Movies

The advent of technology and industrialization has brought numerous changes in the way humans are leading their lives. These changes are apparent in all aspects of human lives including the manner in which human beings are fulfilling their basic needs. Although technology and industrialization have aided human beings in increasing the production of food, it has also resulted in a situation where the quality of food is being overlooked completely. The documentary Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenner brings forth the hold of corporate world on food production and its detrimental effects on the quality of food being produced in America. The documentary spans the journey of food which begins in the farms, managed by the food industry, and ends up in the stomach of the people. It shows how the food industry run by the corporate world is regulating food production to achieve its aim of amassing profits and thereby causing depletion in the quality of the food being produced.

    The documentary depicts the manner in which food is being produced to fulfill the needs of raw material for the food industry.  As the food industry is concerned only with the quantity of food produced, it neglects the quality of food and continues to serve its customers with food which has very low nutritional value. The meat utilized by the food industry is procured from farms where cattle are reared in an unhealthy way. Along with meat, the food industry serves its customers with harmful bacteria. Dargis (2009) mentions in his article that From there the director Robert Kenner jumps all over the food map, from industrial feedlots where millions of cruelly crammed cattle mill about in their own waste until slaughter, to the chains where millions of consumers gobble down industrially produced meat and an occasional serving of E. coli bacteria. (para. 2). Meat produced in this way enables food industry to provide its customers with cheap meat but the damaging effects this meat has on the health of the consumers is ignored by the food industry. Another food whose production and prices are influenced by the food industry is corn. As corn is used by the food industry in large quantities, the production of corn is taken under its control by the food industry.  Even the government aids the food industry by keeping the prices of corm extremely low. To reinforce his claim, the director presents the case of Monsanto, a food company, which has complete control on the production of corn. The hold of food industry on food production has led to a situation where processed foods are available at cheaper rates than the natural food. The documentary spreads awareness among the people regarding the low quality of food served to them by the food industry and also advises them to switch to local and organic food, for it is high in nutritional value and produced in a natural way.

Conclusion
    As the food industry is providing its customers with cheap processed foods, numerous people in America are consuming these processed foods without thinking about manner in which these foods are being prepared. The documentary Food, Inc. directed by Robert Kenner throws light on the way the raw materials needed by the food industry is procured. For the supply of meat, these industries rely on farms where cattle are reared in unhygienic conditions and diseased cows are slaughtered. I would surely recommend this movie to a friend, for it not only informs people about the quality of the food they are eating but also makes them aware of the reasons which are causing the reduction in the quality of their food and provides them with ways through which they can have healthy food instead of supporting the manipulative food industry by being a consumer of their processed foods.

I. Introduction
Everyone who is already aware of what was happening in the world was, in one way or another, affected by one of the tragic events that happened in the British royal family in the modern era, and that is the death of Princess Diana. Princess Diana was often the centre of publicity and news and magazine articles because of how she lived her life during and after her marriage with Prince Charles. But besides Prince Charles, there is one individual who is also affected by this crisis, not just because of her emotional attachment (or lack of) to Princess Diana, but because Princess Dianas death was a microcosm of what Queen Elizabeth II described as a possible changing of values and changing of times to which the current royalty may not be well equipped enough to continue to rule with wisdom and authority. This event challenged the Queen and impacted her as hard as it impacted any other individual. The movie The Queen is testament not to how the queen has effectively ruled in the past, but more importantly, how the queen handled and survived this particular crisis that threatened to damage not just their family but the royal crown as well. This is a movie that focused on emotional weaknesses, emotional strengths and how the true leader shows strength in character by being able to choose, at the end of the day, which between the two will be more superior over the other. The movie The Queen is geared at compelling the audience towards a particular set of emotions and to affect their own perspective and thinking regarding and involving Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana, especially during the time of Dianas death. The creators of this film used the combination of the genres of melodrama and docudrama to create its portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Diana, and eventually achieve their goal of affecting or creating a particular attitude or mind set towards these two celebrities. The aspects involved in film production and consistent to the two genres used strengthened and solidified allowed for the goals and the objectives of the film to be achieved by acting as means and instruments for this specified, particular end.

II. Discussion
The creators of the film, including the director and the producers are all looking for a certain impact that the film The Queen will have on the audience particularly an impact on how the people will view Queen and Princess Diana after impacting the feelings, thoughts and ideas of the people regarding these two peoples as a result of the portrait that the film created of the two individuals. The creators believe that this impact will be realized through the combination of two genres - the melodrama and the docudrama. Because of this, analysis is inclined to investigate what melodramas are and how it impacts the audience, the same consideration in the analysis of docudrama, separately.
Through the analysis of these concepts and aspect, the investigation regarding The Queens use of the combination of the melodrama and the docudrama will understand better what the film is trying to achieve, what it achieved, and what is failed to do, in some aspects. The creator used the combination of melodrama and docudrama to create its own version of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and Diana. The question here is how the combination was made as reflected in the film, what were the reasons for the use of such combinations of genres, and based on the scenes, how the combination of docudrama and melodrama in the end created the portrait of Queen Elizabeth and if the creators intentions, purposes and expectations were realized, achieved or even surpassed, or if the outcome created a whole new different output and how the creators and the audience reacted to it.

The portrait that was created of Queen Elizabeth II base on the film was that of a steadfast matriarch in the beginning. As the movie goes on, this stoicism appeared to be something that is not fake, but rather, just one layer of the multifaceted individual who was also presented as an individual who has the capacity to absorb and embrace change, although in a something obstinate and difficult manner. The queen, as a leader, was a person who holds strongly to tradition, as how she defended her position with Charles and with Tony Blair. But this leader was also an individual of wisdom who knows the merit of change when she sees it. In this story, the process of change was made more compelling because of the fact that change was influenced not just by political situations but personal conditions as well that appealed to the emotions of the monarch.

As a leader, the film created the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as someone who maybe critical of her Prime Minister, but is nonetheless, capable of listening and adhering to the advice, even when the queen hinted in the later part of the movie that it was she who should be advising him (Blair, the PM). As a family member, Queen Elizabeth II was painted as an individual who seeks the counsel of her own family, like how she often talks about the issue with her husband and with her mother. She also displays her grandmotherly love and compassion, not just verbally through her words addressing the public in a televised statement, but also when she acted based on the belief that it was for the good of the two young princes. All of this contributes to the creation of a portrait of an individual (Queen Elizabeth) that is complex and strong-willed, traditional and open to change, a woman who is ready to make sacrifices, whatever it maybe and in however form it may take.

More importantly, this portrait allows the people to understand and see Queen Elizabeth II as a woman who is also vulnerable to the emotional struggle that any other individual can experience - being locked in a tug of war between two powerful emotional forces, or being cast as a villain for acting upon traditions, etc. In the end, Mirren and Frears excellent job in acting and filmmaking allowed the people to see Queen Elizabeth II in a somewhat different light and in a different angle. Like Mirrens portrait of Elizabeth I, this film reveals the human side of Elizabeth II and probably did more for the queens public image than any public relations wizard (Ford, Mitchell, 2009, p. 297).
The movie also painted the image of Princess Diana that many people are familiar with (and it could have been this reason why this was the image the movie painted and not a deviation from popular image of the Princess of Wales). Through the real life footages featuring Diana, the viewers, before tackling the change in personality that Queen Elizabeth II will display midway and at the end of the movie, first needs to be reminded about the good qualities of Princess Diana, as a tribute to her kindness, as being faithful to what is true, and also as a contrast that will be used as background so that the characteristics of the Queen Elizabeth is strongly manifested, magnified and enhanced. In the movie, Diana was portrayed as the good girl who deserves the honour and respect people want to bestow on her upon her death. She had many appealing qualities including an instinctive capacity to sense suffering and pain and a vocation to reach out towards the victim (Bousfield, Toffoli, 2002, p. 179).

