A very good place to start.

Willkommen! Welcome!

This is the second blog I have made for this course, having just finished working on my blog dedicated to my Documentary unit. Out with the old and in with the new! With the closing of one unit, comes the opening of a brand new one, going from documentary to our end-of-year piece. Like our documentary, we have been given a theme to keep in mind when writing our screenplays and to incorporate into our work. That theme is 'Dislocation'.

Dislocation (for me at least) can be interpreted in many ways, which is what I'm really loving about this theme so far. For this I'm trying to stay as far away from literal interpretations of the word, opting for a more psychological approach. Physical dislocation could be that you're somewhere you don't want to be, or that you've dislocated a limb (something we've been warned against). Psychological dislocation could relate to depression or anxiety, or just feeling different from others.

Since being given the theme, I've been stuck on the idea of a dysfunctional family. This idea has been in my head for a good while now, having watched several interesting films that feature a dysfunctional family. There are a number of films that stick out for me, personally.

• Stoker (dir. Park Chan-Wook)
• The Birds (dir. Alfred Hitchcock)
• The Royal Tenenbaums (dir. Wes Anderson)

Stoker, for me, is the pinnacle and main driving influence in this project barely in its natal stages. Stoker is the story of a girl named India who has lost her Father in a tragic accident, and now lives alone with her Mother in a beautiful, pristine yet sinister mansion in an unnamed American countryside. With the arrival of her mysterious Uncle Charlie, strange things start to happen and India begins to grow and mature in a savage but beautiful way. An extremely unconventional coming-of-age story.
The film, Director Park's (Oldboy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance) first English language feature which drew much attention. Park is known for contrasting grim subject matter with extreme beauty and visual flare, with immaculate framing and stunning colours. Visually, this is the kind of film I DREAM of making.
The story is very similar to Hitchcock's 'Shadow of a Doubt', but focusing a lot more on the central female character of India, whose growth and coming-of-age overarch all of the events that take place. I can relate the theme of Dislocation to India in a number of ways. India is a loner at school, she is constantly harassed by the other students, so she is dislocated socially. When at home, India's Mother treats her like a borderline unholy demon, having previously only been close to her Father.
Other dislocations include her sexuality, being initially a non-sexual character and harnessing her sexuality with the arrival of Uncle Charlie, and her 'unconventional' interests (India is a skilled hunter having been trained with a rifle by her Father from a young age). India's emotions seem to be dislocated too, having little-to-no empathy for any other character in the film or what happens to them. She does what she pleases as if she's in her own separate reality with its own rules.

There will be more on this analysis, as India and the overall film have inspired me greatly. More to come on the other films mentioned too!