Reality TV Friend or Foe?

When the subject comes up of reality TV people seem to have mixed feelings. Some people are obsessed with it and cannot get enough. Others absolutely cannot stand to watch one minute of it, thinking it is frivolous and mind numbing filler television. Whatever your thoughts may be it seems that reality TV is here to stay (at least for now) and is growing each year in popularity. What many people do not realize is that true reality TV began as early as the 1970s gaining more momentum in the late 80s, 90s and exploding in today's television market..

The first reality TV show was in 1973 even though it was not officially named as such. It was a documentary produced by PBS called The American Family. In this series that was edited to 12 hours in length, the Loud Family allowed a producer named Craig Gilbert to film them in their home for 7 long months. The series chronicled the breakup of Bill and Pat Loud's marriage and the coming out of their gay son, Lance. Peo ple were riveted by their story and it drew over 10 million people during its time on the air.

Next came the series The Real World on MTV debuting in 1992. It brought to the younger generation a story about six twenty-something strangers living in a very cool house rent free and taking on a group job for spending money. Throw in some male-female drama, wild parties, differing personalities and sparks flew. Each season, a new cast moves into a different city and home and takes on a new job situation. Currently in its 17th season it is still very popular with high school and college kids.

Today, there are too many reality TV shows to name, the top one today being American Idol and Survivor with many more being produced each year. Those who are against this genre sight many reasons as to why it is not for them. One such reason being that reality television is often thought to be scripted and truly not real life. With ratings being the way to stay on the air, producers and directors may take a real life situation and give it their own personality complete with scripted dialogue for the actors to recite. Also, when these real people get on air, they may act and react differently than if there was no camera around. Fancy editing of hundreds of hours of tape can misrepresent situations and the reality actors. In essence, non-fans see reality TV shows as fake television with bad acting.

Those fans who scramble to the television each week to see the plethora of reality TV each week see this entertainment differently. They like the psychological and physical drama of everything from Survivor to Amazing Race. Thought of as reality soap operas, fans cannot wait for the next episode which is bound to rev their own adrenaline and excitement level. These people take their reality TV very seriously. Maybe it is because they can relate to the people more readily than today's glitzy Hollywood actors and actresses.

Will reali ty TV ride out its popularity in the future? Time will only tell it seems. One thing is for sure is that right now it is hard to get away from when channel surfing. Although we all hate the high cable bills for the hundreds of channels we get, at least there will always be something on for the reality Tv fan and hater alike.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Reality TV

Author:: Michael Russell
Keywords:: reality TV
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Female Roles "Anne of Green Gables" "Frankenstein"

In their works, L.M. L.N. Montgomery and Mary Shelley represent contrasting prototypes of female characters: a strong feminist character of Anne in Anne of Green Gables and the passive female hero of Elizabeth Lavenza in Shelley's Frankenstein. These differences are caused by different social backgrounds of the heroines, life experience and personal qualities.

Montgomery creates a strong character of Anne able to fight and survive in any circumstances. It is possible to say that Annes behavior can be described as atypical in some cases. She is alien, masculine, and frightening at the beginning of the novel, by the end she is able to control her temper and rigorous nature. The character of Elizabeth Lavenza is a stable one. Her inner psychological state does not change through the novel. She represents a typical woman whose domestic role of wife and mother is predetermined.

With the help of Anne, Montgomery points out the readers attention to virtues of conciseness, strong, clear imagery, symbolism, understatement, humor, and irony. The following remark describes a code of personal identity helping Anne to survive: It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. Of course, you must make it up FIRMLY (Montgomery, Chapter 5).

In contrast Elizabeth Lavenzas code of values growing out of women's culture, which is sustained by sermons, child-rearing manuals, and sentimental fiction. Elizabeth advocates motherly influence as an effective solution to such her problems. She is depicted as sympathetic and compassionate, but fails inner strength essential for survival. Elizabeth was of a calmer and more concentrated disposition; but, with all my ardour, I was capable of a more intense applicati on and was more deeply smitten with the thirst for knowledge (Shelley, Chapter 2).

