Everything Everywhere All At Once

  

    Everything Everywhere All At Once is a film that was entertaining from start to finish. Outside of Swiss Army Man  I've never seen such creativity that takes itself both seriously and has comedic value. It shows that great films don't need huge budgets to be Oscar winning. In comparison EEAAO had a budget of 14 million while its other counterparts were in the 400 million budget range. Having a shorter budget produces more creativity with the materials and thought out locations. The Daniels illustrates this story with cinematography, editing, and lighting to create the immersive and complex universe that spans across the multiverse to tell a story of kindness. The lens in which they tell this story uses a variety of angles of close ups, wide shots, over the shoulder, color, theme, and snapshots. Additionally, the movie is shot on Arri Alexa Mini to emphasize the more extreme differences in parallel universes which can switch back and forth on style. 

    The multiple shots and splits in screens creates an intense visual that tells the story of a mother swept up in her life and unable to make connections with those she loves. This demonstrates the struggles of immigrant families trying to make a life in America but also the cultural conflicts that make them so unique. Evelyn struggles to accept Joy fully even blaming Jobu Tupaki for the reason Joy is gay. This shows the “theme of generational trauma” (Bertin Huynh) that she experienced with her father and is thus pushing in her daughter. In response, Joy makes the bagel because she wants to end all of the Joy’s suffering in every universe. Once you experience everything for a fraction of a second nothing truly matters. This is what I like most about the film because life is what you make of it as Evelyn and Joy puts it, “nothing matters.” (EEAAO) then you can make what you want of life. Then everything that matters is important.

 Huynh, Bertin. “The West Misses the Point of Everything Everywhere All at Once – It Gets the Asian Psyche.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 May 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/may/16/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-asian-hollywood-film. 

 

     With the short amount of time that the groups were given to make our short film there is definitely some aspects that could use more explanation and techniques. One of the biggest for our film was there isn't any background or explanations as to why anything is happening. Once our film begins there is just a cut to instantly finding people. To remedy this if we had time we could use some black and white scenes to explain everything that is happening sort of in a flashback kind of style.

    Another portion that could use work would be the audio in the film. When recording the audio for the clips was not good so we had to cut it and put music over it. So if we had more either equipment or focused more on the audio it would add much more to the film. Or if we had more resources we could use some better sounds to cover it up and make the feel of the film higher quality than what we were able to gather from our short time. 

    Some of the cuts also looked choppy which could be patched up as well. Possibly being able to reshoot some scenes would have been helpful because after meshing all the clips together we found that some portions were not needed and felt like filler. 

Swiss Army Man

Swiss Army Man  

Story  

   

    Hank Thompson is stranded on an island without any help. He discovers a body wash ashore that has capabilities which are superhuman and very resourceful. Together, Hank teaches the corpse named Manny humanity and what the meaning of life is. Meanwhile, Manny helps Hank survive and make it back home.  

    This movie can be taken in one of two ways: either Manny is a real living corpse or Hank has made Manny up in his head to not be alone. Hank suffers from hiding his authentic self because he fears rejection. This has led him to admiring a woman on the bus but won’t start anything because he doesn't want to come off as weird. As a result, Hank is unhappy with his life, being distant from his own father, and having no friends. It is implied that at the start of the movie when Hank is stranded on a small island that he attempted to kill himself and that is how he ended up there. Further, when Manny, the corpse, shows up, he tries to hang himself. Manny saved him, because of his farting, drawing him away from the noose. This can be interpreted as his mind giving him a reason to live or Manny just happening to be in the right place at the right time.  

    Lasty, Manny is unfiltered by social life and what is expected of him. This is shown when he farts without care, asks very personal questions, and says what is on his mind. Hank on the other hand is suppressed by society's expectations; this is representative of how he acts around Manny and how he talks about the girl he is interested in. Hank won't fart in front of others because it's considered disgusting, and Manny thinks that is stupid. By the end of the movie Manny teaches Hank how to be his true self and be happy with it. Regardless if Manny was real or not the idea of Manny is the other, suppressed side of Hank.

    

Cinematography   

  

    The bus scene, recreating Hank's photo of Sarah, has multiple great moments. It starts with harsh daytime light, but as the scene progresses, we have a close-up shot of Manny, who starts singing. The music swells as the surroundings have a warmer tone and then it switches to a wide short of Sarah. The light follows her as she walks to take her seat and it mystifies Manny. The same way it did with Hank.  

    As the scene continues Hank encourages Manny to talk to Sarah but Manny is hesitant because of his insecurities of not being good enough too. This is Hanks fears being portrayed onto Manny because Manny has learned everything from him. In result the music picks up again and Hank gives Manny glasses to feel cool and give him confidence. In this scene Hank is helping Manny do what he couldn’t do. Talk to Sarah.  

  

Cultural relevance  

    This movie is relevant in today's culture as many people are isolated and alone. While the internet makes us more interconnected it leaves many people unable or unwilling to make friends or connections in real life. Often, they are alone entertained by their phones to bridge a gap of loneliness. Further, in society people want to be accepted so they conform to social values despite how they truly feel. This is illustrated with Hank and how he goes about his everyday life. He would rather watch than interact, which has made him suffer in silence.