Sybil - An Opportunity to Showcase an Actor's Full Talent

Sybil (1976) movie poster from IMDb

  The story of Sybil throughout this mini-series, in my opinion, gave a rather accurate representation of what someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) would go through, albeit the slight dramatisation of scenes for entertainment's sake. What caught my eye in Sybil was how well the DID patient Sybil was played by Sally Field. In my opinion, playing a DID patient in a movie is no easy feat, as you have to switch between multiple roles and personalities in a blink of an eye, and that could truly show how skilled the actor is. For example, **SPOILER ALERT!!** in one of the scenes where Sybil was undergoing therapy with her therapist, Dr Wilbur, Sybil transformed into Peggy when Dr Wilbur confronted Sybil about her childhood. From the cold, monotonous, people-shy Sybil, she suddenly became this overly-aggravated, scared Peggy who could blurt out sentences as quick as Eminem rapping. Her sudden transition was captivating to watch as she executed her character's role so effortlessly and smoothly. As Sybil's character, it was also captivating to see how Sally Field could execute each of Sybil's sub personalities so well, as if she was a different person altogether, especially her role as Vickie, the matured and confident sub personality of Sybil; Vanessa, the music-loving sub personality; and Peggy, the fearful and anxious child-like sub personality. When Sally was playing these roles, I could see the dedication that was put in to bringing out the very essence of each of the sub personalities, which made Sybil's character a vessel for a diverse range of personalities. Although they are supposedly one of the same person, but Sally's representation of Sybil was distinct for each of the sub personality, that you won't get bored of watching the shift between the personalities.

  This movie reminded of a recent movie that I have watched involving a character with DID as well. In the movie Split, the story follows a guy named Kevin Wendell Crumb and how he shifts between 23 of his personalities as he communicates with girls that one of his sub personalities have abducted. Some of his particularly interesting sub personalities include Patricia, a woman who is one of the few personalities in charge of the other personalities, and Hedwig, a nine-year old boy. James McAvoy, the actor playing Kevin, portrayed his acting skills as well as Sally Field, as they were both managed to transition between sub personalities so smoothly and quickly, that the audience was left anticipating for every sub personality shifts.

Split (2016) movie poster from IMDb

  Apart from the very talented and all-rounded acting by the main actress, I like the way the movie was filmed so that Sybil's childhood was unraveled throughout her sessions with Dr Wilbur. In the beginning when the first flashback to Sybil's childhood was played, Sybil as a child was hoisted up to the air by her mother while being bounded and blindfolded by a dishcloth. It gave the audience a grasp of Sybil's abusive past, but it doesn't give too much away as Sybil's childhood was further explored as the movie progresses. That left the audience anticipating for more on what really happened to Sybil as a child. Through hypnosis in the middle of the movie that Sybil was able to reveal some of the abusive episodes she had with her mother, such as slapping and kicking. and finally through another hypnosis session at the end of the movie where she relived the full horror of the abuse that she has endured, which included having a hot water bottle full of water being forcibly pumped into her body. Daniel Petrie the director made the movie in a way that allows her sub personalities to narrate Sybil's past as well. For example, as Peggy was in her fearful episodes, she reveals to Dr Wilbur on some of the things that were used by Sybil's mother to abuse her, through her excessive fear of dishcloths and the colour purple.

  Overall, despite some moments where the film was draggy and long-winded, it was an insightful experience in fully exploring the past of DID patients, and that has certainly piqued my interest further in becoming a clinical psychologist in the future.

Schindler's List - The Compassion of an Antihero in the Horrors of War

Schindler's List movie poster from IMDb

  Steven Spielberg is an all-rounded director. And this movie is a proof of his craftsmanship.

  If not for this movie, I would have never thought that he is not only a master in making sci-fi and fantasy movies, but he also has a gift of turning a very important historical event into an impactful documentary. The three hour-length film really gave him the time he needed to bring out the horrors of World War II from the Jewish perspective, and the perspective of the man who risked his own life to save a thousand of Jews, Oskar Schindler.

  Indeed, this movie is talking about a serious subject that shook the world to its core more than half a century ago, but Spielberg has made the movie in such a way that does not seem too lighthearted and dramatic that would make the war look unreal, but also not too dry and monotonous like a typical documentary through narration. He has somehow merged the two ends of the spectrum to create a film with a the right balance of drama and narrative of the victims of World War II. To start off, Spielberg managed to bring out the cunning nature of Schindler as he cozies up to the people in the SS Army who were notorious for their extermination of Jewish people. It was interesting to watch how his relationship with top ranking officers such as Julian Scherner and Amon Göth. He showed the audience the effort and sacrifices that Schindler has put in in order to get the favouritism of the Nazi party, which serves as an added advantage in running his enamelware factory. From buying them drinks to his smooth talk, his effort paid off afterwards as both Scherner and Amon bailed him from prison after he was found kissing a Jewish girl at a party. Under normal circumstances, Schindler would be considered a horrible person for using his friendship with other people to use them for his own needs, but from the perspective of the audience, it created an us versus them scenario as the Nazis were viewed as the antagonist during the war, hence Schindler's betrayal to the Nazis were celebrated as he used the friendship of the Nazis to save the Jewish people that were working in his factory.

  Not only that, Schindler was also portrayed in the movie in a way that is a little but necessary dramatic for cinematic purposes, which is his transition from a businessman who is only interested in his business at first, to becoming a humanitarian saving the lives of over 1,500 Jews. The reason why Schindler hired Jewish workers at first was under the advice of his accountant and assistant, Itzhak Stern, as Jewish labourers costed lesser compared to Polish workers, hence Schindler hired over a thousand Jewish workers for his enamelware factory. In a pivotal moment, Spielberg made sure that the audience felt what Schindler was feeling at the moment when he watched Jewish people being slaughtered left and right by the Nazi party, from atop a hill after a casual horse ride with his wife. I could feel myself tensing up and shifting in my seat as the Nazis blew up the heads of Jews with a bullet through their heads. There were also moments where families were ripped apart and the desperate attempt of Jews to run free from the Nazis and their fatal failed attempt at escaping from the army. I think that Spielberg did a fantastic job at this as he manages to bring out the horrors of the war not only from the killings, but also what the Jewish community went through at that moment through the separation from family members and desperate attempts at hiding from the Nazis in places that are usually avoided by people, such as the sewer. At that moment, we can see Schindler finally deciding to save his Jewish workers from the same fate as the Jewish community living in the ghettos, where his cunningness and persuasiveness is finally put to a more meaningful use.

