Top 10 Villains of All Time

So, no matter how great the protagonist is, it will be boring if the bad guy standing in his way is not so powerful or “bad” enough. Villains are the enrichment to the conflict and the plot. They provide the heroes tasks to overcome and test their worth. The criteria to make this list are charisma, abilities, motive, authenticity, uniqueness and how evil they are.

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10. Norman Bates –“Psycho” (1960)

This classic villain is utterly horrifying. We authentically fear him because he is perfectly normal looking, and actually has human-like motives behind his psychopathic act. It really feels like he could be anywhere around the corner down your street.

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9. Harvey Dent –“The Dark Night” (2008)

Harvey might not be the most evil, powerful, or charismatic of all. It is not his grotesque appearance that deserves a mention, neither. He makes the list because he does a lot to the plot and the story. He symbolizes Batman’s flaws and imperfection since he is the outcome of his failure to rescue Rachael. This good-guy-gone-bad villain makes the hero question himself and creates the inner-conflict.

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8. Alex –“A Clockwork Orange” (1971)

As all his other droogs may agree, this protagonist, and a villain of the masterpiece is not to be forgotten if we are to talk about evils. Alex is an authentic villain of the world we live in. He is the byproduct of the demeaning control the society tries to take over the adolescents. He directly communicates the central message of the film through his character arc.

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7. Jack Torrance –“Shining” (1980)

Another pick from Kubrick’s work. Gradual, convincing progress of turning from a father to a monster is simply unnerving. Alongside Kubrick’s presentation method of dragging us into the story and making us feel being chased, he really is a remarkable villain.

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6. John Doe –“Seven” (1995)

We cannot leave out an intelligent, smart-arse villain on the list. There are a number of them that came across my mind. One of the nominations was Jigsaw from Saw who creates a whole lot of amusement park, but my pick in prior is this devout man who plans the shit out of the crimes. He accomplishes what he believes in his own way. One of the best villain-winning movies.

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5. Hannibal Lecter –“The Silence of The Lambs” (1991)

Generally, we only fear unknown. There is no other movie where we are extremely intimate with the villain from the beginning. The protagonist, Starling fears him from the close range, in the situation where he cannot harm her. There is something unconventionally horrendous about him, yet charming at the same time, helping and celebrating Starling as she achieves her task.

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6. Villagers –“Dogville” (2003)

Some villains are the presentation of how a normal citizen could easily turn into an evil, for instance, Harvey as I mentioned earlier. The villagers from Dogville is the most direct approach to this idea. The film discusses the apathy of ethics and it’s sadly convincing.

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5. Tommy DeVito –“Good Fellas” (1990)

Probably the most lovable antagonist. He is cruel, unforgiving and heartless, yet witty and charming. He is such a self-driven villain. -He is always up for it, always waiting for someone to say a wrong thing so he can kick off.

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4. Captain Vidal –“Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)

If we are strictly going for cruelty and cold-blood criteria, Captain Vidal is definitely one of the greatest. Characters like Lil Z from City of God are equally ruthless, but illustrated in the light-hearted tone. The evil Spanish General is excellent at creating tension, constantly threatening the heroine, Ofelia and everyone around him.

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3. Penny Wise -“It” (1990)

This iconic figure is horrifying since he is non-existent. He is deeply psychological. We subconsciously finds him unbeatable and inevitable because he is “a concept”. Penny Wise is something people tend to not overcome. He is a representation of fear.

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2. Joker –“Dark Knight” (2008)

Honestly, I haven’t seen any villains that are better than Heath Ledger’s Joker. I hate to have the same opinion as the vast majority, but I just can’t leave him out of the list. Rather than the setting or the written dialogue, the fantastic acting makes the most of this outstanding Joker, starting from the little fidgeting with fingers and the unique voice. He is not the most powerful but he is the maddest.

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1. Jareth -“Labyrinth” (1986)

An honorable mention given the recent heartbreaking news. There will never be any other handsome villain who is good at singing and babysitting. Rest in peace, David Bowie.

Top 10 Protagonists of All Time

-Starling from The Silence of The Lambs. Will she make the list?

