Brick is the story of a high school student, Brendan, who discovers his ex-girlfriend has been murdered after recently beginning to hang out with the popular clique at school. He begins to investigate her murder by utilizing his friend (The Brain) and typical sleuth work. As the story develops, the viewer discovers that Brendan is somewhat a double agent, working for the Vice Principal and later the drug leader of the popular clique, The Pin. Brendan, through hard work discovers the truth behind Emily's murder and the orchestrator. Brick, filmed in 2005 is noted as a n example of the neo-noir movement in film. Brick represents the film noir genre in it's harken to German Expressionism and a more realistic story. Throughout the film the speech and movements of the actors bears some resemblance to the over-exaggeration and dance-like movements of the German Expressionism period. The speech of the characters seems antiquated. The verbal interactions are obviously stylized to a specific era (mid 20th century crime thrillers). In addition, the focus on the character's movements (such as during the fights and the final scene between Brendan and Laura) can be interpreted as an ancestor of the exaggerated and dance-like movements of German Expressionism. These, although characteristic of film noir, have their beginnings in German Expressionism. The story of high schoolers involved in the trade of heroin that results in the murder of a teen can be seen as a more realistic story. This element of film noir is essential to the genre. Whereas earlier films focused on happy endings, film noir focused on real life and possible outcomes. Brendan's outcome of solving the crime and ending the film with the discovery of the brick in Laura's locker can hardly be called a wrapped up happy ending. Overall, Brick was an updated example of a film noir. It contained the realistic story elements and some descendents of German Expressionism such as the focus on movements, over-exaggeration, and stylized speech. There were a couple of other interesting things I learned about Brick while I was researching. I discovered that the script came about as a result of the director's love of Dashiell Hammett's writing. Hammett is most well known for writing the book version of The Maltese Falcon; often cited as a quintessential American example of film noir. And on a more personal note, Emile De Ravin (Emily Kostich) sounded strange to me with an American accent. But, I may have just been pining for her LOST days.
Brick brings many classic film noir techniques from the mid-1900s to a modern setting. The film, starring Joesph Levitt-Gordon (as Brendan) as the tragic hero searching for answers to the murder of his ex-girlfriend (Emilie De Ravin), takes place in an uncharacteristic place for film noir: a suburban high school. None of the scenes actually take place in classrooms, but the film chooses instead to focus on the extracurricular activities that take place on campus. I found this to be an interesting concept, and I feel that this particular film successfully combines a modern-day film with the characteristics of earlier film noir, rather than trying to imitate the time period.
The most apparent characteristic shown in this film is probably the characters themselves, many of whom are defined as the criminals. The head of the drug dealers, The Pin (Lukas Haas), is portrayed as the intellectual gangster. Gordon-Levitt obviously plays the detective/hero of the film, while Laura (Nora Zehetner) is the "femme fatale" character. Justice is also portrayed as the vice principal (Richard Roundtree), who in many film noir films would be a cop. Brain (Matt O'Leary) can even be seen in many film noir examples as the sidekick and "go-to guy" for the hero.
Another characteristic of film noir throughout the film is the use of lighting. Film noir tends to put characters inside of shadows, and this is shown throughout Brick, particularly when Brendan goes to The Pin's house. In many scenes, it's sunny outside, but once you enter the house, the shades are drawn and it looks as if it were nighttime. Also, in the scene when The Pin is first shown, the audience sees, as characteristic in many of these type of films, the gangster figure is sitting at his desk with low lighting and only one lamp on his desk, again with no outside light entering the room.
Though it was interesting, I found this movie to be quite strange. Half of the time Brendan spoke so fast, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I'm sure this fast talk was to make him seen brainy. It reminded me of other movies and TV. shows in which the smart or geeky character regurgitates a large amount of factual information in one or two breaths. But it didn't work for me this time. In the fight scene between Brad and Brendan, the camera stayed in one spot for a moment. Brendan charged Brad to one side. Then as the camera stayed in position, Brad charged Brendan back to the other side. It made the fight seem as though it was anyone's to win. The movie definitely made reference to many aspects of film noir. After Brendan discovers Emily has been killed, the movie takes on a dark “tone”. Even before her death, there seemed to be a bit of corruption surrounding whatever she was involved in which may have led to her murder. In the scene outside the “Halloween in January” party, Brendan’s e-x girlfriend meets a man across the street. Although his face is almost clear due to dim lighting, there is a character in the passenger seat of the car who cannot be identified. His face is hidden by the shadows. Also when Brendan finds Emily’s body by the tunnel, there is nothing but darkness inside. Even as he chases his suspect deeper into it, the most that the viewer can see, is shadows. Illustrative of film noir.
