Kurosawa's Dreams

FINAL EXAM

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a series of eight short narratives that compose a complete movie. Each story could stand by itself, but I believe these stories have a narrative thread which binds them together, which was time and death. There are commonalities that cement them together and when I finished watching it each time I felt that I had watched just one movie; it was put together in such a way that the stories somehow flowed together. I will give a brief synopsis of each story within the movie and proceed with going into greater depth in analyzing a few of the

segments.

*The first piece, titled "Sunshine Through The Rain", opens with a young boy whose mother warns him not to go out this day because the sun in shining and it is raining. On days when the weather is like this, foxes have their wedding processions and do not like to be watched. The boy runs out, finds the procession and is soon seen by the foxes. They get to his house before he does and give his mother a knife with which he is to kill himself. He goes to find the foxes forgiveness at their house, which is underneath the rainbow. This dream was unusual but beautiful, the masked paint on the foxes' faces exzuberated curiosity. Certain things like the door of the boy's house being shut was a symbol of isolation, my favorite scene in this dream would have to be when the boy was walking alone in sadness amongst the colorful bright flowers, the distance, height, and magnitude of the rainbow from the boy showed the measure of his destination.

*"The Peach Orchard", the next segment, involves another little boy, who brings one too many treats to his sister on "Doll Day" because he sees another girl. He follows the girl onto a stepped hill where many people are dressed up like dolls and confront him for his family cutting down the peach trees which were on that very land and this day is to celebrate the peach blossoms. He sticks up for himself and tells of his sadness about the affair; the dolls understand and allow him one last look at the orchard as it was.This dream contains a stately and graceful dance performed in a peach orchard, the costumes worn by the characters, representing peach festival dolls come to life, are sumptuous and colourful: the kimonos, quilted winter ones by the look, are worn layered one over the other. The music is measured and slow, and the dance is enhanced by the white, mask-like faces of the dolls: very regal, and very evocative. The dolls were grouped exactly the way the boy's sister layered them, from royalty (kings & Queens), servants, soldiers, then common people.The long scene when the flower petals fall on the boy's face and onto the ground like little gentle raindrops, exerted joy, because the boy was smiling, and the petals and the girl symbolized the new growth of the peach orchard.

* The third part, "The Blizzard", is about four men climbing up a mountain in the snow and their hope for survival as a snow storm approaches. The men all argue and begin to walk more slowly as the snow blows harder and harder. The leader is the only one who wants to keep going until they get to the next camp, everyone else is ready to give up. They all fall down in the snow to take a break. The leader is approached by a snow spirit who trys to act nice to keep the leader from rising up by talking sweetly and calmly, suddenly the beautiful spirit transforms into an ugly demon when the leader doesn't give in, and when the snow dies down the camp is right in front of them. The three other men who look dead until this point, get up and walk toward the camp. The greatness of time spent for the men to get to camp was meant for the suspense of the audience. This dream was about strength, courage, fear, and bravery, because the extent of the blizzard made the audience realize and feel for what these men were going through, their skin were frozen(potentially their skin will fall off), and even their snots were turned to snot-cycles. The gritty and cloudy image of the snow over the men's struggling bodies, moved the plot and theme along.

*"The Tunnel": The next opens with a gritty mixture of black and red lighting, with a former Japanese army officer emerging from it. As he approaches the dark tunnel a roaring,barking, vicious, and obviously angry dog suddenly stuns the timid officer with its loud barks and horrid appearance. Eventually the dog leaves, the officer walks through the tunnel with the curiosity of fear wandering if the dog was going to be back, but instead one of his unsure soldier appeared. It was an emotional and sad moment from then on, as they spoke back and forth about the death of this particular soldier, the camera direction made this scene personal and intimate by moving the camera back and forth as these two men spoke, or when they moved closer together. Even when the officer talks to the platoon as a viewer you can see the means communication because of the camera direction. At the end of this dream the dog reappears and acts the way in the beginning trying to chase the officer from the tunnel, the dog was a symbol for the crossroads between life and death.