When we watch a movie, a good protagonist is one of the crucial factors that keeps us till the end and makes us emotionally invest in the story. There are so many criteria I had to take into consideration to make this list: bravery, pro-activity,character arc, physical attraction, hilarity… but these are the protagonists I personally found memorable, charming and engaging.

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10. Zen -“Chocolate” (2008)

A young protagonist with a solid motive. But’aye, let’s forget about the narrative side. Her stunt skill is just mind-blowing. The action scenes were entirely shot without wires or CG. The baby-faced Thai heroine deserves a tribute for the physical endeavor.

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9. Candy -“Candy” (1968)

We often like the protagonists because they are competent for fighting for something, or because they still fight despite their incompetence. However, when it comes to Candy, we love her because she doesn’t even think of doing anything. She just gets stripped by everyone and it is simply awesome to watch. My special credits go for the naive objectified heroine.

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8. Trump -“City Lights” (1931)

There are numerous movies that center the underdogs from not-so-blessed backgrounds. Starting with Cinderella or  Aladdin who fall in love with someone from difference social class, or the kid from Slumdog Millionaire who rises through the officially-established battles, but on the top of those under-class heros is probably The Trump from City Light. Comically, yet recklessly strove actions are the timeless inspiration.

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7. Raphael -“Trash” (2014)

This brave-hearted adolescent relentlessly fights for the tangible MacGuffin in the story. As well as his audacity for doing anything that takes to reach it, he is also aware of the positive impact it will have on the society after accomplishing the goal. He is also up against an overwhelmingly powerful antagonist -the authority.

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6. Susanna –“Girl, Interrupted” (1999)

I haven’t seen any better stories with a learner. She is always changing as the story progresses. She learns something, then unlearns, she learns another something and then unlearns again. It really feels like we are going through a lot with her in the movie. At the end, she also teaches things she learnt to someone who hasn’t.

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5. Cooper –“Spy” (2015)

A great approach to Melissa McCarthy’s character. While her foreseen comedic essence from the other films is preciously kept, she is also capable and competent of doing things. Susan Cooper rocks at where she is supposed to, and slips terribly at where we want some larf. She makes the list also because she adds a lot of things to the scenes that the plot or the written dialogue can’t add by itself.

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4. Blondie –“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly” (1966)

Not overly righteous, not particularly ambitious, and not forcefully hero-ised. He doesn’t speak a lot of words but we all want to know where he is heading to.  “Blondie” is the way he is addressed but his real name never reveals in the movie. He is the “coolest nobody”  you ever see, and being “nobody” is exactly why he is cool.

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3. Borat –“Borat” (2008)

Absolutely phenomenal protagonist of the century. “A journalist from Kazakhstan”, -a rather obscure setting is what drives him as a character. The way he portrays himself is the sarcastically illustrated figure of how the Americans portray strangers. We laugh as the USA lets “Borat” perfectly function as the intended character.

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2. Carrie –“Carrie” (1976)

The protagonist is usually a protagonist because we know how we are supposed to see him or her. -It is not the case with Carrie. She is an innocent young girl who deserves a pity. We emotionally invest in her until the certain scene, -well, we are still kind of on her side when the film is over,  but she just doesn’t treat us in the way expected. She leaves you speechless as you don’t know what to feel about her in the end.

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1. Lawrence –“Lawrence of Arabia” (1962)

He is the number one protagonist of all time according to me. There are plenty of movies where a Western protagonist abruptly becomes a hero in the exotic land. “Lawrence of Arabia” is never one of those lame, bias stories. Lawrence is portrayed as a mere human being before being protrayed a hero. He has impact on Arabia, and more importantly, Arabia has impact on him. He has his flaws, gets exposed to his deepest fear, struggles with himself then grows up.

There you have it. Do you agree with my list.? Have your say if you like.

 

 

Film Analysis: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (2014)

-A symmetrical shot that communicates the relations and power balance 

A French-produced drama film from Israel. It’s about Viviane, an Israeli woman who fights for three years to obtain a divorce. The entire story is fully progressed by dialogue at one location. Some might criticize the inert, anti-cinematic style of storytelling and the claustrophobic scenario. Preference or evaluation may really diverge.

