DVD Review: The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

October is Black History Month in which we celebrate high achieving, historical figures of the Black community for a whole month. So it seemed only appropriate to celebrate one of America’s finest actors, Morgan Freeman, and review his one of his greatest films; The Shawshank Redemption.

In 1947, Banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is incarcerated in the Shawshank State Prison for two life sentences for murdering his wife. Soon after his arrival he befriends Ellis Boyd Redding, also known as ‘Red’ (Morgan Freeman), also imprisoned for murder. Red landed in Shawshank over 20 years previous to Andy, and in that time has received a reputation for smuggling goods in and out of the prison and often supplies Andy with posters of desirable women of the time, he can also offer him a certain amount of protection as a new prisoner, so Andy sticks close to him and his friends.

Andy acquires a position working in the laundry room and it’s here that he is repeatedly, brutally attacked by a gang known as ‘The Sisters’ and one such attack is so horrific, he is almost killed. Thankfully he is then relocated to the library where he meets Brooks Hatlen, an elderly inmate who’s been in Shawshank for over 50 years. Soon enough, his banking skills come into good use and he manages to create a name for himself as a dab hand with the books. Cue an onslaught of money laundering and plenty of gruelling hours in solitary confinement. After his final spell in solitary confinement for trying to prove the innocence of a fellow inmate, Andy tells Red of his dreams to live in a small beach town in Mexico, and instructs him, if he ever gets out, to go to a specific hayfield in the town of Buxton to receive a package…

The Shawshank Redemption is an uplifting film with some interesting messages and it deals with so many issues that currently circulate modern day penitentiaries, for example; gang culture, drug smuggling, inmates killing inmates, inmates killing themselves and the difficulties faced when released back into the big wide world. Arguably, it raises the question of how much has American state penitentiaries changed in the last 80 years? The answer would be barely at all, the justice system seems to remain traditional, while the crimes being committed are becoming increasingly variable. Shawshank also conveys a very strong message about freedom and the idea that just because you are imprisoned in a cell, in a building, with a whole load of criminals, it doesn’t mean you can’t be free and Andy and Red demonstrate how to make your own freedom.

Even though the main narrative follows the story of Andy Dufresne, it was Morgan Freeman as Red who was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor that year. His character may not be as prominent in the narrative as that of Andy, but what he says and does is so much more important, right up until his last moments on screen where you will honestly find yourself reaching for the tissues, an ending I personally favour as the best I’ve seen so far.

Frank Darabont, the films writer and director, seems to have a penchant for emotional prison films as shortly after making The Shawshank Redemption, he made The Green Mile, another exceptional insight to the mysterious and brutal world of prison. Shawshank is beautifully written, impeccably acted and is still holding its place as #1 on IMDB’s top 250 films of all time, it is a film for everyone, and definitely worth borrowing.

 Further Reading in The Information Store:

• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – 791.43 in the DVD Zone
• BFI Classics – The Shawshank Redemption by Mark Kermode – 791.4372 in the Book Zone
• Please check out our display of books for Black History Month near the Issue Desk in The Information Store for lots more information!

European Day of Languages!

26^th September is celebrated every year as European Day of Languages (EDL).  Therefore, 800 million Europeans from 47 countries are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in or out of school to enhance communication and achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent.

Few interesting facts:

• There are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe and at least half of the world’s population are bilingual or plurilingual
• Bilingualism brings many advantages: it makes the learning of additional languages easier, enhances the thinking process and fosters contacts with other people and their cultures
• Languages are related to each other like the members of a family. Most European languages belong to the large Indo-European family.
• Most European languages belong to three broad groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic.

The Information Store has a wide range of information resources on Languages (Dewey class number 400, with further divisions and sections for more detailed categories.  Please come to visit us and ask for more information about our dictionaries, and the sections with different language subdivision we have available.

Please see more information, events, facts and activities on the Council of Europe (EDL) web site: http://edl.ecml.at/Home/tabid/1455/language/en-GB/Default.aspx

 

Study helpsheets / videos on Blackboard

The Information Store have added some handy helpsheets, videos and tutorials onto Blackboard. Subjects include finding resources, setting up an Athens account, how to reference, and much, much more.

To access these, start at the Blackboard homepage > select Information Store under Useful links (on the left) > select the yellow Study Support button > Scroll down for links to helpsheets etc.

Please let us know if there are helpsheets that you would like to see on here, and we will endeavour to create them!

And the winner is....

...Miss Peacock.

Seriously, we couldn't have picked a better name to win our Cluedo-style murder mystery if we'd tried!

Congratulations Sarah Peacock, your name was pulled out of a hat this afternoon, and we will be in touch with you about how to collect your Waterstones voucher. Well done!

DVD Review - The Fifth Element (1997)

 

It’s a busy year for Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovavich with each having a film out in September, Willis stars as the time travelling Joe in Looper, Oldman plays the ruthless Floyd Banner in Lawless and Jovavich will be returning as the apocalypse preventing Alice in Resident Evil: Retribution. However, fifteen years before these block busting celebrities were travelling through time, shooting people in the face or killing zombies they all starred together in a quirky little science fiction film called The Fifth Element.

