the film.
In the second part of the movie, we see how the perspectives of both Nicola and Giulia change. In part one of the movie, we saw them both participating in protests against the law of the country with the desire for freedom. Even though Giulia revealed to Nicola that she was willing to use violence against the army and police, he still supported her decision to fight for freedom. However, a lot of things have changed since they first met. They are now married and have a daughter; Nicola is a doctor who has now found a calling in a specific line of work, but Giulia clearly was not ready for her life to change this fast. She continues to meet with protest groups, even those who are a part of the Red Brigades. The only difference now is that Nicola is no longer doing it with her because he has his own responsibilities now. This builds up ultimately leads to Giulia leaving her home, leaving her daughter, and walking out on Nicola without even giving him an explanation as to why. This then leads to Nicola becoming more like Matteo, angry and short tempered even towards his daughter once his wife left. This is even quite similar to Matteo once Giorgia was taken away from him. He simply left and gave into his anger, only turning towards rules and orders that he had to follow in order to become stable with his own rage. For what is to come in the movie, I do hope that Nicola does not go down a path that is similar to his brother's, especially since he has more people around him while his brother tried to remain isolated from those he cared about. As for Giulia, if she decides to come back, I don't think that her and Nicola should get back together as I believe she committed a very selfish act. Even though she knew she had responsibilities, a husband and a child, she decided to leave her family. And based off what was already said, I believe the reason for this is because she believes in this fight more than anything else, and because she doesn't know how to be a mother.
In the ending of the movie, we are revealed a lot that relates to the overall question that I would like to answer. The idea of the human mind is challenged a lot throughout this entire film, and it can be even more complicated to develop due to the fact that all of these characters have been through so much that can change their mental state in an instant. Because of this, through this screen play I would describe the human mind or state of mind as something that is unstable, something that is constantly changing. The first example comes from Giulia, and how she couldn't settle into the generic living situation that every other woman would be in. Even when getting married and having a kid, while she still showed signs of happiness, there would always be something inside of her that would force her to turn away from all of this. She ends up leaving her family, a happy life, simply to fulfill her inner callings that satisfy the other half of her, the pain staking terrorist and not the loving wife and mother. The second example comes from Matteo, especially from what we see in this final section. Matteo has always been a character to not let anyone into his life, but with Mirella something seemed different. Although giving her Nikola's name, there was still a real connection that was going on between the two. But even though we notice these things happening, Matteo reverts back to his own ways, filling up with anger and kicking her out of his life. Now this could all be for a specific reason, especially if Matteo knew that he was going to take his life already at this point. It explains why he didn't want to stay long on New Years with his family, he simply just wanted to see them happy one last time before he was gone. But going back on my original statement, the state of the human mind throughout most of the characters in the movie is unstable, constantly being put under change due to the rapid switches in feeling and emotion that these characters are forced to go through. Relating even more to Matteo's death, this idea of the human state can change so rapidly and so sudden, just as it was for Matteo's family when they discovered that he had taken his life.
In terms of why I would watch this movie, or why I would suggest it, it is because it does a very good job at hiding the fact the film hits on a very sensitive topic. The movie itself is very entertaining and even relates to the popular Netflix series, Breaking Bad, a lot in its criteria. The idea of a university professor getting fired from his job and turning to drug dealing with his knowledge of science to make money is a very creative idea. Though very unlikely, the movie makes it work through the concept of how science plays a factor into creating drugs, along with how smart you have to be to successfully deal drugs to turn a profit. All of these pieces make up the main focus of this movie, but like I said in the beginning, the thing that makes this movie so good is the fact that it turns a very serious and scary situation into something that people can laugh at. I believe that is the main focus behind many comedy movies that I have seen before, taking a subject that many people wouldn’t share their opinion about and adding this idea of humor behind it. Of course, this can be dangerous because there is a line that you do not want to cross when hitting on certain subjects, but this is why I feel comedy movies are so important for society as a whole. The world has become so sensitive about certain ideas or concepts, so much so that people have become scared to share their own opinion out of fear for what may happen to them. Comedy movies, like the one presented, break down those boundaries and express ideas related to real life situations that would have never been thought of, let alone started when speaking on the touchy subject. These films allow the audience to have a voice or opinion when it comes to things that our society has refused to talk about anymore, all because we have become so sensitized to an extent when we fear what will happen to us if we voice our opinions. Rather, people should be encouraged to have a voice, simply because everyone is entitled to their own ideas with the feeling that they will be judged for their beliefs.
One of the scenes that stuck with me the most from this film came when Peppino’s father first found out about the articles and the radio station that he had created, speaking against the Mafia. Now of course, his father was a member of the Mafia so it is understandable why he would oppose the things that Peppino said, but his reaction was completely unexpected in my opinion. The way he speaks to his own son, yelling and screaming in his son’s face, grabbing him by the collar and denouncing him. Even later, striking his own son forces him to apologize and to respect him, just like he did when he was a boy and first introduced into the Mafia through him and other members of the family. Although these are all heart wrenching moments between the two family members, the thing that stuck with me the most was when Peppino’s father was talking to his mother when he had first begun to show signs of protesting against the Mafia. He said that if that ever happened, I would kill him, simply so he would be the one to do it before someone else from the Mafia did so. This whole scenario baffles me, the fact that a father would treat his own son like this, let alone kill him, just because he was trying to interfere with the corrupt career of a man in the Mafia who only wants control instead of freedom. But not only this, the other piece that shocks me the most is the fact that the Mafia is so uncaring as to who they need to get rid of. It doesn’t matter if you are a son, a brother, a cousin, or anyone else who may be related to a member, if you interfere with the group, you will be murdered. This shows how deep these groups were as a business, how the Mafia would never let anyone stop them from getting in their way and completing the task at hand. Peppino knew this, as his father was a member and he could have been the one to kill him before his protests grew to what they were at the end of the movie.