TITLE

A direct, precise title. Also the fact she is addressed with the last name, “Amsalem” indicates her predicament.

MacGuffin: A divorce

Conflict: [Viviane vs Rabbis] and [Viviane vs Elisha]

[“Show” vs “Tell”]

Film is a visual medium. The general rule of the thumb is “Show. Don’t tell”. No matter how good the story alone is, it won’t be as engaging if the final product is two hours of some talking-heads sitting around. Blocking and actions must be noted in the script. Before line-reading, voice training, dialogue or anything, actors are first trained to use motions to tell the story. There is a tendency that if you watch a good film with the sound off, you will still understand 70% of the story, because they predominantly show what is happening.

Nevertheless, The Trial of Viviane Amsalem is bold enough to be disregarding this “Show. Don’t tell” philosophy. In my opinion, it works-ish because:

(1) the dialogue half-exposes what might have happened in the past then builds up the expectation for the future in the timeline. The inciting incident happens way before the story starts. We are introduced to the blueprint of the entire timeline (even outside the running time of the film) by dialogue.

(2) as well as  who is talking or the content in their lines, the situation engages us to pay attention to who is not talking, who is made to talk, who is not allowed to talk and what they are planning on saying as soon as they are allowed to talk. We are not only listening to what they are saying, we are also actually seeing the unspoken part of it. Despite the dialogue-oriented nature of the film, the visual device is utilized at its most in “the least spoon-feeding way” humanly as possible, as we perceive so many things from what we see on our own, rather than directly being taught what is happening.

[Engagement] -Why we support Viviane

Viviane must be supported or emotionally invested in by the audience for the story to work. There are usually two reasons why we support a protagonist. (1) because she/he is likable, (2) because the antagonist is unlikable. In Viviane’s case, it’s the latter. We are not very intimate with her in a sense that we are not introduced to her personalities or backstories. Although we don’t know what kind of person she is, we support her because we don’t like the people who she is fighting against.

[Antagonists & Conflict]

[Viviane vs Elisha]: Her husband, Elisha doesn’t grant her a divorce. He is extremely devout. He is possessive, needy and clingy piece of shit. He doesn’t even show up to the court for the first five months even though he is summoned. Who ever likes him?

[Viviane vs World]: “The world” as in Israeli law. It should be noted that in Israel, the termination of a marriage cannot be granted without the husband’s consent, even today. The social context is the engine to the story. Viviane is up against the actually-existing system and fighting for general humanity.

[Dialogue] -how it functions

Viviane’s lawyer does most of the talking. In the first thirty minutes or so, Vivane only speaks two or three lines. At this point, it is already her who communicates the film’s central message. We are drawn to her because she is not talking, and we take her more seriously than if she outbursts her opinions out loud. As the lawyer compensates her thoughts, she sits back with the expressive eyes. When she does talk, it is powerful because we pay extra attention to what she is saying.

RESOLUTION

Viviane almost wins the case. When Elisha is about to grant a divorce in front the rabbis, he abandons the procedure. Viviane and Elisha personally come to an agreement that they go separate ways. She wins [vs Elisha] but eventually loses [vs World], which conveys the final message. The three years of predicament and strive she went through were meaningless. It exposes Israeli’s apathetic side to some aspects in civil right.

Film Analysis: Timbuktu (2014)

-Singing while serving 40 lashes punishment

The dramatically uprising topic of the world today. The film predominantly stigmatizes the demeaning way of governing rather than fundamentalism itself.

TITLE

The story revolves around the Malian cattleman, Kidane and his family who face wrath of Islamic fundamentalists after a tragic accident. Although there is one particular character that is centered in the plot, the subject is not him, it is about the world he lives in. It’s the blueprint of the setting that we are engaged to make the thought out of, thus the name of the city where the story occurs, “Timbuktu” is an authentic title.

INCITING INCIDENT

There are two inciting incidents. The first one originates the setting itself and prompts a number of conflict revolving unnamed characters against the world. The second one provokes the protagonist’s journey.

(1): Timbuktu goes under the occupation of Islamists. The citizens are rigorously made to obey the fundamental laws.

(2): Kidane accidentally murders a fisherman after one of his cows was killed by him.