Many historians wrote about Dianas emotional conflict and problems rather lightly. For Lady Diana, living in the royal goldfish bowl is a new and at times exasperating experience (Fryer, Bousfield, Toffoli, 1983, p. 74). But in the end, as the movie reflects, it was not as light as that. The emotional problems were not as simple as something that is merely exasperating at times because as Dianas life shows (and as the movie reveals). These emotional problems have been central in her late mature life, during and after her failed marriage with Prince Charles. While the death was an accident, it was the mounting pressure coming from emotional problems that pushed Diana to consistently run away - away from the spotlight, away from criticisms, away from traditional practices she is expected to obey and follow, away from what the society is dictating her, away from a life that seemed to be getting more and more burdensome and less and less happy and fulfilling for her.

A. Melodrama and docudrama
The Queen is a movie that is loaded with drama. Melodrama and docudrama are two genres that influenced the creation of this movie. The analysis of how the characters of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II is analysed and discussed in consideration to how melodrama and docudrama affected the presentation and creation of the movie and how it affected the creation and presentation of the character portrait of these two women.

i. The mix of docudrama and melodrama - It was a seamless combination of docudrama and melodrama that both were indistinct and unnoticeable as a separate genre since both effectively complimented one another which resulted to the creation of a movie well done and portrayal of female roles (Diana and Queen Elizabeth II) that are evocative, compelling and powerful. The movie took the best of melodrama and the best of docudrama and put the two things together. The manner by which the fusion was undertaken is testament to the excellent standard, taste, artistry and mastery of the director who successfully constructed the movie from these two basic parts (melodrama and docudrama). From the docudrama, what it took was the...while from melodrama what it took was...The combination of the two is reflected in how the realistic footages strengthened the emotional feelings being addressed in a movie that was strongly defended as a work of fiction despite being closely similar and possible an event that happened involving the queen and her family immediately after Dianas death.

a. Melodrama and the portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth II and Dianas portraits as individuals - Melodrama has characteristics that are evident in the movie The Queen. However, to be able to understand that, it is important to understand the essence of melodrama first. As the name indicates, melodrama is affected by melodies or music that affects the audience side by side the drama that the audience sees. In the movie The Queen, melodrama aspects and characteristics are noticeable particularly in scenes wherein the actions being seen and witnessed by the audience is enhanced by the use of music. Another important characteristic of the melodrama is the tackling of intense emotional themes. These emotional themes help shape the character of the actor or actress. For example, the death of Princess Diana is a strong emotional theme that can be used for a melodrama, considering how strongly the people were affected emotionally because of this event (Lebecht, 2001, p. 424). Dianas death had opened a floodgate of emotions (Lebecht, 2001, p. 424).

This is very important in the movie The Queen. In the movie, there are intense emotional problems that both Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth have to address. In the end, having to face these emotional problems helped define the character that they have become and help explain why they were who they have become at the storys end. Examples of the intense emotional problems and conflicts that they have to face include the central conflict in the story, the death of Princess Diana and how Queen Elizabeth II was torn between emotion and tradition that caused her earlier lack of direction on how to react to the situation, both as a queen and as a human being. Queen Elizabeth IIs life and her transformation (Morency, 2009, p. 25), was portrayed in the story as a life that is emotionally charged because of the things that she has to bear and be responsible for. Her relationship with her family, her priorities, her political responsibilities are all part of the very emotional time in her life captured by the movie.

As for Princess Diana, what was presented in the movie is the aspect of her life which is as emotionally charged - her life outside of the royal family, her own personal emotional conflicts, how she has to deal with the pressure that went with her social status, etc. These provided the elements of high emotional intensity that is the characteristic of melodramatic genre. Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth IIs lives were central in the film. The film focused, in particular, on the emotional struggle that both women have to face. This emotional struggle was a result of the pressure created by the social status that they were in, as a queen and as a princess.

This was the perfect formula for melodrama. The manner by which it was executed reflects the ability of the director to apply just enough subtle and sublime melodrama to make the story emotional inside the context of the lives of the two lead women characters, but at the same time, not hard sell the concept of drama and not make the problems affecting the lives of the people in the story pass and predictable. Melodrama also is not just about the emotions of the characters in the story. It is also about the emotions of the audience, emotions that are there and was something that the director wants to tap into, or emotions that would be created as a result of the viewing experience. Melodrama is about appealing to the heightened emotions that the creators of the film believe the audience possess or have inside them.

Years after the death of Princess Diana and how Queen Elizabeth II reacted to it (especially in the first couple of days), it was evident that this was a social historical event that has impacted the public emotionally. Creating a film such as this and reminding the people how Princess Diana was before she died, how the queen would have thought and reacted to all of the issues surrounding Diana and her relationship with the Royal Family is an emotionally charged topic that can rouse intense emotions from viewers, characterizing melodrama. Melodrama is about tackling a particular crisis that focuses on emotional impact and emotional reactions to such crisis, both by the characters and by the audience. The story is real life and not just made up since in fictional stories the emotional impact may not be as high since the audience have to related in a vague way, unlike in real life stories wherein real people are involved and it is easier to sympathize, as was the case of mourners in the death of any popular celebrity from John Lennon to Michael Jackson.

This is another important aspect of melodrama. In melodrama, characters presented in the movie normally follow the hero or heroine role from beginning to the end of the story and sticks with it. Vis--vis, the villain role is retained by the character from beginning to end. In the movie The Queen, it appears that Princess Diana managed to follow this pattern, appearing as the pressured victim of the social system and condition she is bound and trapped until her death, but the character Queen Elizabeth II did not, since there is a noticeable shift in tone. In the beginning, the queen appeared to be cold, stoic and uncaring, the perfect character for the villain to put against Princess Diana. But it is noticeable that at the end and as Princess Dianas character was slowly removed from the picture because of her death, Queen Elizabeth became the focus and the people noticed the transformation, which contributes to how Queen Elizabeth II is perceived by some people after watching the movie, especially those whose opinion about her changed in lieu of how they were emotionally affected by a melodrama film like The Queen.

Offhand, the term melodrama is often associated with movies with too much drama in it that it is not realistic anymore. The effort to appeal to the emotions start to appear crude, hard sell and plain cheap at some extent that it becomes stupid and hilarious instead of being seriously dramatic usually because of the failure of the director, the writers and the actors. The Queen, a multi awarded movie commended because of the excellent acting of Helen Mirren and because of the excellent directing job by Steven Frears, fits the traditional idea of melodrama. It applies just enough effort to stimulate emotional drama. Queen Elizabeth II hardly ever cried. When she did for a short time while stranded by the river with a broken jeep, she cried looking away, the camera shooting from behind her, focusing the extreme side and back of her head. This was the only indication she was crying was the slight bobbing of her head to indicate she was sobbing. Other aspects of melodrama that is present in The Queen include character development and the interaction of characters. All of these things contribute to the melodrama aspect of the story, meshed effectively with the use of parts and aspects of docudrama.

The movie The Queen is created not just for the consumption of British audience since non-British individuals were also affected by the death of Princess Diana and were also affected by how Queen Elizabeth acted during this crisis and was therefore curious and deserving to know what could have possibly happened outside the consciousness or knowledge of the people that could have contributed to how the idea towards the queen was changed and re-shaped had this information was made known. Because of that, the melodrama genre is a usable and practical approach. As professionals noted, using the style of melodrama allows the creator to make the film something that can be appreciated by anyone from different countries and cultures, considering the idea that melodrama is becoming a formula with universal appeal. Melodrama in the late twentieth century increasingly revealed its potential for universality (Hesmondhalgh, 2007, p. 223). With this, the film was not restricted by the limitations other genres would have imposed to the film and allowed the film to be enjoyed by other people, as well who are just as interested to know and have insider glimpse on what really happened inside Buckingham Palace to explain why things turned out as they did during and after the death of Princess Diana.

b. Docudrama and the portrayal of the Queen Elizabeth II and Dianas portraits as individuals - Docudrama is something that refers to a particular style of presentation of a movie and television show and program. In this particular genre and style, the noticeable characteristic is that the story is actually lifted from a historical event. An essential characteristic of the docudrama is the removal of the own interpretation, idea and commentary of the creator in the final output, in a sense telling the story as it happened although with artistic creativity to the process of storytelling. An essential part of the docudrama storytelling is that when available, real actual footages are used to give the television show or movie a closer connectivity to the historical or real life event that it is trying to re-tell.
In the movie The Queen, the aspect of docudrama is very prevalent, particularly in the retelling of the story of Princess Diana with focus on the details of her mature, post-divorce life, just before she died in a horrible car crash. It was noticeable that the movie did not actually have an actress re-enact Princess Dianas life (besides the one time when Diana was leaving a hotel and entering a car, and the actress face was not seen), and Frears actually opted to use footages of Princess Diana. Through this, what was presented was Princess Dianas actual emotions, and the opinion and feelings of the audience after watching the movie is affected by images of the real Princess Diana. Docudrama is a style that has become successful through the years because people or audience appreciates the idea that what they are seeing is something real, something that happened to real people and not just a mere imagination of a writer and director. This allows them to sympathize and giving them the feeling that their feeling of sympathy is legitimized by the fact that what they are sympathizing to is something real and something that really happened to real people.

