Film Insight - Analyzing the Life Messages in Movies for Personal Devlopment

[chezzy62]

Hey guys, I had this idea a while ago for a website, and I finally put it into action.

What about: Instead of a movie review, why don't I write a psychological film analysis, and write about the life messages in film? Almost every movie we see has a message, so I decided to dig in. I will post my articles here, if thats alright.

Link to my site:

A Beautiful Mind


A Beautiful Mind is a truly beautiful movie, and it should not be missed by anyone of proper age to appreciate its beauty. It is about a schizophrenic mathematician named “John Nash”, who spends all of his days trying to find a revolutionary discovery/formula that will change life. The irony, is that life doesn’t work out if we try to solve it like an equation. It is only when we let go and let life happen to us, that we will find our true happiness. The Beautiful Mind is an exaggerated tale of this law, and how terrible life can get if you try to solve its nonexistent formula.

John Nash is an awkward man, not good in social situations, but an amazingly talented mathematician. He is so good, in fact, that he spends most of his time trying to find a revolutionary discovery in mathematics. I like to think of it as a “Life formula”, or a discovery that will never happen. The twist of the movie, which happens about halfway through, is that Nash is suffering from a severe form of schizophrenia, and half of the situations/places that exist in his life, are only part of his “beautiful” mind. One imaginary character that he creates is his roommate, Charles. Nash gets along very well with Charles, which makes the audience suspicious from the start, seeing that John Nash doesn’t really get along well with anyone else. The other character that Nash creates is named Parcher, who is working to solve a conspiracy case of an atomic bomb threat towards the U.S. When the conspiracy situation goes wrong in Nash’s head, that is when he is in need of mental help. He is taken into a psychiatric hospital, and receives intense treatment. Upon returning home, the visions are suppressed, but so is every aspect of John Nash’s beautiful mind. He no longer can think right, feel right, or act right. He stops taking the medication, and loses another battle with his schizophrenia. Instead of going back to the hospital, he tries to battle the hallucinations on his own. This is the turning point of the movie, where Nash learns how to really live his life.

Nash learns that life is more than making a discovery, or solving an equation. There is love and emotion involved; A wife, taking care of your baby, and the everyday joys of life. Instead of focusing his time on himself, John decides to go back to teaching classes, and shares his amazing knowledge with his students. All this, while ignoring the characters that took over his mind. This is where an amazing inspirational quote is mentioned by John Nash, which I will mention here:

“Are the hallucinations…gone?”
“No, but I’ve gotten used to ignoring them, and as a result, they’ve kind of given up on me. I think that’s sorta what it’s like with dreams and nightmares. We’ve gotta keep feeding them for them to stay alive”

That is one of the most true and inspirational quotes I have ever heard. Dreams will gradually disappear, if we do not focus on them, and take constant action towards them. Nightmares will continue, as long as we feed them our attention. John Nash wins a Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the movie, for his contributions to society. A Beautiful Mind is a movie about the importance of enjoying every day of life, and not getting caught up in ridiculous theories or fantasies for a future that may never be. If we don’t focus on the present moment, it may be the biggest regret in our life. Embrace life each day, don’t embrace a fantasy world.


Hope you like it!

[chezzy62]

I just wrote an analysis for the film:

Inglourious Basterds
This article may contain SPOILERS



Quentin Tarantino’s style of filmmaking is like no other. He turns left where others choose to turn right, and turns right when others choose to turn left. His latest movie, Inglourious Basterds, is very unique. Instead of focusing on how bad the Nazi’s were, he focuses on how a war affects every single person for the worst. He demonstrates the corruption of the human spirit, and the lengths we are willing to go in order to find peace. For ourselves, and for others. Unfortunately, throughout the struggle, we may lose our humanity. Inglourious Basterds is a representation of what happens when we lose our humanity, and how it can affect people on a mass scale.

One group of people that nearly every American hates, are the Nazi’s. Their brutal violence and torturing of the Jews will forever be shamed upon. Inglourious Basterds is a fictional depiction of the anger that Jews felt towards the Nazi’s. Although the anger is justified, does it really benefit anyone? If the depicted events were factual, how would Jews and Nazi’s be viewed under today? The Nazi’s would still have a bad reputation, but the Jews would be remembered for the violent way they ended the war. If the events were true, how would our society be different today? The world might have been more violent, and people would see their revenge justifiable. After all, it would have ended World War II. But in the end, what does the seeking of violence and revenge lead to? Through it all, we lose the essential traits that make us human beings. Our compassion, our kindness, our rationality. We lose it all, and for what? To lose our own lives in a battle that isn’t worth fighting for? To seek revenge against any and all who stand in our way? There are always going to be a few rotten apples in our world, like Adolf Hitler. The best thing you can do is to leave them alone, and stay out of their way. But what if they get in your way? If they are a threat to your way of life, you must seek non-violent ways to solve the problem. Violence + Violence = More Violence. More violence = Hate. Hate = Loss of Humanity. When we lose our humanity, then we have lost all hope for our lives. This is beyond the level of desperation, and this is where the Nazi’s stood.