[Parallel Plots] 

We have four or five plots revolving around the unnamed characters. These scenes are never intertwined, emphasizing on the fact the world is having impact on mere individuals.

-Playing football with “an imaginary ball”

RISING ACTION

[Powerlessness & Authenticity]

The protagonist, Kidane and the citizen from each scene are utterly powerless under the governance. It was drawn to my attention that despite being intimidated by the fundamentalists, they all take rising actions. They take actions not against the authority in order to flip the dominance, but for their freedom. For instance, after football is banned, the kids still play with an imaginary ball. The most emotional scene is where the woman starts singing while she is punished by the 40 lashes after breaking the law of music ban.

It might not have been as visually entertaining as those pro-revolutionary movies where they battle against the system, but Timbuktu shows more authentically powerless rising actions that are more emotional and convincing to realism.

[Flaw of this film]

The main plot that revolves around the protagonist is ironically the least engaging. Before the accident, Kidane always lived in a manner that doesn’t upset the authority. Even the reason he goes under arrest is not absurd like the other cases. After he is sentenced to death, the MacGuffin he pursues is survival and his family. It works in a way the basic human needs are at stake, but the causality of the battle doesn’t reinforce the demeaningness of the system. Be it an accident or not, it was a murder.

-A mad woman stopping the fundamentalist

[A Mad Woman]

There is this woman who seems mentally ill. She is the only one in the story who lives overly free-spirited and the laws are not applied to her presumably due to her mental condition.  There is no conflict that features with her at all. She metaphorically represents the dubious concept of sanity and insanity. This concept is like a chunk of malleable clay battled over between the states and the authorities. It has been always shaped according to the history, who won the war, act of dictatorship, the majority’s thought in democracy, and so many other affairs.

RESOLUTION

Kidane is sentenced to death. His wife shows up at his execution with a pistol, and as they run to each other the husband attempts to stop her. Mistaking this for an escape attempt, the executioners gun them both down.

[Final Thought]

I don’t fully see this movie as anti-fundamentalist. The ultimate message can apply to any system that manipulates and abuses its people by justifying themselves to dismiss the preach of their God (or general morality), and acting as one instead . This applies to the countries like USA, Nigeria, China, Indonesia or Saudi Arabia where they still practice death penalties.

Film Analysis: Ex Machina (2o15)

The best artificial intelligence movie  I have seen so far. It might not have been sparkling sensational in the entertainment aspect, but it cryptically illustrates the satire for internet in modern days and its algorithm in the information system.

TITLE

I’m not very certain about what it means to be honest, since I’m not familiar with computer science terminologies. If it’s “ex” as in “former”, the title is compelling in a sense that it implies the resolution where the android Ava has surpassed humans.

[Philosophy & The Decoding Key]

The programmer, Caleb works for the search engine company called “Bluebook“, which is named after the literature written by the philosopher, Wittegenstein. The ultimate message of this book is quoted as “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” –This reference is extremely important for us to note in order to decode the message this film has embedded.

[Story Driven or Plot Driven?]

*If you don’t know the difference between “plot” and “story”, read my previous article.

Although we are tracking one protagonist (Caleb), we are not really supposed to follow his character arc. The film is more about how the events occur regardless to his personality or persona. This is why Caleb is generic, and there is no backstory of him. We don’t need to emotionally invest in him in order to be engaged into the story. It’s a message-oriented film that predominantly intends to show the blueprint of the events rather than dramatizing how the individuals feel. Therefore, It’s a plot driven film. Caleb is just a device to tell the story.

INCITING INCIDENT

Caleb wins one-week visit to the the secluded home of the CEO of his company, Nathan. He is assigned to assess Ava, the humanoid robot Nathan has built, through a series of interview sessions.

RISING ACTION

Fuzzy Conflict: [Protagonist vs Antagonist]

We sense pretty good chance of Nathan panning out to be the antagonist at the early stage, judging from his oppressing behaviors and physical strength pretentiously shown by his constant work-outs. It first seems it’s going to turn out being another mediocre film, because the presumed “drama value” at this point is very generic and Caleb hasn’t shown any original motive to flee Ava (besides from his “general empathy” towards her). We assume the main story is going to be [Protagonist vs Antagonist] battling over the ethic regarding to the artificially born being. However, later on, we learn this conflict is only there to push the story forward.