Success for Anne means fight in whatever direction. To the attainment of any end worth living for, a symmetrical sacrifice of her nature is compulsory upon her. But adult life persuades her to change her mind, and the novel records the changes of her wild nature and desire to riches when her beloved guardian Marilla fell ill. This does not mean that Anne stops to fight. Quite the contrary, her sympathy and inner strength helps her to sacrifice her dream to study at college and stay at Green Gables to care for Marilla. Anne says: I'm not going to take the scholarship. I decided so the night after you came home from town. You surely don't think I could leave you alone in your trouble, Marilla, after all you've done for me (Shelley, Chapter, 38).

In Anne of Green Gables, her guardians and friends want that Anne will be more lady like. One more quality, which Anne possesses, is sympath y. It relates to concern and respect for others and the environment. It is often expressed by the word 'love' used in a broad sense. Love as care does not refer to an emotion or a state of mind so much as to a human faculty of identification with others, sympathy with all beings. Sympathy seeks many and various channels of realisation. One of the secrets to the success of Anne is her natural beauty, which lies in the way she perceives the world. Love and passion are typical for every female. But, she tries to balance reason and passion. Anne has a vivid imagination and romantic nature which cause her to be passionate and a little bit strange with a bundle of red hair which despises her greatly.

In contrast to Anne, Elizabeth is a lady like character. She is used to be guided and supported by family members. It is possible to say that all women represented in the novel Frankenstein suffer greatly because their role in the life is limited. Elizabeth is a weak woman who cannot fight for love and happiness. Victor describes: And when, on the morrow, she presented Elizabeth to me as her promised gift, I, with childish seriousness, interpreted her words literally and looked upon Elizabeth as minemine to protect, love, and cherish (Shelley, Chapter, 1). Elizabeths actions are not logical and self-aware. She wants to attract Victors attention, but she is too calm and shy to fight for love. On the other hand, this was a typical thing for a woman of her class not to fight but remain passive waiting for better days.

Anne is described as a feminist character who takes heart in the hope that it may take much time and effort to achieve her dream. She tries to unit her supreme capacity of love with the sacred individuality of her life. It seems that Anne wants to h ave the same rights as men have, to be equal with them, and that is why she invents for herself a new role. She seems to have believed that men and women alike have great difficulty integrating their desires to live as discrete individuals. She opposes strongly to any tension on her personality trying to keep and preserve her values and ideals.

Elizabeth is stuck to values preached by the society she lives in. Any woman should be brave enough to make a change for the sake of her husband. But the heroine of the story is not courageous to make this step. Her death at the end of the story is a dramatic act, which emphasizes how impossible it was for her to fight. Victor describes the last minutes with Elizabeth as follows: Elizabeth observed my agitation for some time in timid and fearful silence, but there was something in my glance which communicated terror to her, and trembling, she asked, What is it that agitates you, my dear Victor? What is it you fear? Oh! Peace, p eace, my love, replied I; this night, and all will be safe; but this night is dreadful, very dreadful. (Shelley, Chapter, 23). This situation shows that Elizabeth did nothing to know what has happened and try to prevent it. A simple explanation that everything is OK is a perfect reason for Elizabeth to wait and see remaining calm and peaceful.

It is possible to predict that if Anne is faced with the same situation, she would never waiting for something to happen. She would take all her pains to change the situation and help her to fight. For instance, one day she surprised Marilla saying I'll try to be a model pupil. There won't be much fun in it, I expect (Montgomery, Chapter, 1). Anne is demanded freedom and innovation. She modifies realistic world about friendship and good relationships that form the bulk of her life. Matthew characterized Anne saying that: Well now, I'd rather have you than a dozen boys, Anne, said Matthew patting her hand. Just mind you thatrathe r than a dozen boys. Well now, I guess it wasn't a boy that took the Avery scholarship, was it? It was a girlmy girlmy girl that I'm proud of (Montgomery, Chapter, 1).