Another issue that Inglourious Basterds deals with, is the ability to walk away from the wrong you have done. When the Basterds let one of Nazi’s leave, they leave a mark on their foreheads. The mark represents that they were once a Nazi, and they can never escape their past. Is it moral, to not let another forget their past? To forgive them for the wrong they have done, and let them live a better life in the future? There are many people we see every day, walking on the streets, who have done wrong in the past. We have all made mistakes in the past, big or little. Despite our shortcomings, we continue to move forward, able to move past the wrong we have done. No physical mark is left on our bodies to remind us of our past. The actions that the Nazi’s took were brutal, cruel, and terrifying. However, is it right to engrave their own mark on their foreheads? What if one of the Nazi’s asks for great forgiveness, and becomes one of the worlds top peacemakers? What if he helps more people personally, than he has harmed? Does his past deserve to be forgotten? As human beings, we are given a birthright. The ability to change, at any time, as we wish. People can go from good to bad. They can also go from bad to good. If a person wishes to change their ways from bad to good, they should not have a constant physical reminder of their horrible past. Isn’t it enough that they are suffering from the memories of all the wrong that they have done? Is it right to judge others by what they have done in the past? No, because at any given time, people can change their ways. And that is what makes us human.

Colonel Hans Landa, played by Christopher Waltz, is a terrifying character. In the beginning of the film, he enters the house of a local farmer, and begins his interrogation. He is looking for Jews being harbored in the area, and he does it in his own unique way. Landa walks into the house, as if he were an old friend. He is very polite, and talks as if he were having a casual dinner conversation. This makes the scene even more intense. How can one person exterminate Jews, and compare them to rats?! Colonel Landa is our primary example of lost humanity. He has no mercy for those he kills, and he lives to serve Hitler. He asks; Would you welcome a rat into your home? What has the rat ever done to you, to elicit such a violent reaction? And this had me thinking, why do we hate rodents so much? Of course, they do spread deadly disease, and they are quite unpleasant in general. But is that the only reason why people kill rodents on sight? It is not. People have a difficult time accepting any other animal/being into their home. Unless invited, we tend to kill any little bugs/rodents that we see. It is a human reaction, that represents mass superiority. Is it our right to take the lives of less superior beings away? What if at one point in time, humans are no longer the superior beings? What if we become ants, and another group of beings feel they can exterminate us at any time? It is difficult and horrible to comprehend, but you get the horrible picture. Just because certain beings don’t belong, does not mean they should be killed. Instead, they should be moved to a place where they will be more appreciated. Rodents do not belong in a home, they belong out in nature.

The Nazi’s treated the Jews like rats. The Jews are great people, and have done absolutely nothing wrong. Yet the Nazi’s wish to exterminate the entire Jewish population! How can something so horrible, happen to our humanity? A twisted belief. I am going to quote Will Smith. He took a lot of heat for saying this, but he spoke the truth about general humanity:

“Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘Let me do the most evil thing I can do today.’ I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good.’”

This quote accurately represents what a twisted mindset can do to a population, and how powerful it can be when a leader has lost their humanity. People aren’t evil by choice. They are evil because they have a blocked neuroreceptor, that distinguishes between right and wrong. It seems that Hitler, and all Nazi’s had lost their sanity on what was truly wrong. This can be due to genetics, environment, and they way a person was raised, and what events they had gone through in their life. It’s a shame, but some people believe that violence is good. This is absolutely ludicrous. In no way did God create the world with violence. God never wanted a single person to commit a violent when he created the world. Unfortunately, he gave people emotions. He gave everyone a brain of their own, and let them set out to create their own lives. Some people became wildly successful, some trekked through the middle of the road. And some people dropped down low. Very low. People resorted to violence to give themselves significance. Adolf Hitler was one of these people. He believed that in order to be a good person, he had to commit genocide. I need not explain further, how horrible and wrong this mindset was. The scariest part? It only took one seriously twisted mind, and a whole bunch of followers, who believed that he was right. When evil is given ultimate power, horrible things can happen. We must never let anything like this happen again, to anyone.

