Ludwig van Beethoven’s music is generally understood as the composer’s personal expression of his deep-felt emotions. The mercurial composer not only suffered from a progressively worsening deafness but also turbulent romantic relations. His music is said to capture the high and low moments of his personal and professional lives. His music is also divided into…
Category: Media Studies
Jean Renoir’s film ‘A Day in the Country’ and Guy de Maupassant’s story ‘A Country Excursion’: A comparative analysis in the context of Dudley Andrews’ three adaptation strategies
Introduction: A Day in the Country is one of Renoir’s early forays into narrative story telling. One can see the tentativeness of a filmmaker finding his feet in the new medium which was only a few years past the silent films era. A characteristic of the fledgling days of cinema was its seeking of ideas…
Response to Theory Talk #12: Robert Jervis
(talk accessed via: http://www.theory-talks.org/2008/07/theory-talk-12.html) Political Scientist Robert Jervis offers interesting perspectives in the area of International Relations. In particular he talks about the nature of American dominance, the potential threats to its superpower status, the success and failure of the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, etc. Professor Jervis presents his views from a Realist point of view…
The Eleventh Hour and Sick Around the World: Studies on the U.S. Healthcare system
What did I learn from the novel and the PBS videos? Both the novel and the documentary film has been full of relevant information for me. I learnt different things from the two different media. The novel The Eleventh Hour is a unique mélange of fact and fiction. That it presents details pertaining to the…
How does the worldview presented in the movie ‘The Golden Compass’ converge or differ from a Christian worldview?
The Golden Compass is a bold movie in the sense that it tackles a major social malaise – namely religious authority. Although references to Christianity in particular and God in general have been removed from the film version, there is no doubt that the sweeping authority of the Magisterium includes these two sources of authority. …
Africa: A Voyage of Discovery with Basil Davidson
Episode 1: Different But Equal n the first episode of the documentary series titled ‘Africa: A Voyage of Discovery with Basil Davidson’, a historical-colonial perspective of Africa and its people is given. The title ‘Different But Equal’ hints at how African people were treated to the contrary by Westerner colonialists. Although early travelers to ancient…
Media Analysis: Just a Minute (BBC Radio 4)
Introduction: The media item chosen for this essay is Just a Minute – a flagship radio comedy show broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It is based on a 4-member panel format, where contestants have to speak on any given topic for a full minute without ‘hesitation’, ‘repetition’ or ‘deviation’. Having premiered at 1967 as a…
Is docudrama the most socially relevant mode of television drama in Britain?
The two docudramas chosen for this essay are The Deal (2003) and Einstein and Eddington (2008). The first is a political story of significance to recent domestic and foreign policy in Britain. The latter is an enduring story of two men of science, whose discoveries and theories are central to modern physics and astronomy. Both…
Movie Review: Bicycle Thieves
The film Bicycle Thieves (original Italian title Ladri di bicyclette) is an emotionally engaging film. Made in 1948 in the aftermath of the Second World War, the film gives a realistic account of war-ravished Italy. The economy is in a bad shape and social fissures are pronounced. There is poverty and misery everywhere. Unemployment levels…
Clip Analysis: Zhantai (2000)
Introduction: Films have been used as mediums to showcase social transformation. In the Chinese film Platform made by Jia Zhang, this theme is writ large. The film reflects the changing attitudes, beliefs and cultural norms evident in late twentieth century China. It was time when the country was moving towards modernization, leaving behind some of…