The Social Network

 

The Social Network (2010), directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, and, Panic Room) tells the semi-autobiographical story of the creation of Facebook. The film tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg, a nerdy Harvard student who with his roommates create the biggest social network in the world. The film also shows the legal battles and issues that arose while Zuckerberg was creating Facebook. The Social Network details Mark Zuckerberg’s rise to power and his alienation from the people around him.

  Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg, a nerdy socially inept young man who over the course of the film creates the biggest social network in the world and becomes the youngest billionaire at twenty. Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg as fast talking and intelligent yet socially awkward. He comes off at times during the film as an asshole but yet you still feel for him. What’s amazing about Eisenberg’s performance is how he’s able to emote in each scene. One scene for example is when during the legal proceedings Eduardo at one point tells him that he was Mark’s one and only friend, the look that Eisenberg gives him as he says this is one of regret and sadness for betraying Eduardo. Eisenberg also plays Zuckerberg as a misunderstood loner who wants to be accepted.  Eisenberg was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for his performance as Zuckerberg. Eduardo Saverin the Co-creator of Facebook is played by Andrew Garfield. He is the cooler but yet nerdy best friend to Mark. He is tall and wears slick clothing unlike Mark who wears sweaters and is short with messy hair. Eduardo unlike Mark doesn’t fully know what Facebook could be. This is what leads to the friction between the friends. Especially after Sean Parker enters the picture, it leaves Eduardo feeling left out. After Eduardo is dropped from the company for freezing his assets Eduardo confronts Mark. This scene is intercut with the courtroom hearing between Eduardo and Mark. When Eduardo tells Mark that he was his only friend you can see the pain and feeling of betrayal on Garfield’s face. This and the scene in where Eduardo confronts Mark are two extremely pivotal scenes for Garfield’s performance. Garfield has to play Eduardo in a very vulnerable state. What Garfield is able to do with his performance is connect with the audience. We the audience sympathy for him and can understand his feeling of betrayal. Garfield and Eisenberg’s chemistry helps the audience to connect to their relationship. That’s why it’s heartbreaking when their relationship dissolves right in front of us. The two are to bring great depth to their respective characters and each give an amazing performances.

   An amazing aspect of The Social Network is the editing. Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall edit the film in a non-linear style. The film is intercut to show the creation of Facebook, The Winklevoos twin’s frustration, and the legal hearings that follow. The films opening sequence starts after Mark is dumped by ex-girlfriend Erica Albright. Mark gets drunk and writes a hateful blog on Erica. This then leads to Mark creating the website FaceMash where girl are compared next to each other based on their college Facebook picture. This is intercut with the Phoenix Club hosting a party for girls. And then intercut with students on the Harvard campus who use the website to judge girls. As we see Zuckerberg and friends create their website in their dorm room, we see girls kissing each other and taking off their clothes at the Phoenix party. This creates the effect that Zuckerberg and his friends are nerds who judge girls in a sexist manner we see the girls performing sex acts. While this is happening we then see the reactions of the males at Harvard playing the FaceMash game. This sequence is then intercut with the reaction to Erica Albright reading Mark’s blog. This scene is extremely difficult to edit because of the amount of footage used. The sequence crosscuts four scenes together, if one of these scenes looks off or if it doesn’t flow properly the whole sequence would look bad and be difficult to view. What makes the scene work is the pacing and flow of the intercutting of the scene. The rest of the film is told through flashbacks and cutaways. Throughout the film we see the legal hearings of Eduardo and the Winklevoos twin’s lawsuit against Mark for Facebook. As we see each person tell their story at the hearings it is intercut with the scenes depicting the events that happened prior. By telling the story in this manner the viewer is able to take in the story much easier. But the difficulty in doing this though is crosscutting the emotional scenes together. For example a scene in which Eduardo tells Mark that he was his only friend is intercut with Eduardo confronting Mark about his liquidated his shares in the company. The scene has to capture the emotional power of Garfield’s performance while still being able to create an impactful scene. The editing in the film is an amazingly well crafted and in important aspect of this film.

   Another important aspect of the film is the Score. Trent Reznor is best known as the lead singer of the rock band Nine Inch Nails. He along with Atticus Ross are the composers of the film. The music for the film is mostly made up piano and guitar riffs over electronic music. The soundtrack of the film gives off this sense of this technologic world in which the characters in habit. The distorted electronic sounds in the beginning of the film is foreshadowing to the events that take place. It gives off this sense that we are slowly in Mark Zuckerberg’s world. Another key aspect to the soundtrack is the use of pianos in the soundtrack. After Erica breaks up with Mark in the first scene of the film you can hear a distinct piano sound that plays when Erica leaves the bar. In this scene when the piano plays we feel and sense Mark’s loneliness and alienation from the world around him. As the piano plays throughout the titles we see Mark walking past students on campus. With scene being shot with wide shots we come to an understanding Mark’s alienation from the world around him. As the movie goes on the piano becomes more and more faint and we are given this feeling that Mark’s alienation becomes worse. The use of guitar riffs in the film creates a sense of excitement in the film. The first time we hear these guitar riffs is during the Phoenix party where females are taking off their clothes and is then repeated when Eduardo and his girlfriend have sex in a stall. The sound of the guitars creates a sexual pleasure within the scenes. The final song in the film isThe Beatles “Baby you’re a rich man”. It plays when Mark tries to add Erica on Facebook in the final scene. The tone of the song is upbeat, opposite of the film itself. The title of the song implies that Mark earned his way to the success he has. But it also implies the current state of his life where he has no one to connect to. In a way the song is telling Mark that he should be happy because he is a rich man and has accomplished a lot in his life but yet has alienated himself from society.