I liked the arguments of Kdaly about the movie Brick. I also realized that this movie is based a lot on the characters. Their thoughts, feelings and emotions are easy to point out in the screen and the viewer can experince exactly what the characters is feeling in that particular moment. In addition, the movie follows the pattern of Film Noir by creating a dark and pessimist story. The scenes are usually outdoor, but the sun never seems to be really shining. The dialogues are sads and no comedy at all is presented. There is always a "sad" environment rounding the scenes and the subworld is portrayed in a harsh way.
Brick is a classic film noir movie about a high school student, Brendan, finds out his ex-girlfriend has been murdered. Brendan then acts as a detective and investigates her murder. Through out the story Brendan ends up working for the drug dealers his ex-girlfriend was involved with to secretly find out what happened to her. The 2005 film shows many techniques of film noir from the mid-1900s.
Though many techniques are shown, I think the most obvious characteristic of film noir techniques is how the charcaters relate to gangsters. The scene where Brendan meets the Pin is a great example. Film Noir movies usually show the leader of the gangsters to be at his desk in a dark room. The Pin in this scene is shown in this way.
The characters in this movie all have their roles as a film noir movie in the mid-1900s. Brendan is shown as the hero/detective who has his secret side kick, Brian. The Pin is the lead gangster who controls his crew. Then there is Laura who adds the romance in.
Brick creates a dark story them. Where the story line is sad, and even the settings seem dark and gloomy
Brick is a film that debuted 2005 which recreated the style of Old Hollywood film noir in a modern-day setting. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan playing the detective in a high school murder mystery story involving his ex-girlfriend, Emily, and some of the top social players in school. Brendan is assisted in his efforts by a friend known only as the Brain. As Brendan delves deeper into the drug ring within his high school, he encounters Laura, a typical femme fatale character, and a thug who goes by the name of Tug. Brendan wrestles with whether or not to trust her and the help she offers while getting repeatedly beaten up by the latter. Brendan eventually uncovers the [King]Pin of the drug ring, and through working with the Pin, Brendan learns that Emily was killed by Tug, but the predicament which led to her death was orchestrated by Laura. In the final scene of the movie, Brendan tells Laura that he has figured her out and given her up to the authorities with a stashed brick of heroin in her locker.
This movie exhibits many traits of the film noir style. The story itself is the first and probably most clearly linked part of this movie to the old gumshoe detective movies of the 1940's and 50's. Brendan and the other characters in the film utilize dialog that seems out-of-place in a late 90's/early 2000's high school, but would fit right into the typical film noir. The characters all seem somewhat exaggerated beyond normality as well, perhaps a nod to the predecessor of film noir: German Expressionism. While most of the movie is shot during the daylight hours, many of the scenes end up rather darkly lit or indoors and well-shuttered. The depressingly unhappy conclusion of the movie is a hallmark of the film noir style as well as being derived from German Expressionism and indicative of a realist storyline that seeks to depict lifelike occurrences rather than an easy to understand happy ending.
I enjoyed the movie quite well and found the story to be interesting to watch unfold and progress toward conclusion. Nearly all of the characters were entertaining, and while some of the dialog was a little difficult to follow, the slang and rapid-fire pace of it was very important to me to set up the parallel between this movie and the film noir style it aped.
Xueyun I think Brick is kind of absurd, because most of the characters in the movie should be high school student. How many high school kids do dealing with drug and try to find out who killed their girlfriend? The dialog of the whole film is very hard to follow, but the story of the movie is very easy to follow. I do agree with the comment that people posted; I do think this film shows lots German Expressionism influence. The light whole movie is very gray even at the day time. I am big fan of heroic type of movie, so I do like the ending a lot.
