If I Stay: R J Cutler

I watched this film because it is an adaptation of a book that I love of the same name, and also for the fact that it stars Chloë Grace Moretz, who I love as an actress.

Although I appreciate that books and films are entirely different media, and therefore should be considered separately, I felt that so much potential for an amazing film was lost due to what they chose to take from the book and what they added in to make up for the missing story. The story, which is a beautiful story that explores the protagonist's (Mia) struggle to decide whether to live or die after she's put into a coma from a car accident that kills the rest of her family, was made into a simple love story, ignoring all other relationships that could affect Mia's choice. Despite this story fault, the film was otherwise technically very good. Lighting was an important element in the film that was used very effectively, as out-of-body ghost Mia was lit, and dressed, so that she appeared ethereal, which contrasted with the normally lit hospital. Her costume also never changed, despite the people around her visiting in various different outfits as the time was passing. Separating Mia from the physical world in such a visual way made it very easy to immediately understand what was happening as soon as she appeared, despite not making it explicitly obvious until she sees her own unconscious body.

One scene that stood out for me was when Mia finds out that her brother is dead. He was her main reason for survival, as she felt that with her parents gone it was her responsibility to take care of him, and so this moment reflected a major loss of hope for future happiness and will to survive. This is shown very effectively without words. Mia is shown running through one of the hospital corridors, utterly alone save for two, perhaps three blurred hospital staff, showing how isolated she feels. She runs in slow motion, looking incredibly vulnerable through her facial expression, childlike in its despair, and her lack of shoes or other appropriate attire. As she collapses onto the ground and puts her head in her hands, she screams, and this is the first sound we hear since discovering that Teddy is dead apart from her amplified and echoed footsteps. This is followed immediately by a muffling of all sounds, and a high-pitched ringing piercing the scene. As 'the light', representing Mia accepting death, gets closer and closer to Mia, and bigger and bigger, the ringing gets louder and louder. Suddenly, those noises stop, and the shot returns to the very real hospital bed, containing a comatose Mia, the sounds replaced by the heart monitor flat-lining and the sound of panicked nurses and doctors rushing to save her. This demonstrates Mia's conflict between staying or dying, reminding the viewer of the reasons that she might chose either, as she has ties to both sides whilst in this state.

Films and Me

Up until this year, I haven't watched films for anything more than the story line and possibly the soundtrack. Although I adore films, and it fascinates me how all of the elements come together to make the finished article (script, music, costumes, acting, sound effects put in afterwards), I haven't been very aware of these factors when watching a film, as I didn't know much about them. This is a further appreciation I hope to gain from studying film.

I try to watch different types of films, especially on recommendation of anyone, but I generally lean towards three main types of films: adaptations of books that I like (mainly young adult fiction), rom-coms, and superhero films. Firstly I love adaptations of books, because it's interesting to see one person's interpretation of a story, and seeing how the one type of media is transformed into another. Rom-coms I love because I generally like a story to have a romantic element, and I love any film that can make me laugh. I love the plot of superhero films, and how they appeal on multiple levels depending on your age/maturity/understanding. For a young child going to see the film, it's a simple fight of good against evil affair, but watching it at a slightly older age means that you see the problems that the heroes often face, and their struggles with their own morality.

As films go (and stories in general), I only enjoy a film if it has a satisfying ending. What is, you ask, a satisfying ending? In my opinion, a satisfying ending reaches a natural conclusion and leaves everything either all wrapped up, possibly with loose ends open to interpretation, or leaves the story on a suspenseful cliffhanger if there is already a confirmed sequel. And example of an unsatisfying ending in my mind is Atonement, which ends with (in my opinion) one of the secondary characters wishing that it could have ended differently, but not focusing a lot on the main characters' actual ending.

I'm going to be utterly honest and say that I'm not aware of many directors, other than the really famous ones (eg. Steven Spielberg, Richard Attenborough, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese etc.) Looking at some of the films I appreciate cinematically, I do like David Heyman and Joss Whedon. My favourite actor is probably Logan Lerman, and my favourite actresses (I cannot choose one) are Emma Thompson, Emma Stone, Emma Watson and (to break the pattern), Lily Collins, as I appreciate all of their versatility through all of the utterly different characters that they have portrayed in their films.

So that is all for now, thank you for reading!