Production: New Line Cinema
Distribution: Sogepaq (Spain)
Genre: Romance, Drama
Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Synopsis: This is the life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 28-year campaign to win the right to end his own life with dignity. The film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer suffering from Casadil Syndrome who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that his life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible.
Interviews:
This video is very conventional as these kind of behind the scenes footage that are usually shown on news reports or culture shows and whilst they show footage from the movie to support/clout a point, or to give a general feel of the movie, this is something I cannot do. However, I do feel as though the dialogue itself is satisfactory in providing and encapsulating to general vibe of the movie; the questions asked are philosophical, and very topical with discussions and personal opinions on euthanasia. The star, Javier Bardem, says at one point 'nobody ever teaches us how to die', hinting at the prevalent themes of morality, mortality, dignity, sadness and grief. This lets the audience know that this isn't a light-hearted, flippant movie to go and see,this is a psychologically engaging/stimulating movie, and the realism of it will be the most brutal thing about it. This is because of the social realism of the movie and perhaps the low budget (Curran and Seaton; it had to be gritty due to financial circumstances, imminently fulfilling the fact that it only exists in certain economic contexts) aids in this realistic representation of tangible topics; this perhaps makes the movie a lot sadder, and henceforth establishes the need for the cast and crew to respectfully but fully answer the philosophical questions with equally philosophical answers.
Humour is abandoned in this interview, which is appropriate but not always a convention as sometimes when movies embrace dark subjects, the external media is light-hearted to try and attract audiences. However, as this one doesn't, there is a respectability to what they stand for as we see their integrity is intact. This goes beyond selling a movie, this is about selling a man's journey to death, providing him with as much dignity and respect as possible. This lent respectability and lack of sensationalist humour alludes to an older, more mature audience who like to explore these narratives and characters. This may reference an audience of the Explorer stature as the themes do not promote enough security and familiarity for a Mainstreamer, but are fairly unconventional, niche texts for those who enjoy challenging themselves, be it via belief systems, or they like to discover more taboo scenes such as euthanasia.
The way the clip is shot is fairly conventional; the interviewee is shot in medium close-up to medium shot and it largely focalises them for the most part of the video, as even the director
Alejandro Amenabar says at one point that Javier Bardem is the 'best actor in Spain, everybody knows that', perhaps hinting that the movie is a star vehicle to integrate inherited audience's attention onto the story.
The setting for the video is conventional, it appears to be 'on-set' and subsequently low-budget; this is something I want to convey in my clip as the movie itself won't be massively high-budget, so the marketing will be even less so. This is purposed to give a small taster of the movie, and whilst they can usually show some bustle going on in the background to emulate a sense of hard-work, the way in which the movie is spoke about by the director and actors alludes to how enough emphasis has been placed on how good the movie is. This implies a sense of modesty, alluding to an audience that do not respond to sensationalism, and even those who may be considered Puritans from the Lifestyle Categories as they may feel that by watching the movie, they are doing their duty as a good citizen to cry at the appropriate places and sympathise with the characters. This may also encourage those with the potential to be a Utopian (Lifestyle Categories) as Javier Bardem speaks very thoroughly and passionate about euthanasia, perhaps acting as a role model to those fighting for the cause. Though, the beauty is that somebody can take either sides. This film is promoted by the director in this video as ultimately versatile and unbiased, allowing audiences to proclaim and fulfil the need for autonomy.
DVD Case:
The DVD covers for this movie are conventional, beginning with the director's name on the front cover and the mention of his previous works; this adds a sense of prestige that appeals to the audience as they are guided to believe it will be a good movie. The use of the Cultivation Theory by Gerbner is utilised here via the repetition of the ideologies that this is a worthy, notable and moving film, as cited via the mention of the Oscar award. This, as it is in clearly visible black font that juxtaposes the saturated white, alludes to the importance of the information. This can also be supported by the fact it is in the bottom third of the front cover, technically speaking, it should be the last thing people see of the front cover, henceforth giving them a reason to consider looking at the back or purchasing it.
This is all very conventional and becomes a motif throughout as on the back Javier Bardem is branded 'best actor', again alluding to the prestige and notoriety they have used to appeal to audiences as they may have to integrate an inherited secondary audience from the director and the cast as they are a fairly indie movie, which means they have to attract attention by any means possible. This links to the Power Without Responsibility model by Curran and Seaton as they said that media texts can only exist within certain financial contexts; a single image is used for the entirety of the DVD case, and it is rather minimalistic. This implies that this isn't a high-budget production and thus forth cannot rely on the narrative or marketing alone to promote the movie, the need to include these strategies may be deemed necessary for success. This is clouted by the fact these awards, reviews and 'best' acclaiming are from reputable sources.
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