Facial Expressions in Movies

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1

Godfather 3

United States, 1990
Cast: Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Eli Wallach, Joe Mantegna, Sofia Coppola, George Hamilton, Bridget Fonda
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Producer: Francis Ford Coppola

--> Highlight on the scene: More than sadness. Pay attention to Al Pacino's facial expression.

--> We will try twice of this scene, once with sound, then without sound.

The story opens in 1979 New York, some twenty years after Michael Corleone (Pacino) gave the order to have his older brother killed. His children Mary (Sofia Coppola) and Anthony (Franc D'Ambrosio) are now grown. Mary is devoted to her father; Anthony is more wary. He loves Michael, but wants nothing to do with "the business", even though all illegal investments have been divested. The Corleone family is legitimate.

As with the other two movies, this one begins with a family gathering. The occasion is the presentation to Michael of the Order of St. Sebastian - the highest honor the Catholic Church can bestow upon a layman. For a Corleone to receive it is the ultimate mark of respectability.

Michael is not so easily free of his former underworld allies, however. When he makes a $600 million play for the international conglomerate Immobiliare, they want a piece of the cake, seeing an opportunity to launder their money. Michael's refusal at a meeting of dons stings more than a few of his old friends, and brings down a bloody retribution.

The next Don Corleone - Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), Sonny Corleone's boy - is awaiting his opportunity. He possesses a ruthlessness and taste for violence that Michael has long since lost, and as the Immobiliare stakes escalate, the old head of the family recognizes the need for youth and strength. The passing of the baton, however, carries with it a tragic price.

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2

Capote

Directed by
Bennett Miller

Philip Seymour Hoffman .... Truman Capote
Catherine Keener .... Harper Lee
Clifton Collins Jr. .... Perry Smith
Chris Cooper .... Alvin Dewey
Bruce Greenwood .... Jack Dunphy
Bob Balaban .... William Shawn
Amy Ryan .... Marie Dewey
Mark Pellegrino .... Richard Hickock
Allie Mickelson .... Laura Kinney
Marshall Bell .... Warden Marshall Krutch
Araby Lockhart .... Dorothy Sanderson
Robert Huculak .... New York Reporter
R.D. Reid .... Roy Church
Rob McLaughlin .... Harold Nye
Harry Nelken .... Sheriff Walter Sanderson

--> Highlight: Right before execution of criminals, Capote visit Perry to say goodbye for the last time. His each part of muscle on face starts moving to express his sadness.

Plot Summary for
Capote (2005)

In 1959, Truman Capote, a popular writer for The New Yorker, learns about the horrific and senseless murder of a family of four in Halcomb, Kansas. Inspired by the story material, Capote and his partner, Harper Lee, travel to the town to research for an article. However, as Capote digs deeper into the story, he is inspired to expand the project into what would be his greatest work, In Cold Blood. To that end, he arranges extensive interviews with the prisoners, especially with Perry Smith, a quiet and articulate man with a troubled history. As he works on his book, Capote feels some compassion for Perry which in part prompts him to help the prisoners to some degree. However, that feeling deeply conflicts with his need for closure for his book which only an execution can provide. That conflict and the mixed motives for both interviewer and subject make for a troubling experience that would produce an literary account that would redefine modern non-fiction.

Director Bennet Miller's "Capote" is a film that shows great intelligence in the way it captured the essence of Truman Capote, a man who achieved fame and notoriety with most of the fiction he wrote. This film concentrates in the period of his life in which he got obsessed by a notorious murder case of the fifties about the murder of a family in Kansas.

Dan Futterman has written the screen play based on the book by Gerald Clarke. The film is an account about the writing of the novel "In Cold Blood" that showed how the two young men who committed the heinous crime are caught, processed and hanged for their actions.

If you haven't watched the film, perhaps you would like to stop here.

When the film opens we get a vision of a lonely house in the distance. This being the Midwest, we are given a flat expanse devoid of elevations anywhere. The camera takes us to that lonely house as a young woman comes calling for her friend that lives in there. Not getting any response, she goes in to a room upstairs where she discovers her friend has been killed. The colors are dark, as is the tone of the film.

Truman Capote, who had been connected to the New Yorker magazine, sees the article in the N.Y. Times and gets interested. This case that shocked the country, at the time, shows a promise for the writer. The next time we meet him, he is in the small town in Kansas accompanied by his good friend and steadying influence, Nell Harper Lee, a writer.

By becoming friendly with the sheriff's wife, Mr. Capote gets a privilege by having access to the two murderers. Truman is clearly deeply affected by his relationship with Perry Smith, a handsome dark man who shows a lot of intensity. By gaining their trust, Capote is able to put together his best selling book "In Cold Blood", which will revolutionize American letters in the way the two criminals are portrayed.