Brick is the story of a high school student, Brendan, who discovers his ex-girlfriend has been murdered after recently beginning to hang out with the popular clique at school. He begins to investigate her murder by utilizing his friend (The Brain) and typical sleuth work. As the story develops, the viewer discovers that Brendan is somewhat a double agent, working for the Vice Principal and later the drug leader of the popular clique, The Pin. Brendan, through hard work discovers the truth behind Emily's murder and the orchestrator. Brick, filmed in 2005 is noted as a n example of the neo-noir movement in film. Brick represents the film noir genre in it's harken to German Expressionism and a more realistic story.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the film the speech and movements of the actors bears some resemblance to the over-exaggeration and dance-like movements of the German Expressionism period. The speech of the characters seems antiquated. The verbal interactions are obviously stylized to a specific era (mid 20th century crime thrillers). In addition, the focus on the character's movements (such as during the fights and the final scene between Brendan and Laura) can be interpreted as an ancestor of the exaggerated and dance-like movements of German Expressionism. These, although characteristic of film noir, have their beginnings in German Expressionism.
The story of high schoolers involved in the trade of heroin that results in the murder of a teen can be seen as a more realistic story. This element of film noir is essential to the genre. Whereas earlier films focused on happy endings, film noir focused on real life and possible outcomes. Brendan's outcome of solving the crime and ending the film with the discovery of the brick in Laura's locker can hardly be called a wrapped up happy ending.
Overall, Brick was an updated example of a film noir. It contained the realistic story elements and some descendents of German Expressionism such as the focus on movements, over-exaggeration, and stylized speech. There were a couple of other interesting things I learned about Brick while I was researching. I discovered that the script came about as a result of the director's love of Dashiell Hammett's writing. Hammett is most well known for writing the book version of The Maltese Falcon; often cited as a quintessential American example of film noir. And on a more personal note, Emile De Ravin (Emily Kostich) sounded strange to me with an American accent. But, I may have just been pining for her LOST days.
Brick brings many classic film noir techniques from the mid-1900s to a modern setting. The film, starring Joesph Levitt-Gordon (as Brendan) as the tragic hero searching for answers to the murder of his ex-girlfriend (Emilie De Ravin), takes place in an uncharacteristic place for film noir: a suburban high school. None of the scenes actually take place in classrooms, but the film chooses instead to focus on the extracurricular activities that take place on campus. I found this to be an interesting concept, and I feel that this particular film successfully combines a modern-day film with the characteristics of earlier film noir, rather than trying to imitate the time period.
ReplyDeleteThe most apparent characteristic shown in this film is probably the characters themselves, many of whom are defined as the criminals. The head of the drug dealers, The Pin (Lukas Haas), is portrayed as the intellectual gangster. Gordon-Levitt obviously plays the detective/hero of the film, while Laura (Nora Zehetner) is the "femme fatale" character. Justice is also portrayed as the vice principal (Richard Roundtree), who in many film noir films would be a cop. Brain (Matt O'Leary) can even be seen in many film noir examples as the sidekick and "go-to guy" for the hero.
Another characteristic of film noir throughout the film is the use of lighting. Film noir tends to put characters inside of shadows, and this is shown throughout Brick, particularly when Brendan goes to The Pin's house. In many scenes, it's sunny outside, but once you enter the house, the shades are drawn and it looks as if it were nighttime. Also, in the scene when The Pin is first shown, the audience sees, as characteristic in many of these type of films, the gangster figure is sitting at his desk with low lighting and only one lamp on his desk, again with no outside light entering the room.
Though it was interesting, I found this movie to be quite strange. Half of the time Brendan spoke so fast, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I'm sure this fast talk was to make him seen brainy. It reminded me of other movies and TV. shows in which the smart or geeky character regurgitates a large amount of factual information in one or two breaths. But it didn't work for me this time.
ReplyDeleteIn the fight scene between Brad and Brendan, the camera stayed in one spot for a moment. Brendan charged Brad to one side. Then as the camera stayed in position, Brad charged Brendan back to the other side. It made the fight seem as though it was anyone's to win.
The movie definitely made reference to many aspects of film noir. After Brendan discovers Emily has been killed, the movie takes on a dark “tone”. Even before her death, there seemed to be a bit of corruption surrounding whatever she was involved in which may have led to her murder.