  Another proof of Spielberg's mastery of film making is his use of focus. He was a genius at making sure the film was shot entirely in black and white, to bring out the atmosphere of despair and melancholy of the war period. But suddenly, halfway through the movie, the first hint of colour appeared, which was a scene where the audience follows the attempt of a small girl in a red robe running away to find a hiding place from the Nazis. She was the only feature in the movie that has colour as she was running away from the Nazis before she was shown in black and white again when she finally found a hiding spot underneath a bed. To me, this was a way for Spielberg to show hope in a world full of despair, as colour represents hope and a bright future against the nature of despair in black and white. But later in the movie, we see the girl in the red robe among a pile of bodies outside of a concentration camp. This is where the audience's initial hope for the girl to survive the horrors of war is shattered, as even the only glimmer of hope was lost to despair. But Spielberg is only trying to portray what the Jewish people at that time were feeling when they were desperately looking for hope to cling on to as they were being shipped to concentration camps. To tie up the movie, Speilberg made sure the audience see hope return when the real Schindler Jews walked side by side with the actors playing their corresponding roles visited Oskar Schindler's grave. This scene was shot with colour, signifying a better tomorrow and future as the horrors of war were finally over and peace has returned, with the Jewish survivors continuing their lives all because of this one hero. It was a beautiful and emotional moment as even in death, Schindler will be remembered for generations to come, just like what he wanted when he told Stern at one point in the movie that he wanted to be remembered by leaving a legacy behind, which had nothing to do with saving Jews at first. This movie has brought out the empathy and humanitarian side of man who is willing to sacrifice their lives and money to save other human beings from the wrath of war.

  So yes, to end this post, thank you again Steven Spielberg for this masterpiece of a documentary that showed the harmony of hope and despair.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Freedom for Misfits of Society

Hunt for the Wilderpeople movie poster from IMDb

Hands down one of my favourite films thus far. Hunt for the Wilderpeople is hard to dislike; from the casts to the cinematography to the underlying messages behind the story, the movie was really enjoyable to watch. To start things off, the movie, Taika Waititi did an excellent job in bringing out the true untouched beauty of the New Zealand bush. Bringing through mossy forests and lakes high above in the mountains. **SPOILER ALERT!!** Bella did mention to Ricky at one point, that when she died, she will return to the lake that touches the sky, in the end, her ashes were scattered by her husband, Hec, on top on a waterfall that is located near the peak of a mountain, and that scene was a sight to behold for its virgin, untouched natural beauty.

What I also particularly liked about Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the symbolic meaning of surviving in the bush away from normal society. Even before Ricky's arrival, both Hec and Bella were cut off from the outside world, as the police car and Child Protection Services had to traverse far away from the nearest town and through unpaved roads to get to Bella and Hec's home. With the addition of Ricky to the family, the family became a group who is physically separated from normal society. As the movie progresses, we can see that the three of them are deemed as misfits to normal society, as all three of them are abandoned by their parents since young with no place to go. For Ricky, staying in Bella's and Hec's home is a welcoming reprieve to the challenges he has to endure back in modern civilization, as he fears being wound up in juvenile prison if he returns to town with Paula, the Child Protection Services Agent. Upon Bella's death, Child Protection Services sent Hec a letter demanding Ricky's return to them, hence Ricky decides to run away into the bush. Before he ran away, he lit a dummy of himself on fire, and saying "Goodbye, Ricky", he is essentially announcing his separation from society and to roam as a free man in the bush who is not tied down to societal standards.

When Hec joined Ricky on his adventure, he fractured his ankle and had to stay in the bush for three weeks, and at that time, newspapers were reporting about the two's disappearance, as well as accusing Hec for kidnapping Ricky. He is deemed as dangerous by the public for a manslaughter case and abandoned childhood back in his youth, so the both of them began to go on the run from authorities by surviving in the bush. To me, this situation is rather ironic because for two people who were initially outcasted by society at first, all eyes were suddenly on them when they were deemed as fugitives from hiding in the bush. It is as if the whole of society cannot stand when they see people who are living beyond the system of their own society and are free to do whatever they please, and they immediately launched a manhunt to get the both of them back to be judged by societal rules. And it was interesting to note that the both of them, who essentially had nothing to do with the outside world, was suddenly described as armed and dangerous because of their past that society judges them to be an undesired fit within their community. Hence, it was irony at its best when modern society wants two people who were initially outcasted by them back, where the point was made all the more emphasised and dramatic when a platoon of police vehicles, helicopters and tanks were chasing them on the open plains.

The growth of a relationship between two misfits was also heartwarming to watch as Hec, who was cold towards Ricky at first, becomes more open and nice towards Ricky as they spent more of their days in the bush together. The bond between the both of them are strikingly similar to the relationship between the old man and Russell in the Pixar movie, Up.

Eeriely similar, isn't it? (Movie poster from IMDb)

Both told the tale of how an old man who was quiet and cold at first showed a more human side of himself with the presence of his wife, and returned to his cold, quiet self upon the death of his wife. Both these stories were also about how a small, chubby, talkative boy who knows nothing about nature and real adventure coming into the lives of the old man and going on adventures with him before he begins to open up and showed his warm, caring side to the boy again. Both films showed the relationship between man and dog on their adventures together and how dogs can help man out of sticky situations at most times. Finally, both films also showed how the both of them stumbled upon a bird who was thought to be extinct at first by society. The similarities are so strikingly similar in my opinion that Hunt for the Wilderpeople just seemed like a more gory and explicit version of Up, with their bloody animal murdering scenes and dirty jokes (Hint: Ricky using finger gestures to describe Lord of the Rings to Hec) But nevertheless, this is a film of adventure and relationships, and it's a film I would recommend for people who love adventures and wit to watch.

Grace is Gone - A Painful Process of Grieving

Going through a loss of a father is never easy; what more when you are a father who is obliged to break the news to their own children that their mother has died. The hardest thing about this death is that Grace, Stanley's wife and Heidi and Dawn's mother, died thousands of miles away in a war torn country. It is rather symbolic, albeit its dark nature, as for someone who is loved by their lived ones dying in a nation that is void of love. Even as they were far apart, the power of love can travel across the world, even in a country filled with nothing but hate and despair.

