UNIT 1C

UNIT 1C - Review Arts Events. 

As part of the BFI course, we visited the Cambridge Arts Picture House on two occasions, to watch two art films, and also visited the Warner Bros Studios.  Below are my short reviews, and what I have learnt from these three experiences.


1. The One Eyed King.

This is a Catalan comedy drama directed by Marc Mrehuet.

Synopses of the Film:

"A young man, who lost his eye to a rubber bullet in a street protest, and his partner, are invited to a dinner party.  The husband of the host is a riot policeman, who has fired rubber bullets whilst carrying out his duties. This is just one of the many awkward moments that arise during the dinner in this hilarious dark comedy, which touches on contemporary, political, and social issues, set against the backdrop of the financial crisis suffered in Southern Europe. The four leads are outstanding, but look out for the superb comedic skills of Miki Esparbé, who is one of the main actors of the two Barcelona films we screened last year".

The screening was followed by a Q&A session with the director. 

Marc Mrehuet explained how he had watched The One Eyed King when it was a theatre performance, and was inspired to turn the plot into a film.  I found it very interesting how the film showed key attributes of a drama performance, for example most of the film was set in one or two locations and often broke the 4th wall in the same way that a live performance is able to.  I found this extremely effective in the last shot of the film where he addresses the audience which was also my favourite part of the film.  Even thoough the whole film had subtitles (it was a Spanish film) it was still engaging, and I would definitely recommend it to others, even if they're not film enthusiasts.

As evidence, here is my ticket:

2. Visit to The Warner Bros Studios:

The Warner Bros Studios is the home to some major film productions, including the Harry Potter series  

As part of the course, we visited the Harry Potter studios to gain an insight into professional film production.  This was my second visit to the studios, as I had visited previously on a school trip earlier the same year.  The sheer size of the facility was impressive and made it interesting even on the second time as it is difficult to take everything in in one go. 

The area that I found the most interesting was the set design, where you could see the architecture that had gone into designing all of mythical beasts and the imaginary locations.

I found it amazing to see just how many stages were involved in the process. 

This day helped us to understand the amount of time, effort (and money) that needs to go in to producing these large scale movies.

3.  The General  (silent film made in 1926, with live piano accompaniment).

We also visited the the Arts Picture House on a second occasion, this time to watch and listen to a silent film titled The General. 

This film is regarded as a classic. But what made it different for me was the live piano accompaniment. 

John Sweeney was the musician in charge of lining up the music that he plays on the piano with the visual scenes for the audience. 

This man possesses so much talent - he was able to entertain lots of people with his ability to synchronise Music and Film, live. 

The plot for The General revolves around a train conductor who is trying to get noticed by a girl, so he decides to join the army during the time of The Civil War.  He proves himself by using his skills as a conductor to help his team, which in turn help him to win the girl.