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cinematicalee · 4 years

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The Church as Heaven and Hell in The Harder They Come (1972)

Essay analysis under the cut!

The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell in 1972, depicts the narrative of a young man Ivan and his pursuit of fame and riches as he migrates from the Jamaican countryside to the heart of the island, Kingston. This journey is not easy for him in any sense of the word, as he is deceived and robbed within the first hour of his arrival as he attempts to find his mother’s home and his experiences only go downhill from there. The Harder They Come is a lesson, if not a warning, for those with similar ambitions as Ivan. The Harder They Come is a message to those aiming to enter the secular music industry as a means of social and financial mobility to turn away from that lifestyle, and instead to conform to a Christian lifestyle as one’s salvation shall come through the Lord.

The church acts as both heaven and hell for those involved in it. Ivan attains security, emotional and financial support and hope from members of the church; this is his salvation – he no longer lives on the streets, trying to make a living from begging and scavenging. Yet he stifles underneath the regime and rules of the church such as reading your bible every day, three times a day, as mentioned by Preacher. Conversely, one of Ivan’s first antagonists was a member of the church, and Ivan suffered greatly as he pulled away from the teachings of the church and began branching off into a more secular side of life.

The sequence in question begins with an unnamed reverend preaching to a choir saying, “It rescued the perishing! Cared for the dying! Snatched us from in pity [from sin]! Raised us from the grave!” These are the spoken lyrics of the song “Rescue the Perishing” by Frances J. Crosby. When paired with a later scene of Elsa’s betrayal, the strength of the church’s power is clearly represented; Elsa cannot help but turn back to the church after living with Ivan for so long as she searches for redemption and salvation for herself and for the ill child she cares for. Thus, rescuing the perishing, caring for the dying, and snatching the impoverished in pity from sin. Ironically, the return to the church for Elsa, and by extension Rupert, the ill child, is a means of rescue whereas, for Ivan, it is death and damnation.

However, this was not always so. As previously mentioned, Ivan had turned away from the church in the pursuit of riches, fame and, eventually, infamy. In the first scenes of the film, upon locating his mother, she and Ivan have an exchange that becomes rather ironic as the film continues. She implores and orders him to go back home to the country, and when that fails in the face of his determination to remain in town, she rightfully predicts, to Ivan’s indignation, that the only job he can get in town is to become a criminal. She tries to derail this prediction, however, when she gives Ivan a scrap of paper with Preacher’s name on it and said that if he behaves himself, that Preacher would set him up with “a little something”, meaning a job. Ivan takes the paper but never calls nor goes to see him, instead, the audience sees scene after scene, clip after clip, of Ivan sleeping on the streets, unsuccessfully begging money from others and trespassing in various places. This is the first indication of the church for Ivan as lawful, as salvation, a means of survival even.

The second depiction of the church as salvation is in the same vein as the first, and it is highlighted in a close up of Ivan, after weeks if not months of homelessness and hardships, turning to the church in search of comfort and solace. Though he does not feel as if he belongs there, as he chooses to stand outside and peer in through the louvres instead of going inside and participating. The lighting of this scene also lends to this idea, as Ivan standing outside the church, is cast in the shadows whereas the church is brightly illuminated. This is symbolic of Ivan being in sin, whereas the church is holy and righteous. The film then cuts to show Ivan, wearing different clothes and working in some sort of repair shop. We can assume that he is no longer homeless and that he is gainfully employed, rather than begging those he comes across. Furthermore, the shot shows Ivan and a man known as Preacher having a conversation, where the contents imply that Preacher was the one to set Ivan up with the job in the first place.

Contrasting these two shots implies that the church and the diegetic sound of the song “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” that the congregation was singing is what saved Ivan from a life on the streets. The song lyrics plead for Jesus to keep them (whoever is singing the song) from “all wrong” and state that being close to Jesus, i.e. practising a Christian lifestyle shall satisfy their needs. Preacher giving Ivan a job can be interpreted as the third time that the film projects the church as a means of redemption.

Dissimilarly, the unnamed preacher also quotes the King James Version of the Bible, from Romans 6:23, as it says that “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Henzell also appropriately depicts the church as a means of control, or the rejection thereof, as a source of damnation and downfall. The first instance of such occurs during, and after, the congregation sings “Jesus Took My Burden” by Johnson Oatman. During the church service, Ivan cannot stop looking at Preacher’s ward Elsa, and she occasionally looks back at him. On one such occasion, Preacher catches them. He is clearly unsettled and upset at the sight and what it means. This is proven in the next scene, when Preacher confronts Ivan unnecessarily roughly about some harmless music and rocking while he fixes a bicycle, claiming that his ‘boogie-woogie’ was unseemly for a Christian and that he should be reading his bible instead of fixing a bicycle. It is clear that he is not actually upset about whatever it is that Ivan is doing, he is just taking his anger about Ivan and Elsa showing some level of interest in each other, and the significance of this in relation to his power and control over Elsa and Ivan. Henzell also depicts the church as a means of control further when the film shows a crosscutting of Ivan and Elsa enjoying an idyllic bicycle ride together from the sea back home, and Preacher rifling through and even destroying Ivan’s things.