It was interesting to see how Stanley struggles with telling his and Grace's two daughters on the demise of their mother. It was sort of like a leverage system to balance the happy emotions with the incoming tsunami of emotions such despair and grief. He tries his best to make sure his daughters are having the time of their lives such as bringing them to the Enchanted Garden and going out for meals together, as a means to avoid his own pain and sparing his daughters the pain. Going to places far from home is as if he was running away from the hard reality of his wife's death, and he wants to take his kids along too. But eventually, truth will catch up, and no matter how unpleasant or sad the news is, they have the right to know about their mother's death, and because they are dealing with death together, they will find solidarity and support to grow out of this pain together, and despite of the loss of a loved one, their love amongst the three of them will grow even stronger. It's like a balance of the universe; when there is loss, more love will grow from it.

This movie reminds me alot about my own experience, as my mum has the burden of informing my grandmother that her son has died from cancer. But in the end, she chose not to tell my grandmother because she is worried that my grandmother will not be able to take it. There is a Chinese saying about the tragic scene where 'a white haired person has to send off a black haired person', which means the tragic scene of parents having to conduct the final rights of their kids. Hence, relating to this movie, breaking the news of a death is contextual, it is easier to break the news to someone who is of a young age as they are more mentally and physically resilient, opposed to an elderly who may not be able to accept the tragic news of death, because it is possible for someone to 'die of a broken heart'.

Experimenter (2015) - A Film of Experimentation

Experimenter (2015) poster from IMDb

This film directed by Michael Almereyda is an interesting take on telling a true story of a famous individual. While it does hold true to Stanley Milgram's life, the way that Michael has filmed the movie made it beyond a dull, boring one-sided biography of a person. Instead, it became a very interactive film as Stanley Milgram is always engaging with the audience in the movie by looking directly at the camera, as if he was talking to the audience himself to narrate his own story. During scenes where he is narrating what happens to him in certain situations, such as his life after his paper on his obedience experiment is announced to the public, he tells the audience what happens to him from a first-person point of view, instead of communicating to the audience in a third-person point of view.

Michael Almereyda has also recreated Stanley Milgram's story in such a way that the audience can relate to Stanley Milgram on a more personal level. As a psychology student, I know Stanley Milgram as just a researcher who became famous the controversial study that he has conducted in the past. But upon watching this movie, I've realised that there is a more human side to him, as I am able to somewhat relate to his 'human' side by watching the hardships that he has to endure when his obedience study came under attack by the academic community and society in general. Despite the fame that he is getting for his breakthrough study, with the book of his obedience study translated into countless languages, Experimenter (2015) allowed me to watch as Stanley faces public scorn and pressure from the ethics board, as well as the strain in his relationship with his wife, Sasha. Even as the obedience study was ongoing, I get to witness the long hours and patience that he and his research team have to endure in order to get data from over thousands of individuals, with the numbers increasing even more as he carries out his study with different variables. In short, the movie has allowed me to feel empathy for Stanley Milgram for all the sacrifices that he has to make, in terms of his personal life and career, just to discover the more about the human kind.

Finally, the film is also symbolic in a way as it brings out knowledge about humans through the eyes of Stanley Milgram, which also gives us the audience a food for thought at the end of the movie. There were so many quotes by Stanley but this quote impacted me the most:

"I believe we are puppets with perception, with awareness. Sometimes we can see the strings. And perhaps our awareness is the first step in our liberation."

-Stanley Milgram, Experimenter (2015)

Even though this is just a film about Stanley Milgram's life during and after the obedience experiment, it does give me the impression that the film is also trying to teach us something from Stanley's own findings. The quote above is about how we, despite being aware of us adhering to orders from a superior, we still obey these orders even as these orders are harmful to other people. But through Stanley's eyes in this film, he is trying to teach us that if we are aware that we are aware, we can improve the quality of our lives.

At some scenes involving the experiment lab, Stanley is followed by a large elephant in the hallway while he narrates about himself to the audience. The fact that everyone else in the room is ignoring the elephant as it walks is a literal depiction of the 'elephant in the room' phrase. Having an elephant in the room means people are oblivious to an obvious issue, which is especially prevalent in groups where groupthink happens. I think Stanley is trying to imply here that this is the reason why he is carrying out the study in the first place; he wants to tell the world that if we obey our superiors all the time, we won't even notice an obvious problem that is happening. Hence, this serves as a life lesson as well, to speak up and stand firm to what you believe in, despite oppression from your group or superior, for the greater good of the group and perhaps, society at large.

Amadeus - Passion with a Price

Amadeus movie poster from IMDb

  For a 3-hour movie, it was really worth the watch. Amadeus has caught my attention in many ways, but one thing about Amadeus has really captured my interest is the way the characters were brought to life on screen.

  Let's start with Mozart. Tom Hulce, the actor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has certainly brought out the defining features of Mozart on screen. **SPOILER ALERT!!** It was brilliant to see Mozart with his rather unique demeanor; from his quirky and annoying laughter to his fascination for oddities such as being involved in a theatrical masquerade parties. For someone who is already placed on the far right o the normal distribution of society back then, in terms of musical talent, it was interesting to watch how Mozart's attitude and social skills were well beyond the normal Viennese society as well. He was obnoxious towards women and he is unable to observe basic etiquette in a high society such as behaving in the presence of royalty. In a way, Mozart's extraordinary gift in music came at the price of unable to adapt to societal norms back then, which ultimately led to his downfall as his snobbishness for his talent made him unable to teach pupils. As a result, he regretted when he was in a serious financial constraint as his poor reputation was spread throughout the high society, which made him an unfavourable teacher among the high society. But bad qualities aside, I've also observed that Mozart is actually one who can remain committed to things. In all obviousness he is devoted to his music and can go on for hours composing an opera in his room, but he also shows dedication and commitment when he is stuck in a rut between famous soprano singer Katerina Cavalieri and his future wife, Constanze Mozart. If Mozart were to marry Katerina, his financial status would be somewhat settled as he will be marrying someone from a high end society, but he was adamant in choosing to remain by Constanze's side, even though she was just a commoner. Hence, Mozart was still respectable in some ways to me due to his ability to remain committed and loyal to the things (and people) he loves.

