Critique on Gothika - Movie Review Example

? I am going to be doing a film critique on the movie, Gothika. I chose this movie because it is an excellent movie despite the fact that it falls into the horror genre and still delivers an excellent product that resembles a drama and psychological thriller. This film is incredible from beginning to end and I will analyze every aspect of the film to provide the reviewer with reasons as to whether they should or should not see it. Gothika tells an incredible story about a psychiatrist who is like most psychiatrists in that she belittles the patients and considers them insignificant. She is paid a lot of money and to her, the patients are just crazy. She is doing her usually routine of a morning swim and working her normal case load but one day she travels down the highway and meets a woman in flames. She almost runs over this woman but has stopped the car to see what happened to her. The woman in flames is in turmoil. The next thing that the psychiatrist knew is that she is in a psych ward prison cell for the murder of her husband. The story revolves around trying to discover who murders this girl on the road and clearing her name. She is in a frantic battle with the psychiatric prison facility staff to clear her name. The psychiatrist clears both her and one of her main patients when she discovers that the patient was actually raped by one of the guards who is responsible in murdering the girl in flames and the many other girls at the ward. The guard and the psychiatrist's husband had been raping women for a long time in the facility. The story presented in this movie had so many twists and turns and interwoven pieces that it made for a great story while being a horror film. The characters in the story were portrayed wisely delivering an outstanding performance. Halle Berry is a remarkable actress in most movies she is in and she won an oscar in some of her film Monster's Ball so it is no surprise that she is capable of a brilliant performance. Halle Berry played the psychiatrist and she is incredibly rich and famous. It is important to recognize that if she was not famous, she would have still delivered a great performance because we see the flawless acting with an elegant flow. She is unlike any other actress because she draws her audience in effortlessly. She is incredibly beautiful but somehow conveys such an ordinary character position. Robert Downey Jr is also in the film and his role is more subdued but it still delivers quite an impact because it is Robert Downey Jr. When he is forced to go against Halle, we see a performance that is quite honest and genuine in its delivery. The prison guard has a poor performance only in the reason that I found he had an annoying persona and did not play evil enough like other people play evil. He is far from being an Anthony Hopkins type character from The Silence of the Lambs. Penelope Cruz plays crazy and beautiful extremely well and holds her own and goes beyond that in this film. Her acting ability is outstanding and her delivery of portraying most characters is quite powerful. The cinematography has quite an impact because the woman in flames is so tortured and is also quite good at acting. The flames and the blood scenes are quite remarkable in terms of how esthetically pleasing and horryifying they are all at the same time. The thunder storm on Halle's way home and the swim scene is incredible as well because we all like a good thunderstorm in a movie. The editing had quite an impact and I felt that the scenes that were in the movie delivered such an awesome film and nothing was left out. We see the many great qualities in this film with the editing job because there was nothing in it that needed to be added or left out. All the scenes belonged and brought the film to a position of greatness that we have to pay tribute to the editor for doing such a good job. The sound was good but not much more impressive as compared to any other film. We see the woman in flames screaming and the scenes where Halle has fits and outbursts in her reflection of memories has an above average sound to it but those were very few scenes. The scene where the boy ghost gets runover by a bus is not really that exciting of an ending either. The style and directing were quite unique and gave the story all of its authenticity and quality. The director knew what he was doing when creating this film and hiring Halle to play the psychiatrist was a clever idea to get boxoffice attention and still have a great film with incredible acting. The societal impact is one reflecting on psychiatry and prisons. We all know that this film is horror and should not be taken seriously, however, the struggle of a psychiatrist to keep her head together when dealing with patients is a battle that some psychiatrists face. There is some impact also on the fact that even a patient like Penelope Cruz who is dealing with the worst situation imaginable can recover completely and be beautiful. Penelope Cruz delivers an amazing portrayal of a rape victim that is struggling to overcome issues that are incredibly difficult and the fact that she clears her name and begins a new life by proving that a guard has been raping her adds quite a remarkable twist and remarkable societal impact as well. The genre in this film is obviously horror and completely untrue and phony, however because it is done so well in its performance, we know that