Ratatouille: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Rat

     In the Pixar film, "Ratatouille," writer/director Brad Bird begins with what appears to be a simple and quirky story of a rat in France who dreams of being a great chef.  Remy, the aspiring cook/rat, befriends a clumsy and innocuous human named Linguini whose movements Remy can control by tugging his hair, thus giving Remy a vessel to pursue a career in cooking.  When Remy's father learns of Remy's job cooking with Linguini at a Parisian restaurant, he warns his son of the potential dangers of interacting with humans.  His father takes him to a pest control shop which displays dead rats in its window, explaining that rats will always be seen as vermin, first and foremost, and no matter how comfortable Remy becomes in his new surroundings, he "can't change nature."  Remy then defiantly refuses this notion, responding, "change is nature."  He refuses to accept that being a "rat" and spending his life with his rat clan is all he can hope to be.  The film's main theme now becomes evident with Remy's search for identity, unsatisfied with the potential of searching for food in the garbage, he wants to create something, he wants to cook.  Remy's frustration with his role in society is in full view when he confronts Gusteau, his imaginary chef who acts as his mentor, "I'm sick of pretending. I pretend to be a rat for my father. I pretend to be a human through Linguini. I pretend you exist so I have someone to talk to! You only tell me stuff I already know! I know who I am! Why do I need you to tell me? Why do I need to pretend?"  What Remy learns in the end is he doesn't have to be one or the other, he can be both a rat and a cook.  The film stresses we don't have to be defined by a specific role, that each individual is complex and unique unto him/herself.  A.O. Scott of the New York Times wrote that "Ratatouille" is "one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film," not only for showing Remy's initiation into the cooking process, but also his journey through self discovery to find his own success and going beyond his designated role in society.

The lack of empathetic characters in "No Counrtry for Old Men"

     The praise for the Coen brothers' "No Country for Old Men" has focused on the film's meticulous set-up of the scenes involving Josh Brolin's Llewelyn Moss and Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh.  Chigurh's persistent hunt for Moss is given great attention to detail in scenes such as when Chigurh removes his boots so not to be heard and Moss construction of tools out of whatever is available (even though after multiple viewings this reminds me more of "MacGyver").  However, all this momentum comes to a halt when Moss is found shot to death in a motel room.  While the unexpected and anticlimactic death of a main character would seem to be the film's main problem, it is actually more so in the abrupt attempt to focus on the perspective of Tommy Lee Jones' Sheriff Ed Tom Bell.  Although the Sheriff has a few scenes earlier in the film, the bulk of the attention is on Moss and Chigurh.  In the end, the Coens try to make the audience see the destruction and reckless behavior of Moss and Chirgurh through the eyes of the Sheriff.  He is shocked by the actions of the two men, how people can treat each other so.  The problem with this tactic is we don't spend enough time with the Sheriff, since the story is mainly told from the point of view from the other two characters, and then all of a sudden we're supposed to sympathize with the Sheriff mostly by way of his forlorn stare and "aw-shucks, I can't believe this just happened" demeanor.   
     The basic structure of "No Country for Old Men" is similar and more a effective in David Fincher's "Seven," with Morgan Freeman's Detective Somerset in the place of Sheriff Bell, Brad Pitt's Detective Mills for Moss, and Kevin Spacey's John Doe for Chigurh.  Both films have a main theme of man's inhumanity to man, but the difference is Somerset is our guide throughout the entire film, he is the main character, and all of the atrocities are seen from his point of view.  From the beginning, he is presented as the experienced, somewhat jaded detective on the verge of retirement who mentors the young, naive, and at times reckless, ambition of Mills.  This relationship further helps us to identify Somerset as the one who will make the best and hardest decisions, leading Mills through the case.  When "No Country for Old Men" ends on another anticlimactic note with the Sheriff's recollection of an enigmatic dream about his father, "Seven" again manages to out do the Coen brothers with Somerset's last line, "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."