  Now for the antagonist, Salieri. Salieri to me seemed like Mozart on the other side of the mirror. He was all the things that Mozart wasn't on the outside. Salieri was a man who played by society's rules, and became a respectable court composer with mannerism to the German emperor back then, Emperor Joseph II. Even his clothes were the total opposite of Mozart as he was always wearing, dark and dull coloured clothes compared to Mozart who prefers to wear colourful and eye-catching clothing. But when it comes to their personalities, Salieri is strikingly similar to Mozart due to his own show of commitment to things. For starters, he is a man who is committed to God in the beginning, as he was always praying to God for spiritual guidance in helping him through his journey to become a famous musician. Salieri is also passionate about music as much as, or even more than Mozart, as he began to develop a love for music himself despite his father's disapproval, and not forced like how Mozart was by his father. What makes this comparison even more obvious is how at the end, they both eventually succumb to their passion for music. Mozart destroyed himself because of his undying love for music (which ultimately made him die, oh the irony), while Salieri destroyed his sanity because of his obsession for good music, which eventually led him to be obsessed with Mozart's musical masterpieces, even though he says that he hated him. Hence, Salieri to me is like an alter ego of Mozart and vice versa.

  Another character that deserves an honourable mention would be Emperor Joseph II, the emperor of Germany back then. Jeffrey Jones did a fantastic job at bringing out the character of Emperor Joseph II, as he portrayed a strong, powerful, and intimidating character, like how an emperor should be. There was something about Emperor Joseph II's character that made it really entertaining to watch him. One would be his powerful demeanor that commands the loyalty of his subjects, apart from his very humourous effort in learning music despite being deemed as tone deaf by Salieri. His powerful presence as an emperor also brought out the responsible and just values in him in order to keep his country safe. During the scene where he confronted Mozart on his upcoming opera, the emperor had to make an immediate action to ban Mozart's upcoming opera as it was based on the French work of Figaro which celebrated status inequality and oppression. As a ruler responsible of his subjects' safety and wellbeing, Emperor Joseph II had to ban Figaro and also question Mozart as soon as he found out about Mozart's plan, as he had the duty to protect his people. I can definitely see that he is a wise ruler respected by many. Hence, Emperor Joseph II became one of my favourite characters in the movie.

Whale Rider - A Whale-y Warm Tail on Family

Whale Rider movie poster from IMDb

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility GIF from Spiderman GIFs

"With great power comes great responsibility." 

- Uncle Ben, Spider Man

  Being a leader is never easy; especially when you have to shoulder the responsibility of leading a group of people, what more a whole village. Leadership plays a central role throughout this movie, as we had to watch the struggle of a family balancing their responsibility to the village as the direct descendants of past village heads, and the bonds within their own family. **SPOILER ALERT!** Here we follow the story of Koro, the village head and the grandfather of Paikea, who is supposedly next in line as the new village chief that Koro refuses to accept because Paikea is a girl. A female village chief in Koro's point of view is a severe violation of their community's centuries-old customs as in their lineage there has never been a head of the village who was a girl. Koro has stubbornly denied Paikea of her turn as the new village chief by refusing to teach her the traditions of their village chief ancestors. Slowly, a rupture begins to form in their own familial ties as Koro's relationship with Paikea begins to grow distant because of this issue. However, Koro does not seem like a villain in this movie; it was easy to understand why Koro did what he did because of the current state of the community of his village. 

  The village is not what it was like back in the old days as the movie portrays the ancient traditions of a community falling prey to the ugly side of modernisation; drinking and smoking has become such a way of life in this community that the village's traditions are slowly fading away because nobody is practicing it anymore - even the children are smoking! It seems like smoking and drinking are becoming the new traditions of the village. To Koro, he feels that he holds the burden of keeping the community together. Being the village chief, he feels the need to keep this detrimental way of life at bay by preserving their traditional ways. Hence, Koro's strong resistance against Paikea being the next village chief is due to this very reason. By having a new village chief who is female, Koro thinks that this will further derail the community from their heritage even further, and since a village head is the pillar of the community's traditional bond and a role, a female village chief may break the bond within the community and give the message that straying from tradition is okay in these modern times, which will ultimately destroy their village's customs and traditions. Koro's stance was manifested by his fear of watching the village slowly destroy itself under his leadership.

  The irony in this whole turn of events is that Koro's adamant determination in keeping the village's traditions alive is also blinding him to other aspects of tradition. In Koro's effort to maintain for males to be the new village chief, he has to be reminded by his own wife on the tradition of selecting a new village head, which is retrieving the rei puta (whale tooth) that he threw out to sea. Paikea was the one who retrieved the rei puta which makes her the true heir to the title of village chief, and it was until that Paikea was willing to risk her life by riding a whale out to sea is when Koro finally accepts Paikea's destiny. We can see Koro's struggle is not an easy one to deal with as he is constantly plagued by the stress of electing a new village chief and becoming the grandfather to his dear Paikea. As he is being torn between juggling these two roles, it is no wonder he became depressed and hides himself in shame when he failed to choose the new village chief and failed to be the grandfather that Paikea looks up to.

  Speaking of family, it was also pleasant to watch familial resemblances in the movie itself, as Paikea takes on certain traits that run in the family. For example, Paikea shares a striking similarity to all her family members for her stubbornness and defiance. It was entertaining to watch the stubbornness of Koro of refusing to accept Paikea as the next village as well watching the stubbornness of Paikea refusing to give in to her grandfather's orders and continues to pursue in her effort to become the next village head. Paikea also shares the same stubbornness with her father, Porourangi as he was also hard-headed in pursuing his dreams of becoming an artist instead of following the footsteps of Koro as chief. Paikea also shares this same stubbornness and determination with her Nanny as she is always defying Koro's wishes for Paikea by secretly asking Paikea to train in the art of taiaha with her Uncle Rawiri, as well as keeping Paikea's retrieval of the rei puta a secret from Koro until the time was right. 

  As the name of the movie suggests, whales play a very symbolic and spiritual meaning to the Maori community. It was an eye-opening experience to watch the fables and legends of the Whale Rider and how whales play an important aspect to the Maori community. Hence, it was interesting to watch how Niki Caro brings out the symbolism of whales in the movie, as he uses footages of whales to narrate certain scenes in the movie that leaves the audience to their own interpretation of the whale scenes in relation to the movie plot. I remember one particular scene of Paikea resting on the hospital bed after the climatic scene of her riding the whale out into the sea. In this scene, Koro showed that he has finally accepted for who Paikea is by wearing the rei puta over her head, and says in his native Maori language to the unconscious Paikea that he is nothing more than a fledgling who has just begun to spread his wings. This signifies his humility in comparison to Paikea's wisdom who surpasses her own age and Koro's experience. In the middle of this scene, a scene of two whales was shown and it showed one whale who was swimming beside another whale at first, begins to swim under the other whale. This was a significant scene to me as the two whales could be seen as Paikea and Koro, and the whale who swam underneath the other whale is Koro as he begins to realise true humility and acceptance for Paikea to take on her true destiny as village chief, and his acceptance has finally helped the village flourish like before, as well as mending the relationship between him, Paikea and the rest of his family members. 