Moreover, the penultimate instance of the church as hell is shown when Preacher evicts Ivan from the church premises for recording/playing ‘secular’ music in the church – he strays from a proper Christian lifestyle. He is immediately punished by the Powers That Be as he stabs Longa after he refuses to give Ivan back the bicycle that Preacher wrongfully gave him. Furthermore, when they are scuffling in the yard and Longa stabs Ivan with the broken bottle he was using as a weapon, Ivan kicks it out of his hand and threatens him by asking if he wants to die because he’ll kill him as he continues to stab and slice at Longa, almost torturing him. Justice is swiftly served as evidenced by the jumpcut to a judge walking into a courthouse and a voiceover of one reprimanding Ivan by saying that “[Ivan has] been taken into the church and given a chance to live a good Christian life and instead of that, you’ve gone and filled your head with foolishness and violence”. This is proven as Ivan falls further into a life of debauchery with drug usage, drug running, guns and murder, which ultimately ends as he fatally shot by members of the police force after a botched attempt at fleeing the island.

In view of the foregoing, it is evident that the church is represented as a means of oppression and control via conformity to those who are impoverished or otherwise marginalised. In contrast, those who reject this Christian lifestyle, those who sin against the church, are shown to suffer greatly, that is damnation. This can be a result of mental or physical sins ranging from having sexual fantasies in the church, during service, to enjoying secular music and shirking Christian responsibilities such as bible-reading and/or are doomed to eventually die a painful death, as is the ‘wages of sin’.

#honestlee #the harder they come #jamaican film #the harder they come analysis

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syedwasifali2001-blog · 6 years

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Film analysis 1

Saving Private Ryan

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon

Release Date: July 24, 1998

Saving Private Ryan

Saving Private Ryan is a Drama & War film which has Captain John Miller taking his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Surrounded by the brutal realties of war, while searching for Ryan, each man embarks upon a personal journey and discovers their own strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honor, decency and courage. As this is a war film it has elements of high octane combat so it naturally comes under the classification of Action & Adventure.

The film successfully captures the horror and desperation of war. The entire film has this faded & muted grey colour pallet which perfectly represents the tone of the film which is bleakness & uncertainty. Majority of the war films often romanticise the aspect of war & makes it sound more like a pleasant roller coaster ride & less as a horrifying catastrophe of loss & bloodshed, this film does the opposite & by showcasing the true bloody nature of war but even after all of that at the heart of the film lies themes of courage, heroism, sacrifice & honour.

Even though the film is mostly a war film, the elements of drama are still prevalent. While soldiers converse emotionally, the camera does mostly medium close-ups or close-ups, there is a lot of information given through emotions, the dialogues are real & their reaction to being put in a real-life situation (a war zone) is well pretty similar to the conventions of drama. There are a lot of long takes which often makes the viewer feel like they're witnessing it in person, it makes things more personal.

The music played during these scenes are emotional, slow & often orchestral, these are tropes of drama music. Important character moments & arcs are accompanied by emotional music.

The film also sets up arcs for each character, every person must overcome a flaw & do what is needed to earn what they want.

He does not wear his passions and opinions on his sleeves as his fellow soldiers do. In fact, he intentionally reveals little about himself.

Capt. Miller does not discourage the questions that surround the mission. But he cannot join in the complaining. He allows the spirited young men to voice their concerns. Perhaps he realizes the futility of his position. How can one convince another to go to risk for another person that he does not even know? He uses humor and directed discussion between his men to further the sense of purpose about their mission. Instead of authoritative lectures about duty or simple orders to "shut up," Miller leads his men in a mature fashion.

His role could be compared to that of a teacher which is ironic as pre war he was a teacher. He treats his men as his students.

Miller rarely opens up but close to the end of the film, he opens up out that he is a school teacher and is married. Miller reveals a private side of him previously kept secret. He admits that he does not know the meaning of the war or the worthiness of Private Ryan. (He may not even be alive.) Miller's soliloquy closes with an offer to officially release Reiben from the mission. Reiben, clearly moved by the candid sincerity of Miller, decides to stay with the mission.