Truman Capote, while pursuing the completion of his book, doesn't come clean to Perry Smith. In fact, when questioned about things he has learned, Capote gives evasive answers because he is not prepared to share with his main subject things that clearly should have been clarified from the start.

Watching the brilliant take of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote on the screen, brought to mind another great actor, Meryl Streep, who like Mr. Hoffman is a chameleon in the interpretation of a character. Mr. Hoffman is perfect as the writer because he has captured every mannerism and the speech inflection of Truman Capote. Catherine Keener is perfect as Nelle, the true friend and companion. Bruce Greenwood plays Truman Capote's companion Jack Dunphy. Chris Cooper is totally wasted as Sheriff Dewey.

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Focus on Director = Actor

3

Brown Bunny

Directed by
Vincent Gallo

Writing credits
Vincent Gallo

Vincent Gallo .... Bud Clay
Chloë Sevigny .... Daisy
Cheryl Tiegs .... Lilly
Elizabeth Blake .... Rose
Anna Vareschi .... Violet
Mary Morasky .... Mrs. Lemon

Hightlight: Desperate emotion of Vicent Gallo is exquisite. Try to pay attention to his facial expression that is so lost and empty.

Plot Summary for
The Brown Bunny (2003)

It's the story of one man's tragic loss of the love of his life. He is Bud Clay. And he races motorcycles. He rides in the 250cc Formula II class of road racing. Round and round he goes, repeating laps over and over until the race is over. The story begins with Bud racing in New Hampshire. Bud's next race is in California in five Days. And so his journey begins across America. And everyday Bud is haunted by the same memories of the last time he saw his true love. Bud will do anything to make those memories disappear. And every day he tries to find a new love. Making outrageous requests of women to come with him on his trip and then leaving them behind after they've agreed. He can't replace Daisy, the only girl he's ever loved and the only girl he will ever love. But every day he tries.

4

Buffalo '66

Directed by
Vincent Gallo

Writing credits
Vincent Gallo (story)
Vincent Gallo (screenplay)

Plot Summary for
Buffalo '66 (1998)

Highight: He is very angry, full of dissatisfaction. You can still read his affection to the girl.

Vincent Gallo's directorial debut is a powerhouse of fine acting, writing, and direction, not to mention a showcase for some truly jaw-dropping cinematography. Buffalo 66 is one of the finest independent films that I have ever seen, and perhaps the most fascinating character study I have yet to see on film.

Christina Ricci provides one of the year's best performances as Layla, the odd but tenderhearted tap dancer who provides Gallo's Billy Brown with the only true love he has ever received. Ricci's performance is brilliantly understated, and she relays just as much heartfelt meaning in one glance of her beautiful, dark eyes as Gallo does in his barrage of rapid-fire monologues.

There are also fine supporting performances from Ben Gazzara and Angjelica Huston, as Billy's utterly dysfunctional parents, Mickey Rourke, as a sleezy bookie, Jan-Michael Vincent, as Billy's touchingly loyal friend and owner of a bowling alley, and Kevin Corrigan, as Billy's slow but well-meaning best friend.

Buffalo 66 is an incredibly moving and beautiful film. It provides some of the starkest movie images of blue-collar society to come along since the '70s. The on-location Buffalo, New York sites are haunting in their bleakness, and the filtered photography emphasizes this all the more.

On top of all of this, Gallo provides a mesmerizing performance as Billy Brown-a man who has spent so much of his life pining for love and tenderness that he doesn't know how to deal with it once it is staring him in the face.

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Korean Movies

5

Welcom to Dongmakgol

Directed by
Kwang-Hyun Park

2 Highlights: At the famous Popcorn scene we will watch the expression of surprise and enjoyment. Then they ran into a wild pig and fight against it.

The film begins with the crash landing of Allied forces pilot Neal Smith’s plane near the village. He is injured and nursed back to health but has no clue how to communicate or get himself out of the village. Meanwhile, two South Korean deserters meet up in the forests nearby and then meet a villager who offers to bring them back home. And of course, for the sake of tension, a North Korean unit (or rather the three remaining survivors of one) is also in the area, guided back to the village by crazy girl Yeo-il. The villagers, unaware of the war or even the danger of the soldiers’ weapons, whisper about the good luck all these visitors will bring. Of course, when all sides eventually meet in a long standoff, the situation becomes understandably intense.