it can also be believable as a drama and a psychological thriller. This film is great from beginning to end and delivers a very serious and traumatic story as well. For those people who cannot view such a horror because they get nightmares, this would be one of them. Gothika is a film of impeccable quality even though it is a movie written in the past with a horror based audience. The twists and turns happen so often and with such a rich sense of timing, that we all can be happy with it after watching it. I would give it a standing ovation even though I do not like horror films. The content of the film is one that includes serious issues and traumatic events like the woman in flames and the murder of Halle's husband. The rapes of these poor women were traumatic as well. Penelope Cruz demonstrating a woman in need of serious help is also important in our understanding of the film. The content is extensive and covers a message that those in power can be corrupt as in the case of Halle's husband. We also see the love story unravel between Halle and Robert Downey Jr and how that love is never recipricated. We see how the guard gets away with so much and how this is traumatic in both Halle and Penelope. The messages we see are also quite powerful and the content delivers those messages in a powerful and traumatic way. The content includes Halle's comfortable routine and how it becomes a nightmare when it changes suddenly. The form and technique we see in the film speak volumes about the film. The form is quite clean and crisp in all of the film's scenes and how it is structured. The technique is excellent because it woves itself quite peacefully into the form leaving few gaps or loopholes in the plot's structure. The narrative structure of the film is a tell-tale story of Halle's life and how it becomes crazy and horrifying by one night of trauma. It is a story in a self-contained package because it delivers a dialogue and a plot that is unique and filled with greatness all in a narrative describing Halle. The delivery is clear in how it conveys Halle's ability to overcome and defeat the monsters that she battles and how she overcomes trauma in a worse case scenario. The plot is definitely in a chronological order from a beginning to an end with a few flashback moments creating quite an impact. The story revolves around a psychiatric prison cell and it takes place in a fabricated city with incredible scenary. The place looks like a New York or giant urban centre. There is a conflict between Halle and the staff that gets resolved when she clears her name to become a free citizen. Halle is conflicting with the staff at the psychiatric centre over the fact that she did not murder her husband and she also battles to clear Penelope's name. Halle resolves her simulated crime by escaping the prison to reveal secrets of her husband that are incredibly chilling and awful. There is an inner conflict for Halle because she needs to clear her name and she appears crazy for killing her husband so it is difficult for her to prove to her previous colleagues that she is innocent. She also does not remember anything that happened so she is having a tough time being able to prove that she is innocent and battles with the notion that maybe she did kill her husband. Penelope has an external conflict with Halle because she has to prove that she was raped and is still being raped by the guard. Penelope's external conflict is that she knows that Halle thinks she is crazy and she is going to get nowhere in proving herself unless Halle feels that Penelope is not crazy. Unfortunately, Halle feels that Penelope is crazy because her role as a psychiatrist gives her power over Penelope that creates a victim versus dominant position that is unequal. Halle is middle class while Penelope is the lowest class possible. It is very difficult to clear her name when she is in such a low class position. The film has a lot of symbolism in it directly from the woman in flames and the woman in flames religious tattoo found on the rapist guard. It also has symbolism from the storm and the blood and the wording, not alone. The film's story revolves around the symbolism and tells such a great story because of it. Without the symbolism, this film would have lost some of its clever portrayal of the actors and some of the plot would have been less of an impact. Not alone simply means that there are other victims and many of them in the film and the woman in flames goes to Halle in flames because of the religious connection and the fact that the prison guard has a the woman in flames tattoo. There is metaphor and allegory in the film through the scenes where we see religious meaning in woman in flames surrounding a traumatic event. We also the woman in flames crying for help which symbolizes how distressed the woman is over what has happened and how she needs to go to Halle in flames because she was troubled and tortured when she was alive. The not alone wording in blood is a symbol that reaches out to Halle which is an allegory because the victims were not alone and Halle is unaware that this is what it means. There is irony in the film because the film illustrates a recovering mentally ill inmate and that is ironic simply because that is not common. More irony is how the guard has a prestigious position but he is secretly raping women and negatively using his priviledge. This film has a very serious tone and little satire