mcshortfilm

What is so captivating about "Half Nelson" is not that it's a story so much as an incredible character study of a school teacher, Mr Dunne played by Ryan Gosling. I can't recall the last time I was so captivated by a performance that seemed so true and so effortless. Throughout the film, I kept thinking: "I know this guy. I've known teachers like him." And there is something all too familiar about the social, political dynamics between the teacher and the school's society".

Ty Burr of the Boston Globe said that this is an example of how the American left has failed in this country. The message (if there is any political message) is very subtle and in some ways, not so newsworthy. We've all felt and questioned a sense of hypocrisy from the baby boom generation of the sixties. But the film suggests reasons for this that are far more complex than we can even put into words. I have not even mentioned yet that Mr. Dunne is a crack addict. How did this happen and what is it that drives him to teach these kids in the first place? Mr. Dunne says "my students are what keep me focused". This line could not have sounded more true but we know that in retrospect, it is completely false. I believe it is the foreign and racial environment that is the key to his failings. He has a way of connecting and being hip to his students but he can't really relate to them. We can imagine how tough these kids from poor environments can be but Ryan Fleck does not show us this. In fact, quite the opposite is true and the responsibility is all up to Mr. Dunne. There is a contrast in his relationships with women and we see how easily he is capable of earning respect.

I think one of the important questions to ask from watching this film is not so much how Mr. Dunne fails or becomes a crack addict but why he chose the path that he did. There is something ironic about Mr. Dunne's fascination with black history and Drey's drug dealing father who collects racial artifacts that hang on his bookshelf. Does the drive to teach these kids in this specific environment come from something as superficial as nostalgia? Mr. Dunne does not like to go by the book and he is attracted to the theory of dialectics but if he cannot relate to the kids or his relationships in a sincere, down-to-Earth and honest way, then there is not much hope for the future. That is just one take on the film, I'm sure you'll have others.

Wim Wenders has done it again. The authentic German American filmmaker has recaptured the nostalgia of the American West influenced by photographer Robert Frank and feeding off plot themes by his contemporary, Jim Jarmusch. But much like all of Wenders films, his plots are not the central focus. He is interested in details, symbolism, existentialism and the process of creation. What I always liked about Wenders was his taste in music. I always hear something new that I get very interested in. Don't Come Knocking has a wonderful score.The Buena Vista Social Club is an obvious example, but there is also the music of Madredeus in Lisbon Story or the Stewart Copeland country score in "Kings of the Road'. speaking of "Kings of the Road", there is an interesting detail that is repeated in this film: At the end of Kings, there is a cinema with a broken neon sign that only has two letters lit "WW" which is the signature of Wim Wenders. This film, has a bar called the "M&M". which is the same only upside down. The story of this film by the way is co-written by Sam Shepard who collaborated with Wenders on "Paris Texas" . This time, he also stars in the film as a cowboy movie star on the search for his ex and his son who he never met. The landscapes reflect the ghostliness of an Edward Hopper painting. Few people exist in the town where he shows up. There are beautiful shots that are very memorable such as the view from the health club looking out the window where Shepard and Jessica Lange are fighting. Another great scene involves a trade in identity where a guy on a horse gets pulled over by a cop and ....well you'll see. Alhough this film symbolizes the transition to reality, it looks as though reality does not appear to be as real as one expects. This is a refreshing film by one of the great filmmakers of our time.

There should be a periodical published on when critics are wrong. Dead Man is a film that was long overlooked upon its release. This was partly due to the fact that Miramax did a lousy job at distributing the film, but only a handful of critics like Jonathan Rosenbaum recognized this film as a masterpiece. I saw Dead Man on the first screening of its premiere. After my first viewing, I had various problems with the film. I thought the film seemed too heavy on poetry and symbolism and I also felt that things didn't seem real or authentic enough to be part of a historical period. Other times, I felt the film was confused about its mood. Sometimes it seemed deeply serious and other times it seemed silly and absurd. Not until repeated viewings did I discover how appropriate these observations were to the film.

The first line of dialog in the film comes after a long uneventful journey on the train. The train conductor comes in and says to William Blake: "Look out the window. Doesn't this remind you of when you are on the boat..and when you look up at the sky you ask yourself 'why is it that the landscape is moving but the boat is still?'" This line is a key element of the film because it questions the essence of reality. Dead Man is not a film that deals with reality in any conventional sort of way, at least not in the narrative sense and certainly not in our preconception of history. Dead Man is a film that deals with a man's journey through a series of death experiences. Blake's destiny was originally to be an accountant for Dickinson Metalworks in the town of Machine. After some unfortunate events, William Blake is suddenly caught laying in the woods with a bullet next to his heart. A Native American named "Nobody" becomes his new mentor for his ill-fated journey.

The film feels fragmented with fades between scenes and a loose narrative structure. At times we feel the clock ticking and other times, we feel unconscious of what just happened. This was my experience anyway, when I first saw the film I remember Nobody telling his life story about traveling East. Something about how a whole city of people could move so quickly and then the rest of the story slipped my mind because it seemed too overwhelming and absurd. The key line to this moment however, was the name given to Nobody:"He Who Speak Loud Say Nothing". Nobody's life story is a reflection of the Allegory of the Cave written by Plato. Someone has traveled to another dimension but once he returns home and talks about his experience, no one believes him. The story told by Nobody also reflects the rise of capitalism and America's shift toward a more homogenized society. Dead Man takes us on a psychedelic journey through Western and Native American culture. We've come to understand through previous Jarmusch films that cultural influence is an inevitable part of life. Dead Man expands on this fact by demonstrating what happens when cultures clash. There is a hierarchal conflict with reality. Part of this is due to politics but it is also due to religious consequences. I've read reviews by critics who seemed puzzled by the reference to the poet and artist William Blake. There is a reflection to the poet's Christian background and his influences with other mystical beliefs. There is a famous poem sited in the film: "some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night." As one culture dies, another is born.The film comes full circle when Blake ends on the boat looking up at the moving sky. This is a great film. I can still see this today after repeated viewings and always find something new.