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I'm Jack and I love films :)

Sunday 4 July 2010

After 20 years, Dead Poets Society is certainly not dead

Hey bloggers!
I have just watched Dead Poets Society and what a film it is! Ok so the plot is average but thats OK because its is beautiful to watch.

For those of you that haven't seen it first of all SEE IT and secondly its about a group of teenage boys being inspired by their English teacher to live life to the max and stuff like that. People have been raving on about it to me for ages about the beautifullness of the plot. well I didn't enjoy it that much.

But thats not the reason I love the film though. The reason is the cinematography. from loveley incedental shots of the delaware countryside to the amazing camera angles in the thick of the plot. I know the cameras are quite rudimentary but c’mon, this was the 80’s! Anyway alot of what they did was truly pioneering. I LOVE the way they keep the camera still so much you wouldn’t belive it but it adds such a dynamic to the mise-en-scene and makes it that bit more gripping.

Another personal love of mine are the long intermittent scenes of the countryside surrounding the school. Its rare to see the director being so experimental and creative with these shots in such a blockbuster as this. Its something you’d expect to find in a much more arthousey-independent sort of film. I think thats why I love it so much. This is no more apparent as a beautiful sunrise shot of a boy practicing his bagpipes by the lake. His reflection is perfectly shot and the palette is just stunning. Then, it blends in perfectly with the next scene, his sound becoming  non-diagetic as it cuts back to the boys in their dorms. That certainly brought a smile to my face...

I think these arthouse shenanigans reflect the ethos of this film though. There is a strong theme of  free thinking and that in the film so they obviously wanted to appeal to that crowd.
And appeal they did, all my art-student friends love this and my dad says this gathered quite a cult following when it was released. I can see why. Awesome flick for when you’re feeling down or oppressed or something. I gotta say it brought a tear to my eye when they got up on the desk at the end. Those of you how know me know that the jackmeister’s heart is hard to penetrate so props to ya, DPS guys, you did a good job! 
Yes, I would be tempted to punch him in the balls too, but its nothing personal :')

so yeah, as I said at the start, go see this film! you won't regret it. Tell me what you think of it in the comments box below.

Happy watching bloggy dudes :)

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