Auteurship - Robert Altman

The Long Goodbye -

This was an interesting movie for me. I found Marlowe's character to be very intriguing and almost comical, especially considering his role in the story and the theme of the film itself. Marlowe is a strange and quirky man who almost seems to have a sense of sarcasm and a lack of seriousness throughout the film. I think that his character was really what held together the story and made this film interesting for me. There are so many things happening in the storyline, and a lot of dark and serious topics being brought to life, but all the while, Marlowe maintains his cool and witty personality. The way he acts and his commentary on the things going on around him give a little bit of light to the dark situations he comes in contact with throughout the movie.

Gosford Park -

This film definitely reinforced my feelings about Altman's auteur style. Despite his dark and intricate storylines, Altman builds interesting characters and seems to almost focus more on these characters' quirks and idiosyncrasies than on the story at hand. Despite this film and The Long Goodbye both dealing with some heavy subjects that the characters are facing, there's still a lightheartedness that's brought out by the focus on the relationships and actions of the characters. Altman doesn't seem to like following the traditional techniques of making mystery films. Generally speaking, a mystery film begins with the necessity to solve a mystery, then the plot is built around finding the answers and solutions. But Altman's approach is to keep the main focus off of the mystery at hand.

Beyond Therapy -

This Altman film breaks the boundaries of the other two films that I watched. While still developing a lot of the characters and making them quirky and interesting, this film is definitely more plot-based. After viewing these films, I decided to read some online reviews of them. This film definitely seemed to get the most negative comments from Altman fans. I can definitely see where they would be coming from. If you're used to Altman's usual style of focusing more upon the characters and somewhat ignoring the underlying plot, then this film would definitely be a surprise.

From my experience, which is never having seen any other films by Altman, I feel that my understanding of his work is mostly about his treatment of characters and plot. I enjoyed The Long Goodbye the most of the three, and I think it's due to my fascination with the main character, Marlowe. I'm definitely someone who likes watching films with interesting characters. While it's important to have an interesting plot I can follow, I feel like I can somewhat overlook the plot if there's a prominent character that I can either relate to, or just generally find interesting to watch. Marlowe was definitely such a character. His sarcastic comments and odd ways of doing things kept my attention on the movie despite sometimes feeling a little lost in all that was going on in the twisting plot.

Fear & Loathing

The biggest impression I was left with after reading the screenplay of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was my amazement at how well the feelings of the highs were conveyed. This whole movie really is meant to be like one long drug trip, and all of the associated feelings, ideas, actions, and of course, consequences.

Though there is a story going on within the script, a lot of the focus is on the drugs and the affects they have on the characters. The descriptions of the things the characters see when they are tripping are a very crucial part of reading the lines and understanding the characters of this movie. Special attention was paid to how the trips go and how they affect the thoughts and actions of the characters. Rather than simply acting disoriented and high, it's important for the characters to thoroughly read these descriptions of the crazy things that the drugs are doing to their minds, and act accordingly. There's a big difference in how you can portray a generic drug trip, and between how you act as someone who is seeing giant insects right in front of their very eyes while everything appears normal to everyone else they are with.

Also, even from the beginning, it's apparent that the hitchhiker running away evokes a definite sense of panic in the lead characters. This panic is only heightened by the two trying to cover up reality with their psychoactives. Drugs generally make the user paranoid, which should definitely be a key consideration when acting the parts of these characters.

Both of the main characters of very eccentric and unique people. Their parts are definitely ones that should be played accurately, but also should be experimented with to get their eccentricity and spontaneity out of it. An actor should not be afraid to get very deep into the mindset of these drug trips and go a little bit wild with their interpretations of them.

Lolita

The novel "Lolita" certainly challenges the "normal" expectations of a love story. But, in a sense, it really does this all by changing one key element, and giving the story an immoral twist. Though poetically written, and, in fact, a beautiful story, it can be a hard story to follow because of one major difference: the love is between a young, teenage girl, and a middle-aged man. Aside from this one detail, everything about the love shared between the two characters is really incredible. Nabokov does an excellent job of taking a shocking subject and delivering it in a way that can still be appreciated. Personally, as I read the descriptions Nabokov wrote for the way that Humbert appreciates and views Lolita, they were written in a way that allowed me to look past their vast age difference, and see inside to what the character felt for the young girl. It challenged my own conceptions about what elements of love or a relationship can make it "wrong" or "right." Is it really wrong if both people involved are truly in love with one another? Should things like age, or any other situation really play such a heavy role in something as subjective and personal as love? Had Lolita been the same age as Humbert, this book wouldn't have had nearly the shock-factor, nor would it have raised so many questions about morality. But, at the same time, I really don't think it would have been as interesting. I think the same applies to love, and, really all aspects of life. Who truly has a 100% normal life? I believe as human beings, we feed off of the "abnormal."

Black Dahlia - James Ellroy

The novel "Black Dahlia" is set in the 1940s in Los Angeles, California. Taking place around WWII, the novel portrays the depraved and corrupt side of Hollywood and L.A. It lives up to its neo-noir label by truly darkening its setting. Granted, the subject of the novel, the murder of Elizabeth Short, is very dark in and of itself, Ellroy certainly takes it that extra step. Because the murder of Short has still not been solved to this day, and there isn't a lot of detail about the case, Ellroy was able to take liberties with the story and weave his own, very dark version. What starts with an investigation into a murder quickly twists and turns, revealing dark secrets about the characters involved and morphing into a pretty sick sequence of events leading to the death of Elizabeth Short. Ellroy's story does well to depict the darker side of the times by allowing the investigation to reveal secrets of the characters involved.