The director of the movie tried to create a portrait of Princess Diana through the use of aspects of docudrama to give it the feeling of being real and for the movie to exude genuine feelings and emotions with regards to the life of Princess Diana. Without a doubt, the docudrama style of using actual footages to depict the life of Princess Diana has a profound effect in how the movie is perceived and how Princess Diana as a character in the movie is perceived and embraced by the audience. As for the portrayal of Queen Elizabeth IIs life particularly during the time of Princess Dianas death, the genre of docudrama is hardly evident in that aspect, considering the fact that the director and writer merely imagined how the queen would and have reacted, although how the writer and the director assumed the actions are based on information regarding what really happened during that time and in consideration to information provided by credible sources that contributed to the building of the pieces regarding the queens actions.

The creator of the movie is looking at impacting the perspectives and beliefs of the people, and resorting to adding aspects of docudrama to the approach guarantees not just success but the ability of the film to attract as many viewers. The film wants to reach as many people in the hope that many people will get the chance to revisit the scenes and events surrounding the death of Princess Diana, particularly how the Queen reacted to it. The emotional turmoil that the queen was put under and something that the public may not know in the past and has impacted and affected their perspective about the queen in lieu with how she reacted to Princess Dianas death, making the film important and making the move towards using aspects of docudrama important in the success when it comes to achieving the goals and objectives of the film (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 6). Docudramas that are based on sensational headlines...deliver huge audience (Rosenthal, 1999, p. 6).

While the creators of the move The Queen admitted that the work was, at best, an assumption of what happened regarding the reaction of Queen Elizabeth II and the death of Princess Diana, there are scenes and parts in the movie that ring true to what actually happened in real life. For example, it was well documented, written and talked about inside and outside Britain about how the initial reaction of Queen Elizabeth II and the monarchy to Dianas death was frowned upon. This particular truth was used as an important foothold that allowed the story to move in the direction that it was going for, with regards to developing and exposing the personality of Queen Elizabeth and the factors that shaped this personality particularly during the time of Dianas death. The reaction of the monarchy to Dianas death certainly brought criticism of their behaviour, though the depth of the crisis should not be overstated (Ward, 2004, p. 35). This hold in aspects of truth strengthens the facet of the film being partly docudrama because the dramatic aspects of the story are strongly supported by real life events such as this.

B. Analysis and interpretation of the relevant meaning-making elements
The meaning-making elements found in the film assist the observer in being able to understand through analysis and interpretation what the film is trying to convey, what sets of emotion it is trying to share or impart to the audience and how it attempts to impact the audience through the visual cues present in the film, including the analysis of cinematography, costume and lighting as well as website design and advertising photography.

i. Cinematography - The cinematography was executed with impeccable style and taste. It focused on various transitions - transition from inside offices to the wilderness, from the small nooks of the residence of the queen where she ponders in private with her emotions, to the vast, open space areas crowded with people who came to mourn for the dead princess. Shooting and framing styles adhered to traditional ways and no innovative or new style in shooting and framing was seen. This focused on simplicity that made the film look more poignant and allowed the people to more easily absorb the emotional struggle and turmoil that was unfolding inside it from the beginning. The director played with tight close ups, mid shots, panning and wide shots to give the image of the queen different aspects of how big and how small she is in relation to what surrounds her, not just physically but emotionally as well.

ii. Costume - Costume design plays an important role in character development and is indicative of character and personality and how this shifts as the story progresses. This case is particularly true with the presentation of Queen Elizabeth II, but not so much in the case of Princess Diana. This is because in the case of Princess Diana, the director has opted to make do with what is available from news footages, limiting the control over costume and costume design. For Queen Elizabeth II, costume design was utilized in such a way that it played an important role in telling the audience the character, mood and personality of the queen in every particular scene. It is noticeable how the queen acts more like a mother or grandmother when inside the privacy of her room and wearing her sleeping robes. The queen is also bereft of her royal status when she is clad in her typical outdoor outfit when going for a trip in the woods. This outfit also allows the character to act like an ordinary individual, playing with her dogs. This gives the audience a glimpse of her past as a mechanic, and even allowing herself to cry because of the feeling of sadness over what happened to Diana.
When she is wearing her office attire, she looks powerful, dominant and in control, as the queen should be. What is most noticeable is the time wherein after the queen have accepted the request of Tony Blair for the Royal Family to pay their respects to Princess Diana, the queen that is often dressed in attired of different colours arrived wearing black, which strengthened the visual cue for the audience and allowed the audience, even without words, to feel that the queen has indeed shared the mourning for the death of the princess. All of these are proof of how costume and costume design contributes to the shaping of the character and personality of Queen Elizabeth II in the movie.

iii. Lighting - Lighting was subdued all throughout the movie. This may have something to do with either the impending mood in the end or simply because of the British weather, which is often grey and damp and very seldom sunny. Add to the fact that many of the scenes were shot inside offices, which subdued bright colours even more. The subdued lighting enhanced the personality and character of Queen Elizabeth, as if to mean that she is always standing inside a particular shadow and does not fully show her true self to the public. This was consistent to the tradition and beliefs that Queen Elizabeth II believed in. The lighting enhanced the feeling of inner turmoil, sadness and emotional struggle that the characters have to bear throughout the story.

iv. Website design and Advertising photography - The website design and advertising photography was done in excellent classic fashion. True to the goal of focusing on how Queen Elizabeth II reacted and changed during a particular life crisis, the design and photography used to market the film was regal as it was simple, with focus on one side of the face of Queen Elizabeth, as if to connote that the public is only aware of one facet of the queen, or to suggest that the movie is set to unmask and reveal the other part of the queen to the public previously unknown to the people, or maybe the goal is both. Photography and design are crisp, clear, and minimal, with very little loud colors and utilizing intensely the impact of white and gray broken by the redness of the lips and the crystal blue eyes, denoting power in the face of the character. The photography and design offered no pretensions or promise of suspense, and was just simple and direct, including the typography and text style for the marketing collaterals.

v. Music - Music has a significant role in creating and strengthening impact and effect of visual cues and embedding messages to the consciousness of the individual. In the early part of the film, it is noticeable how the films use of music is minimal. The significant part assisted by the use of music is when the time music provided the sound during the collage of the many different footages featuring Diana and Dianas life as she was being hounded by paparazzi at the height of her affair with Dodi Al Fayed, during the time she was consistently reminding the people of how she is already detached with the Royal Family, and near and during the time of her death. The significance of music and use of music appeared close to the end, when an operatic music was used to enhance the mood during burial of Princess Diana.

vi. Framing Control and capture - The framing of the scenes of the movie was all about capture and control of emotions, character and personality. The framing often features close up or mid shot of the queen, denoting power and importance especially during tight shots featuring the queen from the waist up, occupying nearly half of the frame. Framing was also responsible for indicating the concept of privacy among the royalties. When the time the queen was sobbing and crying, it was shot from behind the queen, only showing the back of her head and the only indication she was crying was when her shoulders shook a bit. The framing techniques applied by the director allowed the movie to display the many different emotions of the queen. She was, at one point in the story, happy, sad angry, pondering and uncertain, harbouring the feeling of indignation and being upset, focused and in control, and a queen, a mother and a human being.