Goodfellas: The Last Temptation of Karen Hill

     "This is not a movie with a lot to say, but it's a movie with a lot of great stories to tell."  This quote is from New York Times' film critic, A.O. Scott, on Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas," in reference to the film's fast-paced, docudrama narrative style.  Scott argues Scorsese is not interested in grand "Shakespearean" themes, but more in immersing us in the world of the Mafia.  This is a bit of departure from Scorsese's other work, such as Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, and Raging Bull, which are more of character studies dealing with inner conflicts on what society expects them to do.  The characters in "Goodfellas" are not conflicted at all about their roles in society.  They relish the power they have, the only laws they follow are those of the mob, and sometimes not even then.  When Henry Hill is put into the Witness Protection Program, the only thing he regrets is no longer being in the mafia, now he's just a "bum" like everybody else.
     The only true Scorsesean character in "Goodfellas" is Henry's wife, Karen.  From the beginning of their relationship, because her family is Jewish, she was concerned they wouldn't except him since he was an Irish-Italian American.  When Henry tells her to hide the bloody gun he used to beat her neighbor's face in, there is a shot looking down at the gun in her hands, she knew she should have left him right then and there, but she was also exhilarated by the whole event, at how dangerous and violent Henry could be.  When she is introduced to the other mafia wives, she can only think about how terrible they look, wearing too much make-up, awful clothes, and they all talk about how terrible their kids are and their husbands are never home.  She worries about ending up like them, and will it just be inevitable since the only people they interact with are the other mafia families?  Soon she excepts this new life, that these are the only people they spend time with, it all becomes "normal."  She is able to distract herself with the mafia lifestyle's perks, such as when she asks Henry for shopping money and he asks how much, she doesn't say a number, but indicates a size with the space between her index finger and thumb.  The one aspect of the mafia lifestyle she can't except is Henry's mistress.  She is so infuriated that at one point she goes to the mistress' apartment building with her two children and  screams into the intercom to stay away from her husband.  When she confronts Henry, she does so by pointing a gun at this face, perhaps the only way she knows how to fully get his attention.  Although only given a supporting role, Karen finds her place among the other Scorsese characters who struggle with what to do when they don't agree with what is expected of them.             

"WALL-E" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil"

      While it may be obvious and possibly intentional since one uses the others theme music for a teaser trailer, the similarities between Andrew Stanton's "WALL-E" and Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" go beyond the depiction of a post-apocalyptic world, as both main characters are motivated not by strong political or environmental beliefs, but love.  Both characters have tedious jobs, WALL-E is basically a mobile trash compactor, and Sam Lowry of "Brazil" has a low-level government position.  The only moments they have in breaking the tedium of their daily routines is their aspirations for love, with Lowry's frequent visions of a woman in his dreams that he later identifies as suspected terrorist, Jill Layton, and WALL-E's desire for companionship as viewed in a love-scene from "Hello, Dolly!" which he later associates with the arrival of EVE, a robot sent to investigate the possible return of vegetation on Earth.  Their love for these two female characters motivates their actions throughout the films, as WALL-E tries to fulfill EVE's mission of getting the plant to the spaceship's bridge, while Lowry takes a promotion to find out more information on Layton which ultimately leads to blowing shit up with Robert De Niro for one reason or another.  One difference between the films is that "Brazil" takes place in a totalitarian society, while "WALL-E" is on the Buy-n-Large megaship.  However, some incredibly cynical people could see Buy-n-Large as a totalitarian environment since although the robots assist the human passengers with all of their needs, they also tell them what to eat, what color suit to wear, and Auto is presented as the De facto captain of the ship, refusing to follow the human captain's orders.  Of course, Auto has been programmed not to return to Earth because it is deemed uninhabitable, but so what.  In the end, both WALL-E and Lowry live happily ever after with EVE and Layton, although Lowry turns out to be only imagining his happiness while he is actually strapped to a chair in a catatonic state, but hey, he thinks he's happy, and that's all that matters.  Right?