Month: November 2018

https://tubitv.com/movies/329398/bartleby

The Movie I watched was Bartleby (2001), which is a newer version of the original movie. From the movie began till the end, I really like the way that director filled up the major scene not only with a joyful color such as yellow and shiny green background in the office but also with melancholy pale Bartleby’s face through most of the film. The conflict is so strong and well balanced to a point that the viewer won’t notice its existence; like it supposed to be that way.

The intro of the movie is mystery. The plaintive melody comes with a pale face guy walking on the New York freeway pedestrian bridge, grabbing the barbed wire and looked down on the freeway traffic; a typical guy driving with a typical family sedan just pass by. He was drinking a cup of coffee when he was on the way to work, just like everyone who lives in New York City. The fate made them meet up at this cross section. After the promotion scene for this regular guy as a “Public Record” department manager, the ironic blend and boring office that sitting on a typical Manhattan area take a few second of the film.( From 02:20 to 04:07) This is one of the favorite scenes I like because it is so simple, so cliche, but it works so well for this dark morality, philosophical short story and when I watched till the last part of the film( From 1:16:03 to 1:18:57), I realized that the director use most of the intro scene but change the character to refer to the intro and the fact that how Bartleby become as what we see in the movie which is another reason why I like this part of this movie.

Another part of this film is that Bartleby looking for opening of the window and keep on staring at the air vent and saying, “I prefer not to.” to every question that people asked him. I think this is the most important part of this movie, his pure honesty and truth known character made him has a different level of notice compare to others, made the manager who put sympathy to him realized the truth and become Bartleby at the end. It’s so ironic that no one believe or face the humanity and the life and death, and the last word he said is “I would prefer not to.”

 

“Metamorphosis” is a short novel written by Franz Kafka. It told a story of salesman Gregor Samsa suddenly found himself transformed into a bed bug in the morning and struggled to adjust to his new condition. In the video(1’46”-5’20”), through the center of Gregor’s room as the visual center, described what happened after family members even his boss knew he was late to go to work. The funny thing was that the video did not give the face of the people who were coming and speaking with Gregor. I only guessed from the attitude of them voice.

In the book, I found the answer. Gregor’s room, “a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small, lay quietly between the four well-known walls. Mom came to knock door first. She said ‘it’s quarter to seven. Don’t you want to be on your way?’ and mother used soft voice. already his father was knocking on one side door, weakly but with his fist. ‘Gregor, Gregor,’ he called out, ‘what’s going on?’ And after a short while he urged him on again in a deeper voice. ‘Gregor!’ Gregor!’ At the other side door, however, his sister knocked lightly. ‘Gregor? Are you all right? Do you need anything?’” Gregor’s boss was coming later. He told Gregor’s mom, ‘My dear lady, I cannot explain it to myself in any other way, I hope it is nothing serious. On the other hand, I must also say that we business people, luckily or unluckily, however one looks at it, very often simply have to overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons.”

Here, the mother’s gentle concern was followed. The father knocked on the left with a fist and kept urging. The sister was on the right, asked him to open the door with a sad voice. The three family members who did not know what happened to Gregor. They surrounded Gregor and urged him to wake up. I could feel the pressure from them. I asked myself, what was the relationship between them? After reading the story, I understood the author described their own personality separately in the beginning.

In the story, his father “was throwing apple after apple. Immediately a second one flew after it. Gregor stood still in fright. Further flight was useless, for his father had decided to bombard him.” Also, every time Gregor tried to enter the living room. He would be ruthlessly attacked and driven away, from health to serious injuries, and finally to death. This warm and lively living room became to the dark and dirty Gregor’s room. It is a paradise, but it is also a hell. The perspective of the story is basically the view of Gregor, no matter where the other positions changed. However, the focus of the reader’s vision was always in the room where Gregor lived for five years. From the room of Gregory, you could see other rooms and knew the changes in family life after the deformation.

There is one of kinds of “deformations” in the story: the transformation of various interpersonal relationships. That is, after he became a bedbug, the relationship with the society and Gregor family was completely changed. And Gregor had seen the darkest side of the relationship between people.