Forget Paris - An Unforgettable Movie

   I am not a sucker for romantic comedies because most of the time the movie plot doesn't make sense and it is really fictional compared to real life. But sometimes it is nice to mindlessly watch a romantic comedy movie for the laughs on low-brow humour and to release stress. Forget Paris came at the right moment as a great stress reliever from all the coursework :)

Forget Paris poster from IMDb

   It was also fun to see a repetitive scene being used in the buildup for a humourous scene. There was a particular scene where Ellen's father is always repeating the Toyota tagline - "You asked for it, you got it." Viewers of the movie may see this as just a senile old man repeating words that he sees along the street, but later in the movie, he repeated the tagline again after an argument between Ellen and Mickey, much to the masochism the enjoyment of the audience. The repetition of the tagline helps to ingrain the phrase into the audience's memory, and when it was used again later in the movie, it showed how a seemingly meaningless phrase at first takes on a more symbolic meaning when the phrase was repeated again in a different context. The "You asked for it, you got it" tagline that came after an argument between Ellen and Mickey primed the audience to believe that Mickey deserved the argument between him and Ellen as he was the one who started the argument by his actions, which was karma in action.

   Much of the humour also comes from Mickey's personality as a sarcastic character, as his witty comebacks in situations helps liven up scenes that are usually a bore, especially during romantic scenes. There was this particular exchange of dialogue between Mickey and Ellen when Ellen offered to bring Mickey around Paris for sightseeing which goes like this:

Mickey: I was thinking of doing some sightseeing.

Ellen: Sightseeing? In Paris? What a bizarre notion.

Mickey: Sure. You got any stuff here?

Ellen: Yeah, we got some stuff. Would you like to see the Eiffel Tower?

Mickey: That's here?

   And the fact that Mickey is saying all these sarcastic lines with a straight face makes the movie even funnier as it shows that he is really serious about his sarcastic remarks, and that made the audience laughed even more.

   Humour aside, there were many psychological elements in the movie if you watch it with your psychology student lens on. Out of all the romantic comedy movies that I have watched, Forget Paris has clearly highlighted how romance does not always go the way that you intend for it to go; there will always be periods of  friction and conflict apart from the smooth sailing and happy moments in a romantic relationship. I believe the main theme of the romantic relationship between the main characters, Mickey and Ellen, is compromise. At the beginning of the movie itself, it seems like Mickey is the one who is always compromising with Ellen, **SPOILER ALERT!** as Mickey is the one who delayed his flight back to America to stay in Paris and be with Ellen. It may have seemed sweet and romantic of Mickey at first, but as the film progresses, we can see the effects of being overly compromising rear its ugly head. For example, Mickey is always compromising with Ellen's request by moving out of his apartment unit to stay in a newly purchased landed property with her, as well as letting Ellen's father live with the both of them. Mickey has also put refereeing career on hold and took up a job as a car salesperson he loathes just to satisfy Ellen, as his job as a referee is requires him to be travelling most of the time, much to the dissatisfaction of his wife. In order to please her, Mickey took up the job selling cars for over a year just so that Ellen could be with Mickey. But as soon as she got a promotion, her working hours were different from Mickey's, hence they were not able to see each other during the weekdays.

   Eventually, Mickey became really upset with the way his life was at that moment and soon his and Ellen's marriage went on a downward spiral because he is tired of compromising with Ellen all the time as they were always fighting and they have not engage in sexual activities with each other for a long time. It was interesting to see that in order to save their marriage, both of them were actually able to come to an agreement together for the first time after a long time to try for a baby. When they realised Ellen is unable to conceive a child, their relationship just continues to deteriorate until they both went their separate ways. In a cliché-ed turn of events at the end, Ellen has finally shown compromise in a symbolic scene of her visiting Mickey's workplace for the first time ever, as Mickey was always the one visiting Ellen at her office ever since they met in Paris. Hence, we can see that compromise is really important in a healthy relationship, and for compromise to happen, it is obvious that good communication should exist between each partner so couples can actively resolve issues together, hence leading to a healthy relationship together.

The Clichéd Yet Starstruck Storytelling of Strictly Ballroom

Strictly Ballroom movie poster from movieposter.com

The music, the steps, the energy; you can feel it when you're watching Strictly Ballroom directed by Baz Luhrmann. I have to admit that the plot for this movie was really clichéd, **SPOILER ALERT!** two people meet each other through dance; one is a great dancer admired by many while the other is a dancer who has just started with her beginner classes, often looked down upon by people, and together they try to reach the goal of winning a prestigious dance competition but was faced with opposition and obstacles. Of course, sparks of romance flew along the way. Although the story line was cheesy and predictable to a certain extent, Strictly Ballroom was clichéd in a good way. In my opinion, what Baz Luhrmann was not didn't really focused on his plot, but he on the elements within his movie to keep the audience engaged to the film. An obvious element of this would be the music and the cinematography of the dancing scenes in the movie. Baz did an amazing job of bringing out the joy of dancing through the way he captures dance on his film; from the joy on the main character Scott Hastings' face as he twirled and flew everywhere around his residential dance studio dancing to his own steps, to his enjoyment in learning a new form of dance by the father and grandmother of Fran, his new dance partner. As a person who has learned dance before, it was interesting to see the contrast between the two types of dance in this movie as it encompasses two different styles of dancing. The ballroom dance that Scott has initially learned and mastered portrays the rigidity, technique, and finesse in every routine that is done, which is a stark contrast to the Paso Doble that Fran grew up with in her household, which is a Spanish dance style focusing on the rhythm and to dance your own steps according to the rhythm. Throughout the movie, it was really enjoyable to see Scott learning the Paso Doble in addition to the ballroom that he is familiar with, all because he is open to new ideas that allows him to dance his own steps. With every step that Scott and Fran (and occasionally Scott's dad, Doug) took as they danced to upbeat music and their own steps, especially towards the end of the movie, it was almost tempting to get up and dance the Paso Doble to the music, even after the last scene has ended and the song rolled along with the credits.