One major final event that happens in the movie, is the surrender of Colonel Hans Landa. What causes this change of heart? Why didn’t he choose to save Hitler, and the rest of the Germans? He wanted to end the war, because he was through with the destruction. After he forced himself to kill Bridget von Hammersmark, he had a change in heart. He realized that the war affected not only the Jews and Germans, but everyone else. People did what they could to stop the evil of Hitler, and he was part of the collective evil. Did the Germans know that they were evil? Like I mentioned earlier, they believed, in their own twisted minds, that they were doing right. It wasn’t until the very end of the movie, that Colonel Landa realized that he had pointlessly killed every single person. Bridget von Hammersmark was an actress, who had realized the evil of the Nazis. She used her high-class to stop the evil once and for all, and succeeded in the end. She lost her life because of it. Colonel Landa finally realized what she died for, and he had a change of mind. It goes to show, that no matter how evil a person is, they can always change. Many don’t, but anything is possible.

How does Inglourious Basterds represent society today? Many people are revenge driven. If someone did something horrible to them, they would want to do something equally horrible to the other person. To suppress the part of your emotions that seeks revenge, is to suppress nearly all of the evil in your body. Of course, there are other factors, besides revenge, that play a factor in how humane you are. But revenge is by far the most powerful negative emotion, and its elimination would be in incredible leap for all mankind.

[chezzy62]

Continued....


As a Jewish American, I found Inglourious Basterds to be a very interesting and insightful movie. I have seen many holocaust films, depicting the horrors of the Nazi’s. However, Inglourious Basterds takes a different approach. Instead of showing how horrible the holocaust was, it shows an in-depth look at the human beings involved. Including the leaders of the Nazi’s, and a small but powerful group of Jews who rebelled. Tarantino made up a completely new story, that is not only compelling and insightful, but gives a deeper look into what drives human beings and their emotions. I have seen other Tarantino movies like Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. His movies never disappoint, because they are intense character studies, which use cause and effect, and direct/indirect characterization to describe and analyze a situation. His filmmaking is such a pleasure to watch. However, his movies are only for the open-minded. So if you are not ready to analyze his unique ideas, then you may not be such a big fan. Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino’s interpretation on the holocaust, and what could have been. It goes to show that we are all human beings, and we all want the same thing: Significance. We all want our own significant role in making the world a better place. However, some of us have a very skewed perception on what actually can improve the world. Following the path of hate will never lead you anywhere good. Hitler tried to improve the world by filling it with hate for a specific group of people. In return, he became more evil by the day. Following the path of love will truly improve the world. Look at Gandhi and Mother Teresa. They wanted significance, and they wanted to make the world a better place. They followed the path of love, and look at what good they have done for humanity! Follow their example, and act out of love. Never follow what Hitler did, because it will contribute to the fall of humanity as we know it.

Link to my original article:
Inglourious Basterds

Thank you for reading!

Please let me know if you have any comments/questions.

[moonrambler]

Hi chezzy, that's a cool website you made there. I enjoyed reading your analysis of A Beautiful Mind, and I'm sending the link to my friend who's a NCIS fanatic!

[chezzy62]

Moonrambler, Thank you so much! You should also start watching NCIS, I'm glad that your friend likes it . I normally don't like Crime dramas, but NCIS focuses on humor and character development, as opposed to blood and violence (like CSI). It quickly became on of my favorite shows.

Again, I appreciate the kind words. If you would like to me to write an article on a specific movie, please let me know.

Thanks,
Josh Lipovetsky.

[moonrambler]

I don't like CSI either because of the excessive violence and goriness. For some reason I haven't watched NCIS more than once or twice, but I should give it a better try. I used to really like Without a Trace.

I read a few more of your reviews. Breakfast Club is one of my favorite movies, so that was cool to see in there. In contrast, I have issues with Pay it Forward. I've found there are two types of people: those who thought the ending was fine, and those who thought the ending wrecked the movie. I hated the ending. I thought it was incongruent. It made me wonder: What the heck is the point of paying it forward then?

My cousin Pam lives like Yes Man. She told me she always says yes to any invitations she gets to do stuff. Always. I've considered trying that but I get wary of having to do all kinds of stuff I don't want to. It might be an interesting experiment though . . .

I could come up with a big list of movies since you asked. But the one that first came to mind was The Sixth Sense.

[chezzy62]

The Sixth Sense sounds like a really fun one to analyze! What a classic movie. It's on the top of my priority list. I will post a Sixth Sense analysis in December. Thanks for asking .

