Film Analysis Essay Essay Example

Film Analysis Essay Essay Example Film Analysis Essay Essay Film Analysis Essay Essay in the year 2054. Justice Departments elite Pre-Crime unit has eliminated all ruder by preventing it and punishing the supposed perpetrators before crimes ever happen. This is made possible by three gifted human beings called Pre-Cogs, whose dreams or visions are projected to holographic screens manipulated mostly by Chief John Anderson (Tom Cruise). : The system is believed to be infallible, or so John Anderson thought, until he is identified to be committing a murder in less than 36 hours. To prove his innocence and a high suspicion of set-up, Anderson has to run and uncover the truth, and so the film goes on, packed with chilly sense of suspense and adrenaline, but all he while conjuring elusive answers to dilemmas is it moral for a person to be imprisoned for a crime he has yet to commit? Does intention equate action? Is it ethical to enslave three gifted psychics for a crime system to work, undermining their civil liberties and those of others as well, in reverence of a crime system that claims perfection and error-free conception? Does an incorruptible bureaucracy even exist? If the Pre-Cogs are never wrong, is it justified enough to reduce or worse, abandon mans unique ability to think, to choose, and ultimately guide his own actions? Was technology conceived to serve and profit man or does it exist to oblige humans? Throughout the film, Spielberg supports the story and the characters in an attempt to provide answers, and yet leaves the audience to decide for himself, while experiencing a cerebral thriller and high-wired action, remembering though, to push these elements aside to play second fiddle to human decency and dignity. The film is fraught with astounding images a display of vast encroachments of sophisticated technology that changes the way people live, but not significantly altering the essence of being human. The opening sequence grabs and envelops the viewer as John Anderson dexterously illustrates how the Pre-Crime unit works. The names of the victims and perpetrators are etched on either red or brown balls that drop through tubes like lottery balls; the former indicates a crime of passion, while the latter is one with premeditation. The Pre-Cogs, immersed in a nutrient-filled pool, work together to project their visions or dreams of future murders to a holographic screen suspended in mid-air. The images are analyzed in an enclosed, glass-controlled panel where John Ender-ton resembles a homophony orchestra conductor as he manipulates the images, sweeps them away, restores them, forwards, and rewinds, while all the while piecing together the clues that give the exact location of the murder and verify identities of the perpetrators. While the images are visual feasts by themselves, it is remarkable how Anderson and the rest of his crew render meaning to what they see, piecing together evidence in the same usual and realistic manner in any law-enforcement unit, only this time, solving the crime much faster and more tech-savvy. Nevertheless, the opening sequence exhibits technology complementing and even yielding to the brilliance of human thinking( ). The technological perspective and images offered by the film Of what the future would look like in 50 years is also conceivable. It blends the old with the new fascinating vertical cities, magnetic and non- earthbound cars, voice-activated lights and appliances, holographic ads and virtual billboards catering unashamedly to personal needs, and animated but annoying cereal box figures and live newspaper newsfeed reminiscent of washes seen in Harry Potter. These are all integrated with contemporary mages old houses and present-day shops and malls, shabby apartments and regular neighborhoods, some teeming still with drug dealers, congested highways, Washington monument and Capitol still standing, subway trains, people still reading newspapers and wearing glasses, police still wielding sick sticks while in pursuit, and people still stricken with common colds. Even the use of electronic spiders scurrying around to scan retinas for identification, set up against a common tenement background, exudes a casual, assimilated feeling, as if the residents are accustomed to them. Though evidently objected to an unwelcome intrusion, the characters were shown to be still practicing normal, everyday occurrences having dinner, exchanging heated arguments, having sex still in the conventional way, and little children being frightful of spiders electronic or not ( These images, though crafted for entertainment and pure cinema, are still imbued with social relevance, brimming with normal human emotions and sensitivity. More important, they present insights on the probable discordance between high-end technology and human privacy. Striking is the clever use of desiderated colors, grainy texture, and cold sighting to render the film its stark mood suggesting a thrilling journey into interior darkness the propensity and capacity of a person to commit a grave action. The entire film is dominated in almost monochromatic, muted hues of blue and gray that explore a cold, bleak futuristic atmosphere paralleling the ominous, sinister events that the Pre-Cogs are seeing. In all their visions of homicide the drowning of Anne Lively ( ), the stabbing of an unfaithful wife ( the shooting of Leo Crow by John Anderson ( and the killing of Anderson by Lamar Burgess ( ) the scenes are all in black and