*In "Crows", the fifth segment, an art student is in a museum studying Van Gogh's paintings when suddenly he is transported into the scene of one of his paintings of a bridge. He asks the women (in French!) washing clothes by the bridge where he might find Van Gogh. They tell him, but warn him that he has been in a lunatic asylum. He finds Van Gogh (played by Martin Scorcese) who talks to him (in English) about painting and how he cannot waste any of his time dealing with him. The man asks him (in English) about his ear to which Van Gogh replies he was painting a self-portrait, could not get the ear right, and so he cut it off. Van Gogh leaves him and the man begins to see everything as a Van Gogh painting. As he walks back through the village, he walks through Van Gogh's paintings. At the end he is back in the museum. Let me start by saying the paintings and color in this dream was extremely gorgeous and bright, the student walking through the paintings was well thought out, and the student in paintings brought the paintings to live, it made it realistic and imaginable to the viewers.

*The sixth part, "Mount Fuji in Red", starts with a scene of total chaos. People are running everywhere, in every direction carrying their belongings. It appears that Mt. Fuji is about to erupt, but in truth the nuclear power plant behind the mountain has exploded and the five reactors will explode one by one spewing cancer-causing clouds to form and blow over the people. The man meets up with another man and a woman with her two children. The woman is scared for her children and talks about how nuclear power was supposed to be safe. The man tells them that he was one of the people responsible for the problem and for lying to the people, then he jumps into the ocean. The man tries to protect the woman and her children from the red dusty wind blowing which carries some disease-causing particles. Kurosawa's message here is as subtle as a brick: humanity is spoiling the world, with pollution, consumerism and ignorance. The gritty mixture of red and black was a symbolism of death and danger. The characters' yells, screams, and rampage for safety totally showed the theme and purpose for this dream, and it also moved the plot or story line along.

*"The Weeping Demon" involves a man who is walking among a thick cloud of fog, across a black wasteland, when the fog clears it reveals what appears to be a man in tattered clothes. This man was turned into a demon when he survived the attacks of nuclear bombs and missiles. The fallout from the attacks caused the land to turn to black rocks and the plants to mutate. The demon shows the man dandelions as big as humans and roses with stems growing out of them. Humans and animals are also mutated. The animals are so mutated that they cannot be eaten so the demons have worked out a hierarchy- the demons with more horns eat the demons with less and serve their punishment of immortality. The more horns a demon has, the more pain one feels and the more one has done to deserve the horns. The demon's horn has just started to hurt and approaches the man to become a demon also. The display of pain, anguish, facial expression, and body language from the demons just screams out the theme of this dream.

*In "Village of the Watermills", a man comes into a town on a river which has many, many watermills. He finds an old man who talks with him about the village. This village has no name, has no electricity, and is very close to nature. The man explains the good nature of the people through a ritual of putting flowers on a stone where the villagers once buried a traveler who died there. He talks about they only use firewood from trees that have fallen down on their own. This old man criticizes the way people live nowadays and how they treat the environment with no respect, which will end up with their deaths. As the two talk, they hear music approaching and the old man explains it is a funeral, the town celebrates hard work and living to old age which nearly everyone does in the village. This was a perfect dream to end all dreams, it was extremely beautiful, settle, gentle, and quite interesting because of the morals and lessons of life the old man talked about. The background in this dream remained consistent flowing rivers, flowers, and of course the focal point the watermills. The watermills was a symbol of life in this dream, and that death is a celebration also as well as life. At the end the man understands the true meaning of life, then he places a flower on the grave.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams comprises eight dream sequences, featuring impressive special effects and beautiful scenery from Japan. Kurosawa's dream sequences are elusive, metaphoric and influenced by Japanese legends, reflecting in some way impressions from his own life. I was pleasantly surprised with dreams, not only in terms of content but also aesthetically. There are very few films that manage to embody personal, local and global concerns as Akira Kurosawa has managed in this production. I believe it is fair to say that Dreams portrays our individual and collective dreams, fantasies, and nightmares, reflecting that sometimes what we dream of today is what will keep us awake tomorrow. A nice range of representations of concerns from the deepest and most personal childhood worries and fantasies to the more complex issues of mental illness, extreme ambition, destruction of our environment, aftermath of nuclear explosions, aftermath of war, deforestation, and even death. In all I recommend this film to anyone who has the chance to see it, It is possible that Dreams may not appeal to a mainstream audience in terms of content because there is a lot of symbolism and critical engagement but the photography and sceneries are for sure something that should not go amiss for anyone. If you get the chance it is truly worth giving it your time, a fantastic experience.

Key Aspects:

1.The Rainbow is the key to the first dream .It involves curiosity of the boy,search of the rainbow.