The transformation of a character from a 'zero to hero' perspective was also interesting to watch in this movie. It was great to watch Fran as she transformed from a seemingly beginner dance student at the dance studio Scott was in, to become one of the best elite dancers showcased on the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championships. The movie showed how Fran achieved such a milestone in her dancing career, and it was not an overnight feat; the film showed how she trained with Scott every evening in the months leading up to the Championships. Fran was seen starting off as clumsy and forgetful of her steps at first. Her grit and determination for her love of dance was was sparked her philosophy of dancing her own steps, and that is why she was willing to confront Scott to learn to dance her own steps with another person who shares a similar view with her. This transformation from zero to hero reminded me of an anime called Naruto.

Naruto poster from Hulu

Set in a time of ninjas, Naruto Uzumaki (the yellow-haired boy in the orange jumpsuit in the poster) was a boy learning to become a ninja, to achieve his dream of becoming Hokage, or the Chief of his village. The Hokage is one of the best ninjas in his village. However, he is boy of no talent and is also clumsy and playful throughout his ninja training days, but over time, he pushed through hardship and disbelief from everyone that he can't achieve his dreams with the ability he has. Through his blood, sweat, and tears, he has finally achieved his dream of being Hokage after saving the whole ninja world from the forces of evil. This is why I think Naruto is a lot like Fran; both are clumsy and seemingly have no skills at first, but they achieve their goals and became successful through hard work and determination.

A third observation that I have made from watching Strictly Ballroom was the relentlessness and drastic measures that people are willing to take in order to ensure things will go as it is intended to go. In opposition to Scott's and Fran's climb to reach the Pan-Pacific Dance Championships, there were people who were against their dancing philosophy, which was to dance to their own steps. The people who were strongly against Scott's and Fran's partnership include Barry Fife, the President of the Australian Dance Federation, and even Scott's own mother, Shirley Hastings. Barry Fife was willing to use deceit and fraud to ensure that Scott will dance in the Championships like how Ballroom dancing has been danced traditionally, he has even brought up a manipulated story of the past on Scott's father's loss and embarrassment when he lost the Championships back then because of his own 'experimentation' with his own dance steps, all to make sure Scott dances 'appropriately'. When he failed to adhere to Barry's requests, Barry took to fraud by fixing that the Champion title goes to a certain pair, to ensure that Scott and Fran does not become Champions with their own steps. Scott's mother on the other hand, Shirley, did her best to stop Scott from dancing with Fran by saying discouraging words to Fran to make her go back home. Deceitful as they may be, I believe that both Barry and Shirley did what they did out of fear; a fear of the unpredictable outcome if Scott and Fran were to win the Championships with their unconventional steps. Evolutionary speaking, people feel a fear of the unknown because they are unable to anticipate what is coming towards them, which from a survival point of view, puts them at a disadvantageous position. Hence, people are more willing to conform to familiar methods to avoid the risk of being killed by predators or enemies. In the modern world, the fear of being killed is translated into the fear of failure. For Barry, he may have felt afraid on where the world of ballroom might head to if Scott and Fran were to win the Championships; people may feel inspired to follow the footsteps of Scott and Fran to dance their own steps, which to Barry may ultimately lead to the death of a dance form steeped in tradition. As for Shirley, Scott's and Fran's partnership in the Championships is frightful for her as she doesn't know how their partnership and their style of dancing may affect the reputation of her dance studio. She is afraid that Scott and Fran may humiliate the whole dance community with their wacky steps, and this might ruin the reputation of Shirley's dance studio as a home for crazy and lousy dancers. Hence, that is why I think Barry and Shirley took those desperate measures out of fear.

Speaking of fear, I guess this is why the quote that Fran told Scott in her native Spanish struck a chord within me:

Quote design by Audrey Torres

In English, it means "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived". I do feel that Barry's and Shirley's fears have consumed them over the rest of the second half of their lives, as most of their time was spent worrying what might happen in the future, so they did not truly enjoy their lives as professional dancers. At first, Scott was demotivated to join the Championships with his own steps until Fran confronted him, while Fran climbed over her fear to ask Scott to dance with her. Together, Scott and Fran was able to overcome obstacles by adhering to the quote that Fran inherited from her grandmother. I guess as a takeaway from this movie, we gain strength in numbers; if we can find like-minded who share the same values and determination in life as ourselves, we will be empowered to step out of our comfort zones and conquer our fear of the unknown, as the possibilities are endless.

Eat Drink Man Woman: A Masterpiece of Subtleties

Eat Drink Man Woman poster from IMDb

My first thought at the end of Eat Drink Man Woman was this:

WHAT'S HAPPENING???

The director for the film, Ang Lee, did a fantastic job at the storytelling of the movie plot. I think the movie was really memorable because of the portrayal of subtleties in the movie. Let's start with the movie plot. Ang Lee has shown tremendous expertise by using subtle cues to 'hint' to the audience of what might happen next. At first, the plot twists in the movie seemed like it was quite unexpected, but upon reflection, the unexpected turns in some scenes did not derail from the movie plot. Ang Lee didn't decide to drop one bombshell after another for no apparent reason. When I begin reflecting back on the entire storyline from the beginning, I realised that the surprising scenes that caught everyone off guard at first were still connected to the plot, and the unfolding of these scenes were done through small details that can only be realised through scrutiny of everything that's happening within each frame of the movie. This is what makes Ang Lee a storytelling maestro.

Well, I can safely say that (almost) the entire class would agree that the biggest bombshell that Ang Lee has dropped in this movie was **HUGE SPOILER ALERT!**  that Mr Chu, the father of the three daughters, hooked up with Jin-Rong, the young daughter of Mrs. Liang. Many in the audience would have thought that Mr Chu would finally end up with Mrs. Liang in a romantic relationship by the way that Ang Lee portrayed Mr Chu's relationship with Mrs. Liang, where they are always seen together with Mrs. Liang always having a conversation with Mr Chu. In my opinion I think the reason why Mr Chu's announcement of a relationship with Jin-Rong came as a big surprise was because of the audience's schema or fixed mental set they have towards romantic relationships amongst the elderly; we think that if an old person were to find a partner, their partner should be in their age range as well. This train of thought is perpetuated by the scene where Mrs. Liang was eagerly asking her daughter Jin-Rong on which dress to wear to the reunion dinner with everyone where Mr Chu made his announcement, so scenes of Mrs. Liang having private conversations with Mr Chu and her excitement going to the dinner scripted the idea of Mrs. Liang hooking up with Mr Chu in the audience's heads, giving the audience a huge shocker when their expectations were proven to be wrong at the end.