Ava’s True Intention & Conflict Shift

Nathan makes Caleb known that Ava is attempting to make him sympathize with her in order to escape the establishment alongside his support. It is revealed that this is the true aim of her intelligence test. He also reveals that she was built to attract Caleb, designed according to his data from search engine on internet, starting with his porn preference and so on. This links to the final message of the film which I will be getting at later on.

Conflict shift is fluent throughout the film. The formally presumed conflict [Caleb & Ava vs Nathan] is now uncertain as it has been stated that Ava is tested on her capability of escaping. Then there is a possibility of [Nathan & Ava vs Caleb] arising. Then again, the last scene becomes [Caleb & Nathan vs Ava] which is rephrased as [Humans vs Their Byproduct].

Caleb’s Paranoia & Google Satire

Informed that his data from search engine has been used to build Ava, Caleb grows suspicion that he is also a humanoid robot himself. He cuts his own arm, checks under the skin and studies the back of his eyeballs, making sure he is an organic human. It is a bit like Matrix in a way that one discovers he is being manipulated by the system. Nathan is wielding over both Ava and Caleb. Now you see this film is not about the terror of humans losing control over what they created. In this scene, we fear our private information being collected and manipulated. BUT, think about it. It’s not just in the film. This is what Google is doing to us every day. It is never as terrifying as in the movie, but they certainly keep the record on what we searched for and shows us all the ads and suggests some pages we might like in return. This movie is a satire for the mutually flown information system in modern days and maybe an implication of how it could be exploited in the next decade or so.

This whole internet satire is brought up and foreshadowed by the Wittegenstein’s Blue Book reference. -“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” 

RESOLUTION

Ava succeeds to escape the secluded house. She murders Nathan and locks Caleb in the place. Although the plot leaves Ava as the winner in all of the conflict, the film is not about the terror of the artificial intelligence going against its maker. The ultimate message is about the terror of how Caleb is led to this whole situation. Ava symbolizes the fact the current information system can be hazardous to both the users (Caleb) and the providers (Nathan).

Film Analysis: Goodnight Mommy (2014)

The most horrendous film of the year from Austria. I watched it at TIFF. It got me staring in the air trying to forget what I had seen for the rest of the day. Some people were even screaming at the cinema. I like how they told the story with minimized number of characters. Most importantly, it’s powerful. It’s an outstanding film.

The Genre Hollywood Has Forgotten

Two words. “Psychological Thriller”. Enough said for this film. There is no abrupt shock to get you scared, or anything utterly supernatural, but the story certainly knows how to grind your nerves and make them screech. It’s all about the plot that makes it so horrifying. It’s never reliant on production design or music.

TITLE & SYNOPSIS

What I’m pissed off about this movie is the synopsis.

“Twin boys who do everything together, from collecting beetles to feeding stray cats, welcome their mother home after her reconstructive surgery . But with her face wrapped in bandages, and her demeanor distant, they grow suspicious of her identity.”

This is the official synopsis in English. Sounds cute, right? I was profoundly visualizing the kids doing some cute detection testing if it’s really their mother, and some cute resolution like “Doesn’t matter how you look. You are our mommy!”. –It’s nothing like that. Also given alongside that title, you wouldn’t expect any horror. That’s why I went straight into the cinema. Guys, I hate horror. Neither the title or the synopsis indicates that stupid genre. They surely articulate the plot but they never indicate the tone of the movie unless you’ve seen the trailer. It absolutely tricked me. Fuck you.

Foreshadowing

The first scene shows the twin playing in the woods. Lukas vanishes into the cave while Elias is looking into it from outside. The consequence of this event reveals in the last scene.

INCITING INCIDENT

The mother (addressed as Mother later on) comes home with her face wrapped in bandages after undergoing plastic surgery. The twin starts to suspect it’s someone else.