2.The second dreams shows the loss,beauty of nature, the dolls are the key in this dream.

3.The aspect of death,courage,fear are shown in the third dream.The character of the spirit is the crucial one.

4.This dream too portrays death,fear,war,power,redemption and regret.The Dark tunnel,the red light,the dog add too the artistic flavor.

5.The painting of Vincent Van Vough’s are itself are a riddle.The crows,the missing ear are the key to this dream.

6.In the ‘Mount Fuji in Red’ dream Akira Kurosawa directly talks about the harmful affects of Nuclear Weapons and the end of mankind.

7.In the seventh dream Akira Kurosawa show the horrific,tragic life of Demons affected the Nuclear holocaust by which he makes a very emotional statement.

8.After the horrific previous dream Akira Kurosawa shows us the beauty of Nature and says that even death can be a moment of celebration.

Pan's Labyrinth

How Guillermo Del Toro treats the creation of monsters in his movie "Pan's Labyrinth", was by making Pan's Labyrinth a dark fairy tale that distills his distinctive mix of fact and fantasy, poetry, politics, pain, and pleasure. It's an epic, poetic vision in which the grim realities of war are matched and mirrored by a descent into an underworld populated by fearsomely beautiful monsters - a trans-formative, life-affirming nightmare. He was also trying to uncover a common thread between the "real world" and the "imaginary world" through one of the seminal concerns of fairy tales: choice. It's something that has intrigued him since Cronos, through Hellboy and now to Pan's Labyrinth: "it's the way your choices define you" he said.

He wanted to represent political power within the creatures, he wanted to make them otherworldly, believable, possibly very human like 'Del Toro says. 'There was a particular character or monster in this film that somehow came to represent the church and the devouring of children, the original design was just an old man who seemed to have lost a lot of weight and was covered in loose skin, then Del Toro removed the face, so it became part of the personality of the institution. But then, what to do about the eyes? So he decided to place stigmata on the hands and shove the eyes into the stigmata, having done that he thought it would be great to make the fingers like peacock feathers that fluff and open, and that's how that figure evolved. He also "I try to give the fantastic a very mundane feeling, he said monsters exist to represent heroes' fears and problems, fairy tales exteriorize conflicts and matters that are intrinsically human and interior".

I feel like Guillmero Del Toro treated the creations of monsters in this film just like any other character in this film, and maybe even more with special treatments. Del Toro wanted to make the monsters as real, and scary as possible by adding special effects, and even animations. The monsters got the same amount of camera time just as the human character, each scene with the monsters in them were extra vibrant, gritty, grim, gut wrenching, and exuberant. I feel like the monsters in this film made the film what it is, without the monsters, i don't think the film would be as great as it is. There was a scene that i liked in this film, when the mandrake was moving the exact same way Ofelia's mother was moving. Del Toro treated the creation of monsters in this film with care, time-detailing, directions, and delicate. He tried to make make everything detailed as possible, and also perfect as possible, I feel like the monsters in this film were very important, and Del Toro treated them with respect.

Tin Man

Tin Man was interesting to me because of the magical aspect of it. I thought the casting was excellent, every actor from Tin Man (Cain), Raw, D.G, Glitch, and Azkadellia gave each of the well written character such life.Cinematically it was a beautiful film, even the dark sections of the O.Z. were brought to life, with the use of color, lighting, music, and even camera direction. I enjoyed the really unique way they incorporated the old with the new but still had a completely different story.

This film is about a classic tale that follows a young girl named D.G. (Zooey Deschanel) who ventures on the Old fabled Road of O.Z., prepared to fulfill her destiny, when she discovers that the evil Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) who is later revealed as D.G.'s older sister, has cast an oppressive spell over the Outer Zone. I have to say Azkadellia was my favorite character in this film, because she played her evil role so marvelously well, from her costume, to her voice, facial expression, body language, and to the way she displays her power of anguish, screamed out the perfect villain. D.G. enlists the aid of half-brained eccentric Glitch (Alan Cumming), kindly-but-cowardly beast Raw (Raoul Trujillo), and heartbroken former lawman Cain (Neil McDonough) in seeking out the wisdom of the fabled Mystic Man (Richard Dreyfuss) who lives at the end of the Old Road. With the future of the Outer Zone hanging in the balance, D.G. had to make some decisions, and let her heart led her to the right direction, she had an awkwardness and a such positive outlook on things, that made the audience like and relate to her.

