FINDING FORRESTER Directed by Gus Van Sant

1
FINDING FORRESTER Directed by Gus Van Sant

• 2 NCEA ENGLISH - FILM REVIEW

2
Characteristics of a Film Review

• Tells reader about the film
• Gives the reviewers opinions
• Convinces the reader that the reviewer is
  knowledgeable and authoritative
• Makes a personal connection with the reader
• Is persuasive in tone
• Uses language succinctly (has a word limit)

3
Characteristics of a Film Review

• Is always subjective (uses first person comments
  eg I we)
• Presents evidence to make opinions sound factual
  using third person (it he she a named subject
  egthe film shows)
• Can persuade and convince the reader of
  reviewers opinions using direct second person
  address (eg you)

4
Guidelines for a classic review

• Introductory outline of the subject
• Background information on the film / text
• A short summary of the story with some
  appropriate illustrations
• An overall assessment of the content / techniques
  which displays the following
• Honesty
• Balance
• Supporting information
• Formation of convincing judgements
• An idea of the intended audience
• A decisive conclusion

5
Details to include in a Review

• Details - title director actors genre etc.
• Plot - brief summary (dont reveal ending)
• Characters - portrayal acting features
• Setting - effectiveness appropriateness
• Themes - how conveyed? moving?
• Atmosphere / Pace

6
Details to consider for the Review

• Personal evaluation of the film
• Opinions - good / bad, with reasons and examples
• Technical aspects - cinematography
• Recommendations - target audience
• Comparison with another work (optional)

7
FILM REVIEW TOOLBOX

• Cinematographic aspects
• Camera work
• Lighting
• Special effects
• Acting / casting
• Costume
• Plot
• Dialogue
• Pace

8
Factors to consider

• What is the directors intention?
• Does he achieve his main aim? How?
• What type of film is this supposed to be?
• Who is the target audience? Why?
• What are they intended to feel or think?

9
Factors to consider

• Is my opinion clear?
• Do I give a good overview of the film?
• Are my comments and examples logical to someone
  who has not seen the film?
• Do I support my opinions well with details?
• Do I evaluate the film according to the
  intentions of the director?

10
Cinematographic Features to consider in FINDING
FORRESTER
11
Aspects to Analyse
12

• ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE FILM REVIEW
• FINDING FORRESTER Reviewed by Peter Travers
• Finding Forrester speaks softly but carries a
  big surprise Sean Connery shows fear. After five
  decades as a macho legend, from James Bond to
  Entrapment, Connery, 70, triumphs by lowering his
  guard. This is a magnificent performance, rapt,
  intuitive, and graced with humour and heart. As
  William Forrester, a reclusive, J.D.Salinger-like
  author who hasnt published a word since his
  first novel won a Pulitzer forty years ago,
  Connery shambles around a South Bronx apartment
  in pajamas, amusing himself by bird-watching,
  reading the tabloids and tutoring Jamal Wallace
  (Rob Brown), a sixteen year old black prodigy
  whose basketball prowess has earned him a
  prep-school scholarship. Forresters literary
  mentoring means more to Jamal. Queries about
  writing or the great mans recipes for soup are
  OK, but personal prying is out. Thats not a
  soup question, Forrester snaps when Jamal tries
  to uncover family secrets. Its Jamal who gets
  the hermit out of his bunker to watch basketball
  playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Connery is
  masterful at expressing the fright and
  disorientation Forrester feels in a crowd,
  releasing his demons later in a quietly
  devastating scene in a deserted Yankee Stadium.
  The ending leans to a soap opera, but director
  Gus Van Sant, revisiting the closet-genius theme
  of Good Will Hunting, is too keen an observer of
  a character to let this funny and touching film
  go soft. Brown, with no acting experience, is a
  remarkable find. Even when the plot veers off
  into Jamals feud with an academic prig (F.Murray
  Abraham) and a flirtation with a rich white girl
  (Anna Paquin), Connery and Brown engage in a
  tricky duel of wits. Dont ask how it all ends.
  Thats not a soup question.