But in thinking of nature's trap for women, Elizabeth never moves from her own questioning to the larger social statement that is feminism. Her ineffectually is partly a product of her time; Elizabeth has lost some of the sense of connectedness to other women that might help her plan her future. The novel suggests, in fact, something of the historical loss for women of transferring the sense of self to relationships with men. Despite her efforts to escape social rituals, Elizabeth seems fated to reenact them. Ironically, considering her determination to discard the trappings of her role as a society matron her wedding ring, her 'reception day', her 'charming home' - the high point of Elizabeths weakness is a wedding night.

The differences between female characters is that Anne is optimistic believi ng that one day she will be able to change her life. Elizabeth does not dream about changes but for marriage and motherhood. Elizabeth is a real lady who relies on her father (guardian) and her husband. She prefers to escape from life troubles rather than solve them. Elizabeth is submitted by men following their ideals and values. Womens life, their destiny defined and depended upon the men, and, particularly, upon the their marriage. Although men had an influence on womens behavior and exaggerated them in many life situations.

It is possible to conclude that both authors represent vivid and impressive characters portraying different women through their social background and values. Most of Anne friends want to be lady like, but to preserve her inner strength and charm she opposes strongly proving that a woman should be strong to survive. In contrast, Elizabeth is a lady, but lack of personal strength and ability to survive lead to her death.

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Author:: Roger Green
Keywords:: ann of green gables,L.N. Montgomery,Mary Shelley,Frankenstein
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Jon Jost Independent Filmmaker Conclusion and Filmography

Jon Jost, independent film-maker. The early films

11. Conclusion and filmography

'Slow Moves' is an anti-love story love story, 'Stagefright' is an anti-theatre theatrical piece, 'Chameleon' is an anti-art art-movie, 'Angel City' is an anti-detective story detective story, and 'Speaking Directly' is an anti-feature-film feature-film. It may appear that Jost, and he has been accused of this, is an anti-film film-maker. Jean Luc Godard has come to Jost's defence on this point, saying: He is not against the movies, he makes them move, the point being that it is only the conventions Jost is attacking, not cinema itself, his aim being not to destroy, but to re-invent.

Looking at Jost's first twenty years of work then, we can see a development of themes and methods which is remarka ble for its consistency, and for its progress from short 'single idea' films to complex multi-layered narratives. He is always exploring the medium and extending its potential for communication.

His films, though always rewarding, are not always pleasant to watch, and, as he has said himself, if they were so they would have failed in their purpose. Jost is concerned that we live in a society riddled with conflict, alienation, loss of meaning, and the debasement of values, and he sees that our reluctance to face these problems is half the reason for their existence. His films are disturbing because they are an attempt to face these things which we, to our detriment, prefer not to think about.

Perhaps what most distinguishes Jost's work from that of commercial directors is his uncompromising respect for both the medium and the audience; he never abuses either, and his comment, (from 'Susannah's Film'), defines the point at which the viewing, and the criticism of his films must start and finish: 'Film is like a mirror. If an ape looks in an apostle cannot look out'.

* All quotes, from the films and the interview, are approximations taken from notes made immediately after seeing the films.

Jon Jost, early filmography (up to 1983)

Shorts

Portrait 1963
City 1964
Leah 1967
Traps 1967
13 Fragments and 3 Narratives From Life 1968
Primaries 1968-70
A Turning Point in Lunatic China II 1968-70
l, 2, 3, Four 1968-70
Susannah's Film 1969
Canyon 1970
Flower 1970
Fall Creek 1970
A Man is More Than the Sum of His Parts/A Woman is . . . 1971
Beauty Sells Best 1976
X2: 2 Dances by Nancy Karp 1980
Godard 1980

Features

Speaking Directly 1973-75
Angel City 1976
Last Chants For a Slow Dance 1977
Chameleon 1978
Stagefright 1980
Slow Moves 1983

Interview

Jon Jost GB 1982. Directed by Keith Griffiths and Jon Jost. Made for Channel 4's 'Late Hour'.