As this adventurous group ventures down the perilous road they find themselves having a battle with Azkadellia's hideous nightmarish flying monkey bats and Azkadellia's malevolent henchmen, as they attempt to break a spell with the power to destroy them all. But before their journey was over, D.G. and her new friends discover a few things that they never even knew about themselves. The setting of this film was something I have never seen in any film I have ever watched. It was a magical and unusual plot but it was absolutely brilliant, the thought of two suns hanging out in the clear blue sky was amazing. The use of computer generated effects used to show the extent of Azkadellia power was exciting to watch, the way she literally sucked the lives out of humans was extraordinary.

I just loved color in this film, everything just popped even the dark sections of the film. Everything from lighting, camera direction, and even music moved the plot along. The shots and camera directions was always precise, always extenuating every little details in a scene, from rocks, to grass, leaves, the sky, tress, and even the direction of the wind. The sound or mood of the music always let the viewer know if there was a moment of triumph or anguish coming. So the music was always like a clue to what was going to happen in the next scene or minute. What was so surprising to me was, during the flashbacks, the pictures or scenes weren't gritty, black and white, dark, or rough, like what other films would do to show the the extent of how much time had past but this film was different, the scenes were sharp, clean, colorful, and beautiful.

The Seven Samurai

The film opens with shadows of a mixture of lights and darks as men race in a rugged stampede on their stallions. The story begins with master samurai Kambei posing as a monk to save a kidnapped farmer's child. Impressed by his selflessness and bravery, a group of farmers begs him to defend their terrorized village from bandits. Kambei agrees, although there is no material gain or honor to be had in the endeavor. Soon he attracts a pair of followers: a young samurai named Katsushiro , who quickly becomes Kambei's disciple, and boisterous Kikuchiyo, who poses as a samurai but is later revealed to be the son of a farmer. Kambei assembles four other samurais, including Kyuzo , a master swordsman, to round out the group. Together they consolidate the village's defenses and shape the villagers into a militia, while the bandits loom menacingly nearby. Soon raids and counter-raids build to a final bloody heart-wrenching battle.

I see why my teacher said Akira Karasowa was one of the greatest directors ever, because the direction in this film was absolutely brilliant and well thought out. For example, there was a scene in this film when villagers were in the marketplace trying to look for the village thief, as the characters' eyes moved the camera moved in the same pace as their eyes, this method was used again when Kambei the master samurai and the youngest samurai Katsushiro went to go see the master swordsman fight in a fair-trial-combat, and the same thing happened the camera followed the characters' eyes. I'll have to say the shots in this film were also unique, and they came in different varieties, there was one I really liked because I have never seen any shot like that in any movie or film I have ever seen. There were three different things going on in one shot, on one side of the room there was the guy with the over-top facial expression crying his eyes out, at the opposite side of him there as an old guy playing his wooden banjo softly, and on the other side of the room, were the two look alike cavemen arguing, joking, laughing, and playing a board game.

There was also a rule of thirds scene in this film with the oldest farmer as the focus point, the camera's focus accentuated the wrinkles and the toothless mouth of the farmer to make the viewers realize how old this farmer really was, as that was going on there were two couples in the background arguing back and forth with each other. The only seen in this film that I really saw a character alone, had to be the point of view shot where the youngest samurai Katsushiro lays in the middle of a flowers bed and looks up to the trees, the scene was subtle as the wind blew the leaves of the trees back and forth, making them sway in the sky, it was the first time you realized as viewer what the character was feeling and the emotions going moving with him.

This film was really unique because of the things Karasowa added to it, like in one scene he added his own wind, the wood behind the crying farmer was made especially for that scene to show repetition, because of the markings in the wood, compositions of three's was shown in a shot when some people walked through frames. The shots of the villagers' backside showing earlier in the film was to emphasize the pain, embarrassment, poverty, shame, and heartache they were going through. There was a scene in this film that gave the viewer a feeling of isolation, when this man was sitting alone all by himself, and the other villagers' backs were turned away from him.

