Peter Weir
Combine an auteurist approach with a generic approach to discuss the films of a particular director in social, cultural, and ideological context. Briefly outline how this auteur uses genre in the films, and critically appraise the ways the auteur uses these generic elements to comment upon American society, culture, and ideology at particular periods in 20th century American history.Peter Weir is an Australia born film director working in the United States and has himself stated: "Frankly, I've never fit in anywhere." This perspective is reflected in Weir's films, in which, as an auteur, he presents the perspective of an individual who is 'on the outside looking in'. His characters are all isolated from society in their own way. Some examples of such characters are: Max, a plane crash survivor who can no longer relate to the people or world around him in Fearless (1993); Allie Fox, an individual dissatisfied with the materialist society in which he lives in The Mosquito Coast (1986); and in a reversed approach, Truman Burbank, who is unaware that he is the world's biggest television star; he is the individual on the inside and everyone else is looking at him, in The Truman Show (1998).
This is similar to Allie Fox in The Mosquito Coast. Within Weir films there is the creation of an image-scape , a landscape with a very surreal edge. However, with American society's plethora of invasive journalists and paparazzi, individual's internet web-casting, and reality 'Big Brother' style TV shows, the plot of The Truman Show is a disturbing prediction of a possible future for America. As an individual he no longer wants to be a part of it. This film thus deals with perception. Max's old life, his life before the plane crash, threatens to disintegrate. For instance, Max is constantly confronted by his lawyer who is attempting to secure a large financial settlement from the airline (of which he will receive a percentage). Initially it is fear that holds a person back, but even if they overcome such fear, it is still a difficult journey to live within a society that is still trapped in it's 'lies' whilst you can see 'truth'. In Fearless, as a result of his experience of surviving a plane crash, the character of Max literally becomes a 'truth-teller'; he is compelled to speak what he believes to be the truth at all costs - he will not lie. However Allie's machine for making ice soon turns into a machine of death. Parallels could be drawn between Allie's ice machine and other inventions like the nuclear bomb or other weapons of mass destruction. Whilst not preaching a moral solution or conclusion, the ideologies underlying the films raise questions in relation to how an individual should live their life within, or isolated from, society. So Weir seems to be commenting that even an invention that at its conception was 'pure' or benign can become malignant in the hands of humanity, or specifically in this case, the hands of an American. " Some of the comments that Weir makes in the films already mentioned are: there is a disparity between what is presented in society as 'reality' and what may actually be 'real'; the media as well as other outside forces act to construct reality for the individual within society; fear is the major factor which prevents the individual from experiencing their own unique reality, whatever that may be.
Common topics in this essay:
American Quart,
Coast Truman,
Mosquito Coast,
Burbank Truman,
Truman Burbank's,
TOPIC Combine,
Truman Burbank,
Frankly I've,
Peter Weir,
American Parallels,
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plane crash,
film audience,
mosquito coast,
truman burbank,
peter weir,
weir's films,
allie fox,
allie fox mosquito,
fox mosquito,
weir makes,
fox mosquito coast,
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Acceptance Essays