   The Social Network is a great feet in filmmaking history. It is the Citizen Kane of our generation. It’s themes of Power and alienation play throughout the film. A film about a young man who creates an empire but loses the people aroud him. The writing, cinematography, editing, and music are masterful and amazingly well done. The performances by both Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield are the heart and soul of the film. David Fincher has made a generation defying film that will be remembered for years to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppamk0iTCQ8

The Wrestler

   Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” (2008) starring Mickey Rourke is the story of an aging wrestler past his prime dealing with his inner demons and failures in his life. The movie tells the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson a wrestler who was popular in the 1980’s, now dealing with poverty and loneliness. By day Randy works at a grocery where he unloads boxes that come off the trucks. While at night Randy wrestles in small venues trying to get as much money as he can get to get by. After overdosing on Steroids and being told that he wouldn’t be able to wrestle again Randy is forced question his life and reflect on his past. The film depicts Randy’s redemption as he tries to reconnect with his daughter and his love for a stripper name Pam. The film depicts Randy as man who abused his body for many years and how over time its take in its toll on his life. The Film shows how Randy abuses body in the ring with the physical stunts that he does and shows Randy’s pain within his personal life where must deal his loneliness and failures. The Wrestler is an ultimately a movie of a man who is forced to deal with disconnection and alienation and of his redemption. It’s an examination of a man who tries to follow his dream but has to deal to the harsh reality of failure.

               The Cinematography in the movie is done with handheld camera to create the sense of realism. The film itself feels as If we are watching a documentary of Randy’s life. We become voyeurs as we examine and analyze Randy and his surroundings. It plays well with the film’s style in that we feel as though we are seeing into his life. The film also uses a lot of tracking shots and sequence shots. The camera mostly follows Randy as he walks through the wrestling world and in his personal life. We the audience move with Randy as he moves within the film and see the film through his eyes. The film also uses natural lighting as opposed to artificial lighting. This again is used to make the film seem as if we the audience are watching a documentary. If artificial lighting was used, it would take the audience out of the feeling we are watching a documentary and we would feel less like we are voyeurs watching Randy in his personal life.

   The film also boasts a unique cast; the director Darren Aronofsky puts together an amazing array of actors that create a deep connection with their characters. Mickey Rourke play Randy “The Ram” Robinson a broken down and washed up wrestler. He gives the film its soul and gives a performance of a broken down man who has abused his body for many years seeking redemption past mistakes. Randy in the ring is known as “The Ram” a hero and icon that the crowd cheers for, while outside of the ring Randy is a loser and a broken down man. Mickey Rourke was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor for his performance. Mickey himself dealt with many issues that his character faced. Mickey was blacklisted from Hollywood in the eighties due to his behavior. He was losing money and had dealt with alchol and drug abuse. This film much like the film shows his sort of redemption within Hollywood and his comeback. Mickey also looks a lot like a wrestler; He dyed his hair blonde and had bulked to play Randy “the Ram”. Evan Rachel Wood plays Randy’s daughter Stephanie who at first rejects but later accepts him in the movie. Wood’s chemistry with Rourke is one of the key parts of the film. The scenes with Randy and Stephanie plays heavily into Randy’s redemption in the movie. She plays her character as a young woman who feels betrayed by her father and feels broken because of it. She blames him for not being there and for abandoning her when she needed him. This plays towards the theme of loneliness that the film lays out. Randy’s conversation with his daughter is integral to Randy reconnection with his past life. Marisa Tomei plays Pam aka Cassidy, a stripper past her prime who finds a connection Randy. The two characters are portrayed broken down pieces of meat that the no one cares about anymore. Pam has to deal with the fact that she’s getting old and that clients no longer want her. Pam like Randy is a parent too, she has a six year old son that she has difficult time trying to feed and clothe. She like Randy isn’t able to be there for her child. Randy and Pam both see each other in their eyes and find a personal connection. They both have to deal with their age and how life is slowly passing them by.

                  A main element of the film is the Wrestler’s soundtrack. The soundtrack has mostly songs from the eighties. This is important to note due to Randy’s success in wrestling happened in that decade. The soundtrack consists of artist such as Guns N Roses, Quiet Riot and, Firehouse to name a few. The music plays into driving home the important themes of the film. One key scene is the song that plays over Randy’s final entrance to the ring is “Sweet Child of Mine” by Guns N Roses. This song plays into the scene before it when Pam tells Randy that she is there for him At one point in the movie Randy calls Kurt Cobain “a pussy” for destroying the 80’s. The reason for this is that Randy was his most successful in the 80’s, after this time his career went down hill which is presumed to be in the 90’s. Randy is really blaming Cobain for own downfall and self destruction. But the most important song in the film is the theme song by “the boss” Bruce Springsteen called “The Wrestler”. The song is a ballad to Randy “The Ram” Robinson. The lyrics of the song asks if you ever seen one legged dog and a trick pony. The lyrics then say if you’ve seen this then you’ve seen me. It tries to imply that Randy is this one legged dog and trick pony. It is a metaphor to show that Randy is broken man who used his body for entertainment and show. The song implies that Randy is broken down dog that has lost his way. Springsteen’s melancholy voice gives a gritty tone to the song and plays well to the feeling of the film.

  In conclusion the Wrestler tells the story of a man who tries to follow the American dream and fails. A man for the ten to twenty minutes in the ring becomes a hero for the working class but is then forced to deal with the failure of his life. Darren Aronfsky’s crafts a self portrait of man who fell from grace and wants to receive redemption and a sense of belonging. A man who followed the American Dream, and went head first off the top turnbuckle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRUEKJIcvbo