Film Review

My Sister's Keeper

Film Review by the Guardian (2009)

Production year: 2009

Country: USA

Cert (UK): 12A

Runtime: 106 mins

Directors: Nick Cassavetes

Cast: Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Alex Baldwin, Cameron Diaz, Emily Deschanel, Evan Ellingson, Jason Patric, Joan Cusack, Sofia Vassilieva

(Full Review available at http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/26/my-sisters-keeper-film-review )

Description of storyline

The Guardians initial summary of this film is “Child- Cancer- Courage”. These themes run throughout the film and make up most of the emotional storyline.

This film review supplies a number of different descriptions and adjectives of the storyline. This film is portrayed as a “heart-tugging bestseller”, and “a 109-minute soft-focus Calvary of empathy, aspirational lifestyle choices and upscale family values with a tastefully rendered terminal illness”. This description of My Sister’s Keeper presents how this film and the storyline affect audiences and their emotions. This allows us a guide to how we want to make our target audience feel.

The guardian’s view that the risky storyline is the only different and compelling aspect of this film is revealed in their complaint that the twist of Anna law suit being demanded by Kate herself to allow her to die is a way to revert from angering the audience. They states that the only reason for the sisters relationship to be portrayed so affectionately and lovingly, described as “a glassy-eyed seraphic adoration of each other”, is due to the “twist which is also an outrageous cop-out, a get-out clause cancelling the high concept that suckered us into the story in the first place, and which was the only risky or interesting thing about it.” This influences our ideas about our own storyline. Viewing from this review, an outrageous twist in the storyline would be unrealistic and could damage the effect of the entire film. This is evidence that this genre and type of film is risky to create and plan and that it is better to keep to a simple idea to create a more powerful effect.

Characters

This film has a network of strong, personal characters that influence the storyline prominently. Cameron Diaz stars as the “life-affirmingly brave mom”. Though this character can be interpreted in a variety of ways throughout the film, she is mainly portrayed as a loving mother and persistent fighter.

The montage of the family on a happy, loving day out is reviewed by the guardian as “portraying the family’s connection and bond”. Though they are all shown to be challenged in life, connected to Kate’s terminal illness or through their own personal problem, each member of this family are shown as kind, affectionate characters who love one another dearly.

The main problem that the guardian make apparent about the characters in this touching film is the inconsistencies with Cameron Diaz’ characters appearance. They state that when Diaz shaves off her hair to support Kate, the time frame and shots of her hairs re-growth is unrealistic. “There's no nonsense about one scene showing it stubbly, then another showing it short. It just grows back exactly as it was. For heaven's sake, Mr Cassavetes” This is the guardians main complaint about My Sisters Keeper.

Shots

A shot that the guardian’s review comments on is the zoom close-up of the protagonist of the film, Anna. She is described as being in a “stunned trance, evidently beginning to remember” To portray this, the camera is shown to do an “ultra-slow zoom into her face” This is interpreted with the joke that “it is so slow you can go out for nachos, return to your seat, and the flashback still won't have started”. This negative review of the shot acts as an example of how trying to portray emotion and events in this type of film can be difficult and if done wrong to too dramatically; it can have a bad impact upon the film. 

What we want to do

On deciding the certificate of our film, we looked to the guidance from My Sisters Keeper, which has a similar storyline and characters, although includes more dramatic and upsetting scenes. This film is certificated at 12A. However the guardian’s portrayal of this is used within a joke that emphasizes how the film affects audiences with its upsetting and heart jerking plot. “Some films have certificates like U or PG; this one should be OMG with a row of teardrops and frowny-face emoticons.”

The overall theme of My Sisters Keeper that inspires us in the creation of our own film is “Because miracles do happen”. This idea is a large part of My Sisters Keeper, for example Kate living past her expected fatality age of 5 years old. Though this theme will be presented strongly in our film, we plan to wait till the end credits to do so, so that instead of the audience anticipating a miraculous event, they focus on the little girls journey to get the magic chocolates. It will be portrayed in the ending scenes where the elder sister receives the magic chocolates to cure her terminal illness, and we further plan to interpret a scene after the end credits that show the two sisters walking off into the distance together, allowing the audience to interpret whether the chocolate help her to recovery or whether it was the characters memory.

Research into Genre: Drama

Drama codes and conventions:

Films of a drama genre are representative of real life. They don't involve any fantasy in the plot. Drama show emotions at their true height and dramatises them.