As a viewer character development was incredibly noticeable, but there were two characters that I thought changed or developed as the plot moved along, and it had to be the young samurai Katsushiro, and kikuchiyo. Katsushiro Katsushiro was the youngest samurai in the bunch, he was respectful, shy, compassionate, humble, and willing to learn at the beginning of the film, he didn't have enough courage to prove or stand up for himself, but towards the end of the movie he builds on strength, courage, and self esteem, the scene of Katsushiro's total transformation had to be when he killed an enemy then cried afterwards. I thought Kikuchiyo's transformation as a character was very major and important in this film, because in the beginning he was self absorbed, a joker, disrespectful, and way too boisterous, he even put other samurais' lives in danger by posing as the enemy and killing some enemies in order to prove he was the best to other samurais. But as the plot and film moves along he cares about others and he puts them in consideration, there was one scene where I actually saw kikuchiyo cry sadly and passionately about the loss of a child's parents, because he related to him, Kikuchiyo's death had to be the most memorable death in the film he died as a warrior, after getting shot by an enemy, he got up and still pierced the heart of the enemy that shot him.

This film was long but awesome, this film had composition, great shots, beautiful scenes, fantastic camera direction, great cast of characters, and one of the greatest film director composed all these things into one, and that's Akira Karasowa.

Throne of Blood

Throne of Blood is a tradegy based on the life of a lord named Taketoki Washizu, a valiant warrior whose life is transformed by an encounter with a ghostly female spirit. The spirit offers several predictions, stating that Washizu will rise to power over the current warlord. When these predictions begin to unfold, he and his ambitious wife decide to ensure his ascendancy to power by murdering the current ruler. As with Macbeth, Washizu achieves his goal, but his guilt and the suspicions of others soon bring about his downfall.

The supporting performances were outstanding, particularly Isuzu Yamada's creepily unemotional take on Lady Macbeth's face, her face was extremely solid and motionless. Isuzu Yamada's stance and undeniable presence in this film was incredibly noticeable, in every scene and shot she delivered the role she was suppose to play . There was a scene in this film that i really loved her in, when she was rambling her hands together like she was supposedly washing her hands in a waterless bowl. My point is, the emotion and facial expression she portrayed in this film was exciting because that's the first time she probably showed emotion in this film, and the look of anguish, pain, hurt, troubled, and isolation, was well played out .

While Mifune proves consistently gripping in the sheer intensity of his performance, with undeniable strong,expressionless faces. For example, i feel there were three scenes in this film that showed Mifune's greatest acting skills, the first has to be when he kills the king then runs back to his wife, then he had the most unbelievable, undeniable, troubled, and shocking look like i can't believe i just killed the king while holding the weapon (sword), and his hand buried in a pool of blood. Another has to be when the maid stops him in the middle of the room from seeing his wife, and there was so much empty space in the room, and that scene represents the feeling of loneliness and isolation he was feeling. Also during the conclusion, in which Washizu makes a memorable final stand against an advancing army, he was shot by his own archers and stumbles forward like a porcupine before being shot in the neck. He slowly descends the stairs and dies, collapsing dramatically on the ground which was filled with clouds of fog.

Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood strips away Macbeth's minor characters and long soliloquies, turns the witch scenes into a strange supernatural encounter, and transforms the landscape into a misty visage. Kurosawa masterfully employs style and composition to create a closed world in which the film's tragic outcome seems pre-ordained. Such visual motifs as fog, wind, and rain, complimented or matched with the austere interior of Washizu's castle, create an eerie, foreboding feel, while Kurosawa's use of stark blacks and whites, coupled with his persistent use of hard edits, seem to place the characters in stylistic confinement that moved the plot along. Kurosawa uses repetition, such as the image of Washizu's emerging from the fog, to suggest the futility of the characters' actions.

Impressive in every regard, Throne of Blood seems secure in the pantheon of superior film adaptations of William Shakespeare. Throne of Blood is a visually brilliant, an emotionally powerful masterpiece from one of the true masters of cinema (Akira Kurosawa).

Titus

Titus Andronicus was actually one of William Shakespeare's lesser-known theatrical plays. The begins with Roman General Titus Andronicus played by Anthony Hopkins, had returned from defeating the Goths in a bloody battle, but the victory had left him with mixed feelings, as the war took the lives of several of his sons. Titus is reminded by his first-born son Lucius that their faith demands the sacrifice of an enemy prisoner as a gift to the gods for their victory. Titus chooses the eldest son of Tamora , the queen of the Goths, who has since been taken hostage by Titus's troops. Tamora pleads for her son's life, but Titus goes ahead with the sacrifice. She then becomes the lover of the new emperor of Rome, Saturninus played by Alan Cumming, a weak-willed and corrupt man. Tamora uses her connection to the throne for her own ends: in retaliation for the death of her son, Tamora and her surviving sons, Chiron and Demetrius, brutally rape Titus's beloved daughter, Lavinia. This act sets in motion an ever-tightening spiral of revenge and retaliation that leaves few of the participants unscathed.

