Hot Fuzz - Story

ot Fuzz is a 2007 British action-adventure-comedy-buddy cop film and is Edgar Wright's and Simon Pegg's second movie in their Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy, the first being 2004's Shaun of the Dead and ending with 2013's The World's End.

The story follows top-cop Police Constable Nicholas Angel and his relocation from London to the lovely village of Sandford-Gloucestershire which has won countless Village-of-the-Year awards. Angel is immediately promoted to Sergeant and makes an instant impact on his arrival by arresting a group of young adults at the local pub who are “a month or two south of proper,” and a drunk driver he soon finds out is part of his new, bumbling police force, and his new partner. Not all is as it appears to be in the quaint village and a series of unfortunate accidents might be more than what they seem.

The story unfolds in the third person and we get to see things that the characters do not (i.e. Martin Blower’s and Eve Draper’s murder). Nicholas Angel is the implied narrator and as the movie goes on, we begin to see things as he sees them – more than just coincidences. Time is presented linearly, except for the few flashbacks describing the “accidents.” The movie is mostly classic in its nature as the conflict builds to a climax, but at the same time is realistic in the sense that it tries to show the reality of mundane tasks of being a police office - the filling out of paper work in transitions between scenes. The film itself shows that everything isn’t always as it appears to be. The story uses lots of foreshadowing and mise-en-scène and gives lots of significant visual clues to what is going on and what is going to happen while paying homage to mystery films. This film has a Hitchcock-ian feel to it.

Simon Pegg is a noted voice/actor (StarTrek, Paul, Ice Age, Band of Brothers, Spaced), writer, and producer. Edgar Wright is a director and writer and has worked with Pegg on other projects including Pegg's breakthrough role in Spaced.

Hot Fuzz - Writing

Without a doubt this film is full of verbal wit. You can’t go more than a minute without having some kind of witty repartee.

The film was written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Hot Fuzz was the duos sixth collaboration, including Shaun of the Dead and Spaced. They added another title, the final in their Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, The World’s End in 2013.

Edgar Wright has almost 20 separate writing and directing credits. Beyond his work with Pegg, his most notable works are Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The Adventures of Tintin. Wright frequently makes cameos in his films. In Shaun of the Dead he had three separate cameos and in Hot Fuzz he played a stock boy and had a voice over.

Simon Pegg has more than twenty writing credits including, Run, Fatboy, Run and Paul. He is currently in pre-production for a 2016 release of Star Trek 3. Since the success of Shaun of the Dead, Simon has become quite an accomplished actor appearing in both films such as Star Trek and Mission Impossible. He has also lent his voice to films - Ice Age, TV shows – Phineas and Ferb, and video games – Spare Parts.

While some of the dialogue in the film pays homage to other films, it sounds like realistic speech. In keeping with the “top-cop” personality of Sgt. Angel, he speaks in proper police vocabulary and is careful in the words he uses. In contrast, his new police force of Sandford, who are nowhere near the level of policing as Angel, are more laid back and crude in their speech. Towards the middle of the film we see that Sgt. Angel’s partner, PC Danny Butterman, begin to learn about “real police work” and use proper vocabulary. In turn, Sgt. Angel becomes less rigid, he doesn’t smile until the 45 minute mark of the film, and soon after lets his frustration of the events get to him as he starts to curse just like the other members of the police force.

There are countless figurative tropes in Hot Fuzz many of which go unnoticed unless one’s a seasoned movie buff or has inside information like movie commentary. For instance, actor Edward Woodward who plays the civilian liaison for the Neighborhood Watch Alliance played a similar role in The Wicker Man. Early in the film, he, along with all the members of the N.W.A. appear to be decent citizens, but turn out to be the ones behind all of the suspicious goings-on. Almost all of the “accidents” are predicted in the previous scenes. “We haven’t got long,” said by Martin Blower. “He’ll be in bits tomorrow,” said by Simon Skinner and so on… All of the ridiculous questions that PC Butterman asks Sgt. Angel in the first half of film that Sgt. Angel responds “no” to actually happen later in the film.

The movies point of view is mostly objective and omniscient. We see the true nature of the first accident before Sgt. Angel has any suspicions of the dubious nature of the Village of Sandford. As the film progresses, Angel guides the story through his suspicions.

Blade Runner - Ideology

From the start of the film we are lead to believe that the Replicants are the “bad guys.” The dialogue indicates the crimes they have committed. In turn, Deckard and the Bladerunners are the “good guys.” By the end of the film, while the Replicants might not have made the complete turn to “good,” Roy seems to have become more human, thus makes one have sympathy for the character. On the other hand, is the killing of humans (human-like replicants) an acceptable solution to the problem, especially if the Replicants are beginning to show signs of becoming human?  What is it that makes us human? 

While there doesn’t appear to be religion in the film, there are certainly visual elements throughout the film. Dr. Tyrell lives/works in an Egyptian pyramid, Roy pushes a nail through his hand that symbolizes the crucifixion, and as Roy dies, he releases a dove which could symbolize Noah’s ark or the release of his soul.

By using Chinese influence in the film, Scott shows contrast in history – comparing one of the oldest civilizations in the world to the pursuit of longevity in the current situation of the movie. Humans are looking to sustain their existence by colonizing other worlds. The film suggests that the earth is well beyond its capacity based on how crowded all of the scenes are in Chinatown and how dark, dank, and disheveled the streets look. “Following the natural way” is a principle of Chinese utopian theories and based upon the creation of Replicants and replicant animals that wholly contradicts that philosophy. Another theory suggests that “doing nothing is doing everything” by allowing people care for their own interests - another principle that is challenged by creating humans and limiting their lifespan and their emotions.