In the movie presented, we are given the explanation behind how poetry can help one express themselves. We see this through the character of Mario, even with his introduction into poetry through Pablo Neruda as the popular poet in the film. Poetry is a means in which people can express themselves in many different means, the author is able to twist and change the words in countless different ways to elaborate the lesson or meaning behind their work. We see this through what we learn about Don Pablo poetry when Maria was first introduced to him. Describing how he uses certain metaphors to express certain emotions and feelings in his writings, just like the piece Mario had used that was originally written to express his love towards his wife. But we don’t only see a person’s growth in expressing themselves through their words, through Mario’s character we see a man gaining the confidence to express their thoughts and beliefs through their words. Mario was depicted as a very quiet and shy individual, not even having the courage to speak to Beatrice Russo before he had met the poet. But after learning how to express his ideas and to depict meanings to what he sees around him, he had gained awareness of the need for change in his community. So much so that he spoke out against the opposing representative in Di Cosimo in his corrupt act towards the fisherman of the island. Even going further into expressing his own ideas towards the communist parties in a protest in Rome, unfortunately losing his life in the process, but still joining in the fight to change the leadership of the respecting islands. To sum everything up, in the movie the idea of expression behind poetry is greatly emphasized throughout the theme of the idea. And through the main character of Mario, we see how this relation of expression towards poetry evolved him throughout the whole movie. First by speaking to Beatrice, then marrying her, then expressing the need for change through the communist protest parties in Rome, all while being a simple and quiet postman in the introduction of the film.
In the film presented, we are witnesses to how a character’s point of view can be shifted through new and different experiences. Alberto and his wife are the prime examples of this when it comes to the movie, to character’s originating from the Northern part of the island, where they have become accustomed to the daily life represented in the area. This daily life consists of very straight forward thinking, rule based living with very little excitement or thrills to be had in the day to day life in the region. But that all changes when the characters move to the South, and we first see this through Alberto. The first change is when his stereotypes of the people are debunked through the discovery that he has nothing to worry about, nothing will be stolen from him and he is able to live safely in his new home. The second comes from the act of kindness made by his soon to be close friends when they fully furnished his house at no cost, even though he tried to pay them. The third change and final change comes from the community he is brought into. Formally coming from a very dull and bland area, when he comes to the South Alberton is introduced to a very strong community based region where everyone knows each other and enjoys the company found in being together. Of course all of these realizations soon come for Alberto’s wife, but it does take a bit of convincing since she stood by her biases for so long. This is where I want to end, the corrupt and utter lies that come from believing in stereotypes, especially when you haven’t even experienced any of them in your life. The message behind this film expresses the importance of keeping an open mind, especially when transferring into a new community. You can’t simply live off of the beliefs or stories that you heard, because most of the time they are not true in the slightest. It is always important to broaden your perspective, because just like Alberto and his wife in the film, you will be introduced to cultures and traditions that may change and better your life.
In the film presented, we witness the protagonist, named Paolo, as he is given a little more time in the real world before having to leave it for good after dying in a motor bike accident. The character is only given an hour and a half until he is forced to come with the angel back to Heaven, so the first thing the man does is go to find his wife and to figure out where his kids are. Although I do believe that the theme of the film is to take advantage of all the time you are given because you never know what might happen, the protagonist of this film presents a new idea for another possible theme. We see throughout the entirety of the movie that Paolo is constantly reflecting on his past decisions. We see these through the flashbacks presented, and through these we see all of the wrongs that the man has committed; cheating, lying, and taking the things that he had for granted in his life. But instead of simply accepting the grief that he was feeling during his last hour of life, he fights to change it. We see this through Paolo telling the truth to his wife, about his death and about his past. But she doesn't care if he had cheated, let alone not even wanting to know, she simply forgives him as she realizes that he knows he was wrong the entire time. Along with this, he makes a real effort to spend time with his children, actually having a very heartfelt conversation with his daughter and had built that connection that had been missing for so long. In this short period of time, Paolo had done everything he could to make sure that he was leaving his family with a proper goodbye, something so special that when the time came for him to leave, he needed to be dragged out by the angel who guided him. Paolo presents a theme that represents before and after, meaning that you cannot fix anything that you may have done in the past, but you can always change the future so that things will still get better.
In the film Perfect Strangers, we witness what could happen if a group of friends leave their private information out in the open in the forms of their cell phones. Although this was the central idea behind the movie, I would like to connect my lesson to the main setting that was provided. All of the scenes took place during the same night when an eclipse occurred, and we see the process continue to change as the film progresses. Starting off as a full moon, we see all of the characters are enjoying a nice dinner together with the idea of leaving their phones out being suggested as a game. But as this continues, we begin to discover certain secrets about the characters that were unknown; for example Cosimo’s other girlfriend revealing that she is pregnant and Lele revealing that he is gay to the rest of the group. While this is happening, the eclipse begins to shift until the dark side of the moon is revealed, eventually completely covering it in darkness. I view the eclipse as a symbol, a representation for what the movie is really trying to explain. Nowadays, people rely on their phones so much because of how much information they have on it, whether that is public information or things that are meant to be private. But this movie shows what would happen if we were to allow all of that information to become public and the things that it would reveal about a person. Just like the eclipse, people have two sides to them when it comes to their lives. The bright side of the moon represents the social and public information of a person that they are willing to share, and the dark side represents the secrets the one keeps on their device, not meant for anyone else to see because of how it would affect someone else.
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