Being John Malkovich (1999)
Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Charlie Kaufman
(IMDb)
“Being John Malkovich” is a story surrounding the life of a puppeteer named Craig Schwartz. WORDINESS AND SYNTAX--REWRITE AND EDIT Considering the career of puppeteering makes little if not no money Craig looks to find a job outside of puppets. He takes a temporary job as a filing clerk at ______, where he discovers a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich. For 15 minutes he witnessing how amazing the sensation is, he is convinced by the woman he adores, Maxine, to start making a profit from it. However, he allows his wife to try it and through the portal she witnesses john Malkovich on a date with Maxine and falls in love with her. Sure, enough John Malkovich himself finds out after being controlled by Craig for a short time. However, this time that Maxine was with Malkovich she enjoys him more because Craig was controlling him. Craig then enters Malkovich once more and controls him for seven years, during that time he married Maxine, has a child and reaches further fame with puppeteering. In the meantime, Craig’s ex-wife finds out that Craig’s old employer knows about the portal and was going to use to it to extend his life. Through threatening Craig they force him to leave Malkovich taking him over once and for all. 
Some of the greatest things about “Being John Malkovich” reside in the cinematic techniques which in this movie really are what makes it visually interesting. The framing on each scene alone just makes it an interesting picture. For instance, the beginning scene when you see the curtains and the puppet, due to the framing DESCRIBE FRAMING of the shot you feel as if you are actually there watching this show at a theater. Also the framing DESCRIBE FRAMING of the 7 ½ floor really makes you feel as if you yourself are being crammed in there as well. You understand just how small it really is. Although all those things are great they are nothing compared to how important framing comes into play when we are in John Malkovich’s eyes. The corners of the screen are slightly faded which give the effect and feeling of being further back in his head, observing but not capable of actions.
Camera angles and camera movement also play a huge part in the storytelling of this movie. These techniques are most notably exhibited in the moments of drama and action or importance, for example, in a scene where craig puppet and Malkovixh puppet are dancing togher the way the camera follows the actions of the puppets allows you to feel the emotion and passion poured into them by Craig and displays his power and skill as a puppeteer.
WRITING!!!!The editing of the film is quite impressive especially when someone is transitioning to john the way that they fly down the tunnel and land into his head is quite an experience in fact it almost makes you feel as if you are there yourself, which is seen throughout this movie and is one of the main reasons it is enjoyable to watch. The sound and lighting also help with this effect because they choose the perfect swooshing sound when they fall down the tube and the perfect amount of darkness which makes this absurd circumstance a very realistic one.
CREATE TRANSITION TO THIS LAST CINEMATIC TECHNIQUE The fact that they actually made a “mini” floor and so realistic is quite fascinating and a little weird, it puts your head in a strange place because yes, everything is normal but oh wait the ceiling is way too low, and it's hard for your mind to cope with that.
COVER THEMES ISSUES OR QUESTIONS RAISED INFILM
are we really controlling ourselves? show how the film explores or raises this question
frustrations with everyday life and our mundane existence and the yearning for another more interesting or exctiing life--DEVELOP
realtionship bewteen the body and the self
CREATE TRANSITION TO THIS LAST CINEMATIC TECHNIQUE The fact that they actually made a “mini” floor and so realistic is quite fascinating and a little weird, it puts your head in a strange place because yes, everything is normal but oh wait the ceiling is way too low, and it's hard for your mind to cope with that.
COVER THEMES ISSUES OR QUESTIONS RAISED INFILM
are we really controlling ourselves? show how the film explores or raises this question
frustrations with everyday life and our mundane existence and the yearning for another more interesting or exctiing life--DEVELOP
realtionship bewteen the body and the self
871 words MAKE SURE YOU CHANGE WORD COUNT AFTER YOU ARE DONE
If there's any reason anyone should see Being John Malkovich at all, it's for how different it is. We have never seen anything like it before, and it is by far one of the weirdest movies we have ever seen in our lives. Craig Schwartz (played by John Cusack) discovers a tiny door behind a filing cabinet in his office in which people can crawl through and literally netr into the body of john M and see the world through his eyes. It's a very original idea, and it is certainly weird. The consistent amount of absurdity that the film contains, whether it’s the way people act, the hobby of the main character and his wife, the existence of a 7 ½ floor, or even the entire plot itself.does not make it a bad movie but it does eliminate the potential of it being taken seriously.