The stories of the development of the romance of each of Mr Chu's three daughters, and the focus of the familial bond between Mr Chu and his daughters in a way became subtle diversions to Mr Chu's final announcement as well. As the story first began with a cold scene between the daughters and Mr Chu at the dinner table, the audience may be primed to think that the movie will be focused on familial ties. While the movie does talk about familial ties, the plot shows the transition from a cold, drifting family relationship to a more open and warm family bond, which is catalysed by the romantic relationship of Mr Chu's eldest daughter, Jia-Jen, and the youngest daughter, Jia-Ning. Both Jia-Jen's and Jia-Ning's announcement of their relationship as the movie progresses was ironic as the family relationship seemed to have strengthened after both of them left their family home to stay with their husbands. In the reunion dinner where Mr Chu made his announcement, the dinner table seemed to be more atmospheric and livelier with the added number of people on the table. As the audience was so focused on the progress of the romantic relationship of each sister, they didn't pay as much as focus on Mr Chu, hence they didn't pay as much attention to the development of Mr Chu's romantic relationship as compared to the relationships of his daughters. Although scenes between Mr Chu and Mrs Liang were hinting at a possible romance between the two, it was not as interesting as the romance between Jia-Ning and Guo Lun, Jia-Jen and Zhou Mingdao, and Jia-Chien and Li Kai. This made Mr Chu's even more shocking when the audience s forced to pay attention to Mr Chu's romantic relationship announcement in the end.

Moving on from the plot, the subtleties in the storyline leading up to Mr Chu's announcement was what made Mr Chu's announcement so impactful to me as well. Subtle details that Ang Lee used repeatedly also made a huge impact in me as it made the storytelling more powerful in terms of the feelings and emotions that he was trying to convey to the audience. For example, I noticed that whenever scenes involving Mr Chu's family's house was shown, it was always raining, UNTIL the last scene when the plot fast-forwarded many years after Mr Chu's announcement, showing Mr Chu returning to his family home to have dinner with his second daughter, Jia-Chien. This time, it was not raining when the scene with the family house was shown. This could be Ang Lee's subtle way of using rain to symbolise the turmoil within the family; the thunderstorm that happens every time scenes with the family house is shown may symbolize something big is looming which will test the bond of Mr Chu's family. Thunderstorms were shown when Jia-Ning, Jia-Jen and Mr Chu made the announcement of their romantic relationships at the dinner table, signifying big news that will make a dent in the family relationship. The absence of rain in the scene where Mr Chu returns to the family home to have dinner with Jia-Chien may symbolise that perhaps family ties are finally restored, and the bond between Mr Chu and Jia-Chien is much closer than before.

Another subtle detail in the movie that was obvious to me was the bond that Mr Chu shared with his lifelong friend, Uncle Wen. The subtle detail here is that Mr Chu's sense of taste that signifies support and a close relationship. Mr Chu is always asking Uncle Wen to taste his cooking as he claims that his taste buds were 'dying' and he can't taste food as good as before. When Uncle Wen passed away, Mr Chu exclaimed that his taste buds were gone. This symbolises the close bond that Mr Chu had with Uncle Wen, and that his taste buds was actually the close bond that Mr Chu shares with Uncle Wen. When Uncle Wen has passed on, his one source of comfort and close ties were gone, hence his exclamation that his taste buds disappeared. What struck me was that Mr Chu said that his sense of taste has returned at the very end of the movie when he ate Jia-Chien's cooking. This could mean that Mr Chu has finally regained another close bond and support, this time with his second daughter Jia-Chien.

To wrap things up, food has played a central theme symbolising relationships based on the major scenes that have occurred; when food is shown, there were huge scenes like announcement of hookups, to symbolic representations of the sense of taste. Ang Lee certainly has given us audience a food for thought (pun very much intended), on using creativity to make associations between concrete objects and abstract concepts.

Seriously, I would love to watch this movie again! :)

Awakenings - A Story of Growth and Learning

Awakenings movie poster from IMP Awards

Awakenings is a movie that's critically-acclaimed for a good reason; not only was the execution of the plot amazing, it had a magical feel in the way the plot rolls out, in terms of its cinematography and how the casts portray their characters.

What caught my eye the most was Robin Williams' character, Dr. Malcolm Sayer. Dr. Sayer's character is interesting to watch on screen because of the transition of his character from someone who was a professor researching plants with minimal human relationships, to a well-respected doctor in the Bronx Hospital where he's working, as well as forming a close relationship with the nurse in his neurology department, Eleanor Costello. Theories of attraction (from a psychological perspective, not a physics one!) may be able to explain the increase in amount of human relationships that Dr. Sayer has. One of the factors catalysing Dr. Sayer's attraction to other humans could be due to familiarity. By being in contact with another person for a duration of time, a person will develop a form of attraction to the other person. Immediately on Dr. Sayer's first day of work, he had a 180-degree shift from his previous work's lifestyle as he was constantly exposed to people in his neurology department, or infamously known as 'The Garden'. As Dr. Sayer starts interacting with his colleagues and patients, he becomes increasingly fond of them, resulting in him having close relationships with Eleanor, and his patient, Leonard. They were considered to be Dr. Sayer's first friends.

Despite his awkward relationships with other people in the beginning of the movie, Dr. Sayer was also a man who is passionate in his job. For example, Dr. Sayer's love for his research of plants led him to collect mountains of books in his home, and also keeping his plant samples in his refrigerator. At his most recent job as a neurologist, Dr. Sayer found a new purpose in his job, which was finding a cure for his post-encephalitis patients that are catatonic. He became adamant on finding a cure for his patients' conditions upon discovering that his first patient, Lucy, showed a physical response by catching her glasses when Dr. Sayer threw the glasses towards her, a first sign of movement since her and the other patients' catatonic behaviour started. His passion and dedication for finding the cure made Dr. Sayer a non-conformist of sorts, as he did not succumb to the opinions of the other doctors that Lucy's behaviour was just a reflex and that he should give up on his 'wild goose chase'. Relating this back to psychology, sometimes it is best to avoid conforming with the larger group of people and to trust your instincts as you might turn out to be right, like the bystander effect for example when a homeless man lays motionless on the pavement in a city but nobody is helping him due to everybody conforming with each other to not help the man, but your decision to not conform with the people in the area and help the homeless man instead may save his life.