Read the full version of this essay at: http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/jon-jost.html

Ian Mackean runs the sites http://www.literature-study-online.com, which features a substantial collection of English Literature Resources and Essays, (and where his site on Short Story Writing can also be found), and http://www.Booksmadeintomovies.com. He is the editor of The Essentials of Literature in English post-1914, published by Hodder Arnold in 2005. When not writing about literature or short story writing he is a keen amateur photographer, and has made a site of his photography at http://www.photo-zen.com

Author:: Ian Mackean
Keywords:: slow moves,stage fright,Stagefright,Chameleon,jon jost,jon jost Chameleon,jon jost slow moves
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Acting Qualifications and Training

The representation of a character on stage, in a motion picture, or in a television show is known as Acting. Acting is also a formulation of a play.

It is definitely a world wide cultural phenomenon. For years, times and places have been designated to perform these make-believe characters in front of audiences. Transforming themselves into humans, animals, etc. to entertain audiences all over the world.

The impulse to act is related to our natural development and imagination as children. Most play activities included: mimicry, disguise, imitation, fantasy and transformation.

So how do we know what is good Acting and what is not? The ability to communicate dialog and to have a sense of the character in front of an audience is how an actor's talents are judged. Voice, movement and emotions are normally how this is accomplished. There are other qualities of the actor that are not so easy to describe: depth of feeling, charm, originality, plausibility and physical characteristics that attract audiences.

Acting is a very complex art. Mastering voice projection, speaking style, pronunciation, gestures, movement on stage and many other abilities is only part of the craft. Basic skills such as remembering lines and cues; also costumes, masks and stage properties; and the portrayal of a character by using class status, gender, age, nationality and temperament. It usually takes several years to learn these skills. For example: many years of studying the style of gestures, movements and facial expressions to master Indian dance-drama.

In the theater, an actor must speak and move with every environment on the stage, otherwise the whole dramatic production will fail. The actor must be believe he or she is the character they are portraying, which demands much concentration and inspiration. Great Acting consists of being able to awaken the center of the brains creativity and great expression. An actor must be stimulated to great heights so that audiences are moved and intrigued by every moment of the play.

An actor's special creative prob lem is controlled emotions. Other types of artists such as, sculptors, painters, composers, or even novelists never are expected to complete a new piece of work night after night; yet the stage actor must be creative night after night in front of an audience. In other terms, an actor must portray a character night after night even though he may not feel any special inspiration or artistic impulse towards the character he is portraying. An actor must constantly inspire and replenish him or herself night after night, because theater performances are usually repeated for a series of nights and months.

Aristotle, through his Poetics (about 33 BC) became one of the first to discuss theater Acting in the West. In the Greek theater, actors wore masks and very heavy garments that portrayed mythical and hi storical characters. Temperament and feelings were portrayed through speech and gestures that were very clear to the audiences. Speech training and vocal exercises were part of training that an actor would go through. Aristotle's written thoughts included, the human voice could portray passion and delight and distress and anger could be felt by feeling emotions at the time the actor expressed them. Finding true feelings at the right place and time on stage was one of the problems that Aristotle did not address well. In conclusion, Aristotle stated that Acting was for the gifted or insane.

Greek actors were obsessed with crossing the boundaries of artistic abilities, emotions and imitations. Poles a Greek actor, (315 BC) actually carried the ashes of his deceased son in an urn so that it would st imulate grief while playing the character Electra who was mourning the death of her brother Orestes. (Many male Actor's during that time and hundred's of years later played parts of women.) By doing this, the audience was moved very deeply. However, his experiment was not easily duplicated and remains a curiosity in history.