Korean cinema gets a much-needed shot in the arm with Welcome to Dongmakgol, an exhilarating, transcendent anti-war film that marks the impressive directorial debut of filmmaker Park Kwang Hyeon. Set amidst the backdrop of the Korean War, this box office and critical smash explores the converging paths of a group of bitter enemies, who find more than they bargained for in the peaceful mountain village of Dongmakgol.
This accidental "gathering" begins when a U.S. pilot named Smith (Steve Taschler) crash lands on the outskirts of Dongmakgol, and is taken in by the locals, who despite some hilarious language difficulties, try their best to make the American feel right at home. Smith is soon joined by the last surviving members of a doomed platoon of North Korean soldiers - Commander Lee Su-Hwa (Jung Jae-Young), Private Jang (Im Ha-Ryong), and patriotic teen soldier Taek-Ki (Ryoo Deok-Hwan), all of whom end up following a spaced out villager named Yeo Il (Kang Hye-Jung) back to the village. Of course, the North Koreans get a little hot under the collar when two South Korean soldiers - Lieutenant Pyo Hyun-Chul (Shin Ha-Kyun) and the comical medic Moon (Seo Jae-Gyung) - end up at the peaceful hamlet as well. The villagers, who don't have a clue that war is ravaging their country, are left wondering just what all the fuss is about.
After an intense standoff involving the soldiers that quickly turns hilarious thanks to the bewildered, matter-of-fact reactions of the villagers, a stray hand grenade ends up destroying the village's food stores in a popcorn-infused blaze of glory. Realizing the severity of their actions, the two sides form a tentative truce, agreeing to help the villagers restock the warehouse. Although puzzled by the villagers' way of life, the soldiers soon understand that they have found a kind of utopia, where ideology means nothing and the sins of the past can be left far, far behind. But just as they start to settle into this peaceful new world, outside forces threaten to destroy Dongmakgol.

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6

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring

Directed by
Ki-duk Kim

Writing credits
Ki-duk Kim

Yeong-su Oh .... Old Monk (as Young-soo Oh)
Ki-duk Kim .... Adult Monk
Young-min Kim .... Young Adult Monk
Jae-kyeong Seo .... Boy Monk
Yeo-jin Ha .... The Girl
Jong-ho Kim .... Child Monk
Jung-young Kim .... The Girl's Mother

3 Highlights: Regretful sadness expression from the boy is amazing. The young guy's anger versus old monk's sneering(?) is showing contrast. Then there is an interesting scene going on. Can you read the face under the vail?

Plot Summary for
Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (2003)

A young boy lives in a small floating temple on a beautiful lake, together with an elderly master who teaches him the ways of the Buddha. Years later the boy, now a young man, experiences his sexual awakening with a girl who has come to the temple to be healed by the master. The youth runs away to the outside world but his lust turns his life into hell, so he returns to the lake temple to find spiritual enlightenment.

SYNOPSIS

SPRING
The wooden doors of a gated threshold open on a small monastery raft that floats upon the tranquil surface of a mountain pond. The hermitage's sole occupants are an Old Monk (OH Young-soo) and his boy protege Child Monk (KIM Jong-ho). While exploring the world in and around their secluded idyll, Child Monk indulges in the capricious cruelties of boyhood. After tying stones to a fish, a frog, and a snake, Child Monk awakens to find himself fettered by a large stone Old Monk has bound to him. The old man calmly instructs the boy to release the animals, promising him that if any of the creatures die "you'll carry the stone in your heart for the rest of your life."

SUMMER

The doors open again on Boy Monk now aged 17 (SEO Jae-kyung) who meets a woman (KIM Jung-young) making a pilgrimage with her spiritually ill daughter (HAYeo-jin). "When she finds peace in her soul," Old Monk reassures the mother, "her body will return to health." The girl awakens desire in Boy Monk and the sensual flirtation between the two of them culminates in passionate lovemaking on pond-side rocks. After a furtive but tender tryst in the abbey's rowboat, the lovers are discovered by Old Monk. The girl, now healed, is sent back to her mother. Forsaking his monastery home, the infatuated Boy Monk follows her.

FALL
Long absent from the monastery, Young Adult Monk (KIM Young-Min), now a thirty year old fugitive, returns to the abbey raft still consumed by a jealous rage that has compelled him to commit a violent crime. When Young Adult Monk attempts penitence as cruel as his misdeed, Old Monk punishes him. The Old Monk instructs Young Adult Monk to carve Pranjaparpamita (Buddhist) sutras into the hermitage's deck in order to find peace in his heart. Two policemen arrive at the abbey to arrest Young Adult Monk but thanks to Old Monk, they let Young Adult Monk continue carving the sutras. Young Adult Monk collapses from exhaustion and the two policemen finish decorating the sutras before taking Young Adult Monk into custody. Alone again, Old Monk prepares a ritual funereal pyre for himself.

