Written by Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues Act 1: 0:00-31:00 Sequence 1 = 0:00-10:21 COLD OPEN-->Routine Burglary-->Car/Alex's father's office (exposition)-->Money's new Lead//Cafeteria (Exposition & INCITING INCIDENT)-->Alex in his room (Rocky's appeal over text)//Rocky's troubled home life//Alex says he's in. We meet ROCKY, MONEY & ALEX. They are young, they rob houses in Detroit, and their goal … Continue reading Don’t Breathe (2016)//Story Structure
Author: Matt
Don’t Breathe (2016)
Directed by Fede Alvarez Actual Story Structure Analysis The film, as told through select subtitles: [heavy breathing] [gunshot] [body being dragged across the floor] [whimpering] Alex: Let's go. [drill whirring] [sniffing] Blind Man: Hmm. [beeps and blips] [door creaks] x100 [muffled moans] Alex: We need to get the fuck out of here. [slight gasps] [both … Continue reading Don’t Breathe (2016)
Drive My Car (2021)
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi The credits in Drive My Car take place over 40 minutes into the three hour movie, following a prologue about a man and his wife, until she dies suddenly, quietly. So suddenly, in fact, that it's like she simply vanished. Her absence looms large over the remainder of the film, particularly … Continue reading Drive My Car (2021)
Scattered thoughts on Clay Pigeons (1998)
Directed by David Dobkin Clay Pigeons plays out like a noir until the protagonist is let off the hook and forced to do battle with an unbelievable villain. Clay (Joaquin Phoenix) is put in an unfortunate position when his best friend, having discovered that Clay and his wife were conducting an affair, kills himself and … Continue reading Scattered thoughts on Clay Pigeons (1998)
An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Directed by Hu Bo I'm inclined to write about An Elephant Sitting Still just so that I don't forget about it. It's a long movie, nearly 4 hours, and within its tempered approach to storytelling it's easy to forget what really happens. And that's putting aside whether it even matters. It's a journey, as most good … Continue reading An Elephant Sitting Still (2018)
Invisible Life (2019)
Directed by Karim Aïnouz When Invisible Life leans into the melodrama it becomes otherworldly. The story of two sisters separated sometime around age 18 is inherently melodramatic, based solely on the justification for their separation, but it's not until the second half that the film sheds any semblance of realism and becomes almost magical, albeit in a … Continue reading Invisible Life (2019)
A Hidden Life (2019)
Directed by Terrence Malick After seeing Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff (2010) I suddenly wished to see what her version of Into the Wild might've looked like. It's her stark, unromantic approach to her characters and worldview that I wanted to see layered onto other movies that I felt perhaps watered down or otherwise distorted the essence of … Continue reading A Hidden Life (2019)
1917 (2019)
Directed by Sam Mendes 1917 is meant to immerse you in the ultra-reality of the trenches of World War I. Cleverly edited together to simulate a single unbroken take (outside of one conscious cut), the film is remarkably simple and in a way restrained as it follows two men sent out on a dangerous mission … Continue reading 1917 (2019)
Rififi (1955)
Directed by Jules Dassin Rififi is a tense, dark little heist film with a cruel protagonist and friends who quickly turn on each other. Outside of a nearly 30 minute-long silent heist sequence, very little about this film romanticizes its story. These aren't rough and tumble heroes punching up but rather selfish characters reaching too … Continue reading Rififi (1955)
American Factory (2019)
Directed by Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert Maybe it's not appropriate to love movies like this, but I do. They depict a certain part of America that is often overlooked, and I find these documentaries both troubling and deeply fascinating. Other recent films in this vein are Rich Hill (2014) and Minding the Gap (2018). They … Continue reading American Factory (2019)
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