Sub genres of Drama are:

• social dramas
• mental illness
• alcoholism
• youth rebellion 
• civil rights 
• race relations
• courtroom genre
• war drama
• sports drama
• religious drama
• literature drama

The plot shows heightened emotions, realism, a protagonist that easy to relate to. Some form of a journey and plots with a complex twist, emotional peaks and truths. The protagonist goes through an emotional journey and particularly unstable/vulnerable. They often have to face a hard decision and are easy to sympathise and emphasise with. The protagonist often has a lot in common with the target audience and is easy to relate to. Some other traits include challenging the ignorance of stereotypes and connecting on a complex and personal level. Having therapeutic qualities by showing how the protagonist has overcome difficulties.  

Our Title Sequence

Our Title Sequence

 

In order to hint at the fact that the criminal has a sister, our title sequence will contain photo frames/picture of them together in different scenarios.

This will be done with a pan shot of several photos of the two sisters to hint at their close relationship.

For the audio, we could set the scene with some ambient, grainy music. This is because the audience will have a stereotype of what 'druggies' dress like, listen to, etc.

Taking lighting into consideration, we will present the characters 'dark thoughts' and past with very low lighting.

Similar Film

Attack the Block

The 2012 film follows a gang of teenagers in their fight against aliens. They are typical, inner city thugs and end up destroying a mass race of creatures in their apartment block.
 

This film provided me with many stereotypes of teen criminals which could be used when portraying our protagonist.

  

 

This is the Attack the Block film trailer which shows small clips, I have taken things from this to possibly use in our film.

Their clothing represents them to be threatening, which is further shown through close up and low angle shots.

Similarly, the language used in their dialogue shows their background and upbringing. Words such as "bruv" and "sick" and phrases like "you get me" and "check it".

The content of the actual film also links to the age of the characters and audience, such as the humour. In one part of the trailer there is a pun that they only have one text left to explain the extremity of the situation.

Film Titles Analysis

The Fault in our Stars

The first shot in the title sequence is of the distributor. The font is very fun and handwriting like. This is due to the fact that the characters are teenagers and so is the audience. Although the storyline is about cancer, by having light hearted titles it shows the characters mind set, as both Hazel and Gus are not afraid of their illness.

This part of the titles represents the characters, as Gus used to play basketball and Hazels favourite book is Imperial Affliction. We could use our titles to also represent their characters and their close relationship. For example, by using pictures of them together.

There are also parts of the film which you wouldn't understand until you'd watched the film. This example is the metaphor in the film "I'm on a roller coaster than only goes up". If we were to use chocolate in our title sequence, the audience wouldn't get it until they had watched the film.

 

As the two main characters of the film are teenagers, the main title is written on a school chalk board in order to represent this and the age of the target audience too. By using the photographs in our title, this also shows the audience who the film is about and, due to the fact that these are photos of family, (mainly the two females) it, in the same way as TFIOS title, represents our target audience too.

Title Sequences

Title sequence

The opening sequence of a film MUST hint to the audience the genre and storyline of the film, which can be difficult to do in a short space of time.

Although this title sequence from 'Seven' isn't the same genre as our film, it is a perfect example of how it portrays the films genre.
This is done through iconography of the genre. For example, black and white portrays a dark, eerie atmosphere for the audience and the use of the colour red connotes blood and danger.


Every film uses the iconography of its genre in their titles in order to portray the films message to the audience.
Even in a film as famous as James Bond, its titles show that it is an action film.

This still from the opening of the James Bond is the same in all the films. The shot from the point of view of a gun shows the audience the genre as weapons and violence are associated with actions film and again, the red represents the blood which is an iconography of this genre too.

Our film is a drama. An example of a title sequence from a film of this genre is Little Miss Sunshine. The purpose of this title sequence is to introduce the members of the family. It is very light hearted due to the target audience. 

This example screen shot shows the daughter of the family. By having each of the members drawn in cartoon form, it suggests that the audience the film revolved around and is aimed at is children. Additionally, taking the storyline into consideration of beauty pageants, it also shows that it is predominantly females who would watch Little Miss Sunshine.

Although our film is also a drama, due to our storyline including cancer, it cannot be as light hearted. Despite this though, it isn't revealed straight away and, so that it is as shocking as possible, we could have the titles not hint cancer at all. For example, link more to the 'magic chocolate' side of our film.