SPOILER:

As for Pay it Forward, I wasn't a big fan of the ending. It was way too depressing, but I can see how it fits. He left his legacy behind, you know? As Lincoln said, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Trevor was a true example of making a great contribution to humanity. I want to live like him. He was so proactive, words cannot explain! He stood up for what he believed to be right, even if it meant losing his life in the end.

But in general, I just love what life lessons movies have to offer. It's like people putting all of these principles that Steve Pavlina, Tony Robbins, etc. Talk about. You get to see people live their dreams. To me, it's extremely inspirational. So I decided to make a website about it. I couldn't find any other website dedicated to writing articles about movies like this. Sure, there are thousands of movie critics. But only a select few who go beyond "Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down", and give a deeper analysis. I just want to be one of those people.

I really appreciate your kind words, and thank you for taking the time to read my articles. I know some of them took me quite some time to read.

[chezzy62]

Up - Finding New Adventure
THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS



Our lives always have room for a little adventure. But there is something even more important than the adventure itself: It’s who we spend the adventure with. In “Up”, Carl Fredricksen lives his adventure alongside his wife. In the first 10 minutes of the movie, you learn about how happy he is with his wife, and how perfect the are together. Then, you see devastation. Mr. Fredricksen and his wife are crushed, when they can’t have a baby. Then, you see Carl’s devastation when his wife is taken from him. The only thing that keeps him going after his wife’s death, is one final adventure that she had always wanted to embark on: Living in South America. Mr. Fredricksen, out of love for his wife, goes on one final adventure. What he discovers along the way, is something he could never have imagined.

“Up” is both uplifting, and depressing. It can give the viewers a sense of poignancy about all of the lost time. It can also uplift people, to take a bold risk, and go on a new adventure! One of the main themes of the movie, is the ability to start fresh at any given moment.

“Thanks for the adventure. Now go have one of your own”, is Ellie’s final, posthumous message for Carl. She appreciates, and cherishes the time that they spent together. But what she really wants, is for Carl to find a new adventure. To find a new meaning in life, even though the love of his life has passed away. Isn’t this what you would want for your own family members, after you die?

Carl Fredricksen goes on an adventure, just as Ellie asked him. He ties miracle balloons to his house, and floats off to South America. Cheesy and unrealistic? Yes. But the concept is absolutely delightful! Carl sets off on his adventure, and Russell inadvertently comes along.

Russell does have an interesting story, and it is the reason for his social awkwardness. His father is no longer there for him, and it crushes Russell on the inside. His dad is ‘too busy’ to spend time with him, and any of his family members. His entire family life is slowly deteriorating, and he is just an innocent bystander. That is, until he met Carl Fredricksen.

What makes ‘Up” such a great movie, is the clash of character situations. Mr. Fredricksen is old, depressed, and trying to figure out how to live after the death of his wife. Russell is just a young boy, trying to figure out how to live without the support of his father. In a way, they are both the same character, trying to figure things out. In the end, they develop a father-son relationship, that will be remembered for a long time to come.

“Up”, is also a movie about letting go of your attachments. When most of the magical helium balloons have popped, Mr. Fredricksen is faced with a life changing decision. The only way to make the house float again, is to get rid of all of his old possessions. Everything that he and his wife shared together. After much thought and deliberation, Carl utters the most powerful quote of the movie: “It’s just a house!”. And that it is! Material items cannot hold any emotional possessions, unless we allow them to. All of the emotions that we have felt in the past, are still in our heads. A house is just a house. The difference between a house and a home, is the emotional meaning that you attach to your house. Only then, is it called, your home.

By letting go of his house, he let go of his past. Mr. Fredricksen gave himself a clean slate. He was able to do this, because he knew that his wife would approve. The movie concludes with a beautiful moment shared between Russell and Mr. Fredricksen. We see the father-son bond between the 2 characters, and we know that everything will be alright. Is the ending too much like a fairy tale? Possibly. But that doesn’t detract from the powerful message of this extraordinary film: Life begins, and life ends. We will suffer tragic loss, and we will experience incredible wins. What’s most important, is how you will react to your tragic losses. Will you break down? Or will you seek a new adventure, after an old one has passed?

Up Film Analysis

Thanks for reading! Any comments?

[rak]

chezzy62,

Thats a brilliant idea! I actually bookmarked your blog.

Can I request if you can analyze The Fight Club? even though there are many aticles who already analyzed this movie I wonder if a person like you can do it. and also here are some of the movies that I can recommend to analyze...

Door to Door
Medal of Honor
Seven Pounds
Antwone Fisher
Remembering the Titans
Hurricane
Rocky (the last part)
Accepted
The Tao of Steve

Well I had alot in my mind but this is it as of now.

Regards
rak