Titus is filled with elements of characters, plot and themes that Shakespeare would enlarged on. It includes a father betrayed by his progeny (`King Lear'), a Moorish general (`Othello'), a struggle for political power, and a theme that runs through virtually all Shakespeare's tragedies - the need for revenge to maintain filial or familial honor. Anthony Hopkins is superb as Titus, capturing the many internal contradictions that plague this man who, though a beloved national hero and military conqueror, finds himself too weary to accept the popular acclamation to make him emperor - a decision he will live to rue when his refusal ends up placing the power directly into the hands of a rival who makes it his ambition to bring ghastly ruin upon Titus' family. Titus is also a man who can, without a twinge of conscience, kill a son he feels has betrayed him and disembowel a captive despite the pleas of his desperate mother, yet, at the same time, show mercy to the latter's family, humbly refuse the power offered him, and break down in heartbroken despair at the executions of his sons and the sight of his own beloved daughter left tongueless and hand-less by those very same people he has seen fit to spare.

Visually, this wide-screen film is a stunner.The director matches the starkness of the drama with a concomitant visual design, often grouping the characters in studied compositions set in bold relief against an expansive, dominating sky. There were countless of amazing shots in this film but my favorite would have to be when Titus' daughter turned around to show her uncle who she really was, that shot was shot in slow motion as she was turning around, then I have never seen blood so beautiful than in this film, the motion of blood splurging out of her mouth was brilliantly done, her condition was so bad, that as a viewer you couldn't help but feel pity for her. The use of color was brilliant, I couldn't help myself from stop looking at this film because the color was popping and out there, you couldn't help but notice.

I loved this movie because it was a drama, it pulled me in, it kept me guessing and thinking about what was going to happen next. I think the music and lighting helped this film because it was stunning. If I had to say one word that describes the overall feel of this film it had to be madness.

O Brother Where Art Thou

O Brother Where Art Thou is about Suave and fancy-talking Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney), dim-witted Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson), and easily-excitable Pete (John Turturro) who are serving time together in prison. The three manage to escape, but however along the road they meet a stranger that soon warns them that they'll find treasure, but not the sort they're looking for. O Brother Where Art thou has much similarities or comparison to the Odyssey, as these three begin their joruney, as a viewer i could see those similarities.

This has to be one of the top films that George Clooney has starred in. The plot is incredibly funny, if not slightly mad! The characters are entertaining and very well written, making you laugh at them, but also feel sorry for their struggles. Their hit song is very catchy, and the scene with the Ku Klux Klan adds tension and seriousness to the film, also in this scene there was alot of symmetry, angular shapes, and hot colors. John Goodman plays a small, but powerful part too. I liked the film the first time I saw it, but just by looking at the title before watching the film i was already automatically attracted to it. I would recommend this to anyone who likes being made to laugh, but also wants a good story line and quality acting. My favorite scene would be the beginning of the film when Everett, Pete, and Delmar try to get on the train after escaping from prison.

To me, this movie ranks right up there with the greater movies of the past decade such as Saving Private Ryan and Forest Gump. The scenery is amazing and truly gives you a taste of what a slice of life is really like in rural Mississippi. Being based on Homer's The Odyssey, it gives a modern, albeit antiquated by today's standards,and twist to a timeless tale. Everett, Pete and Delmar's journey through the tobacco bottoms and deep woods in the midst of the Great Depression is utterly amazing. Along the way they meet up with Sirens, an one-eyed Bible salesman, and Everett eventually gets home to his wife.

This movie gets 5 stars from me, especially with the music, because the music even adds more of a Southern touch to an already great movie. Also a history lesson that's not exactly on the straight and narrow is to be learned. Whether it's meeting Baby Face Nelson, seeing an up close Klan meeting, or enjoying good ol' Deep South politics, anyone who watches this movie will get something deep and meaningful out of it, this movie is easily a top 100 movie of all time, and to me a top 50.