Sam at Thebes
Both Sam (7) and Kit (5) are in their “interested in Ancient Egypt” phase. Over dinner, I asked them if they knew about the Riddle of the Sphinx. They had not, so I explained.
DAD. Okay. So. I’m a Sphinx, and you want to get into the city of Thebes. If you answer my riddle correctly, you get to go in. If not, I eat you. Ready?
SAM. Sure.
DAD. Okay. This is the riddle: In the morning I go on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three. What am I?
SAM. You’re a sphinx!
Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can part 4
In Act I of Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale sees his family destroyed by Authority. In Act II, he tries to get his family back again by subverting the very idea of Authority. In Act III, he tries to build a new family, and — sort of — "go straight"at the same time. Authority won’t let him get away with that, and we will find in Act IV that Frank has no choice but to capitulate to Authority — join it — and thus grow into a man.
Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can part 3
In Act I of Catch Me If You Can, Frank Abagnale’s family is destroyed by Authority. In Act II, Frank devises what he thinks is a workable solution to repair his family and strike back at Authority at the same time. Unfortunately, his efforts are rejected by his father, and his antagonist is now hot on his trail. In Act III, Frank will try to use his new-found abilities to join a new family, and take a step toward maturity at the same time.
Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can part 2
Act I of Catch Me If You Can tells the story of the dissolution of Frank Abagnale’s family. Act II will present to him a unique strategy for putting his family back together. Like many of my favorites acts of Spielberg’s work, it is what I call a "process" sequence: we simply observe the process by which a character sets about doing something dynamic and unusual — getting inside a securely protected government facility, setting up an enamelware factory in wartime Krakow with little money, figuring out how to decode and employ the Headpiece of the Staff of Ra. These are often the most exciting passages in Spielberg’s work, as the protagonist is learning to do something new and interesting. It’s as new to us as it is to the protagonist, and Spielberg never fails to get that across.
Spielberg: Catch Me If You Can part 1
WHAT DOES THE PROTAGONIST WANT? Frank Abagnale, like John Anderton in Minority Report, has seen his family shattered. Anderton’s family is destroyed by a random child-abductor, but the forces at work on Frank’s family are more nebulous. It is "them," the various authorities and gatekeepers that keep the middle class in their place that seem intent on driving Frank’s family apart — specifically, government agencies, banks and big business. In short, "authority," all those people who, when you try to get a leg up in the world, say "No, you can’t." Frank, like Anderton, will spend the narrative of Catch Me If You Can trying to put his shattered family back together.
Spielberg: Minority Report part 4
Despite his best efforts and a complete spiritual re-awakening, at the top of ACT IV of Minority Report John Anderton has fallen victim to the system he once prosecuted and is, once again, on the run from the Precrime police.
Spielberg: Minority Report part 3
Now that John Anderton can see his world through new eyes, he returns to the scene of the crime, so to speak, to prove his innocence. He nabs Agatha, the precog whom he thinks can save him. (It’s complicated.)
Spielberg: Minority Report part 2
John Anderton has found himself implicated by the same perfect system he helped create. In spite of the fact that he’s staked his life and reputation on the infallibility of Precrime, he does not give himself up quietly. The rules of Precrime insist that he is most certainly "guilty" of the crime he’s accused of, but the rules of human behavior insist that he respond to the accusation the same way everyone does — by resisting. Anderton believes everyone who is accused by the precogs is guilty, but everyone who is accused by the precogs believes they are innocent. So Anderton, star pupil and "good son" of the Precrime unit, must now do the only thing he can — run from the law. What he has forgotten in his ruminations on destiny and fate is one of the oldest rules of all, which is that power corrupts and any system of control will ultimately be manipulated by its creators to serve the needs of the powerful.
Spielberg: Minority Report part 1
WHAT DOES THE PROTAGONIST WANT? John Anderton, like many Spielberg protagonists, has seen his family shattered. His son has been missing for many years, and that trauma destroyed his marriage. John is unable to put his family back together, and so he has, again, like many Spielberg protagonists, become obsessed with his work. As it happens, John’s work is being a homicide detective in the future, so he catches murderers by sifting through the thoughts of a trio of "precogs" who live in a swimming pool in his office. As a bonus, due to the nature of the precog’s thoughts, he is able to catch murderers before they actually murder. This he does to comfort himself about the loss of his son, and to please his "work father" Lamarr Burgess, the man who co-created the "precog" detective program and gave Anderton his job. Anderton is absolutely convinced of the rightness and justice of his job, and so when the precogs "accuse" him of a future murder, Anderton finds he must clear his name for the future murder of a man he’s never met.
Some thoughts on Quantum of Solace
I will have to wait for the DVD release of Quantum of Solace to issue a full analysis — I’m not afraid to admit that I didn’t understand a lot of it the first time around. The key question of my Bond analysis – “What does James Bond actually do to save the world?” is still a little vague for me twelve hours after watching the movie. I know he goes to a whole bunch of places and kills a whole bunch of people while on the trail of this Dominic Greene character, but I’m not exactly sure why he’s doing it and I’m not exactly sure how he’s going about it. If I had watched Casino Royale earlier in the morning I would probably be better oriented, and if you have that kind of leisure time at your disposal I recommend doing so — a number of key plot-points revolve around things that happen in the earlier movie.