Luc Besson’s bizarre insight to the twenty third century follows the story of Leeloo (Jovavich), a ‘supreme being’ who is sent to earth as a part of the four elements (earth, fire, water and air) to protect the planet from an impending attack. While the fifth element was being brought back to earth, the ship it was travelling on was destroyed leaving just a small part of it left. Scientists on earth then rebuild the element using the DNA from the recovered part and the result is a red haired, green eyed woman, Leeloo. She then escapes in fear from the laboratory she has just awoken in and ends up falling through the roof of taxi driver Korben Dallas (Willis). She asks him to help her and he takes her to see Father Vito Cornelius who is more than excited to see her as he was aware of her arrival to Earth. Meanwhile, someone else is aware of the power these elements hold and his reasons for acquiring them are purely for evil. Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg is a powerful, strangely dressed individual who wants nothing more than to kill everything and be in control of the Universe. His shape-shifting alien army undergo various disguises in order to intercept Dallas, Leeloo and Vito as they travel through space on board ‘Fhloston Paradise’ a holiday makers space craft, in order to reach their destination and save the world by converging with the other four stones in a spectacular finale.

Alongside Willis, Jovavich and Oldman is quite an impressive ensemble case, including Chris Tucker, Ian Holm, Luke Perry and Lee Evans. The film also has a very small, perfectly formed cameo from La Haine (1995) director Mathieu Kassovitz. Despite this great cast and imaginative storyline, it was still nominated for two Razzies during awards season, one for Worst Supporting Actress (Jovovich) and one for Worst New Actor (Tucker). In general though, the film was very well received, winning a BAFTA for special effects and nominated for an Oscar. It also trebled its budget by grossing $263 million.

Arguably, the dominant feature that makes The Fifth Element so memorable is the stylised futuristic world that it is set in. Luc Besson’s exceedingly French style is exceptionally brilliant at allowing the film to completely stand out from the crowd. The brightly coloured costumes, courtesy of Jean-Paul Gautier, and the wacky, futuristic hair styles aid its uniqueness. This highly stylised mise en scene is only further exaggerated in the over the top mannerisms of the people that surround Korben Dallas, especially talk show host Ruby Rhod (Tucker), an unforgettable character to say the least. This over-stylisation gives the film an almost comic book feel, something that has become a common feature in films of the last few years; Kick Ass (2010), Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010) and so on. This is the futuristic world Besson is aiming to create, and his dedication to this idea is only further demonstrated in the ‘Divine Language’ which starts cascading out of Leeloo’s mouth when she first awakes. Vito understands the Divine Language but cannot speak it, thus he finds a way for her to learn English. This language was created by Besson and Jovovich and in order for them to fully understand their creation they would communicate by using it in letters to each other.

The cast of The Fifth Element are nothing short of brilliant and are massively responsible for its success. Bruce Willis as the former Special Forces soldier is witty, charming and over-confident as the male lead Korben Dallas, he is instantly charmed by Leeloo and makes his move on her quite early on, only to be greeted by a gun to the head as she is very displeased at his advances. However it is very difficult to ignore the blatant fact that Korben Dallas is just a futuristic version of John McClane. Die Hard fans beware! The gem of the movie for me though comes in the form of Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg, played villainously by Gary Oldman. Everything from his voice to his haircut is perfect. The juxtaposition of a camp, girly voice on a man who ruthlessly will kill members of his own elite makes him very non-threatening, which is perfectly demonstrated when he chokes and almost dies, on a cherry pip.

Overall, The Fifth Element is a great film for any science fiction fanatic. It draws on so many elements of 80’s science fiction films like Ridley Scotts Blade Runner (1982), especially the epic cityscapes, and it has provided influence for many science fiction films after its release in 1997. Even the newly released Dredd 3D has slight Fifth Element inflections, more so Blade Runner, but they all seem to roll together and work off each other creating an epic sci-fi nostalgia snowball that just keeps on growing the more it snows.

Further Reading in The Information Store:

·         Science Fiction Cinema: Between Fantasy and Reality by Christine Cornea

Location: Book Zone 791.436 COR

·         The Blade Runner Experience: The Legacy of a Science Fiction Classic by Will Brooker

Location: Book Zone 791.4372 BRO

·         Blade Runner (1982)

Location: The DVD Zone 791.43

·         The Fifth Element (1997)

Location: The DVD Zone 791.43

Murder in the Information Store

Come over to the Information Store stand at Freshers next week to pick up the first clue to work out whodunnit.

There's a Waterstones voucher up for grabs!

Can you find the body???? Enter at your own risk......

The Creative Writing Society

Welcome!

Welcome to a new academic year. 

 

A very warm welcome to all new and returning students from The Information Store. We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing summer holiday and are ready for the new academic year 2012/2013 and that you’ll enjoy the library and the college. We hope you will spend enough time studying, reading or browsing the resources in the Information Store.

Please take time to browse the links under ‘The Information Store’ and ‘Information Store Catalogue’ tabs on Blackboard, where you’ll find lots of useful information for your studies. You can access the library catalogue, e-books and other subject and electronic resources, help with referencing, FAQs, useful video tutorials, PowerPoint presentations, help sheets, as well as find our opening hours and contact details. 

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Good luck with your studies; we’re wishing you all all the best in the new term and a great year ahead!