Analysis concepts and applications

Chicago and Death of a Salesman

The film I chose is "Chicago" which won best picture in 2002. I have not seen this film because I really am not that fond of musicals, and so I have never watched it. Dramatically, I think this film won because of the music and dancing, rather than the dramatic quality of the actors, although some clips show that Queen Latifa is excellent in her role, and John C. Reilly is excellent in his as well, especially in the song "Mr. Cellophane," where his emotions are clearly visible for the audience to see.

It was the first musical to win (or even be nominated) in at least ten years, so maybe members of the Academy thought it was time for a musical to win. However, that is not to say that the movie did not deserve to win. Looking at the trailer, the sets look pretty amazing, and it looks like a blend of comedy, drama, and music that seems to work because it is just plain entertaining. In addition, there were a lot of big names in the movie, and there was a lot of press about how most of them had to learn to sing and dance for the film, so there was a lot of buzz around it, and that always attracts attention in Hollywood. I think that some of these people just have "star" quality, like Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifa, and that people will go, and like what they see because they like the people.

I think that the film also had been a traditional Broadway show before it made it to the big screen, and that a lot of people, especially voting members, may have been familiar with it because of that, and they liked the way it translated to the screen. There were a lot of really big musical numbers, over the top from what I understand, and the actors did well in their roles, so it was an appealing movie. It may not be the most dramatic movie in history, but it had everything, from sets and costumes, to choreography, big names, good music, and a storyline that was just naughty enough to get a lot of people watching. I do not think any one part of the picture was amazing or fantastic, at all. I think that all together, when you put all the aspects of it together, and then edited it and put it out there, people could not help but like it. I think musicals are becoming a lot more popular now, too, and that may be part of the reason it was nominated and won. There are probably a lot more films that are more dramatic, better acted, and even more interesting, but this one won because it was a complete package, and the public and the Acadamy members seemed like they were ready for something new and different to take top honors that year. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, at all, and I agree it should have won, because it looks like a pretty amazing film. However, musicals just aren't my favorite, so it's hard to believe they'd ever win an Acadamy Award. It just seems like something more dramatic, or with more action, special effects, and fine acting is more notable and more suitable to win that award. The same kind of thing can't win every year, or that would be boring, but I'm just no so sure the best movie always really wins.

In "Death of a Salesman," Willy is a pretty poor father and salesman. He doesn't seem to take very good care of his family, and his sons are alienated from him, and so are most of his friends. He can't take responsibility for his life, and he can't see that he has passed his inability to deal with life on to his sons, as well. He never really amounted to much, and when life gets really hard, he kills himself - not a very good role model for his family, or his business. He's pretty much a failure, so he's not good at much of anything in his life.