white resembling the films f the asss, cunningly providing a witty blend between futuristic atmosphere and murky motives and cryptic attitudes of men, effectively rendering the film its chilly thrill and suspense. The use of cold, silvered tone also serves to mirror deep, powerful emotions of grief and loss that John Anderson is experiencing as he spends a night in his apartment with its cold and loveless light ( ). Overall, the preponderance of breath taking blends between the nostalgic conventions with modern science fiction only serves to magnify the tales of the human dark side. The film is also characterized by dazzling, graceful camera moves employed in both fast paced action and choreographed stills. In one spectacular chase scene, the camera astonishingly swept up and down as John Anderson gets out of an electromagnetic car and leaps from one cart another while in a steep, vertical incline ( The camera sweeps interspersed with computer generated graphics are flawlessly mixed with the live-action shots making the special effects resemble real life. However, the same casual grace and choreographed camera moves also bring the viewer down to realism. In another chase where John Anderson escapes with Ghats aiding him with her pre-cognitive power, it is hard not to notice that amidst the wit of the sequence of Ghatss emotional, yet strong instructions to Anderson to run, move, or wait in an effort to elude the detectives in pursuit ( she is still wearing the traditional khakis of today purchased from Gap (supposedly still existing) by Anderson in an earlier scene ( More unforgettable is the heart- pounding scene where electronic spiders were out to get John Anderson and he had to immerse himself in a tub of ice water to avoid detection. Close to he end of the scene when the spiders were leaving, a bubble surfacing and bursting in the tub drew the last spiders attention ( ). The exquisite timing and choreography by which this spider senses something and pauses in mid- step elegantly combines the wit of technology with a believable creature, resembling at least in concept, a miniature version of a rover sent to planet Mars of today. The film therefore persuasively delivers scenes and special effects that are ambitious yet plausible, innovative yet full of character. In any sic-if action movie or thriller, one would assume that the score should be just s dark, futuristic, and psychologically complex. Minority Report did just that but also included instrumental, classical music that not only added aesthetic delight to the film but surprisingly complemented the high-wired action -reflecting the thoughts, desires, inner turmoil and conflicts within the usual mechanical, controlled external demeanor of not only the characters, but of most the people in general. Bits and pieces from symphonies of Schubert, Bach, and Tchaikovsky dominate the film especially the opening sequence where John Anderson operates in Pre-Crime unit. Exquisite music companies his every move and every stance, almost giving the impression that he is conducting a symphonic orchestra ( The score augments the impression that the film desires to give that the crime system works impeccably and is believable almost to the point that it gives an edgy feeling that it can possibly capture the near future. This music theme dramatically rises in action as a solo horn and piano solo when John Anderson is seen reliving the memories of his lost son, Sean, and divorced wife, Lard, in his lonely apartment ( This is where the viewer is introduced to the protagonist ND the motive that drove him to dedicate himself in such unit, but had there been no enthralling music to complement holographic images and three dimensional videos with which John Anderson is portrayed to be interacting, the despair and profound loss that he is experiencing would not have delivered such a moving and powerful impression. Indeed, a human emotion at its finest. Another remarkable and touching scene is where Ghats describes Jeans life has he not died early on. Music allowed the theme to move through various instrumental combinations and rhythmic pulses, as Ghats comments and expounds on his imagined life ( ). It is quite remarkable and perhaps, the most heart-wrenching scene in this movie, as the music accompanied the message of innocence and hope that the film tries to convey through Ghatss words. The viewer is led to believe that perhaps in the end, there is restitution, reconciliation, and a healing that no amount of suspense and action can deliver. Minority Report truly not only played with visual elements but with raw and deep human sensibilities. There is no question that Tom Cruisers acting gives justice to the role of John Anderson a good cop with an unflappable character, an affable action hero, an all-male example of an American cop, but sometimes so flat and cool, and at worst, disaffecting. What makes him so interesting is that behind a facade of a man in full composure and control, swimming invincibly in a Cargos Sea of robotic technology, is a man who is capable of breaking down, in full emotional nakedness as his compelling side is revealed in the scenes where he relives his life with his abducted and lost son, while all the while high on drugs ( This shift from an impassive to a passionate man is what makes this Spielberg movie feed on emotional manipulation an old trick employed by many films but that which is brought anew by this film. With his own share of action shots, Andersens character does not just perform