The tight close up shots made her to appear as if she was always looking at her image in the mirror, always trying to ponder something, weigh something that is on her mind, quietly share a part of her soul with the audience that is looking inside her, cuing to the emotional stock without words, which is more powerful and more compelling. Framing was about focusing in on capturing human emotions, particularly the human emotions of Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. The footages selected for the film has already done that for the movie, while for Queen Elizabeth, the director used framing techniques to send this message across. For Princess Diana, there are images involving wide landscape shot to evoke isolation, the big world around her and how some of this big world is something that she is escaping from, and how the concept of grandness is tied to these shots. There are also tight shots focused on capturing strong human emotion from the individual, similar to that of Queen Elizabeth. Overall, framing is about human emotion, adding or building up what the film wants the audience to thinkfeel of the two individuals and the personal characteristics that they both possess (i.e. ability to love, to be hurt, to be sad, to be stoic or the inability for such action, etc).
vii. Symbolic mise-en-scene - There are several symbolic mise-en-scene. However, there are selected few that evokes strong power, emotional turmoil and suggests the transition towards change as was anticipated or hoped for by the audience. One of the powerful and symbolic mise-en-scene in the film was found during the time the queen was sitting atop her broken jeep. This scene was loaded with symbolisms from different aspects and parts of the scene. The broken jeep represented old royalty tradition and protocol to which she was riding all along and that at some point it will experience difficulty. A former mechanic, the queen knew how to fix it but resorted to asking for assistance instead, because it was protocol. The same was the case for her current dilemma because she was already aware of the problem and what needs to be done, but at that time she still continues to let tradition and protocol dictate the outcome of events even when she knows that it does not seem right and fitting anymore. Being stuck in the problem eventually left her isolated and alone, like how she was alone atop that jeep by the river.

When she stopped to looked around, she appreciated the beauty she saw, and that was symbolic of how she seemed to have failed to see the beautiful things around her that can make her happy. This realization, all the more, made her sad. Another symbolic mise-en-scene was found during the beginning. The Queen was clad in her royal attire. Despite every trapping that symbolized her being a queen, she remains distant and uninvolved in the process of choosing the next prime minister for the country. Despite her queenly authority and power, there are things that her power cannot reach. There are many other symbolic mise-en-scene in the movie, strengthened and enforced by how the different aspects (costume, lighting, props, actors, etc) are placed in a particular scene to achieve that effect.
viii. Point of view - The movie featured a third person point of view, wherein the omniscient observer was able to tell and share to the audience what the different characters feel about the issue, allowing the audience to be able to see what the individual does not allow other fellow characters in the story to see for particular reasons, and thus, enabling the audience to have an unbiased opinion of the situation after being presented by information and perspectives coming from different sides and sources.

Queen Elizabeth has her own opinion regarding the crisis, and so does Tony Blair and Prince Charles, and even Queen Elizabeth IIs mother. The point of view is important because it is important to tell the audience that the story was not told from a particular vantage point- not through the perspectives of the royals, not through the perspective of an outside observer with limited access to insights, and not through the perspective of a mere servant, but through an omniscient point of view that allows the entire story to be seen independently and presented without bias or favour to one party or individual. This is common in melodrama although not the case often in docudrama. In docudrama, the case often is that one of the individuals who are important to the event provides the details and narrates what happened and how it happened based on his memory of that particular event. In this story, no one who was involved in the story was allowed to tell the story based on their own perspective and was all relegated to mere participants of a third person omniscient perspective film.

III. Conclusion
What is the importance of bringing back such a painful experience and reliving it all over again For those who witnessed the death of Princess Diana, it was such a painful and emotional experience. Sometimes, events like this should be presented again to the audience for an important reason, and that is to allow the audience to be able to look at the story with less emotion and more objectivity, especially if they think that they have judged the entire event emotionally and not with rational objectivity. The story allows the audience to take another look at the individual whom many people believe is the main antagonist during the Princess Diana crisis. Through the movie, the audience is allowed to rectify particular beliefs which may not be correct beliefs that are severely affected by emotions alone considering how emotionally charged Princess Dianas death was.

This was one of the goals of the movie. With its success, it appears that it outdid itself. Observers believe that more than revisiting the feelings for the Queen especially how the queen acted during Princess Dianas death, this film was also important in reviving the interest of the people in looking back at important historical aspects of UKs storied history. Steven Frears film The Queen, which features an Oscar-winning performance from Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II, has re-awakened interest in recent British history (Helen Websters Quotations, 2008, p. 25). What the paper reflects is that the creator was trying to convey a particular message to the audience. It may be a political or emotional message or both. The director noticeably approached filmmaking in this project by exploring the possibilities that melodrama and docudrama combined can offer, especially since there are aspects in melodrama and in docudrama separately that can be key in the success of the film. For example, the value and impact of real life drama is important why viewers patronize docudramas and why docudramas become popular, which makes this genre and ideal style to use if the goal is to reach many people and appeal to as many people as much as possible. Considering the breadth and depth of the story of Princess Dianas death and how the queen and the monarchy reacted to such matter was emotionally charged that it made for good film material especially when approached using certain strong aspects of docudrama. Films based on real life events, such as...the impact on Queen Elizabeth II of Princess Dianas death in The Queen capitalize on or exploit the feelings and excitement the original event aroused in order to attract large audience (Campbell, Huxman, 2008, p. 82).

In the end, both Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana are both heroines because of what they were able to do despite the restrictions of tradition and pressure from the social practices. For Queen Elizabeth, her yielding to the request to formally mourn the death of a princess was an act that was not just simply an act of humility but more importantly a moment that can drastically re-shape how the people view her, especially after doing what she did in the movie (and in real life), which is considered as an act that humanizes her in the eyes of her people and the world (Santas, 2008, p. 126). As for Princess Diana, she was a royal nonetheless because of how she worked for those who are in need, earning the approval and sympathy of the people. In the end both were victors rising from a traditional system that can be choking if the individual does not have the strength in character, and that was what Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth II showed in the film.

At its worst, Paul Andersons movie Punch-Drunk Love can claim to be a dark romance. At its best, it is surprising, poignant and entrancing. It has been described as a new-fashioned love song (Taylor, 7).The constant meeting and separating of the disconnected principal characters adds a certain amount of uncertainty and intrigue to the movie. The justification for the title is not immediately apparent. However, as the story progresses, we do see that the two main characters are indeed madly in love with each other. So much that they tend to ignore each others bizarre and unexplainable behaviors  almost as if they are too drunk to notice or care even if they do notice.

The highlight of the movie is the way the characters keep meeting throughout the movie. Parallels can be drawn to an extent with When harry met sally. The apparently chance meetings and the odd match between the protagonists make the storylines of the two movies seem slightly alike though any kind of similarity ends right there. Like John Ulmer said in his review, with their weird behaviors and dialogues, the principle characters are as different from Harry and Sally as they can be. From the very beginning, when Lena orchestrates a strange meeting between herself and Barry to the very end of the movie when he leaves her in the hospital to travel to Utah to do apparently nothing significant, punch-drunk love keeps the viewer guessing. The story is predictable and yet utterly unpredictable.
The character of the protagonist Barry ranges from bizarre to eerie and yet one cant help feeling for him when he is craving to meet Lena. As reviewed in Chicago Times, He has darkness, obsession and power (Ebert, Punch-Drunk Love).  Even though the sequences of events seem totally random, as the movie progresses, they come together in a misfit yet understandable way. In the supermarket scene, every time Barry bumps into someone, the viewer expects it to be Lena and is disappointed repeatedly. The scene seems like one of the random scenes in the movie having no relevance to the main plot especially since Barry himself doesnt seem to have any intentions of travelling anywhere with all the air miles he plans to accumulate. However, this sub-plot of airline miles using health food coupons becomes the focal point of the movie towards the end. It becomes Barrys lifeline and a way for him to make the relationship work. Similarly, the sex-hotline subplot which seems unnecessary at times drives home the desperation of loss towards the end of the movie when Barry believes that Lena is in danger. The much-hyped party scene where Barry is expected to meet Lena branches off into a completely different event altogether and yet acts as an introduction before their actual meeting.