We felt the film could have ended differently HOW COULD IT HAVE ENDED DIFFERNTLY?,
http://www.asharperfocus.com/BEINGJOH.HTM
After Craig introduces the "portal" to his co-worker and even his own wife, they
all get tangled up in a bizarre love story in which Craig's co-worker likes to have romantic relations with John Malkovich while Craig's wife is watching through his eyes. It's a lot weirder than it sounds. The film breaks down into a meaningless love story that had no point even being in the movie which we found impossible to connect too simply because of how bizarre it was.
When it come to the quality of the film, it wasn’t that great. This is understandable since the movie was made 18 years ago, so it’s not what we are used really to now. As watchers we could tell that this move was made some time ago. Seeing that it was made in 1999 we could see some static on the screen during the film (even on different electronics).
The weakness of the film would be that there is a disconnection with characters since we couldn’t really relate to any of them especially when it came to Lotte. We all agreed upon the fact that she would just use character either to get money, pleasure or to be with them just to be recognized.
Discussing the strengths of the movie we touched upon how each character's development was kind of impressive, there epiphanies where kind of weird but it did help with their development and made it easier to see the change in their characteristics physically and emotionally. For more information about this topic go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601 ??????
THREE COURSE CONNECTIONS maybe do subjectivity, metaphysics and the self? you could add stuff to selfhood about continuoyus, unified single coherent self
THREE COURSE CONNECTIONS maybe do subjectivity, metaphysics and the self? you could add stuff to selfhood about continuoyus, unified single coherent self
This movie explores multiple different concepts, key topics and raises multiple questions about consciousness, subjectivity and selfhood.
1. GET RID OF THIS--NO STATE CONSCIOUSNESS BUT MAYBE SUBJECTIVYT COULD WORKThe concepts of state consciousness and subjectivity Sare touched upon through the theme of puppetry. Throughout the film, Craig uses puppets to express how he feels. In his “puppet world” Craig always gets what he wants, an example of this would be the scene where Craig confesses his love for Maxine and wins her heart over.
1. GET RID OF THIS--NO STATE CONSCIOUSNESS BUT MAYBE SUBJECTIVYT COULD WORKThe concepts of state consciousness and subjectivity Sare touched upon through the theme of puppetry. Throughout the film, Craig uses puppets to express how he feels. In his “puppet world” Craig always gets what he wants, an example of this would be the scene where Craig confesses his love for Maxine and wins her heart over.
In the real world, Maxine rejects Craig and wants nothing to do with him. This shows the viewer the different states of consciousness a person can have, fantasy versus real world, and how they can differ dramatically, as well as the subjectivity, intentness of one's internal thoughts.
Moreover the consciousness that one has, when they have power over another person or in love is also touched upon through the theme of puppetry. Maxine uses Craig as a puppet to get what she wants, both in Malkovich's body and outside. Maxine wants money thinking it will make her happy but in the end it does not. She uses Craig as an assistant and when in Malkovich's body she uses him to get money. Craig blinded by his love for Maxine does everything she wants, thinking it will make her fall in love with him. This shows the viewer how one`s consciousness can be influenced by the state you are in. What seems like a good idea in a certain period of time, may not be a good idea later on. This also shows the viewer how one's actions can be influenced by their feelings and subjectivity.
Lastly, selfhood is explored throughout the metaphysics DESCRIBE THE METAPHYSIC==QUOTE FROM THE FILM USE DEFINITIONS FROM CLASS TO GROUND WHAT YOU ARE DESCRIVBING of the film. During the entirety of the movie, the viewer is constantly questioning themselves about what is real. When Craig or Lottie are in Malkovich, they are able to influence his thoughts and actions when in Malkovich's body, without Malkovich's knowledge.
https://cinema1544.wordpress.com/cinema-1544/being-john-malkovich/
An example of this is when Lottie is able to change Mackovich`s mind about meeting Maxine and he does not know she did. This raises multiple questions in terms of self aware self. Are we truly in power of all of our thoughts? This is a question that is also asked when it comes to terms with the microbiome.
USE SUBHEADINGS
USE SUBHEADINGS
- ?What happened to Craig's body the whole time he was in john Malkovich?
- ?
- Who are you? MAYBE A JOKE MAYBE NOT__THINK ABOUT IT
1. For more interesting philosophical questions related to “Being John Malkovich” go to the following website: http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/being.htm
2. For more information about the control of one's mind here (SAY MORE ABOUT WHAT THE ARTICLE ABOUT) is an interesting article by Christof Koch: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/being-john-malkovich/
By: Cédric Kousaie, Ali Mushtaq, Benjamin Velitchkov, Samer Safadi
Works cited
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