In the scene outside the “Halloween in January” party, Brendan’s e-x girlfriend meets a man across the street. Although his face is almost clear due to dim lighting, there is a character in the passenger seat of the car who cannot be identified. His face is hidden by the shadows. Also when Brendan finds Emily’s body by the tunnel, there is nothing but darkness inside. Even as he chases his suspect deeper into it, the most that the viewer can see, is shadows. Illustrative of film noir.
Dreama Cartwright
Response to Kdaly3's comment:
ReplyDeleteI liked the arguments of Kdaly about the movie Brick. I also realized that this movie is based a lot on the characters. Their thoughts, feelings and emotions are easy to point out in the screen and the viewer can experince exactly what the characters is feeling in that particular moment.
In addition, the movie follows the pattern of Film Noir by creating a dark and pessimist story. The scenes are usually outdoor, but the sun never seems to be really shining. The dialogues are sads and no comedy at all is presented. There is always a "sad" environment rounding the scenes and the subworld is portrayed in a harsh way.
Lucas Santa Ana
Brick is a classic film noir movie about a high school student, Brendan, finds out his ex-girlfriend has been murdered. Brendan then acts as a detective and investigates her murder. Through out the story Brendan ends up working for the drug dealers his ex-girlfriend was involved with to secretly find out what happened to her. The 2005 film shows many techniques of film noir from the mid-1900s.
ReplyDeleteThough many techniques are shown, I think the most obvious characteristic of film noir techniques is how the charcaters relate to gangsters. The scene where Brendan meets the Pin is a great example. Film Noir movies usually show the leader of the gangsters to be at his desk in a dark room. The Pin in this scene is shown in this way.
The characters in this movie all have their roles as a film noir movie in the mid-1900s. Brendan is shown as the hero/detective who has his secret side kick, Brian. The Pin is the lead gangster who controls his crew. Then there is Laura who adds the romance in.
Brick creates a dark story them. Where the story line is sad, and even the settings seem dark and gloomy
Brick is a film that debuted 2005 which recreated the style of Old Hollywood film noir in a modern-day setting. The movie stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Brendan playing the detective in a high school murder mystery story involving his ex-girlfriend, Emily, and some of the top social players in school. Brendan is assisted in his efforts by a friend known only as the Brain. As Brendan delves deeper into the drug ring within his high school, he encounters Laura, a typical femme fatale character, and a thug who goes by the name of Tug. Brendan wrestles with whether or not to trust her and the help she offers while getting repeatedly beaten up by the latter. Brendan eventually uncovers the [King]Pin of the drug ring, and through working with the Pin, Brendan learns that Emily was killed by Tug, but the predicament which led to her death was orchestrated by Laura. In the final scene of the movie, Brendan tells Laura that he has figured her out and given her up to the authorities with a stashed brick of heroin in her locker.
ReplyDeleteThis movie exhibits many traits of the film noir style. The story itself is the first and probably most clearly linked part of this movie to the old gumshoe detective movies of the 1940's and 50's. Brendan and the other characters in the film utilize dialog that seems out-of-place in a late 90's/early 2000's high school, but would fit right into the typical film noir. The characters all seem somewhat exaggerated beyond normality as well, perhaps a nod to the predecessor of film noir: German Expressionism. While most of the movie is shot during the daylight hours, many of the scenes end up rather darkly lit or indoors and well-shuttered. The depressingly unhappy conclusion of the movie is a hallmark of the film noir style as well as being derived from German Expressionism and indicative of a realist storyline that seeks to depict lifelike occurrences rather than an easy to understand happy ending.
I enjoyed the movie quite well and found the story to be interesting to watch unfold and progress toward conclusion. Nearly all of the characters were entertaining, and while some of the dialog was a little difficult to follow, the slang and rapid-fire pace of it was very important to me to set up the parallel between this movie and the film noir style it aped.
-Michael
Xueyun
ReplyDeleteI think Brick is kind of absurd, because most of the characters in the movie should be high school student. How many high school kids do dealing with drug and try to find out who killed their girlfriend? The dialog of the whole film is very hard to follow, but the story of the movie is very easy to follow. I do agree with the comment that people posted; I do think this film shows lots German Expressionism influence. The light whole movie is very gray even at the day time. I am big fan of heroic type of movie, so I do like the ending a lot.