Every meeting between Barry and Lena seems accidental yet we do realize from time to time that it is not so. Lena keeps appearing and disappearing in Barrys life and in doing so falls in love with him without any rhyme or reason. At the very beginning of their relationship, it is implied that Lena fell in love with Barry after seeing his photograph. There is no justification or reason behind her actions and it remains so throughout the movie. Her actions seem so unreasonable that even though Barry denies doing anything weird, he still keeps asking her several times if she indeed wanted to meet him.
All through the movie, the actions of the characters keep the viewer confused with their sheer irrationality. While irrational love is acceptable atleast due to popular belief, some of the other aspects of the movie totally defy sense. Why does Lena arrange such a strange meeting, what does she see in Barry, why does Barry keep changing outfits in his sleep  many of these questions remain un-answered. Yet they seem to have an explanation deep set in the human mind.

The best part of the meeting between Barry and Lena is the unpredictability in the turn of events. There is an element of suspense even in the mundane everyday tasks. On their very first date, Barry manages to completely loose his control in a restaurant and ends up getting thrown out of it. The way he tries to pay the bill unseen by Lena to spare himself embarrassment is one of the most touching scenes in the movie. Also, the way he tries to get Lenas Hawaii address from one of his interfering sisters without letting her guess his feelings for Lena is beautiful.

The character of Barrys sister Elizabeth adds to the confusion with her intentions about the relationship between Barry and Lena. On one hand, she appears keen for them to meet and go out together and on the other hand, she manages to highlight every single embarrassing secret of Barry in front of Lena. Therefore, the viewer is relieved when Lena hides the fact that she is with Barry in Hawaii from Elizabeth. For Lena, none of the weird behaviors shown by Barry seem to matter. It is apparent in the way she keeps asking him to visit Hawaii even though it is clear that he has no business being there.

The movie not only focuses on love and connections, but also on the pain of loss and separation. The characters keep getting separated from each other throughout the movie. Initially, it is due to Lenas work enagagements. There are quite a few unanswered questions about her life though no one seems overly concerned about those. Then, when Barry tries to join her in Hawaii on the pretext of a business trip, he is told that the airline miles on which he has been pinning all his hopes cannot be redeemed for another 6-8 weeks. Finally, when Barry actually manages to reach Hawaii, he realizes that he does not know where Lena stays. The two get together despite all this only to be separated again when Lena is injured in an attack related to Barry phone-sex adventure. This attack is the turning point of the movie as it leads Barry to realize what Lena means to him. Though he is seen exhibiting violent behavior all through the movie, it is only during this attack that his violence takes the form of courage. He not only manages to injure his attackers and save Lena, he also gathers the courage to actually track down his tormenters and confront them out of his own will. The same Barry Egan who tells a dentist at the beginning of the movie that I dont like myself very much, actually confronts  a gangster after this incident and tells him  I have love in my life, and it makes me stronger than anything you could ever imagine.  While the entry of Lena into his life reminds the viewers of a breath of fresh air, the fear of separation acts as a catalyst for his self-discovery.

The movie defies logic, borders on insane at times and yet it works. It makes the viewer laugh and cry with the male protagonist. His happiness at finding someone who actually likes him and his fears of losing that person are utterly believable.  The movie is high on sentiments and yet devoid of melodrama. It ends on a positive note with Barry and Lena getting together and yet, one cannot help feeling apprehensive about their future. It can be perfectly summed up as Punch-Drunk Love leaves you addled, a little dizzy and overcome by a pleasing, unplaceable sensation -- one best summed up in the movies title (Scott, 90).

     Finally, the emotions of meetings and separations triggered by chances portrayed beautifully in the movie are described perfectly in its songs as well
For once, for once in life I felt that someone needed meAnd if it turns out real, then love can turn the wheel Because...He needs me (Williams and Duvall, He needs me).

In every film or movie that hits the theaters, we see it just another story we heard or seen before, it was like our daily routine in reality but somehow just out of curiosity we still went and see to satisfy our minds and even our  hearts.  A movie is different from a film in a way that the first the intention was to entertain while the second teaches us something beyond what we see and hear, it could also let us understand the historical background of our country and how our people able to survive certain tragedies that befall our nation.

The film Cinderella man is not just another typical story of boxing, but gives us the glimpse of what is America before- the power and greatness it holds today, the film was set in year of Great Depression, not only for America but all over the world. The film is set to see how the people, government, the rich, the poor, employed and the unemployed cope with this series of events in America, and how they were able to face each day with hope and faith that this kind of struggle will end.

The Cinderella Man represents each person in America he feels the struggle, the pain, the hardships and the lost of everything he worked for. The film shows how a man stands from all the problems he is face with, and how America become a great nation, the society that surrounds him help realize the true strength within and was able to prove his worth.

    Films and movies are made for us to learn something and use in the current situation we are in, in this film it could be said that to prevent another depression we should be more aware of what our world is in, others could say that from falling apart other good things arise, we learn to fight and learn to give up and somehow we become a better person for the world to see, we need to learn to appreciate our history and respect it.

CULTURE OF AMERICA IN 1930s
Set in 1929, the Age when most of America was reeling under onslaught of the Great Depression, the movie Cinderella Man comes across as a very fine depiction of that era. It too only conveys the mood of the people which was of hopelessness and despair, but it also depicts the heroism of individuals in difficult times. Their refusal to succumb to character lapses, as well as their endurance to struggle for their families with a clear conscience.

Additionally, Expressen (Sweden, 1201) states that the screenplay beautifully portrays the relationship Braddock had to his family. Its more than a boxing film. Because of this, the once close-tied family values that Americans had was exposed in a most dramatic and unconventional way. It is a fact that the family is the center of a mans life in the American culture and that one would do anything for them, just as what Braddock did for his family in the film, during the Great Depression days in the United States in the 1930s.

Socio-political riots, obstructions, and crimes had aroused in the film. Civil unrest was significantly reported all because of poverty, oppression, and unbalanced economy. Civil disorder as purported in Wikipedia.org is a byproduct of economic slowdown, severity of inflation, political crisis, unemployment, and even sporting events in other nations. Indeed, it was far worse than the recession that the Americans have been experiencing today.

Cultural History of the Grotesque (1997), that art serves as a function of culture and as indicators of a nations mentality. The plot of Cinderella Man weighs winning and losing in superlative perspectives, to win the game means a lot for it defines how much food and shelter one could owe to his family especially that it was set in the Great Depression days. Jim needs more than a bucket of motivation to pursue his career. He was soulfully inspired by his lovely wife, Mae and by his understanding kids.
Murray Newton Rothbard (Americas Great Depression, 1963) defines the crisis stemming from under-consumption or a failure of consumer demand for goods at prices that could be profitable. Rothbard connotes the period as a wasteful misinvestment or the particular time where errors are made, due to bank credits tampering with the free market. He defines crisis as when the consumers redress their desire for things. To quote, the depression is the actual process by which the economy adjusts to the wastes and errors of the boom, and reestablishes efficient service of consumer desires. In that time, the worst economic turmoil was experienced by the crippled masses in the entire U.S. History.

The Great Depression began in 1929 in America and lasted for almost a decade. As this was said to be the worst depression after the dawn of the industrial age, a ripple like effect was felt all over the industrialized countries. The reason for the depression being overproduction with the help of the newly discovered machines, versus the inability of the masses to consume the produce. It caused the stock market to spiral down, out of control, and caused the major slump.

Financial institutions and banks were forced into insolvency causing millions to lose money. The faith of the people in the government and their own future was lost. So the rich spent less. The decrease in the spending capacity meant decreased production, forcing thousands out of employment. The Cinderella Mans story is dated right in the middle of The Great Depression. The movie beautifully depicts the culture at that time. The dark age is emphasized by the dark and gloomy atmosphere in the movie.

Likewise, inferiority and competence are among the major issues in the 1930s affecting women. It could be said that sexist ideologies are predominantly struggling factors in nation building. Even at present times, speaking out publicly or exercising ones freedom of speech have its consequences. Eloquence or persuasive speaking in public and anti-feminism acts has been history-bound issues. Sexism in science, as history has it, seems to be a sacrificial lamb for women to attain a respectable status quo. Derivative works of women in the fields of politics, sports, entertainment, business, science and technology, and their humanitarian causes are all conclusively contexts of an outlet to their voices.

Cinderella Man deliberately shows the importance of family in the American culture, the role of a woman in the household and the society and the sacrifices that a father and a husband are willing to do for his family. It also showed a chauvinist era wherein which women had little or no voice at all.

