Illusionism and Expressionism in Film

"Men in Black", directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, is an example of an illusionist film. In the movie, secret agents assigned to keep tabs on aliens who are living on Earth. Will Smith plays the goofy rookie agent paired up with Tommy Lee Jones, a serious and experienced agent. Almost immediately, the world is threatened by aliens from another galaxy and the agents must put aside their differences and fight back.

Throughout the course of the film, there are lots of different twists and turns in the plot. Despite the plot twists, all of the action is presented in a logical and sequential way. It is easy for the audience to follow along with the linear storyline because the movie has a clear beginning, middle, and end. The traditional Hollywood formula is utilized here. Every piece of information the audience needs to understand the plot is shown clearly. B Because the plot is so linear, the film is predictable. Although the world is being threatened by aliens from another galaxy, the audience never doubts that Will Smith is capable of eliminating them. The audience expects a happy ending in movies like this.

"Donnie Darko", directed by Richard Kelly, is an example of expressionism because the audience doesn't always know what is going on. Donnie, the main character, is a teenager who has frequent hallucinations. The audience is meant to confuse reality and the hallucinations, just as Donnie does. Nothing is clear to Donnie or the audience. Donnie's thoughts are not always clear. Does he intentionally engage in certain behaviors or is he controlled by his mental illness? The decision is up to the audience, depending on how the film is interpreted.

The director also uses editing to create emotions. For example, there is a scene in the movie that consists solely of shots from inside Donnie's high school's hallway. The scene is shot from the perspective of someone walking down the hall and observing. The camera focuses on one or two people at a time, in slow motion. The audience sees two boys snorting cocaine in plain view of an oblivious teacher, an insecure girl fixing her hair in a locker mirror, and a teacher uncomfortably clutching a book to her chest. Each focal point elicits a certain response from the audience. Also, the scene is fairly long. How long does it really take to walk down the main hallway of a small high school? The director uses editing to create a feeling of isolation and being trapped inside the school.

Metaphors are buried in the film. There are several different valid interpretations of "Donnie Darko". For example, some see Donnie as a Christ-like character. He saves the world by sacrificing his own life. However, this is not spelled out for the audience because the director intended for the film to have multiple interpretations.

The movie explores the limits of time and space, which can be very confusing if the audience is expecting a linear plot. The movie begins and ends with the same scene. Donnie explores the limits of time travel and is able to manipulate time so that he can go back and save his loved ones. The movie is edited so that it goes forward in time and then back again. The audience must be very attentive to understand when events are occurring.

This movie is difficult for anyone to fully understand after the first viewing. I've seen the movie three times and have noticed something new each time.

"Men in Black" and "Donnie Darko" are extremely different films. "Men in Black" is predictable and linear while "Donnie Darko" tells the story out of sequence and leaves the audience unsure about where the plot is going. They also differ with their box office performances. "Men in Black" was a summer blockbuster while "Donnie Darko" was considered to be a flop. Illusionistic films like "Men in Black" tend to be more commercially successful than expressionist films like "Donnie Darko". They are easier to understand and therefore more accessible to people. Most people don't go to the movies to analyze anything. They just want to relax and escape the real world for an hour or two.

"Men in Black" is similar to many of the illusionistic Steven Spielberg films discussed in class. The plots of all of the films are presented in a straightforward and unconfusing way. Additionally, most Spielberg films perform well at the box office.

"Donnie Darko" is somewhat similar to the examples discussed in class. It is harder to compare "Donnie Darko" to the expressionistic films used as examples in class because it is a modern movie and the examples were mostly from the early days of film. However, editing plays a large role in these movies. The director uses different techniques to play with the emotions of the audience. The scene in "Donnie Darko" that shows a walk down the hallway is similar to the scene in "The Battleship Potemkin" in which the people are running down the steps. It doesn't take THAT long to walk down a hallway or down some stairs, but the directors made the scenes last a long time to show how the characters feel.