By the third century BC, the Greek theater declined. In fact, Acting had almost disappeared for a thousand years in the West. During the Roman Empire (1st century BC to 5th Century AD), theater existed and flourished and also during the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century) in courts and cities. Actor's back then were thought to be unreliable and social outcasts and were very rarely credited with the status of a true artist. It wasn't until the 17th or 18th centuries did respect for the theater and Acting change.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Acting

Author:: Michael Russell
Keywords:: Acting
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Surfing For Movies: Renting Movies Online

Did you know Renting Movies online has become more popular in recent years? The average cost of seeing a movie in a theater has nearly doubled; therefore, many people have chosen to take the alternative approachRenting Movies instead.

Renting Movies from the video store is still common; however, it doesnt offer the same convenience as Renting Movies online. First, you must drive all the way to the store. And once you get there, youre faced with the possibility of not finding exactly what youre looking for. Then, after searching for what seems like hours (and sometimes is), you may find yourself waiting in long check-out lines.

If that werent enough, try forgetting your account number or ID. Now you may experience a lengthy interrogation process, or worse, if you havent rented anything in a while, you may be expected to take some extra time to re-apply for new membership.

On top of all this, theres the late fees should you either forget to bring the Movies back or the car breaks down, leaving you without transportation and unable to return the Movies. Either way, just one or two days can quickly add up.

On the other hand, with online rental companies, theres no driving. They also offer a wider selection of Movies to choose from, quickly and easily. After signing up for their service, you simply log on and browse through the selections, which are usually listed in both genres and sub-genres. Choose your movie and thats it.

And as a bonus, with every selection, theres the option of checking current reviews. No more long searches, no more long lines, no more unexpected hassles, and best of all, no more late fees. In fact, most of the leading online movie rental companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster online, have no due date or late fee worries.

You should, however, do your homework, researching these online companies thoroughly. Look out for and be aware of the fine print. There may be some of the smaller online rental companies out there charging up to $1.50 per movie for additional viewing.

Along with the convenience of Renting a movie from the comfort of your home is the cost. With various payment options that suit nearly any budget or individual viewing habits, you are pretty much guaranteed to find something meeting your needs. You can rent a single movie at a time or get a monthly plan, which can include up to 3 or 4 Movies out at a time. Many of the online rental companies also offer free trial periods with monthly membership fees as low as $15. Even better, with competition booming, lower prices are inevitable. Considering the fact that you may already be spending $20 or more per month on Movies or the fact that postage is paid both ways, online movie rentals can be quite a bargain.

For even more convenience, theres also the option of creating a wish list, or queue, to keep the Movies coming. Once a movie is returned, another from the list is sent out as they become available. Email confirmation is sent both ways as well. Of course, as with any business or service, there may be d ownsides. Unless youre a new member, some of the new releases may be harder to come by. Most of the availability is dependent on the returns from other members. Also, unlike video stores, you dont get to view Movies right away. Most online movie rentals are delivered within 1-3 business days, and depending on availability, viewing the top Movies on your wish list may not happen as soon as you would like. DVDs can also get easily scratched or damaged from continual handling through the mail.

All in all, however, the good far outweighs the bad. Renting a movie online offers something neither a theater nor video store canconvenience at a reasonable price, no long lines and no late fees.

This article was written by Nikki Phipps and sponsored by Compare Best DVD Rentals Website where you can compar e the features of many different DVD rental companies. Reproductions of this article are encouraged but must include a live link back to http://www.compare-best-dvd.com/

Author:: Nikki Phipps
Keywords:: online movie rental, Movies, Renting
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Are Hollywood Portrayals Authentic?

Because of the negatives that are associated with the Vietnam war, anything associated with it, specifically, movies, seemed to be portrayed in a bad light. The producers are in a difficult position. While wanting to produce a historical movie that is accurate and provides the viewer with an experience of the event, they also need to produce something that the public WILL watch. The only way to ensure public approval is to deviate from the truth and produce something else.

