Mariz Flores
In this 2013 film, "Bless Me, Ultima",(Directed and Screen played by Carl Franklin and based on the novel by Rudolfo Anaya) displays a spiritual and generally hardworking town of old time agricultural Chicano people living in New Mexico during WW2. The film focuses on the protagonist, Antonio, who's curiosity places him in difficult and mature situations inside and outside of his home. The character whom had the opportunity to play Antonio contained a significant amount of innocence in which stripped the movie from a major memorable aspect. Antonio's character in the novel had questionable innocence due to what he has seen and how his curiosity puts him in dangerous situations where as in the film his ability to seek something potentially helpful to his learning process pushed him more towards innocence due to his looks and approach towards obstacles. In one of the first dangerous scenes in the film in which Lupito was killed, Antonio was in the grass hiding to watch what was happening on the bridge and the director uses a a medium long shot to show Antonio in the grass to make him appear small and innocent and the purpose of this scene was to show a small piece of his innocence being stripped but actually the scene made Antonio contain more innocence due to his facial expression and how expressed his feelings in the scene by running away extremely scared. In the film, Antonio continued to be graceful in all his actions and didn't really show his extremely spiritual side in comparison with the novel because the power of good rarely appeared in connection with Antonio in the novel. I know that the movie cannot be exactly like the book, but the movie lacked certain aspects of the book in which completed the book for example, the golden carp was completely disregarded in the making of the film. The golden carp is what made Antonio seem to slowly seem less innocent because he began to believe in many different spiritual theories. If the movie contained a loss of innocence and a widened since of religion, this would make the movie more interesting and meaningful.
Dane Mathews
Carl Franklin did an admirable job in "Bless Me, Ultima". The movie itself followed the book correctly which is what I like in a movie. But that is not the wow-factor that made this movie stand out in my opinion. Franklin's use of Diegetic Sound and Extreme Long Shots really allowed the setting to stand out visually, audibly and perhaps emotionally. The land is one of the most treasured factors of the book and is made important in the movie as well. The ambiance is inordinately imperative and consequential in any movie but more so in this movie. Franklin's use of Diegetic Sound is just outright prodigious. He allows the setting to stand out not only visually, but audibly. These scant yet meaningful sounds that allow the land to really protrude through the stereotypical meaning of a setting to almost make the land come to life. In the book, the "llano" was one of the biggest components. The way Franklin also avails Extreme Long Shots very well. At almost every conversion there is an Extreme Long Shot so the audience can see the land at numerous angles, to really seize the importance of the land to its people. More so when Ultima and Antonio pick out herbs there are multiple Extreme or Normal Long Shots so the audience can get a great glimpse of the "llano". Those two aspects of the film are really what stood out to me in the audience because of how detailed each transition was along with the sound quality to make the land really speak for itself.
shannonliam-17819
After having read the book, I made the rational assumption that the movie would at least try to convey the main themes expressed in the book. Although an entertaining coming of age film, it failed to address, arguably, the most important theme in the book, Antonio's struggle to find his identity. For starters, the narrator in the movie was a grown man. As the audience, I found it hard to connect this man's voice with the thoughts inside the head of an 8 year old. If a young boy was used as a narrator, I believe Antonio's inner conflicts while coming of age would have been better represented. In Addition, Franklin left out all the scenes that built upon Antonio's cultural and religious conflicts such as the golden carp and the dream of his birth. However, although he left an important theme out, Franklin was successful in conveying other themes. In the book, the connection between one's spirit and the spirit of nature was very prevalent. Franklin did a great job at illustrating this by using many diegetic and non-diegetic nature sounds along with scene-opening long shots to show the natural surroundings. Moreover, Franklin did a great job conveying the magical powers of Ultima and her owl. A director could easily go overboard on the magic portion of the story and turn it in to a total fantasy, Franklin kept it subtle. For example, during the scene when Antonio and Ultima are preparing to lift the curse laid upon his uncle, Antonio feels safe when he hears Ultima's owl outside scaring away the wolves. Instead of actually showing an owl scaring away a pack of wolves, we are able to just imagine it which keeps it from becoming too fantasized. After the curse is lifted, the owl appears in the bedroom window to show that it has been protecting them throughout the night. All in all, although Franklin missed a key theme, his execution of the rest of the story made up for it.
ccorr-89011
The 2013 Film Bless Me Ultima, Directed by Carl Franklin and based on the novel written by Rudolfo Anaya, shares great messages of God and family. The main character Antonio struggles with his faith and the life his family has planned out for him, at the age of 7. Franklin's use of reaction shots perfectly portray the chaos that occurs in the film, allowing the viewers to feel for the characters. We feel as if we are in the film with them, whether it is when Antonio is about to get shot or when Florence hits his head and drowns in the lake. The camera quickly cuts to shots of the boys' faces showing their shock and fear. Antonio's life being predetermined by his parents and the arrival of Ultima makes it harder for him to decide what he wants to be when he is older. He is constantly faced with answering the question: "Do you want to be a priest or a farmer?" Ultimas presence exposes Antonio's doubts in God. God had failed to save Florence's parents and failed to save Narciso from dying. These events only decrease his faith in God.Franklin makes good use out of natural sounds from nature, that can be classified as diegetic sound since the viewers hear what the character hears. The sound plays a large part in the film and is absolutely beautiful. We hear what Antonio hears, such as the rushing of water or the loud pounding of feet on the bridge when people race the Vitamin Kid. Overall, the film is horrible compared to the novel. It lacks a sense of emotion and the relationship between Ultima and Antonio in the book is far more close than how they are portrayed in Franklin's film. The film's music and reaction shots make the film intriguing but when compared to the novel, it failed to keep the attention of the viewers.
AD