is used if any. It is not worth mentioning the satire used because I believe there is no satire in the film. I do not relate much to the film because it is such a far-fetched story line, however I would like to relate to Halle because she seems quite powerful and she takes good care of herself and becomes a hero. The part where Penelope overcomes many obstacles to become the beautiful woman she is at the end is remarkable and inspiring to most people. The film addresses truths about inmates and the mentally ill however it is not a universal truth that it is conveying because many people are not in psych wards or prisons. Overcoming all obstacles or overcoming the worst case scenario is a universal truth that the story illustrates. The actors in the film are Robert Downey Jr, Penelope Cruz, and Halle Berry. These are the famous and well known actors. The kind of actors that are present are famous stars, villains, and victims. They portray stylized acting. It is stylized acting because the actors are portraying surreal characters in a horror film. Most of the actors are embellishing the performance to convey a far fetched story. Halle conveys a strong and powerful woman that has a down fall and eventually she recovers. She conveys an honesty that is unlike any other. She goes from great to bad to even better in a way that most actors cannot. Penelope does the same and she does it extremely well. Robert Downey Jr plays a great performance too because he is a very good actor and is well known. The director plays a fundamental role in a film's impact and this director, Mathieu Kassovitz did a great job because he ties all the pieces together and creates a remarkable story. This is the reason why Hollywood has been around for so long. Mathieu creates flawless direction to great actors. Halle is playing an extraordinary woman in a way that leaves her seeming ordinary and insignificant. She is constantly moving and recovering from crises to improve her situation which adds creative elements and quite an impact. Halle has a flawless way of creating a story through her acting and in this story in particular, she is seen as a psychiatrist that is fumbling in her life because of an incident she is unaware that she could possibly do. She was dominant in her role as a psychiatrist and later she becomes a victim and her movements and emotion create a clear and crisp performance in both instances. The woman in flames delivers a moving sense of how tortured she was in what had happened to her. The type of lighting that was used is a more dark and subdued form. The lighting in a prison cell is inadequate as compared to lighting found in most other places. The lighting conveyed a grim and tragic story that few people can relate to. The color that was used was ordinary coloring and more darker tones excluding the scenes where the flames appeared. It was still a darker color but the flames were brighter than if there were no flames. The camera distance and angles are dramatic and dynamic but more ordinary than the ones used in most horror films. The camera distance and angles were not a piece of the film that were considered extremely important throughout the film and their use was quite limited. The kind of framing that was used is a more dynamic and explosive type for very few scenes but it remained relatively ordinary in many aspects of the film. The focal length is relatively ordinary excluding the instances where the woman is in flames and the scary shower scene where all the faces are extremely close up and the body shapes are incredibly bizarre and distorted. The camera is subjective in terms of what Halle Berry experiences. Halle is in the midst of trying to clear her name and that is the most important element of the film. There are very limited special effects. The shower scene and the scenes with blood and flames are the scenes involving the largest variety of special effects. The editing of the film could not have been created in a different way because it proves that this story is put together extremely well and that the film could not be improved in editing it any other way. The shots and scenes are arranged into short pieces, some dynamic and some ordinary, that bring all of its elements together so that the movie is completed accurately in its structure. The transitions that are used are cut, fade, and dissolve. We see some scenes get a complete cut into the next piece. For instance, Halle wakes up in prison after seeing the woman in fire. This is an abrupt scene and the transition is quick with a huge impact. The fade scenes are used in most movies so it is not worth discussing how it is used here. It has a relatively ordinary usage in this film. The dissolve is similar to the fade quality. Coverage is used to create a film that discusses controversial issues of rape, prison for women, and overcoming all obstacles in order to succeed. The film takes many short clips and refinely puts them together in order to create the coverage on the issues that are in the film. There is a mixture of both continuity and discontinuity editing in this film. Continuity is displayed through the flow and natural chronological order this film takes. Discontinuity is used in a limited way but it exists in scenes that are abrupt and cut quickly. Editing exists in the shower scene where Penelope has a mental attack and the scene where Halle's husband is murdered is left a mystery. The rhythm