for the screenplay but effectively distracts and compels the viewer to worry about him. Even in impossible action sequences like falling from heights ( ) and being imprisoned by a car manufactured with him in its bosom ( the viewer is compelled to consider the logic of the action, and not just left wondering if the stunt is plausible. This is because of a motive that has been earlier disclosed -? he has cost a son, one of the tragedies that the Pre-Crime system is trying to avoid. The most intense scenes involve Anderson. A significant, unforgettable one is when he is led to an eccentric character of Dry. Hangman (Lois Smith) in an effort to prove his innocence. A sinister horticulturist taking care of carnivorous plants, Dry. Hangman invented the system an achievement that she conveyed regret in without directly saying it. She has poignant dialogues and insightful words. When she says, l was trying to cure them, it was delivered in an ice-cold tone but One with pure passion underneath in an effort to disclose that the innocent children of drug afflicted mothers who unfortunately turned out to have precognitive powers are also humans, undeserving of the fate of being conscripted into the program where the greater good of mankind is equivalent to a lifetimes worth of slavery. Her character adds a dark undercurrent to the film and significantly uncovers John Andersens vulnerable side when she inadvertently reveals a glitch in the system that while the Pre-cogs are never wrong, they do disagree, and these disagreements called minority reports are generated and stored in the brain f the most gifted of all the Pre-Cogs, Ghats. These minority reports that play a crucial role in proving John Andersens innocence are alternate futures that may have applied to the hundreds of people who were jailed on the assumption of guilt by none other than John Anderson himself. The shock and terrifying look on his face has it all the realization that he has imprisoned people who may not have not acted on intentions, but chose to stop and redirect his actions. By Dry. Hangmans dialogue that says, In order to see the light, one has to risk the dark ( the film reiterates an oven/whelming incept of humanity that questions of morality and ethics of justice need to be reconciled with their answers, and they are too significant to be ignored. Of the three Pre-Cogs, Ghats (Samaritan Morton) takes on the lead role. Her character is that of an intense connection with John Anderson physical but not sexual; overwhelmingly helpless, yet strong; innocent and comforting, yet strange and disturbing all in quite distinction from Andersens character, but that what renders Anderson a sense of vulnerability and self-discovery. As a tormented pre-Cog, reduced to feverish utterances and constant screaming, Ghats embodies human frailty and slavery. From the beginning of the story, she clutches on to John Anderson in a plea for help, for understanding, for the realization that she is the ultimate victim, and that she longs for liberation. Compulsively replaying the murder of her own mother, Anne Lively, she asks Anderson, Can you see? ( ) a two-faced question that seems to evoke the thought that, l, too have lost and suffered, and want to be free. With her constant exhaustion and frightened, wide-eyed stance, she manages to aid Anderson in his evasion from his skyscrapers colleagues and ultimately brings IM face to face with Andersens dilemma that only he can reckon with to deliberately act on his intentions of shooting Leo Crow after being led to believe that he abducted and killed his lost son, as exactly was predicted by the Pre-Cogs, or to choose to walk away, abandoning his intention to kill. Minority Report in its pure cinematic form, and John Anderson in his finest moment, bring home the films flagrant, unmitigated message in the sequence that follows where Anderson, instead of shooting Leo Crow, begins to read his Miranda rights ( ) a person has the power to shape his destiny by is ability to freely choose. A profound moral least expected from a science fiction! Minority Report is not necessarily flawless. There is a paradox at work, One that can drive a person to madness, but one that is utterly delicious John Anderson runs because he is accused, but the act itself begins the chain of events that lead to it the prediction that drives the act, or what is known as the self-fulfilling prophecy. A vicious cycle, like a dog chasing its own tail. This however, does not preclude the important metaphors and thought- provoking scenes that this film offers predestination or free will, a usability or a certainty, technological advancement or slavery, crime-free society or loss of human freedom? The film attempts at revelation but walks away, leaving a path for self-discovery, an absorbing journey to full humanity. It does offer optimism, a certainty that at the end of the journey is not incarceration but awakening, a courageous step to open doors and not recognition of defeat, a transcendence of grief and loss and not a ploy to escapism, an appreciation of unique gifts with no oppression, reliability but not infallibility. Like the many facets in life, the theme is complex and enigmatic; one that generates more questions than answers, but one that does not neglect the true meaning of being human. What defines a person and what he is capable of is as clear as what W. E. Henley famously puts, l am the master of my fate: am the captain of my soul. Ultimately, it is man who determines his own future.