CULTURE AND THE MOVIE
On the other hand, the film, most importantly, tackles boxing as genuine sports of courage, angst, guts, and bravery.  Incorporated with factual accounts, this critically-acclaimed motion picture was made more valuable with Braddocks fairy-tale grip toward his far-flung, sweet success. It all rooted out in one sentimental scene where the aging Jim went to the Boxing Federation who fired him, begging or even more so, selling himself just to buy milk for his kids and to pay their neck-deep bills.
The role of boxing in this film is to see that although America is in bad situation not all its aspects are depress it has also given a way for boxing to take its peak and people to respect the profession of boxing, it is not about brawling or seeing men hit each other but to see the use of men in this sport discipline, respect and control for their actions.

Furthermore, the reason why most of sport-themed films are of commercial success is that the topics are normally intense, enigmatic, poignant, dramatic, and mind-boggling. Some critics battled that this is just another boxing movie, no match as compare to the Oscar-Winning Million Dollar Baby. But, as far as the critical audience is involve, historical fictions like Cinderella Man will make a great deal in terms of social significance. This is also similar to a superhero film wherein the people need a robust figure to make them feel inspired, to uplift their spirits, and to free them from tyranny.
The Cinderella man starts his life as a light heavy weight boxer. Boxing was an extremely popular sport, whether it was to forget their misery or for the entertainment value, As Pollard (2005) describes the sport, It was huge--as popular as baseball, and maybe more so. Heavyweight champions were superstars, with a Michael Jordan-like fame. Fans by the tens of thousands thronged to see the big matches, with millions more avidly following via radio and the colorful stories of newspaper sportswriters. The use of boxing in the movie effectively takes the viewer back to the 1920s. The filming of the boxing sequences brings to life the tone of the film. The palette used throughout the movie ranges from bleak, dark city streets to brash, golden boxing rings lit with the pop of flash bulbs. As stated by Julia S., Maple Glen, PA

It may be said that in each era, time and place a hero is born, he sets standards which are the highest, ideals which are the purest, so that all those who are suffering for want of direction may follow. Director Ron Howard has but utilized the existing, incredible living tale of Braddock, of a life lived to the fullest. A life where there was ample opportunity to complain and falter. Instead Braddock used such a life to his advantage and glorified it for all times to come.

CLIMATE AND TIME OF THE MOVIE
    Using the theme of boxing as synonymous to what is happening in that period of time, it gives us a clear view how this two subjects are connected, while the culture of America experiences the effects of great depression its significant other sports-boxing is on its peak, it is a way for the Americans to find a way to divert their attention to rather than immersed themselves to the loneliness the great depression brings. The main concern of this film is how it could picture all Americans in a one man and how he will able to contribute for the uplifting of souls of his countrymen. It could be shown the struggle of Americans when poverty hits rock bottom, in the film Braddocks family struggle between surviving for the day and facing alive tomorrow, what makes it more difficult is the climate America has, the winter time its hard for a poor family to survive without electricity and enough food. It showed us how strong Americans are and how it was able to survived any difficulties we faced.
Sports is a very in demand topic in American Cinema now a days. The probable hype behind this is the kind of thrill that a sport-themed film could give as compared to other genres. The fact that it is family oriented and is of literary merit, sporting events are often factual adaptation rather than make believe. Thus, it attracts a lot of movie-goers because they can put their own feet to the shoes of the characters. The target market was then diversified.

The realism in the movie is best described by Pollard (2005) Watching a recreation of painful historical episodes isnt always fun. After all, the Depression was sodepressing. But at the same time, historical films provide a time-capsule thrill of watching a long-past era spring to life. But also it is a good way how this events turn out to be good in a way, without this kind of event that challenges us we cannot say that America could attain its status now, become more aware of events that might occurred form our historical background, this film gives way for young Americans to learn how America became America, that it did not happen overnight but it was learned from what time brought us. Sports and history has its ways to tell stories and to learn something from it, events can be seen in every angles and shapes its own story.

    The film was able to capture the culture of America the setting, style and the climate it was able to frame the moment in the times of great depression and how it affects all the livelihood of people and also the society and American families, one way of looking at it is in the angle of sports and its contribution in the time of great depression, it was able to give a clear picture of what it was like before and able to make us see how hard life back then. It was the time of darkness and despair for all, no stable jobs, unemployment and sickness are abundant.

Boxing in a way was not affected by the depression since people are into it and that for some it is a source of income, at the time of great depression boxing became a popular sport and how it also help ease the pains of the people in that time, some see it as an answer to their prayers to have money for their family. We could see that in that time husband make sure that he provides everything and the wife stays at home, this is also one culture of America that has change in the present but still being fight by the women, in male dominated world women have a hard time proving itself many rights and wants are being push-thru, it could be seen that men are more likely to work than women before. And because of this film we were able to see the difference of our time now and before, it teaches us to be thankful of the privileges we have now and enjoy.

    The film also shows the situation of America and how it was able to overcome its problems. It shows the culture of America as strong, willed and is still fighting, its belief that it can overcome the problems that makes America today, the film also inspire us to believe in our self, as said earlier each film produced has something to give us to learn and to us for the better of our situation. It teaches us to be more aware and be more attentive on what we do and how we do it.

Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest film makers, especially when it came to suspense-filled horror flicks. Hitchcock always felt that it was good luck to appear in his own films. He also was a genius at taking the mundane and turn it to something that was truly frightening. A great example of this was  The Birds . Hitchcock films usually left the audience to interpret the moral of the story. To understand the true genius behind Hitchcock s work it is important to look at it from a cinematic perspective. In class we viewed one of Hitchcock's greatest works,  The Rear Window.  For purposes of the essay, the framing, bird eye view, and mis-en-scene will be examined.

The framing of Hitchcock s  Rear View  is crucial because the bulk of movie takes place in L. B. Jeffries New York City apartment. Jeffries is confined to a wheelchair so Hitchcock frames the movie, so the audience will see what he sees. It is as if the audience is sitting in the wheelchair along with Jeffries. Jeffries is also a photographer, and uses the camera lens to spy on his neighbors. So when Jeffries looks though the camera lens, so does the audience.

When considering the bird eye view of  Rear View  it is important to understand the framing mentioned before. Because Hitchcock sets the movie in Jeffries apartment. Jeffries looks out his window onto the courtyard below, very much like a bird sitting on the ledge. Hitchcock gives the audience a birds eye view of the courtyard, and Jeffries perspective of his neighbors lives.

Hitchcock blends music with typical city sounds like sirens, and cars. This is all heard within the confines of the courtyard.  The result is that both the music and the noise help integrate the sense of space in the courtyard. This integration counteracts the effect of the films editing and mis-en-scene, both of which tend to isolate the neighbors from one another (Weis 1982). Hitchcock treats music and background noises as if they were another character in the movie. They are just as important to add to the mood of the picture.

The  Rear View  was no doubt a cinematic masterpiece. The movie was Hitchcock s first attempt at staging an entire movie in one room. The movie won four academy awards and continues to inspire directors today. There are many reasons why  Rear View  was a huge success. However the masterful framing, birds eye view, and mis-en-scene are three important ones when looking at it from a cinematic point of view.

Brief Historical Context
    African cinema refers to the film production in Africa, particularly to the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa after their formal independence in the 1960s (Thackway, 2003). Further, the term generally includes the directors from among the African diaspora (Ibid.). Also known as the Black Africa, the Sub-Saharan region is home to the majority of black population and, during the colonial era, had been represented on film as a place without history through such films as the jungle epic Tarzan and The African Queen, as well as various adaptations of the 1885 novel entitled King Solomons Mines by H. Rider Haggard (Ibid.).

    During the French colonization, filmmaking was formally forbidden to Africans, and even when films about Africa were created, they were made in France, like the first francophone African film LAfrique sur Seine which was created by Paulin Soumanou Vieyra and actually shot in Paris in 1955 (Ibid.). Prior to independence, only a few of the anti-colonial films were produced, such as the Les Statues Meurent Aussi created by Chris Marker and Alain Resnais, which was a story about the European robbery of African art which, for ten years, was banned by the French (Ibid.).