is a constant flow with generally smooth transitions to the various scenes. Sound is not a dominant force in this movie however there are some sounds that are used to create an impact and increase thickening of the plot. The sound of screaming in the shower scene and the sound of the thunderstorm where the woman is found in flames all add to the embellishment of the story and the thickening of the plot. The dialogue the audience hears in the film is Halle's dialogue and Penelope's. The guard is also a dominant dialogue scene. Sound effects appear in the electrically charged scenes of the shower scene, the woman in flames, and the scene where the guard is trying to kill Halle. The kind of music that is present in the Behind Blue Eyes song at the end, however, most of the time, music is not a critical factor in this film. There is no voice over narrator used in the story. The style and direction that takes place in the film is quite beautiful with a strong impact. The director uses technical competence because he creates a story from start to finish that creates beautiful imagery and a horror with a dramatic portrayal of characters. The technical ability of the director is creative and has a distinguishable personality. This film is unique because its story is not frequently a story that is used. There are no other horror films that create such an incredible story with such incredible actors. The director's point of view is not evident because he does not describe his stance. It remains a mystery. Mathieu is known for filming Amelie which has a similar mysterious quality to it. He is known for creating stories that are unique and have a strange quality of life to them. This director is known for always use non-traditional filming styles because his films are unique and original. He describes many non-traditional and controversial topics. The director is trying to tell us about the many awful truths about a psychiatriatric prison for women. He is also trying to tell us about horror in its most psychologically thrilling capacity. This movie has a traumatic psychological impact. It allows me to escape my daily life but more of in a negative way. Imagining all of the elements in the film is quite scary and something that most people could not imagine. There is very little censorship in this film because it is rated R so it is permitted to put many scenes of violence into it. This movie addresses controversial issues because it discusses horror and mentally ill inmates. Most people do not know a lot about these issues so it is traumatic when in a movie. It can be seen as an allegory because people do not know who has a mental illness and whether they have made a complete recovery or not. This film's genre mostly fits the horror category with some elements of drama and psychological thriller. It is not a typical genre film because it has an original quality to it with a well embellished story structure. This movie is not typical however typical elements of this horror genre for this movie in particular allow us to see the far fetched qualities and the typical horror attributes that belong to all horror movies. The film deviates from the horror genre because it delivers a great story with creative elements and shocking twists and turns. Its symbolism is much more advanced than most horror films. Referential content is limited throughout the film, however there are some references to the woman in flames and some of the symbolism used. The movie belongs to the horror genre so it is almost all implicit. The only explicit elements are the ones describing the psychiatric prison where roles of a psychiatrist and patient are portrayed. The form best used to analyze this film is the surrealist form because it is all ficticious and creating a far fetched story that could only be analyzed in an objective way. In conclusion, I would say that this film is great to watch for anyone wanting to see a unique film in the horror genre. If anyone has a disdain feeling or does not like horror films, they should not see it. Also some of the topics are controversial and disturbing to some viewers so it should not be watched by those people Those people usually would not watch a horror movie anyways. This film has many incredible dramatic elements and is creative in its delivery of those elements. The hired actors in the film are well known and are great in their ability to act. They chose the actors wisely because these are well known actors that perform in an outstanding way in almost every movie they are in. They have a unique ability in their acting skills because they have a good reputation but are still great in their acting ability. This movie belongs in the horror genre but draws audiences from other genres because of its quality. It is not a blockbuster in terms of the amount of money it brought in, however, it is still quite impressively put together and delivers an incredible impact to its viewers. I feel that this movie is designed for those who do not shy away from controversial issues and can stomach a movie that gives a raw performance on sensitive topics. This movie is unlike Hollywood films because it has a unique story line, however, it still has the typical hollywood flair in its design, portrayal of actors, and use of famous actors. Bibliography Retrieved from www.afi.com Retrieved from www.filmreference.com Retrieved from www.imbd.com Retrieved from www.rottentomatoes.com Read More