Audience Questionnaire - Analysis of Results

Analysis of Results

Question 1. Would you watch our film?

General Answer. Yes they would.

Q2. Who would you recommend our film to?

GA. Females, young adults/children (ages 7 - 20).

Q3. What certificate would you give our film?

GA. 12a/PG/U.

Q4. What genre would you put our film into?

GA. Drama.\

Q5. Can you relate to our film?

GA. Yes they could, generally because they had siblings 

       OR because they'd been in a situation, like that of 

       the characters, before.

Q6. Did you get emotionally involved in our film.

GA. They thought so if they watched the film and it was well made.

AMENDMENTS

Due to the fact that we are having issues casting actors who will always be available to film when we want to, we are having to make some amendments to our storyline. These will not mean changing any of our research as the storyline will still be very similar; however we are not wanting to film with children anymore, as it will make the whole process far more difficult.

Instead our new storyline is...

A young woman is seen to be taking part in drug deals, prostitution and steeling things. This will make the audience hate her, as she is causing other people distress. As we are portraying her as selfish for the vast majority of the film, when it is revealed to the audience that it is to raise money for her very ill sisters operation, the twist will be very unexpected. 

research into similar film

P.s i love you

'On a country road in Ireland over ten years ago, it was love at first sight for Holly, a lost young tourist (Academy Award® winner, Hilary Swank), and Gerry, a charming local lad (Gerard Butler). Holly's formidable mother, (Kathy Bates), disapproved of the couple, concerned that her spirited daughter was too young for marriage. In the years since, the once fearless Holly has become unsure of her own identity. When Gerry dies with a brain tumor and leaves Holly a widow just shy of her thirtieth birthday, her family and best friends (Lisa Kudrow, Gina Gershon) are concerned that she will never emerge from her takeout container-strewn Manhattan apartment. After weeks holed up watching old movies, a birthday cake and tape recording message from Gerry mysteriously arrives, marking the beginning of a series of letters instructing her to perform unusual requests. With the help of her girlfriends, Holly begins a year of wild adventures and a life journey that Gerry has planned for her, helping her to discover who she is without him and reminding her - p.s. I Love You'

A lot like p.s i love you our film is about one person loving another enough to go to whatever it takes to make each other better. Although Holly cannot make Gerry better. Gerry sets out to help her overcome the loss of her husband. Like our character of the two sisters whereby - something as insignificant as saying that some chocolates will make her better, her sister who is far to young to go be out alone, goes on a journey to do what she feels will help her sister to get better. 

P.s i love you is a drama, similar to our film. It is also to do about love and the bond that the sisters in our film have. The bond which we have between the sisters in our film is very similar to the one between these friends from the film p.s i love you. Holly's friends are willing to do whatever to help holly to be happy. The younger sister in our film wants to help her elder sister, to be happy and healthy. 

Short Film Comparison

Lost words 

This short film is about a man who ignores his brother’s request to pay for his cancer treatment, and his regret after the death of his brother. It was the Cannes 2012 film festival short drama winner.

I chose to compare this short film with our film idea as it provides good examples of journeys and the relationship between siblings.

The opening scene in lost words provides the theme and feel of the film. The lighting portrays an upsetting, lonely feel, along with the character portrayal showing deep emotion that causes the character to appear sad or confused.

In our short film, we plan to show the audience a representation of the sister’s relationship in different ways. Like this film, we plan to use photographs.

This shot portrays the characters reflection on the past, an idea that we plan to interoperate also.

The continuous over shoulder shots throughout the brothers conversation reflect how thy are focused on each other and what they are saying, not the surroundings. We plan to partially cooperate this into our film, as we would like to resemble how the younger sister is focused on helping her sister and completing her task, not the things that are happening around her. On the other hand, we plan to present shots of the things and places around the character during her journey through the film, unlike this film.

 

Another aspect of this short film that inspires us is the use of the flash back to present vital information to the plot. The use of flashbacks can be used to present emotional and special moments of the characters past. 

We would use flashbacks to present the sisters relationship, such as scenes of them playing on swings, etc. Like the use of photographs, this would define the sisters bond and create stronger emotion in the film.

