Les petit mouchoirs

Little White Lies (Guillaime Canet, 2010) is a film about the ins and outs of friendship. The action that sets off of the film is the Ludo's (Jean Dujardin) traffic accident. Despite he must stay at the hospital for a long time, his friends decide to go on holidays to the beach, leaving him alone. 

They live together for 2 weeks, so conflicts soon appear and we realize that maybe this friendship and these two couples are no perfect.

There are a lot of moments in which nothing happens, and often, these are kind of "transition" scenes, in which the protagonist is the music. It plays an important role in the film, since it gives unity. I think the feeling that so many music gives is this  is shared by all these friends. Even if these looooong scenes may have a purpose, I think Little white lies is a too long film. 

With regard to the end of the film, I find it cynical. A group of friends that lie themselves and sometimes do not put up with each other is suddenly united again by someone they did not care when they should. I wish I could think in other way, but this is a clear reflection of society.

The last of the Mohicans

I saw The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992) because I had to do it as homeworks. I must say I was always looking for historical details more than for film devices.

The landscapes are beautiful and some aspects of mise-en-scène, as the customs of both British and Amerindians are depicted in great detail.

Without any doubt, one of the most known and interesting things in this film is the soundtrack.

Let the right go in

In the original Låt den rätte komma in (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) is a romantic horror film about a boy and a girl (both 12).

Mise-en-scène is essential in the film. The snow-covered Swedish landscape bring us the feeling of isolation. Inside, lighting is very hard and cold. Outside, it may be also hard or maybe soft. For example, in the first murder scene the light is very hard, and the snow can be seen blue. When Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and Eli (Lina Leandersson) are speaking, there is backlight from a streetlight, but it is soft, maybe because they are becoming friends.

In some shots, Oskar's outline is blurred. In other ones, it is his reflection in the glass of the window. In my opinion, it means, in the very first scene, that he is alone and frightened and he needs something or someone who completes him and gives him courage.

With regard to the sound, I can only remember music in one or two moments in the film. Most of it remains in silence. Only dialogues and a few sounds break with silence, which creates a sense of isolation.

The Social Network

The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) is not only a film about who is the real founder of Facebook, but also an elaborate portrait of Mark Zuckerberg.

First scene: A normal conversation between a young couple. Really? Mark is always challenging Erica, and it can be seen in editing. The shots are really short in order to let the spectator know how Erica is feeling: surprised, stunned, she does not even have time to think a correct answer.


The story takes place when Mark has been sued twice, and his portrait is made by flashbacks. They are used in order to show both defendant and claimant version, and they last most of the film. We are not given only a version but all of them, and we can put in everyone's place.


When this film opened I rode about the similarity this portrait has to the one done in Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941), where a journalist tries to find an acceptable explanation or answer to Jedediah Leland's mysterious life.
 In The Social Network, we get the answer in the very beginning of the film: Erica (Rooney Mara) brokes up with Mark (Jesse Eisenberg), and he is so angry he decides to take revenge on her. 
The beginning and the end in Citizen Kane are connected, and so they are in The Social Network. Mark's "reason" (Erica) is still present in his life years later, when he adds her as a friend in Facebook.

Singles

Singles (Cameron Crowe, 1992) is not the typical "boy meets girl" romantic comedy. The own characters, who are interrelated, are responsible for the narration, and extra information is given in this way. This is sometimes made by the use of flashbacks, or making for the viewer possible to listen a character's thoughts. They explain, for example, their previous relationships in a very natural way.

This way of telling stories in a natural way can be seen also in the great amount of references to the popular culture of the time, like music and films, specially to the "grunge". It is easy to relate Cliff's (Matt Dillon) group to a bad Nirvana impersonator. The band, by the way, is mockingly called "Citizen Dick", a clear reference to Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941). The connection between Linda (Kyra Sedwick) and Steve (Campbell Scott) is in some way shown through the things they like also. For example, Robert Doisneau's work, Le baiser de l'Hotel de Ville.

	With regard to editing, Singles is divided in several "chapters", a very original way to connect several stories.

The sound plays an important role in the film. There are both internal and external music. The internal one show us the grunge culture and the external is a more varied and popular one.

There is a little detail that I really liked. The first time Steve and Linda have lunch together, she gets in to his car. There is a slow scene in which Linda opens his door. This scene is exactly the same as in A Bronx tale (Robert de Niro, 1993). And, for me, it has the same meaning that it had to Sonny, who said that a girl is worth it only if she helps (Opening the door) a boy.

To finish, there is something I did not like at all: The very end of the film. The two couples end up together and happy. The stupid singer, who ignored Janet (Bridget Fonda) suddenly becomes a sensitive guy who cares for her. It is the only thing that does not fit with the rest of the realistic film.