The Piano

The relationship between Baines and Ada in this film is controversial and interesting. The men in this film view Ada as nothing but an object at first. She has been sold by her father to someone she has never met, she is bought by Stewart who she will never love, and she is treated like a prostitute by Baines. Ada and Baines make an agreement where Ada can just sit and play piano while Baines "does things." These things start out small, like rubbing her arms or playing with a hole in her stockings. Ada seems uncomfortable but you never can really tell, because of her muteness. She always agrees to it though, even as Baines becomes more and more sexual, although she does increase the amount of keys she earns for the more intense stuff. It is difficult for the viewer to tell if she is doing this because of her love for the piano, her desire to get revenge on Stewart for bringing her and her daughter there, or a real sexual interest in Baines. I wouldn't call what Baines does as rape. Anna could have communicated with Stewart if she felt truly violated and surely he would have dealt with Baines. However, it is the relationship of Stewart and Ada that feels more like rape. He has basically kidnapped her and made her his slave. When he tries to be physical with her she is very insistent that he doesn't. Baines and Ada's relationship transcends the outward appearance of a man assaulting a woman, and becomes something very sensual and tender. By the end of the film, Ada is so moved that she throws her piano, her voice and the object that inspired the beginnings of their love, into the sea.

The Vanishing Pt. II

2. The most important shot in the abduction scene in both movies is the shot of the photo of Rex and his family. Before that scene we can see Rex already waiting in the car and Saskia standing outside. We know what Rex wants, and we know that Saksia, like most of the women in this film, is not super excited about getting in this strange man's car. Her fears are addressed however when she sees the photo of him and his family. A family man wouldn't, couldn't do anything too crazy, he has a wife and kids to worry about. This is a rational thought process but ultimately it backfires. Saskia is abducted and killed.
3. In both scenes where Raymond is practicing his abduction plans, the director utilizes a bird's eye view shot of Raymond walking around his car. The camera is placed high above and looks down upon the car. The viewer can see Raymond when he is fumbling all the way around the car. The sequence is unbroken by cuts so we can see the full journey of this guy from one side of the car to the other. Only when he enters the car is there a cut, and we can see Raymond as he chloroforms the imaginary woman he has been talking to.

The Vanishing Pt. I

If I watched the Hollywood remake of The Vanishing without seeing the Dutch original first, I probably would have thought it was an okay film. There was a lot of interesting imagery, concepts, and production. However, viewing it in the context which we did, I am forced to say that the original is a much more successful film. The character's are more fleshed out, they give you more reason to relate to them. In the Hollywood version, it seems that everything is just spelled out for the viewer, leaving little to the imagination. The original however is much more innovative, as often what is not said is just as important as what is.
One of the very first things one will notice about the two films is that the opening is changed. In the original, the movie opens with Rex and Saskia driving, with ominous 80's music playing in the background. It is not until Saskia has already been taken that we begin to focus on Raymond, her abductor. In the Hollywood version, it opens onto Raymond practicing his abduction scheme, and continues to show all the creepy weird stuff he does. To me, this kills the suspense. We already know that something bad is going to happen to Sandra Bullock. When I first watched the original, I only knew that the plot involved a serial killer, but based on Rex's strange behavior leaving Saskia inside the tunnel, I thought it may be him. To open onto the killer diminishes the suspense that builds from observing the actions and wondering what he will do. We already know what he plans to do.
When Kiefer Sutherland and Sandra Bullock's characters are at the gas station they have the same "never abandon me again" conversation as is in the original, but none of the playful banter and flirtation between the two characters that we see in the original. Maybe the director thought that because these are two big movie stars and not relatively unknown European actors that he could get away with not having as much exposition between the two characters, as the audience would already feel familiar with them. For me however, I feel disconnected from the characters in the American version. I never really understand Kiefer Sutherland's obsession as much as I can understand Rex's. Rex and Saskia feel like a real couple, because we are allowed to observe them as such.

Annie Hall

In the scene where Alvy meets Annie's family for the first time, Allen uses humor and anti-mimetic elements to provide the tone for the scene. Right after he compliments the ham, Alvy is transformed into a Hasidic Jewish stereotype. This reinforces Allen's idea of perception vs. reality. We know that he is not really like that, but their prejudices don't allow them to see him in any other way. Because of this anti-mimetic tone, the viewer is unsure of whether to trust what they're seeing or not. There's no real way to tell if when Alvy's jokes are met with silence if the family really didn't find him humorous or if we are seeing the version that only happened inside his head.

Part 2:
2. Many of the scenes in Annie Hall could be classified as "magic realism." The film blends together reality and fantasy in a way where the two are intertwined and the same. In the movie theatre scene, Alvy remarks "Wouldn't it be great if life were really like this?" and after he finishes his first play and we see his character and Annie's working out in the end, he says to the camera something along the lines of "we all want things to work out in the end." Allen does a good job of creating a film that is a good mix of life as we know it is and life as we want it to be.
3. The subtitle/audio disconnect is meant to let viewers in on the character's inner thoughts and motivations and depict the awkwardness of getting to know someone for the first time. The actual dialogue is convoluted and pretentious and it is clear that both characters are trying to portray themselves as a potential partner and responsible, intelligent human being. The subtitles however, let the audience know what they're really feeling and where their true hearts lie.

Daisies

Daisies is an extremely visual film, and reads almost more like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive film. There is not much of a plot, little to no character development, and the continuity shifts from shot to shot. I found myself watching the film as a series of these shots- each time the camera cut to a new angle, there was something interesting and weird going on. The story is told in these shots, almost like a precursor to tumblr gifs. Humor plays a big part in this storytelling. There are parts of the film, such as the scene where the girls are making a drunken ruckus in the 1920's theme bar, where the film feels like a silent film. It's in black and white, there's an old-timey soundtrack playing, we can see characters talking but can't hear what they're saying. This scene, and the entire movie really, rely very heavily on visual storytelling. Some of the shots in this film reminded me of some contemporary masters of visual storytelling, like Edgar Wright or Wes Anderson. Without the humor there, we would have absolutely no way to relate to these characters; the plot leaves no room for characterization. However, for this film it doesn't matter. Daisies today reads like a big middle finger to communism, to patriarchy, and to conventional storytelling.