    In the 1960s and 1970s, post-colonization Africa started to surface in the film industry, with La Noire de or Black Girl by Ousmane Sembene winning an international recognition, the very first African film to win an international recognition in the history of African cinema (Stearns, 2001).  The Black Girl was an interesting film showing the despair of an African woman who needs to work as a maid in France, which the writer Sembene, who originates from Senegal, used as a medium to reach a wider audience to convey the sentiments of most black women during the time (Ibid.). Consequently, Sembene was regarded as the father of African cinema, with his native country Senegal also considered as the most important place of African film production for more than a decade (Ibid.).

    Further, the Federation of African Filmmakers (FEPACI) was formed in 1969, which was a positive step towards the professionalization of the African film industries, as the FEPACIs focus was on the promotion of African film industries in terms of production, distribution and exhibition, as well as on the role of film in the politico-economic and cultural development of the African nations and of the continent as a whole (Ibid.). In the same year, the Soliel O, containing a controversial filmic language depicting the life of a stranger with the wrong skin color in France, was shot by Med Hondo, and which was immediately recognized (Ibid.).

    From the 1980s and beyond, the African cinema has been able to develop and create various films, some have been well-received especially by the Western audience, while some have been criticized for various reasons, mostly for the socio-political contents which are vulnerable to misinterpretations especially by different interest groups. In the 1990s, with the onset of globalization trends, many of the African films (e.g., Quartier Mozart created by Jean Peirre Bekolo of Cameroon in 1992) are situated in the already globalized African metropolis (Ibid.).

    This paper tackles the issue of globalization as an influence in the shaping of the African cinema in the modern times, within the context of historical trends such as migration, diaspora, colonial pasts, contemporary circulation of commodities as well as the challenges of nation-state formation. Utilizing both primary and secondary sources available about African cinema, this paper analyzes the globalization effects on African film industry in the larger context of socio-political aspect which include the challenges on taxation, and on prioritization (increased income opportunities vs. cultural preservation), as well as the other challenges affecting the content and style of the films. 
Globalization and the African Cinema

    Globalization trends in the African film industry
    Cham (2000), in an extensive analysis of how globalization is shaping the contemporary African cinema, points out that globalization is not a new concept to the African people who had gone through decades of colonization primarily because globalization as it is now is, similar to imperialism, all-encompassing, with its multi-facetiousness of political, social and cultural likewise, unlike imperialism which has its identifiable targets, manifestations or personifications, globalization is amorphous and elusive.

    Globalization, according to Cham, is not new to the African people also because its idea of cross border or cultural connections and exchanges of different forms and scales is something that is beneficial for the humanity, and is also recognized by Africans across broad time spans and geographic spaces as the African systems of thought espouse ideas of commonality for local, regional and global humanity with the tight belief on connections, for instance, the Ngunis of Southern Africa has a saying abantu ngabantu ngabantu, which means people are people only through other people.  Likewise, the recent formulations like the Negritude, The African Personality and the African Renaissance are privilege notions of globalization that are shaped partly by the local, regional and national African specifities and contributions to the global systems. In other words, globalization does not come too strange to the Africans.

    Globalization, according to Cham, is mainly of Americanism, of capitulation, of engagement and of rejection, against or despite which the African filmmakers must weigh their options in order to cope with the globalization trends which, on one hand, seem to push Africa back to the old colonized continent, and on the other hand, pull it out of obscurity from the world. In more concrete terms, globalization has led Africa to surrender its sovereignty to global institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), through the institution of economic structural adjustment programs which basically have given birth to the tenets like privatization, elimination of subsidies, deregulation, opening the economy to free trade, free circulation of goods and all kinds of services, downsizing, competitiveness, etc. All of such globalization reforms and coping-up mechanisms have resulted to social, political, economic as well as cultural chaos and dislocations, affecting all facets of the society, of which, the least apparent could be its impact on the African culture industries including cinema.

    Barlet (2001, pp28-45) reinforces Chams arguments and state that in fact, for many of the structurally-adjusting African countries, globalizations coercive economics have not only worsened an already difficult situation for the African filmmakers, but also unloaded much bigger burdens on the African filmmaking industry with tax codes, budget cuts as well as the steady reduction and drying up of both the external and internal funding sources for production and distribution. Privatization, for instance, has caused the gradual disappearance of movie theaters from a number of urban centers except in some places (e.g., Burkina Faso, South Africa, Zimbabwe and some places in North Africa), with the governments divestiture of interest in movies theater ownership and management triggering the privatization (Ibid.). Unfortunately, these private owners soon convert the theaters into warehouses to accommodate imported commodities like rice, sugar, flour, and even cement and second-hand clothing from the West, which apparently provide significantly bigger income than operating movie theaters (Cham, 2000). Such moves have consequently given added pressure on the distribution and exhibition of African films on African soil, causing the many African films to continue being strangers in their own territories, which is further worsened by the fact that the requisite lifting of all measures has as well rendered the African cinematic landscape more vulnerable to the dumping of second-rate foreign products (Ibid.).

    On the issue of content and style, the contemporary African cinematic content and styles of storytelling have been feared to be the next victims of globalization. According to Ukadike (2002, pp.11-26), the primary danger of globalization affecting the filmmakers content and style is the fact that the African cinematic production, distribution and even exhibition are dependent on European funding, and, with the steady tide of consolidation and reduction of funding sources both from the north and west, there have been increasing pressures to standardize and to conform to global cinematic norms. It could be claimed by the rest of the worlds independent filmmakers that such pressures are not unique to Africa, but Ukadike argues that the burden is heaviest on African filmmakers, citing Algerian filmmaker Merzak Allouache who has been greatly alarmed by the trend that he witnesses among his peers, asks his fellow African filmmakers whether they are losing a sense of their own reality or are consciously compromising cinematic content for so-called northern funding. Ukadike states that the general sentiment among African filmmakers is that they could be giving in uncritically and with no resistance at all to globalization, as they are faced with the challenge of what to make of the role of the Western funders in the influencing and generally shaping African cinematic content and style in the era of globalization.     

    Recently, a growing number of African filmmakers have been reiterating the imperative for new directions towards more commercially viable cinema  to be more universal to be Y2Kcompliant to make films that are entertaining and less political and to get out of the bush, the savannah and the Sahel (Cham, 2000). Noticeably, the trend for the last two decades among African filmmakers has been to relocate to Europe and other places outside the African continent for various reasons, alongside the trend on tackling different subject matters, stories and styles, as well as languages, actors and locations of some recent African films.  These somehow indicate a move away from local, rural, national, and traditional towards more cosmopolitan, universal, global and modern (Ibid.). Apparently, the African filmmakers are following the dictum of globalization which is for them to fall in line with the mainstream and normal global entertainment otherwise they will fail (Ibid.).

    Cham further argues that the forces of globalization on the African film industry seems to lead towards a kind of compulsory homogenization which will eventually result to a so-called afrimage (p33) which is nothing but an African clone of an American shaped globimage (p33) or eurimage (p33) which harmfully steals the African difference in such constructs. Similar to the trends in the African music industry wherein the African music is now called world music as a label that has greatly devalued the authentic African musical styles that are compelled to succumb to the globalization dictates so that it can penetrate the European market, the African film industry is also being re-packaged and re-labeled to become more appealing to the Western audiences (Ibid.). In the midst of all the pressures on the African artists, cultural producers, and filmmakers in particular, to jump into the bandwagon of the so-called mainstream and normative global film culture on the one hand, and to keep and preserve Africas local cultures on the other hand, are clearly enormous and seemingly quite insurmountable. It is therefore logical for this paper to take a look at the recent films and find out if they, indeed, have fallen to the trap of globalization.

