A-Level Film Studies - Daniel Kallin

  Sweet Sixteen (Loach, 2002) Considering the implications of language politics in social realist films: - Language can be exclusionary - use of jargon - Scottish dialect in Sweet Sixteen, clashes with white English - Sweet Sixteen given an 18 rating for foul language - Loach accused BBFC for 'class censorship' - Language reflects dialect of community, with the rating denying those being represented (teenagers) from seeing the film - Inverclyde council overturned rating and showed it at 15 in local cinemas - Eye dialect to differentiate people with "different" accents to RP dialects (the intelligent and wealthy one) PB = Queen, Liam = Oxford Pinball - One is passing dear Scullion some money Liam - I must conclude that they are going to receive this delivery. I feel elated because this is is going to create more assets for me. I am aware of the location of these illicit pharmaceuticals - we could obtain it without much exertion. Pinball - One is unaware of your meaning...

Within feminism, the 1990s brought about a fresh focus on intersectionality, establishing that the inequalities faced by women can be a lot more significant for those outside of the white middle-class, finally establishing a feminism that could represent everyone, even if such a thing still struggles to exist nowadays. Within Secrets & Lies, the character of Hortense embodies intersectionality by changing the typical white middle-class feminist for a black middle-class feminist, using that to assert that is it class that leads to the sexism and racism faced by women - Cynthia, as a white lower-class woman, faces more oppression within the film than Hortense by quite a margin (not that comparing oppressions is particularly productive). Hortense's character provides a rejection of typical feminine characteristics, replacing emotionality with rationality, in a way that not even Maurice could reach. This is seen through Hortense's flat, with everything being white and sterile, ...

What if all hole-punchers were storing up all the holes they were punching in order to eventually turn the world into a giant hole? What if dinosaurs never went extinct and they were waiting underground to return? What if the world was actually flat but was embarrassed because everybody thought it was round and it didn't want to disappoint everyone?  What if all films were the real world and we are actually all in a very long and boring film? What if every what if question that is asked comes true in an other world? A mad scientist is sitting in his lab. He is very depressed because all his experiments had failed and so he began to cry. As he cried, a tear fell from his eye and lands into a jar of a green liquid of some strange description, and, as the tear fell into the jar, the liquid begins to bubble. The bubbles spill over and begin to drip down the table and into the floorboards. The camera pans down below the floorboards and follows the bubbles down into the ground where sudd...

 Camera quickly switches angles from over-the-shoulder shots of both characters creating visual tension - the camera moving doesn't necessarily line up with who is speaking Barely any sound other than them speaking which is soft and quiet They, and the camera, stay in the corner creating a claustrophobic shot - trapped Grey-ish colour scheme, not a sunny day, no lighting

  Dirty Pretty Things (Frears, 2002) - Invisibility of individuals - whose contribution is vital, but undervalued - Identity and belonging - Outsiders - Use of lighting - characters remain unseen

Secrets & Lies (Leigh, 1996) - Contemporary London - Maurice - middle-class photographer in North London - Cynthia - lower-class single mum in South London  - Cynthia has conflict with her daughter Roxanne - Hortense - looks up biological mother after her foster parents die - Social class intrinsic to story - tension between Maurice and Cynthia - Family past: secrets - Stillness - long takes - Everyday realism Issues on women's perspective - Monica - can't bear children which is a key part of womanhood - Cynthia - struggles with the children she has - lives in poverty - Both have what the other wants, and when they realise that they can embrace - All female characters have little to no male presence in their lives - Maurice is the only male figure and he rejects traditional masculinity Class issues - Sibling rivalry/tensions - around money, status, and class - Maurice took inheritance from his dad's death - moved to North London (new big house) and built his business - ...