Raiders of the Lost Ark Discussion

[David]

Please post here about the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Your posting may be a new idea or a response to another poster; however, please write at least one paragraph which references the film's narrative structure, mis-en-scene, sound, editing, or theme.

[kw]

In the raiders of the lost ark, the sound is very important in progressing the movie and also the mood created. The orchestra used was also used in star wars and holds a similar tone to it. The main song in indiana jones is important because it is repeated over and over during times of triumph or humor. this melody repeated in a way defines indiana jones and his character, living a hectic life but also having mistakes and some humor and fun in it all.
the structure of the film in raiders of the lost ark is also important because even though it is three different movies(now four) people who have just started watching need to have an introduction, climax and end in order to familiarize with the characters. So in the beginning of The film indiana Jones's character is portrayed through him treasure hunting for the golden head. Which is when the antagonist is introduced. And also when indianas bad luck is shown. There is a trend in the indiana jones movies, where indiana jones is portrayed as on top of a situation but then rapidly is on the bottom end of things, but eventually in the end lands himself back on top.
The editing in the film is done well, showing many reaction shots from indy and keeping most the focus of the film on him. Also there are a lot of fast cut scenes to boost the action and intensity of a scene. There are also a lot of panning and tracking shots, which are used alot in all three of the indian jones films.
The theme of the film is power corrupts and that some power is too much too handle. Only certain people are and should be allowed to hold power. There is the conflict of man vs man, or indiana jones vs the nazis in this case over who should hold gods power. Indy being as good as he is, automatically refuses such power and understands that no one should weild the power of the arc.
the misenscene in the film makes for great shots. The costuming ads to the realism of the film and seperates in diana jones from everyone else. The nazis have their uniforms, the locals in egypt have their white robes. And indianas friend is also separated from everyone else because he is wearing a suit most the time. The director really wanted to show who the conflict was between specifically, and not accidentally confuse the audience into thinking the locals were bag guys. Also there is an obvious character who stands apart from everyone just because of what he is wearing, which is the antagonist wearing the all black suit. The lighting in the shots is very balanced, always lighter when indiana is in the shot and is the subject and darker on the bad guys. The sets used are very realistic and very different, each shot looks completely different than the previous one, which ads to the adventure of the movie. The variety of the colors and lightnings shown are very amusing.

[Allan Q]

I don't think the lighting is necessarily always brighter when Indy in the scene. Instead, I think the director used lighting not to show who the antagonists and protagonists are, but instead to add on to the action in the scene (it is an Action/Adventure movie after all). For example, in the scene where Indy is dropped into the tomb full of snakes, the lighting is dark and gloomy. When he starts pumping the snakes full of gasoline, lighting from lightning outside the tomb is introduced and adds to the feeling of fear and chaos that is felt by Indy as well as the audience.

[Wilson W]

I think the theme of this movie is that people shouldn't disturb the things that are left from the acient history. Things should be kept at where it was. Also, the movie illustrates the greed of power in mankind. Too much greed will cause negative response, such as the lost ark taking away all the souls of those greedy people who used force to gain power. In my opionion, the director did a great job on carrying through the movie step by step, clearly demonstrating the theme. However, the materials used in this film was not very effective, such as the falling stones when Indy was trapped in the cave. The stones looked very unreal, it even bounced on the ground.

[ClementY]

Yeah, I agree with you on the point that human greed is portrayed. I haven't watched the 2nd of 3rd movies, but its most likely Indy beating the stuffings out of hell-bent world dominators.

[megin peake]

what you say is quite true. i feel that the name "raiders of the lost ark" definitely has a mood that is somewhat associated with ancient history. "lost ark," it reminds me of the Trojan horse for some reason, something big and quite ancient. I picture whatever this "lost ark" is, is something of great power or had great power in the time. this is a first impression before even watching it.

[Brian C]

I agree, very good observation on themes. I didn't notice that till you pointed it out. And it goes to show that some doors were not meant to be opened.

[Austin M.]

I agree with what you said about the theme. Basically, the resolution of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" defines the theme of the story. Greedy men won't be allowed to possess anything worth of real value (which in this movie, is the "Ark"). The Ark is just much too powerful for any man to possess.

Indiana Jones's quest for the Ark is then resolved when two officers who sent him on that quest in the first place inform him that he will no longer have access to the Ark. They sent the Ark to a huge U.S. Government warehouse in a crate and placed that crate amongst thousands of other similar crates.

I also like to add further points about greed in this movie. At the end of one of the last few scenes, Indy surrenders to the Nazis rather than destroy the ancient Ark. This surrender reveals his primary character flaw (which is greed) and results in Indy and Marion's capture. Once again, Indy must escape certain doom and bring Marion to some place safe. In addition, this part becomes a great cliffhanger.

In my opinion, the cliffhanger is a major part of the climax of the story. Indiana Jones tells Marion to close her eyes when one of them bad guys (the archaeologist) opens the Ark for the Nazi soldiers standing nearby. The Angel of Death flies out of the open Ark and decimates the archaeologist and the soldiers with fire and bolts of lightning (which must've been cool back when the movie was made). Once again, greed was portrayed. Because of their gluttony, they died. Simple as that. Indy and Marion survived for they didn't lay eyes on this treasure. What a movie.

[ClementY]

Maybe I have no taste in good films, but I actually thought the Crystal Skull was better than what everybody said. But the original still kicks major butt. Academically speaking, the first Indiana Jones is a masterpiece made with the combined geniuses of Spilberg and Lucas. The narrative structure is very much like what one expects from the POV in a manga/comic book. I like how Indiana was not the first character to be introduced and the narration at the very beginning of the film can be told from the point of the South American lackey.

The mis-en-scene in this film is just spectacular. They have everything down to the detail to Nazi uniform, Nazi firearms, Eqypt and even Indiana's school. Very cleverly set up, giving out a more realistic feel to it than it should be. Indiana Jones might as well been based on a true story if the ghouls did not come out of the ark. Also for a movie done before the 90's, it had very good sound quality and editing. Knowing spilberg, the only part the was possibly CGI-d was when the ark open and maybe the snakes, but definitely not the explosions. Spilberg influenced Michael Bay, who loves real explosions.

Obviously the theme that surrounds this movie is that men should not gain knowledge of everything. God is always above men and men should not use God's power for World Domination. It makes sense because God would have cursed the very group of people who tried to exterminate his people.

[David]

Interesting points, Clement- although Raiders of the Lost Ark is pre-CGI, believe it or not.

[Eugene]

I actually thought the unrealistic feel (or dodgey special effects) was to a certain point on purpose.

This movie is notably fantasy-like and to create a fictional atmosphere, why not begin with dodgy fx?

[Allan Q]

Some things in the film look slightly unrealistic because like Eugene said, the directors wanted to give the film a fantasy-like adventurous feeling.

For example, right at the start of the film when Indy is in the jungle, you can already notice that the color saturation and contrast is quite a bit higher than normal.

[Cailin L]

While to some extent this may be true, I did not get the feeling that Spielberg was intending for the special effects to look unsophisticated. It was the early '80s and the "dodgy special effects" are the result of lack of technology. At least, that's how I felt.

I did not feel that the special effects took away from the film, in fact, I thought they were impressive for the time it was made.