I absolutely loved Inherit the Wind and will definitely recommend this movie to my
family and friends. The technical elements as well as the structure of the
movie worked well towards trying to achieve the movies’ theme of man replacing
his sanity with religion and the power of blissful blind ignorance.
Kramer did a fantastic job adapting this work. Drummond stands for all that I personally stand for, but that's not the only reason why I love this film. This film does everything right from a screenwriter's and a filmmaker's perspective. The structure is set around the lives of Matt Brady and Drummond. We are taken through the perspective of Drummond, but we are able to witness Matt Brady's transformation through the life and perspective of Drummond. In the end, the character we initially felt contempt for, we feel pity for. We are shown that trying to rationalize something to the irrational is not rational :D. Stanley Kramer does something sensational with this movie, and that is showing what happens to man when his whole foundation on how he should live his life is shaken. I loved the scene where Matt Brady goes crazy among all the chaos near the end of the movie. The camera breaks 180 degrees which is a characteristic of a turning point in a scene. It represents his loss of sanity and the complete switch in his character. We get a full rotation on Brady showing how his whole world has turned around and that he's now lost in it. His realization is what led to his fall.
Kramer does something interesting with the fan shot. In the scene where we are introduced to the courtroom he starts it by shooting above ceilings. Many directors use this as a way of showing a cyclical nature in whatever is going to occur in the room. The same device has been used in Bladerunner and Apocalypse Now. In this case it represents mankind’s cyclical nature towards using religion as a form of persecution and a hinderence to progress. The fan also mimics the irony in how technological progress would be hindered if it were not for the amazing scientists and engineers who the religious zealots are so intent on stopping. I feel as if Kramer's use of the fan is completely appropriate. The people in the courtroom who are expressing contempt for science and technological progress are subsequently being 'cooled off' with the epitome of technological progress.
"Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man who sits behind a counter and says, "All right, you can have a telephone but you lose privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may vote but at a price. You lose the right to retreat behind the powder puff or your petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline."
This angle also provides another perspective. It provides the perspective of a god looking down at the people through the wall of technology that they have put up. If you look at the fan shot I posted above (I noticed this on my second watch), we see Drummond's wife praying up towards the camera through the fan. This completely supports the notion that the viewer is a god in this case and all we can do is watch the blind ignorance of mankind to derail himself. There is not much we can do to prevent the irrational, other than to watch its own inevitable, cyclical fall.
I absolutely loved this movie. It spoke out for all that I stand for and really hits home with me. I will be posting a more personal statement in the future with regards to me and my opinion on Biology and how it has influenced my faith.
Kramer also did a great job with the
characters. There was a point to having Hornbeck in the movie. Originally, I
thought he would act as a spectator that added a few laughs to the movie, but
he developed Drummond’s character and gave us insight into the ideology that he
followed. I felt like the court seemed a bit unrealistic but It was set in
older times so I assume it was much more different.
The dialogues and monologues were also amazing. I loved all of Drummond’s speech and how Kramer was able to make us show empathy for his character. I felt like this movie hit home with me. Kramer’s adaptation of Inherit the Wind is amazingly directed and written for the big screen. This movie is one of my favorite of all time. Thank you Mr. Wong for sharing this movie with us!!!!!
My favorite quotation:
Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!
No comments:
Post a Comment