A lot of the Hollywood movies concerning Vietnam do not portray the Vietnam War in sense of the truth, so how does the viewer know they are receiving the facts? With a number directors and producers coming from many angles, each director has a different angle and opinion of what happened. Many of the directors have tried to go for ratings and revenue by exaggerating the more dramatic points of Vietnam for the film while others have tried to stick to the truth. By exaggerating the film it becomes di storted and evasive and has provided biased information to the viewer.

Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July both directed by Oliver Stone were based on the actual experiences of Oliver Stone and fellow veteran, Ron Kovic. Platoon is often said to be the most realistic of all the Vietnam War films, because of its ability to represent the terror and the numbing confusion of daily battle.

The problem with Platoon, although it was painfully and visually truthful when depicting the violence in Vietnam, was that it gave a lot of the soldiers in Vietnam a stereotype of being completely psychotic. Vietnam veteran Michael Herrera says that the first time he saw Platoon in a theatre, there were a number of Vietnamese people in the audience. After the village scenes, if anybody had asked if he was a vet, he would have said no. The film focused too much on the negative, completely ignoring the positive civic action - sponsoring orphans, rebuilding communities - that many t ook an active role in. A friend who served in the infantry shook his head and said that Oliver Stone must have known an awful lot of psychotics.

Born on the Fourth of July spends less time in combat and more time depicting the life of the veteran after his return home. Because Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July was one mans story of his experience in Vietnam, it could be a little generalized. He will only remember certain things he chooses to remember, so the viewer will yet again get a biased view of the war in Vietnam. Oliver Stone and Ron Kovic were both eventually anti Vietnam so this again would of distorted the outcome of both Platoon and Born on the fourth of July. They are both Anti Vietnam war veterans. Both of them were gung-ho patriots who were eager to answer their country's call to arms. When they came back home, they were still patriots, hurt and offended by the hostility they experienced from the anti-war movement. Eventually, both men turned against the war, Kovic most dramatically.

Full Metal Jacket is formed round the experiences of young men in 'boot camp', and when they're sent off to war in Vietnam. Kubrick in Full Metal Jacket chooses to portray genuine events from the war. He focuses his action on the Tet Offensive 1968, directed by the enemy divisions in the South towards the United States. They wished to weaken American confidence in the Saigon government, strengthening American anti-war protest and ultimately bring America to some agreement. In order to asset Viet Cong influence and undermine Saigon authority, the North Vietnamese captured the city of Hue. Kubrick concentrates on the battle, which resulted from the marines dispatched to Hue. He manages to capture the vast destruction caused by the intense violent fighting in the houses and the streets. The tet offensive was an important event in the war because the offensive marked a military victory for the Viet Cong. For many Americans who had believe d that the war was being won, the sight of Viet Cong troops holding the US embassy is a rude awakening, and forces them to question the US true position.

The film has an almost documentary-like feel, as if this is real footage of the battles. In the first half of the film, Kubrick focuses on the marine training. Again it feels like one is right there amidst the recruits preparing for war.

How confident can we be when watching these films that we are seeing the truth about Vietnam? This is important because, many people will watch a film as though its the truth instead of reading a historical book on the Vietnam War, thus the directors of Vietnam films had the biggest say in what people depicted in the war. Directors should make more of an effort of sticking to the truth when it comes to making a Vietnam movie instead of evading and distorting the truth. The choice then, is how we the viewers accept these films, and do we accept them as the truth or with skepticis m. There is no simple solution, because each film is different and conveys a different message to the audience that it tries to reach. But if an audience can take in a film, any film with history or cultural changing implications, with some perspective of the past, either through personal experience or learned experience from others, then that audience can view the film with knowledgeable skepticism. And knowledge is the best filter for gaining the truth. Even modern day films such as We Were Soldiers dont show Vietnam in its full, just the parts the Americans won, even though eventually they lost the war in Vietnam. It just leaves you wondering, how Hollywood will depict the present on going war in Iraq.