But of course, it was interesting to watch passion revealing its dark side as well. Although Dr. Sayer has a passion that aims to improve the lives of his patients and those around them, his passion became desperation as Dr. Sayer was so insisting on curing his first patient-cum-test subject, Leonard, he did some really unethical acts, such as discreetly upping the dosage of the medicine L-Dopa he was giving to Leonard, without the consent of his pharmacist and Mrs Lowe, Leonard's mother. Not only was Dr. Sayer reckless, but there a risk of danger to Leonard as he might suffer from an overdose. In another scene, Dr. Sayer's passion once again revealed its ugly head when he refused to receive the advice of his fellow doctors and Mrs Lowe in the beginning to stop Leonard's L-Dopa treatment, after he showed uncontrollable muscle twitches as well as being more aggressive, as the drug could have caused these behaviours. Dr. Sayer's refusal to stop Leonard's treatment is known as the sunk cost effect, as he believes that he should carry on with treatment after all the effort he has invested in this despite the detrimental outcome of Leonard. But thankfully he acknowledged that the drug was causing Leonard's negative behaviors at the end and drastically reduced Leonard's dosage. The theme of the dark side of passion has appeared in some movies, including the recent Disney movie Moana.

Moana movie poster from Independent.co.uk

**SPOILER ALERT!**

Moana's determination to return the Heart of Te Fiti to Te Fiti herself even though the situation does not allow her to, endangered not only her own life, but her friend, Maui damaged his irreplaceable magical fish hook that gives him demigod powers, protecting Moana from the attacks of Te Ka, a fire monster that was standing in between Moana and Maui's way to Te Fiti. The disaster could have been avoided if Moana decided to fall back from the scuffle and devise another solution to get past Te Ka and get to Te Fiti.

Let's go back to Awakenings. Dr. Sayer's ability to bring together his team of nurses (And janitor), to help improve the lives of their patients also made me attracted to Dr. Sayer's character. For a man who was poor with human relationships, he was able to convince the nurses in his department that were lazy and slacking off their jobs at first, to become a team that is dedicated to treating these patients. This is a form of social cohesion as everyone in Dr. Sayer's team shared a common goal of curing their patients, which transformed his once inefficient nurses to the most caring and dedicated team in nursing their patients, even after the patients' 'awakening' period has passed and are back to their catatonic state. It was also particularly touching to watch the nurses fork out their own money to convince the hospital head Dr Kaufman to grant Dr. Sayer funding to purchase L-Dopa drugs for his patients. This made me realize that when a group strongly believes in their goals, they will be able to accomplish almost anything in their pursuit of success.

Cinema Paradiso - The Journey of Seeking Love

Movie poster from AllPosters

Love - it's a wonderfully neutral phenomena. It's neither good nor bad; it's up to how we interpret it. This theme was explored deeply in this movie, a 1989 Academy Award Winning Italian film, Cinema Paradiso.

What the director Giuseppe Tornatore did for the movie plot struck a chord within me as he utilized the very nature of love being a source of strength only after pain is felt. There were many scenes in the movie that portrayed this.  **SPOILER ALERT!** For instance, when Salvatore, more fondly known as Toto, was a kid, he grew up without the love of his biological father as he was killed in action as a soldier during World War II, where Alfredo, the only film projectionist in his neighbourhood cinema, became a fatherly figure to Toto, albeit the frictions they had in their relationship in the beginning of the movie. He gave him the love that he needed as a child growing up, from teaching him lessons in life based on quotes he took from movies, and to teaching him every nook and cranny behind the art of projecting films, where Toto would grow to love to become a successful film producer as an adult. It was interesting to note also that Social Learning Theory was in play here, as the theory dictates that a child learns by observing his/her surroundings, which in this case, Toto learning to love film production and projecting based on his observations of Alfredo manning the film projector every time the town's pastor screens through movies before they are released to the public to censor "inappropriate" scenes. There was one scene where Toto learned to turn off the projector when Alfredo went out of the room for a brief moment, and realised that Toto learned to work the projector after observing Alfredo do it before. Toto's dedication and love towards film projecting was even more enhanced after enduring the pain of having Alfredo lose his sight from a fire in the projector room, so Toto had to take over his Alfredo due to his disability.

Another scene where love grows through pain is Toto's, his family's, and Alfredo's pain as Toto left his hometown for Rome to make a living for himself, after noticing the town was not like what it used to be before he went for his military service. Alfredo said this to Toto as he was about to board his train to Rome: 

"Get out of here! Go back to Rome. You're young and the world is yours. I'm old. I don't want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don't come back. Don't think about us. Don't look back. Don't write. Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don't come see me. I won't let you in my house. Understand?" 

Through his statement, it can be noted that Alfredo will definitely miss Toto, but he felt he had to do this in order to ensure the young lad a chance to be a somebody in the modern world. It's interesting to see that even though Alfredo said these harsh words, we as the audience are able to note a hint of sadness and reluctance of Alfredo letting go of Toto into the real world. The way he said his words was a form of priming, where we response according to the stimuli that we receive, in this case is the way Alfredo phrased his sentence that primed a hint of sadness within him. Everyone close to Alfredo felt the pain of separation, but it was through this separation that allowed Toto to pave a way to his fame and success, but at a cost of his family's and Alfredo's love. 

As the icing on the cake, the feeling of pain and love (a bittersweet feeling of sorts) can be felt by the audience as the soundtrack of the movie is played over and over again through scenes portraying this theme. 

Here's a link to the soundtrack (Thanks, Ruychaven!) --> Cinema Paradiso Soundtrack -Love Theme  

The music intensifies the experience of that hurt and love at the same time by the audience as it is a form of classical conditioning where upon repeated exposure to the soundtrack (Neutral Stimulus) every time a scene portraying the theme of love through pain is showed (Unconditioned Stimulus), evoking a bittersweet feeling (Unconditioned Response). As the movie comes to a close, the audience will be conditioned to experience a bittersweet feeling within them (Conditioned Response) whenever they hear the song (Conditioned Response).

All in all, the movie was beautifully crafted in a way that although love brings pain and suffering at times, it will teach us to never give up on what you love to do, and in time bring resilience and more strength to push through life's obstacles.