"Pain and Gain" "Bug"

“Pain and Gain”

This film is loosely based on the true story of the events that happened in Miami during the 1990’s. Danny Lupo manager of the Sun Gym in 1990s Miami, decides that there is only one way to achieve his version of the American dream: extortion. To achieve his goal, he recruits musclemen Paul and Adrian as accomplices. After several failed attempts, they abduct rich businessperson Victor Kershaw and convince him to sign over all his assets to them. However, when Kershaw makes it out alive, authorities are reluctant to believe his story. In my opinion, I think that films that are based off a true story should closely correlate with how events truly turned out. My reasoning behind this is because when being told about true stories, you want all the facts to form an opinion or some type of emotion towards that event. Now, if the story is loosely based on a true story, then you question whether the events are factual. In contrast, this could be because the director is trying to spread awareness about the events that happened and wants the audience to research it on their own.

“Bug”

At a rundown desert motel, Agnes begins a tentative relationship with a newcomer named Peter. He has a strange charisma, one that offers fearful and unstable Agnes a flicker of hope. When Peter reveals that the military deliberately infected him with a bug and that he has tiny insects crawling under his skin, paranoia begins to envelop the desperate pair. So, clearly this film is not based on a true story but instead is a theatrical adaptation. This film started as a playwright and then was transformed into a film in 2006. Moreover, a lot of films originally started as plays and later were developed into film production. The two mediums have a lot of similarities because the film is loosely based on the original source. As we move along in this blog I will express how films are similar and different.

What responsibility do adapters have to honor the facts when taking from real life events and actual people?

As I have mentioned before, I believe that when films are made based on a true story, they should follow events accordingly. I believe this because people can get the wrong idea about that event and then it can confuse them about what really happened. I also believe that the people who experienced those events would be angry if they went through something tragic and then someone told their story incorrectly. However, this is not true in every scenario, for example the film the blind side. The story of the blind side (if you do not know) is about a young black man who had trouble in his life and a family saw his struggles and decided to take him under their wing and help him. The family helped him in school, sports, and overall stability. In the film the man is portrayed as this super loving kind boy who stayed out of trouble. However, after doing more research on the true story, the man caused a lot of problems for the family, in regard to violence. Now, I would have liked to see the violence and the hardships in the film because I think that it adds more character. In contrast, The Blind Side was still a phenomenal movie that should a lot of compassion and love. Another good comparison is the film American Sniper. American Sniper is about Chris Kyle, a military soldier, and his story. This film is extremely emotional and allows the audience to get a small glimpse of real-life situations that happen throughout our country. This film is loosely based on the events of the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. To me, it is an amazing story that allows me to show compassion and utter support to all of our troops who risk their lives for our freedom and safety. Overall, this is why I believe that films should show fidelity to true stories because they allow us to form emotions and opinions on different stories. I also believe that watching films based on real life experiences allows for an open mind when judging someone because we form opinions, and we don’t truly know what is happening in someone's life.

How does cinema follow in the footsteps of theatre?

There are a lot of similarities between cinema and theatre. According to Jane Drake Brody, former Casting Director, Acting Teacher, Director she states, “Film and stage are quite similar in that they both are looking for truthful behavior within imaginary circumstances, or to look at it another way, actors need the ability to live privately in public regardless of medium. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misunderstanding of both delivery mechanisms that leads to the belief that the two are very dissimilar. The difference lies in the technical demand of each and in the way in which audiences view the material. I am just adding here to many of the comments that have gone before. On stage, the actor must draw focus; on camera the camera focuses on whatever the director wants to see. (Drake)” Drake really captures how film and stage is similar in the sense that they are both looking for truth within imaginary circumstances. My understanding of this is that most films are imaginary, but the directors insert hidden truths and or messages that they want people to unveil. In my experience, my mom and I went to the theatre to see the play Pretty Woman, this play closely represented the movie, but added extra character because it was live. The famous quote from the film is “Big mistake. Big. Huge” now when hearing this infamous quote, it felt extremely real and added so much emotion to both the film and play. The hidden message behind this quote is to never judge a book by its cover and to always treat people with kindness because you never know who they know or who they are. Moving forward, cinema follows in the footsteps of theatre because both are acting out the same script. One main difference is that the acting is quite different because it is not the same people playing the role.

One thing that I would like to mention from another post is how the music plays a role into my example Pretty woman. The song Pretty woman brings out a lot of memories for a variety of people, this is one similarity that both the play and the film have. Most things do not change when comparing the two mediums.

The End

In conclusion, the two mediums between film fidelity and theatre and films have a great significance in film production. The similarities really capture how we as an audience interpret the films and how our emotional ties play a role in that.