    Content analysis of African films within globalization context
    Recent trends in African filmmaking show that increasingly, many African filmmakers are showing interest in the subjects which were undeveloped in the past, like muffled allusions to romance, sexuality and desire, and in fact, have constituted the narrative vehicle for some of the recent films (Cham, 1999).  The films Dakan by Mohamed Camara of Guinea in 1997 Essaida by Tunisian filmmaker Mohamed Zran in 1996 Machaho, a very elegant and somewhat tragic film by Algerian Belcachem Hadjaj also in1996 Mossane by Senegalese Safi Faye, also in 1996  The Blue Eyes of Yonta  created in 1995 by Flora Gomes of Guinea-Bissau and, Bab El-Owed City (1994) and Salut Cousin (1996) both by Algerian Merzak Allouache, commonly focus on interpersonal relations, romance, as well as bold assertions of sexual and other desires, along with the cultural, religious and other obstacles and punishments to these, and also of the myriad exigencies of a problematic modernity coupled with the formidable challenges of a very restless young population which is now gripped by the influences of devaluation, of MTV, and of an imbalanced digestion of African-American hip-hop culture. The Salut Cousin (1996) by Algerian Merzak Allouache, is skillfully done, blending comedy, spectacle and romance to project a poignant commentary about African migration to France and to offer a new vision and taste of African Arab romance and overall conveying a subdued message about solidarity between an Algerian fellow and a Senegalese woman. Likewise, the Chevaux De Fortune, a new film by Jilali Ferhati from Morocco, is a compelling achievement in the African cinema, wit its refreshing retake of the classic theme of the push and pull factors that are influencing the trends on emigration.

    Furthermore, it has been apparent among recent productions that a good number of them somehow continue and still build on the trends and orientations that were the hallmarks of the 1970s and 1980s, which are mainly the socio-political commentary, the interrogations about cultural practices and customs particularly their exploitative and abusive natures for individual profit, as well as the indictment o inequity and repression. For example, the Tableau Feraille, a 1996 film by Senegalese Moussa Sene Absa dwells on the questioning about culture, politics and gender contextualized against the globalizing and contemporary post-devaluation urban Senegal while Taafe Fanga, a 1997 film by Adama Drabo of Mali features a reversal form by using narrative and structuring device to question issues about gender in a strongly satirical but highly amusing way which makes it a very effective film in sending the message that it has been conceived to send. Drabos film inevitably provokes society to rethink of gender roles as being natural, precisely because it somehow teases and challenges for reconsideration about them as social constructs and thus are not natural at all. Immersing the audience into certain aspects of Dogon culture, Drabos film is similar in a way with that of Gaston Kabores Buud Yam which centrally revolves around the chronicling of the eco-cultural diversity of Burkina Faso, as depicted by the films character Wend Kuuni who goes on a quest to search for the medical practitioner to cure her adopted sister, Pognere. This sequel-like trend reveals a certain continuity in the African film subjects and styles, as can be drawn from the Buud Yam, from Mossane by Safi Faye, and from Po Di Sangio by Flora Gomes (1996), all of which go to the extent of digging deeply into their respective societies repertoire of myths and narrative styles in order to inform their films.

    Furthermore, African history as a subject continues to interest African filmmakers as they try to continue to make sense of the distant and recent pasts in ways that somehow send important messages across generations. Aside from the Les Silences Du Palais, an elegant film set in the time of the last Tunisian monarchs by Tunisian filmmaker Moufida Tlal, and Sankofa, which is a film on slavery by Haile Gerima, two young Ethiopian filmmakers have recently made significant contributions to the African film industry via two technically refined and analytically sophisticated reappraisals of the last two decades of the experiences of the Ethiopians with a dying feudal monarchy and a repressive military dictatorship.  Tumult, which is Yemane Demissies and Deluge by Salem Mekurias, both made in 1996, engage these interesting aspects of the Ethiopian experience using a great deal of invention, imagination, and nuances. Also worth mentioning is the new perspective presented about the Algerian war of independence through Rachida Krims acclaimed film Sous Les Pieds Des Femmes (Where Women Tread).

    Furthermore, subjects like dictatorship, violence, repression and struggles in their respective countries are tackled on films by a number of African filmmakers like Demissie, Mekuria and Krirn.  Cameroonian Jean-Marie Teno and by Balutu Kanyinda from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) provide their detailed post-independence perspectives in their films. Clando by Teno in 1996 builds upon the foundation of his documentary works about the various aspects of life in Cameroon under two dictators, the former President Ahmadou Ahidjo and his successor Paul Biya, delving further into the repressive operations and the strategies used by people to resist and negotiate such forces both in Cameroon and among the Cameroonian immigrants in Germany. On the other hand, Balulus Le Damier, made in 1997, is undoubtedly one of the most inventive films from African cinema in recent years, featuring a fine blend of play, power and politics and ingeniously exploiting the liberating aspect of the popularly known game of draught, which is a version of chess, to symbolize the dynamics of his countrys political struggles.

    The more recent films such as Lumumba by Raoul Peck, La Gense by Cheikh Oumar Cissoko, Mossane by Safi Faye, Pices dIdentits by Ngangura Mweze, Mamlambo by Palesa Lelatkla-Nkosi, La Fume Dans Les Yeux by Francois Woukoache, Le Damier by Balufu Kanyinda, Les Silences du Palais by Moufida Tlatli, On the Edge and Rage by Newton Aduaka, and many others have maintained creativity as well as productive deployment of individual and local eccentricities and cultures to navigate the world, craftily maintaining their African uniqueness in the midst of globalizing trends all over the globe. Further, such works still bear the effectiveness that result from a skillful and critical use of new technologies to convey African experiences and other important cultural messages in various ways.

Such films have shown that instead of surrendering to an overbearing global norm and an attempt to live up to the globalization pressure of becoming Euro-American, as well as to the commercial expectations which could well turn out to be a dead end, they show purposeful and imaginative appropriation of the full range of resources and experiences of Africans - past and present - in their encounters with each other and with others from around the world.

    Globalization and its consequences and requirements especially on struggling nations like those in Africa can be overwhelmingly overbearing, cutting across the many facets of the society and strongly affecting different interests. The globalization effects in the African cinema have been felt strongly, especially on the film industrys commercial and political aspects, like taxation, legal ownership, as well as its funding concerns which have been feared to have been victims of globalization.

    However, in the analysis of the contents of various African films across generations and societies within the African continent, there is strong evidence that content-wise, the African cinema has remained unique and still untainted by pressures of becoming more commercially appealing by being more Western and tame. As the African filmmakers continue to produce films of substance and remain passionate about their original intent of celebrating Africa and sharing such messages to the rest of the world, there is no danger for the industry to become a victim of globalization.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most famous films at present. It was directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan who is an Indian co-director. The story is based on a novel written by Vikas Swarup and screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. The genres of the film include crime, drama, and romance.
   
On the other hand, Salaam Bombay was directed by Mira Nair. The same director also wrote the story and was transformed into a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala. The genres of the film also include crime and drama.

Slumdog Millionaire is the tale of Jamal Malik played by Patel who is an 18 year-old orphan living in the slums of Mumbai. He is about to deal with the major day of his life. The whole nation is watching since he is just one issue away from captivating an overwhelming twenty million rupees on Indias Who Wants to Be a Millionaire However, when the show was aired one night, the police officers arrested him on a feeling that he was cheating in the show.

The question is that how could a street kid know so much Due to his desperation to prove his innocence, Jamal shared the saga that represents his life in the slum with his brother. He also shared their adventures together on the road as well as the cruel encounters with local gangs. The most endearing part of the film is his friendship with Latika played by Pinto and who was the girl he loved and lost. With that, every chapter of his life revealed the explanation of the answer to one of the questions of the game show. Essentially, one question remained a mystery what is the motive of the young mans appearance in the game show At the time Jamal returnee to answer the last question, the police and sixty million audiences found out the reason.

The second film is different with the first one in terms of presentation. The second film was also told in the context of being poor. However, the story was presented in a narrative manner in such a way that the story of Krishna who was duped in the end by someone he trusted would emerge as victorious. However, Krishna had drunk the bitter cup of life and learned its hard lessons.

Finally, the style of editing of the two films differs in such a way that Slumdog Millionaire was presented in a flashback manner showing each experience of Jamal in order to prove that he did not cheat on the game show. On the other hand, the film Salaam Bombay was edited in such a way that a narration of the life of Krishna will be given justice. Besides, the film Slumdog Millionaire was done in the present time when there are additional developments of the film making industry for the betterment of film making. Hence, the overall presentation of the movie is better than Salaam Bombay because the latter was filmed earlier. All things considered, both films won awards in the film industry and yet it was Slumdog Millionaire that really gained attention and fame.