Patch Adams

Patch Adams IMDB

Patch Adams

Patch Adams is a film about a Doctor who is seen as unprofessional by others because of his unconventional methods when helping patients that don't necessarily fit the practices of other doctors. Similarly we would like to have a positive approach to serious subjects such as terminal illness and convey that there is still hope even in the darkest of times. The character Patch Adams treats patients as human beings rather than numbers and papers which can often happen in medical environments. We would also like to show the hope within the family of a terminally ill patient in a similar way. 

This film approaches sensitive subjects and questions the way in which we treat terminally ill patients with different emotionally based therapies. Our film will also the power of good natured kindness and how it can improve a persons life. Our character's health improves due to her sisters kindness, thoughts and efforts just from a simple gesture of buying a box of chocolates. 

The film also shows Patch Adams' Journey from training to become a doctor to owning his own hospital for ill patients. this true story is similar to our own as the little girl raises money for her sister's chocolates. This is similar to the film as we see Patch Adams' struggles when trying to become a doctor and raising money from his own hospital which is emotionally charged, we feel sympathy for him as he is a likeable character. We could replicate this in our younger sister as the girl doesn't have enough money to pay for the chocolates in the shop. This could make the audience feel sympathetic for her. 

The Guardian Short Film Review

The Guardian Short Film Review

"You have to admire the brutal efficiency in this emotional teen movie, based on the colossal young adult bestseller by John Green, which for the most part enforces the silver ring of abstinence with cancer. You have to concede the laser-guided accuracy and psychotic vehemence with which it goes for the tear duct."

Although, due to the age rating of our film, we cannot be brutally honest about the reality of cancer, the sudden revelation of her illness at the end of our short film is relatively shocking for the reader.

"Hazel is obsessed with a novel called An Imperial Affliction with a bafflingly abrupt ending, all about a girl dying of cancer, written by a reclusive author called Peter van Houten. Impulsive, entrancing Gus whisks her and her mom off to Amsterdam to meet her hero, and it is a journey that is to bring their relationship to a crisis."

This is TFIOS equivalent of our journey to the sweetshop. The fact that they are determined to travel this far, despite their situation, due to what it means to Hazel mirrors the fact that the little girl travels all the way to the chocolate shop as she fully believes that they will cure her sister. Also, in a similar way, like how at the end of their journey Gus admits her has cancer, when the younger sister returns from her journey, thats when the audience will find out that our character has cancer/

"Now, there may be people who can witness a halfway competent dramatic representation of the death of children from cancer without choking up. I am not among them – and it was the same before I became a parent."

Due to the fact that our film isn't as brutally honest as TFIOS, our film might not be as upsetting to watch, however, our characters are younger and their situation is more realistic and so could be more realistic to the audience.

"Gus is way cute, and his lifestyle, like Hazel's, does not appear to be modified in any appreciable way by his illness. They are both extremely comfortably off, and Gus's bedroom is like a starter man-cave for a wealthy and obnoxious young man – so ostentatious, in fact, that I assumed some learning experience, some comeuppance, was coming his way."

This is also how our characters will be portrayed in our short film, as, the more normality which surrounds the family/characters, the more shocking it will be to the audience when we reveal that she has cancer.

The title is taken from Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Perhaps getting cancer was written in the stars for them, but Hazel and Gus realise that it is "in themselves" to do something in response, up to them to make the best of life.

In a similar way, our little girl doesn't let her age get in the way of her quest to get the chocolates she believes will cure her sister. This portrays her to be a determined individual and therefore the audience will admire her character as well as her older sisters who is constantly battling the cancer.

Classification

classification for our film:

The classification we decided to give our film is PG the rating for this film is parental guidance.

This means our film can be watched for general viewing by anyone of any age.

what it stands for
what is included
not included

examples. and give a point.

reasons why we gave it a pg

lead characters
children etccc

no violence sex

Character Profile

Kind Lady (McKenzie)

Age: 

middle aged, around early 40’s

Appearance: 

mid/long length hair, pretty

Personality traits: 

kind, considerate, sensitive

Role in Narrative: 

Helps Hope her complete journey and buy chocolates by giving her the remaining money needed to afford chocolates.

Character Profile

Shop Keeper

Age: 

elderly, late 50’s

Appearance: 

tied up grey/dark hair

Personality traits: 

kind, considerate, and sympathetic of Hope

Role in Narrative: 

This lady welcomes hope into the chocolate shop. She is shown to be sympathetic and kind to hope and helps her choose which chocolate to buy for her sister. When selling Hope the chocolates, she appears devastated when she has to tell her she doesn’t have enough money for them.