WINTER
The doors open on the now frozen pond and abandoned monastery. The now mature Adult Monk (played by director KIM Ki-duk) returns to train himself for the penultimate season in his spiritual journey-cycle. A veiled woman arrives bearing an infant that she leaves in Adult Monk's care. In a pilgrimage of contrition, Adult Monk drags a millstone to the summit of a mountain overlooking the pond. As he gazes down on the pond that buoys the monastery and the mountainsides that gently hold the pond like cupped hands, Adult Monk acknowledges the unending cycle of seasons and the accompanying ebb and flow of life's joys and sorrows.

... AND SPRING
The doors open once again on a beautiful spring day. Grown from a child to a man and from a novice to a master, Adult Monk has been reborn as teacher for his new protege. Together, Adult Monk and his young pupil are to start the cycle anew...

ABOUT THE FILM
The exquisitely beautiful and very human drama SPRING, SUMMER, FALL, WINTER... AND SPRING, starring director KIM Ki-duk, is entirely set on and around a tree-lined lake where a tiny Buddhist monastery floats on a raft amidst a breath-taking landscape. The film is divided into five segments with each season representing a stage in a man's life. Under the vigilant eyes of Old Monk (wonderful veteran theatre actor OH Young-soo), Child Monk learns a hard lesson about the nature of sorrow when some of his childish games turn cruel.

In the intensity and lushness of summer, the monk, now a young man, experiences the power of lust, a desire that will ultimately lead him, as an adult, to dark deeds. With winter, strikingly set on the ice and snow-covered lake, the man atones for his past actions, and spring starts the cycle anew...

With an extraordinary attention to visual details, such as using a different animal (dog, rooster, cat, snake) as a motif for each section, writer/director/editor KIM Ki-duk has crafted a totally original yet universal story about the human spirit, moving from Innocence, through Love and Evil, to Enlightenment and finally Rebirth.

7

The Isle

Directed by
Ki-duk Kim

Writing credits
Ki-duk Kim

Plot Summary for
Seom (2000)

Mute Hee-Jin is working as a clerk in a fishing resort in the korean wilderness; selling baits, food and occiasionally her body to the fishing tourists. One day she falls in love to Hyun-Shik, who is on the run for the police and rescues him with a fish hook, when he tries to commit suicide.

Suh Jung as Hee-Jin
Yoosuk Kim as Hyun-Shik
Sung-hee Park as Eun-A
Jae Hyun Cho as Mang-Chee
Hang-Seon Jang as Middle-aged man

8

Old Boy

Directed by
Chan-wook Park

Writing credits
Jo-yun Hwang (screenplay)
Chun-hyeong Lim (screenplay)

Min-sik Choi .... Dae-su Oh
Ji-tae Yu .... Woo-jin Lee
Hye-jeong Kang .... Mi-do
Dae-han Ji .... No Joo-hwan
Dal-su Oh .... Park Cheol-woong
Byeong-ok Kim .... Mr. Han
Seung-Shin Lee .... Yoo Hyung-ja
Jin-seo Yun .... Lee Soo-ah
Dae-yeon Lee .... Beggar
Kwang-rok Oh .... Suicidal Man
Tae-kyung Oh .... Young Dae-su
Yeon-suk Ahn .... Young Woo-jin
Il-han Oo .... Young Joo-hwan

Plot Summary for
Oldboy (2003)

9

Lady Vengeance

Directed by
Chan-wook Park

Writing credits
Seo-Gyeong Jeong
Chan-wook Park

Plot Summary for
Chinjeolhan geumjassi (2005)

Lee Geum-Ja, at the age of 19, goes to prison for the murder and abduction of a child on behalf of her accomplice Mr. Baek, only to find out that she is betrayed. While in prison, she carefully prepares for her revenge by winning the hearts of her fellow inmates with her kindness, thus earning herself the nickname 'kind Ms. Geum-Ja'. Upon her release from prison after 13 years, she finally sets out to seek revenge on Baek, with the help of her former prison mates.

Here is the instruction to download some movies. It's made in Korean, so please be patientto get the free movie.

First, you need to install Gomplayer which is a codec for the Korean movies. It's free software which you can download from this site. Click the banner indicated in this photo.

http://gom.ipop.co.kr/release/down.html?intSeq=166

After you download Gom Player, go to the movie link.

Link: http://147.46.214.54/bbs/zboard.php?id=Family_GB&page=1

You see bunch of Korean charactor but don't be panic, here is a friendly instruction.

If you use Mac, click the left mouse button on the link that are shown below, and get it 'Download linked file.'

Each movies are made in two seperate files and it usually takes 1 to 2 hours to download depends on your internet speed. If you have trouble downloading them, please email me, I will be happy to help you, even borrow you my CD.

Thanks.