Mary Anne Winslow is a member of Essay Writing Servicecounselling department team and a dissertation Writing consultant. Contact her to get free counselling on custom essay Writing.

Author:: Mary Anne Winslow
Keywords:: article submission, Articles, Write rs, Writing, Publishing, Ezine, Email marketing, Email newsletter, Email
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Topkapi Always on Sunday

Topkapi, the Movie, is a Heist film which takes place at the Topkapi Palace, now a Museum, in Istanbul, Turkey. It was directed by Jules Dassin and features his wife Melina Mercouri (recently Minister of Culture in Greece) of Never on Sunday fame, which he also directed and acted in.

The Museum contains a remarkable dagger encrusted with huge emeralds and many diamonds. This was the object of the Heist. Peter Ustinov plays a kind of fool who is recruited to help with the Heist. The Movie is funny and suspenseful and features the Museum as a building of unusual form and design.

One of the great attractions in the Museum is The ApA rtment of the Holy Mantle and Sacred Relics which contains the Mantle of Muhammed. If you go to Istanbul, be sure to see Topkapi and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral.

For more information, try this site:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/print-narrative.cfm?destID=350&catID=0350020332

Or type in Topkapi in a search engine.

Here is pArt of a review of the Movie by Daniel Fienberg:

It's amusing how nearly every second of Jules Dassin's Topkapi feels familiar even if you've never seen the Movie. To begin with, Dassin was, to some degree, parodying his own grand theft classic Rififi, which came out in 1955. But since Top kapi's release, it has become something of a blueprint for films in the Heist genre. From Brian DePalma's explicit references in Mission: Impossible to John Woo's gentle allusions in Once a Thief to Frank Oz's debt of gratitude on The Score, any time a master criminal gets a gang together to steal that which can't possibly be stolen, it's hard not to tip your hat to Topkapi. Even Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's 11 seems to owe as much to Dassin as to the Brat Pack original. Surely all of this idolatry has to mean something.

What it means is that *nobody* stages a robbery set-piece like Dassin. So you can rent Topkapi and sit through over an hour of stale planning and clumsy attempts at humor, but when the film has ended, somehow all of the earlier stuff has faded away and all you remember is the masterful robbery.

The opening credits of Topkapi are shot through an emerald, playing tricks with light and perspective. These tricks of the eye become a visual theme in Das sin's film. The first character we meet calls herself Elizabeth (Melina Mercouri) and she takes us on a tour around a Museum in Istanbul, pointing out the treasures of the Turkish Empire, before arriving at a bust of a sultan wearing a dagger in a shoulder holster. The dagger is studded with diamonds, but also contains the four Topkapi emeralds, flawless stones, each priceless. And Elizabeth has a plan to get that dagger.

It stArts with the suave Swiss Walter (Maximilian Schell), an ultra-successful robber who insists on only one thing the job must be done entirely be amateurs, people without police records. The first amateur brought on board is Cedric Page (Robert Morley), a Brit with a love of elaborate toys and an appreciation for complex electrical systems. Page explains that the challenge in getting the dagger comes from the ultra-sensitive alarm keyed to the floor of the Museum. Even a ping pong ball is enough to set off the alarm. They set up a plan for circumv enting the alarm and for no reason that I fully understood, they decide to smuggle their materials from Greece to Turkey in a fancy convertible. And then, even more confounding, they decide to get a heel to drive the car across. That heal is Arthur Simpson (Peter Ustinov), an academic now living in exile in Greece, offering tours of the local nightlife in desperation.

You can read all of it here

http://www.epinions.com/content77023841924

Enjoy the Movie if you can find it.

Jack Wilson is a writer, Artist, Movie fan and Traveler.

http://www.geocities.com/galimatio/jackwilson.html

Author:: Jack Wilson
Ke ywords:: Topkapi,Travel,Turkey,Sophia,Hagia,Palace,Art,Museum,Mantle,Holy,Muhammed,Mohammed,Jewel,Heist,Movie
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