RISING ACTION

Driven by her demeanor distant and hostility, the twins start behave antagonistic against Mother, eg. sneaking a cockroach into her mouth while sleeping, etc…

[Crisis]

Mother reveals her brand new face to the kids. The kids are mentally pushed onto the edge as she looks complete stranger. They escape the house seeking for help but are sent back after the police encounter.

[Turning Point]

Then the going gets ferocious abruptly. Determined to find out whereabout of their “real mother”, the kids tie Mother up and start to torture her.

[An Itch to Scratch]

We are deeply engaged into the scenes because we all know that she is their real mother. Misunderstanding between the characters provides us an agonizing itch to scratch. It’s an effectively constructed plot that shows something the characters don’t know but we know. We find ourselves begging the kids to stop what they are doing in front of the screen.

[Emotional Value]

The screenwriter already earned a big point when he crystalized the idea for this scene. It’s not a cop torturing an innocent, it’s not a man torturing a beautiful woman, it’s kids torturing their mother. There are countless torture scenes in the movie history, some are shown grotesquely, some are shown even comically, but Goodnight, Mommy deliverers possibly the most mentally agonizing torture scene for the audience. Yes, we are being tortured as well as Mother.

[Another Itch to Scratch]

The painful but effective part is that there is still some hope for Mother to escape. For instance, there is a scene where charity people visit the house, implying possibilities they might notice something is going wrong and rescue her. This is why we don’t give up continuing being engaged. If the situation is completely hopeless, we would be able to convince ourselves that it’s just the acting we are seeing, and flee ourselves from the unbearable tension.  But sadly, there is still some hope for Mother, so we are kept on our toes, and after emotionally investing in her, we see hope is eventually vanished and are left speechless.

RESOLUTION

It is revealed that Lukas died in the cave in the first scene, and the Lukas we’ve been following is Elias’s hallucination. Elias sets the house on fire and Mother is burnt to death.

[Final Thought]

As long as you are a human being with emotions, you feel exactly the same things as Mother feels after the mid-point of the story, and it’s universally felt that way. It’s a sign of good film.

“Conflict” -Screenwriting

The Most Important Element: Conflict

Conflict is a cornerstone of audience engagement. I even consider it as a synonym for the word “story”. It is what the story is about.  Without conflict, your film is going to be just “showing a situation” rather than “a story”.

Why is conflict important?

It creates motives for the characters. Motives shape the goals they have to accomplish. Goals encourage their actions. Actions lead to a resolution. A resolution delivers the message you have in your mind. Conflict is where everything begins to generate.

Types of Conflict

It is not academically recognized or anything, but to me there seem to be 5 types of conflict you can write, that are as follows:

[Person vs Person]

Argument, Friend Betrayal, Love Triangle, Physical Fight, Political Debate, Sport Competition, Bad Customer Service etc…

This type of conflict is pretty straight forward. You can directly reflect the dynamic in dialogue. If you are just starting out screenwriting and you don’t know what to write, it is recommended to center these.

[Person vs Situation]

Natural Disasters, Traffic Jam, Unexpected Pregnancy, Apocalypse,  Getting Lost in Jungle, etc…

They offer more plot value than story value. When these are the main theme in a film, there are usually other types of conflict as Story B.

[Person vs Him/Herself]

Identity Crisis, Insecurities, Dishonesty, Drug Abuse, Coming of Age, Extreme Self-Discipline, etc…

These create character arcs. As far as I concern, self-conflict is the most important in drama. It enriches the emotional values.

[Person vs World]

Living in Foreign Environment, Being bullied, Being Criticized, Handicaps, Class Device, Anarchism, Knowing the truth no one else believes, etc…

 The setting is already antagonistic towards the protagonist. It is easy to write since there are tons of obstacles to go with it.

[Reality vs Imagination]

It’s partly [Person vs Him/Herself] in a way. Watch movies like Amelie, Birdman, Blackswan, Dancer in The Dark, or Pan’s Labyrinth, and you will get it. The character is caught up between the two worlds. One of the main differences from [Person vs Him/Herself] is that the inner thought is visually shown in the scenes.

Blog Insight

I’m Gasel Ximena, an aspiring filmmaker who has worked on some shorts so far. I will be posting some thoughts on filmmaking in number of aspects and my own films also.