This was one of his arcs, opening up & this changed Reiben's motives. This is important, a character's arc should impact himself or others in the film

Key Themes

As this is a war film, there are plenty of themes of violence, destruction, blood, gore, death & loss. The reality of film portrays the true perils of war during WWII. The movie begins with the invasion of Normandy which is shown quite accurately, the scene features dismemberment, heads exploding, characters dying around & the use of WW2 weapon, it’s all pretty gruesome & why don’t you have a look for yourself. Besides the theme of violence & desperation, there are also themes of hope, heroism & honor. The film truly never forgets the heart of what lied in the soldiers back in WW2 which is courage & sacrifice. The costume, props & the make-up of the film is pretty standard for a war film, army uniforms, WW2 era weapons & the setting is made pretty believable set design. There is a lot of work that went into the film, take the opening scene of the film for example, the sheer amount of people, props & make that was used to make this very scene believable is beyond me. It is said that The D-Day landing is known as one of the most horrific battles in history & this scene certainly does it justice. The battle cries of the soldiers, the agony shown clearly & the excessive use of morphine to kill the pain is accurate & quite frankly horrific to think about, imagine injecting this drug to temporarily rid you of the pain of losing your entire arm just so you could fight for a few more moments is just traumatizing to think about. But like I stated earlier, there is more to this film than just violence, take the opening scene of the film for example, where Private Ryan walks up to the grave of Captain Miller or maybe the scene where Captain Miller finally opens up about his past, it’s emotional & these few moments of silence in this heavily chaotic film feels poetic & beautiful.

But really throughout the film, there is one prevalent theme & that is a sacrifice, millions of soldiers gave up their lives to defend their countries in the original war. They left behind their families, friends, jobs & the comfort of their homes to defend the people of their lands. In Saving Private Ryan, these soldiers keep pushing ahead even if the status of Private Ryan is doubtful, they don’t know where he is or even if he’s alive but they keep at it & give up their lives so that Ryan could return to his mother as the only surviving son.

Shots, color & movement.

The movie used Aaton 35-III, Panavision Super Speed MKII and Ultra Speed MKII Lenses, this technology is relatively recent, the format was the commonly used super 35mm. Like I mentioned earlier, the film’s color scheme during the past was mostly desaturated with a hint of blue in it’s shadows. This signified the bleak nature of war as everything around lost its colors, it’s happiness & all that was left were the torments of war. The film’s excessive use of blood & wartime weapons further add to the authenticity & the use of handheld shots & long takes really makes you feel as if you are in the action, letting you absorb or take the moment in. The film’s use of medium close-ups of characters when they’re speaking has more emphasis on their emotions which is mostly pain, sorrow, confusion, anger & desperation with a few moments of laughter & happiness. These close-ups make you feel intimate but are further enough The Film use of props added to the fantastic set design, the use of make up for showing gore, bullets, grenades, MG15, MP40’s, Tommy Guns, 1911’s, M1 Grands, Tanks & Jets added to the authenticity of the film, making the setting more believable.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the film was it’s the use of lighting, the majority of the film used low key lighting. The key lighting looks dark and intensifies the shadows. The heavy contrast of bright light lays on the faces of the soldiers. This gives the movie a look that is more dark and natural and relates to the theme. Spielberg says, “Early on we both knew that we did not want this to be a Technicolor extravaganza about World War II, but more like color newsreel footage from the 1940s, which is very desaturated and low-tech The lighting made the movie more realistic as if you were a part of the war. Not only realistic but depicted the melancholy mood in every scene, regardless of what was going on. In the scene, “Duty” jokes are being thrown around as the crew marches toward their mission. Throughout the scene, the conversation is more cheerful, but the lighting continues to give the approach of a gloomy story. The film also has this very documentary look to it which makes it look like we’re watching an old WW2 tape. The cinematography also follows plenty of composition rules. The film has good establishing shots. Majority of the shots are long taken with a few jumpcuts & shot reverse shots, other than that there aren’t many editing techniques used. The sound, however, is masterful. Audiences typically forgive bad video quality but never tolerate bad audio, movies spend millions of dollars on the sound so that they could make the movie more believable. Thankfully the film used the art of foley to capture the sound of the film, battle cries, gunfire, sound of grenades, tanks, airplanes. The sound has been mixed well with dialogue & the music which is composed by the legendary John Williams, the person behind the star wars soundtrack. Throughout the film, instruments such as brass, string, and horns were used to evoke a variety of emotions and tones. The soundtrack gets intense during battle sequences & slow & emotional during the more quieter moments.

In conclusion Saving Private Ryan is a war film showcasing the brutal realities of war, representing the variety of soldiers who gave their lives in the war & teaching the meaning of sacrifice

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