While there are only three women in this film one can look at their portrayals a couple of different ways. All three replicants, especially Zhora and Pris, were strong, powerful characters. Rachael on the other hand seems more vulnerable, possibly because of her new found knowledge about the reality of her existence. Another look at the characters, which I’ve read a few different times, is that this is a very misogynistic film in that Zhora and Pris meet violent deaths (not to mention Holden, Leon, and Tyrell). Also, there could be problems that the “life giver” is a man. 

There isn’t evidence to suggest that any of the characters are gay.

The tone of the film is quite dark. It fits with the state of the earth and the position of humans on earth. The movie itself raises lots of questions and has hidden meanings which leave the viewer “in the dark” as well. The addition of the rain leaves us with an impression that we are not seeing things clearly.

Citizen Kane - Story

Orson Welles' 1941 film à clef drama, Citizen Kane, considered by many to be one of, if not, the best films ever made, broke the mold of the classical paradigm which dominated Hollywood at the time. Not only did the storyline abandon the, beginning-middle-end norm (the film is broken up by non-linear flashbacks), Welles had almost complete control over the films making. He wrote (along with Herman Mankiewicz), directed, produced, and starred in the film. He used new lighting and camera techniques, including deep focus and panning through objects. He also had the set completely closed, even to movie executives, during the production of the film.

The story revolves around the mysterious utterance of Kane’s final word, “Rosebud,” and the search to the meaning of it. Jerry Thompson a reporter with News on the March is tasked with finding out all he can about “Rosebud.” He sets out to talk to those close to Charles Foster Kane. The film is told by Thompson through the flashbacks of Walter Thatcher (Kane’s legal guardian), Mr. Bernstein (Kane’s friend/employee), Jedediah Leland (Kane’s best friend/reporter), Susan Alexander Kane (Kane’s mistress and second wife), and Raymond (Kane’s butler). Despite all of the stories Thompson collects, he is not able to find much about Kane or what “Rosebud” truly means. It’s “just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle.”

In the social context of the film, we learn that being "gagged on a silver spoon," does not guarantee happiness. Throughout the film we are able to surmise that Kane, despite all of his success, was a very lonely man in search of filling a void in his life, something he lost long ago, and he bought countless objects to try and fill that void. The film is timeless in the sense that everyone has something they reflect on. There always seems to be something from our past that we yearn for, whether it’s our mothers love, making the ultimate sacrifice or an object long since lost.

Citizen Kane - Writing

  Citizen Kane is a film that the audience never fully understands what is behind Charles Foster Kane or “Rosebud.” We never fully grasp the true nature of his character and what drives him to keep building Xanadu and collecting countless statues. Is it his separation from his mother? Memories of a lost childhood? Kane's perpetual isolation? The one thing that we lack in the film is Kane telling his story. So, seventy years later we are still debating.

There were five total writers who worked on Citizen Kane. Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles are credited with writing the original screenplay though there have been many arguments as to who the “true” writer of Citizen Kane is. Most people agree that Mankeiwicz wrote the original screenplay and Welles made revisions to it and with those revisions truly made it his movie.  Mankiewicz is known for his work on The Wizard of Oz (uncredited), Pride of the Yankees, The Pride of St. Louis, most other movies with "pride" in the title. Welles, who was known as a “prodigy,” began his career in the theater then as a radio actor and, with John Houseman, later formed Mercury Theatre. Prior to Citizen Kane, Welles was best known for his radio adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic, The War of the Worlds. Three other writers were uncredited but are now listed as “contributing writers” with the screenplay of Citizen Kane. John Houseman had worked with Welles during his time in New York and produced Welles’ Too Much Johnson in 1938. He was the “babysitter” to Mankiewicz during his writing of Citizen Kane. Mankiewicz had a notorious drinking problem. Houseman and Welles disagreed on who should get credit for writing Citizen Kane and their friendship ended because of that. Houseman might best be known to a younger generation as the narrator of A Christmas Carol in the Bill Murray movie Scrooged and as the driving instructor in the Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! movie. Roger Q. Denny was also a contributing writer who went on to write many documentary shorts. Mollie Kent had her only writing credit, even though uncredited, on Citizen Kane. She held various “crew” positions, most frequently script supervisor. Her most notable films were Hello, Dolly! and The Manchurian Candidate.

               A theme that dominates the story of Citizen Kane is how difficult it is to find out about a person’s life when they can’t tell the story themselves. Despite all of the stories told, Jerry Thompson doesn’t not find much about the life of Charles Foster Kane. He concludes that there must be more to the man than the stories and all of his possessions. How different would the story be if Kane were able to tell his life story? The viewer is forced to come up with what really was important in Kane’s life. Another theme is that of the American Dream and how it might not be all that it’s cracked up to be. Kane is happy as boy despite being poor. As Thatcher comes and takes Kane away to, what seems to be, the American Dream that is the point where Kane’s life begins to unravel. A snow globe ties the movie together as it is one of the first objects we see in the movie as it falls from Kane’s hand as he dies.  We see it later when Kane accompanies Susan to her apartment for the first time. Later, after Susan leaves him, he trashes her room and finds the snow globe again. The film is pretty much book ended with a sled. We see him playing in the snow with it when Thatcher comes to take him away and once the deal is made it is covered over in snow, possibly signifying the end of his “innocence.” We see it again at the end as it is being consumed by flames as a piece of “junk.” All of these create many layers to film that if one pays attention, along with the cinematic elements, can decipher what is going on.

               All of the characters eloquence is believable. No one seems out of place in their respective positions in the film. Newspapermen talk like newspapermen. The dialogue seems like genuine, realistic speech.