It’s been a while huh? Well here I am again.

Well I just finished writing an essay/review. A friend of mine is starting to put together his annual short film festival again. He is in need of reviewers. He made a list of qualifications for reviewers, but unfortuantely, I do not fit. So he made up a new one. I need to write a one page review of a movie. He wants to gauge if the reviewer is capable of looking at film critically. He knows I could because I talk to him about film in a critical sense all the time. So I wrote an essay. I did it on Punch-Drunk Love, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson of Boogie Nights and Magnolia fame.

Writing that essay just brings me back to college and film classes. Just bring back memories of dissecting film, trying to figure what the director is doing with each shot and each frame, or the hidden figurative meanings fo the film.

It is like junior year with the action film class. Listening to the professor talking about the homo erotic undertones and the gun as the phalus symbol of the action film genre. It makes sense and yes, the professor is correct in analyzing the film that way. It is just funny to listen to some of the students who just don’t get it. The students who just see film as a source of entertainment and that films mean nothing. That there is no hidden agenda or any social commentaries in the film. Most films are loaded with these little gems, and understanding and seeing that and seeing how the director portray that idea on film is one of the joys I have in watching films, in analyzing films.

For those of you who have a chance to take a film analysis class, I would suggest taking it. But a word of warning for those who just see film as entertainment. Once you cross that line to critically analyzing film, you can’t go back. Once you start watching films with a critical eye, it takes the fun out of watching film. So if you don’t want your viewing experience to be ruined by critical analysis, please don’t start analyzing films.

It also makes you a snob in the type of film you enjoy or don’t enjoy. Films like Charlie’s Angel 1 and 2, or Scooby Doo or even the new Matrix …I would probalby liked these films 5 or 6 years ago, but as I got older and have a better taste in film, I can’t watch these films anymore. They are trash. If you thought about going to watch Charlie’s Angel 2, don’t. It was bad, it was horrible. I wanted to kill myself so I wouldn’t have to watch it. That was how bad the movie was.

So anywho, I finished my essay and will be sending it away. I’ll post my essay below. Maybe those who have seen the movie may or may not agree with my analysis. I am very interested on your take of the film.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love is a simple story about love and what it brings to life. To Anderson, love is an all-encompassing force that creeps into one’s quiet little life like a train wreck. This train wreck brings joy, music, and above all, personal growth.

The opening scene of the film sets up a major theme of the film, love appearing unexpectedly and bringing music to one’s life. The film opens on Barry Egan, played by Adam Sandler, framed small in the corner of the screen, surrounded by empty space. He is small, lonely, and pathetic. Barry, dressed in his new blue suit, is hard at work before seven in the morning. He stands outside in this quiet neighborhood, then out of the blue a van flips over in front of him and we are bombarded with the sounds of twisted metal. Another van pulls up and drops a harmonium in front of him and drives away. Love, music, appears out of the blue into his life like a freak storm. It isn’t until he meets Lena Leonard, Emma Watson, that he brings the harmonium from the streets into his office. From that point on, Barry slowly fixes the harmonium so it can play music, and fixes himself so he can love.

The personal growth that comes from love is the biggest theme of the film. Anderson showed this in Barry in two ways. The first is his constant running in the film. Barry is a man who is constantly running from his past. He never seems to outrun it. It always catches up to him. Barry is always framed in a telephoto lens running away and running towards the camera. With the telephoto lens, it always seems that he’s not going anywhere even though he’s always running. He never leaves the frame. This can also be seen when he is framed running horizontally. The camera dollies next to him, centering him in the frame. He never leaves the frame. This constant struggle of running from his past changes as he changes. It happens in the scene where he makes the big decision to go to Hawaii to find Lena. He made this choice on his own. In the scene, he walks down the terminal to board the plane. Like the others, it is shot in a telephoto lens and centered on Barry. Unlike the others, as he walks the scene slows down. He’s walking in slow motion. His past finally catches up to him and he accepts it. It is then that he disappears out of the frame; it is then that he finally moves on instead of living in the past. This also happens in later scenes where he runs to the hospital, centered in a telephoto lens, he runs past us, he runs out of frame. It is with his change, his acceptance of who he is, that he is able to break free from his prison and move on.

The other way that Anderson shows Barry’s personal growth due to love is by having him wear the same suit throughout the whole film. Anderson doesn’t want to attribute Barry’s change to his change in appearance, but through his contact with Lena. Anderson wants us to see that all circumstances in Barry’s life are the same but his relationship with Lena. At the beginning of the film, we can tell that Barry is a lonely man repressing his anger and hiding behind his mock ignorance. He would always answers “I don’t know” to any question his sisters ask about him so he doesn’t have to explain himself. He would always deny the truth and lie about what happens. As the film progresses and as he spends more time with Lena, Barry changes. He becomes bolder, more honest, and courageous. This is all on account to him being with Lena, him falling for Lena. It has nothing to do with him changing his appearance to make him feel better. It is because of his love for Lena, that Barry evolves and accepts himself and love himself.

Punch Drunk Love is a unique and different type of romantic comedy that focuses on the effects of love. Anderson shows that we are all capable of love; we are broken harmoniums that just need to be fixed up. Once fixed, we are able to play the sweetest music that love can offer. Love does miraculous things. It takes a lonely pathetic self-loathing man and turns him into a powerful hero. This crazy thing called love makes us do crazy things.

This is not the best essay I’ve written about film, and honestly, it didn’t turn out as well as how I had it in my head. I was trapped by the length of the review. My friend only wanted one page, this is two pages, so I was rushed. There was so much more I could of wrote about. For instance, the strange yet fitting pillow talk between Barry Egan and Lena Leonard.

I think this is enough for now. I shall return tomorrow and write about my weekend and what is happening in other aspects of my life like my photography class and seeing family again. Till then. TTFN