The Color of Paradise (1999) Essay Example

Introduction

For all the apparent melodrama, the film "The Color of Paradise" is neither a manipulative nor obvious film. Being a simple film, it is composed of beauty and delicacy and beauty. The soundtrack of the movie as well as the natural sounds of birdsongs, woodpeckers, mature and insects, footfalls, and nature encompass the film (Majid, 1999). A blind person can get a great idea about the locations and current happenings just like Mohammad by the way the language is put in the movie.

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Mohammed is seen to roam happily up and about with his siblings in the gorgeous hills of their village. Through touching and feeling, he can know the nature that surrounds him. He counts the sounds made by the animals and imitates them. He displays a unique attitude towards nature, understanding its textures and rhythm as a language. Mohammed is later on taken to school with his sibling sisters, reading the lessons in Braille from his textbook (Naficy, 2012). The act amazes the teacher and the children.

Reading and Writing

Images must be well transferred into words, i.e., vivid, objective, imaginatively drawn terms, specific, metaphors and phrases. There are many different words which can be used in describing someone who is moving along a sidewalk. One can use 'walk' and in some instances more vividly describe an action with 'stroll,' 'sashay,' 'stumble,' 'skip' or 'saunter' (Majid, 2000). 'The Color of Paradise' has described and strived for succinctness and simplicity on many occasions. While the use of a language that helps people to see vividly, see beyond the readily apparent, it is essential to maintain objectivity. Describers of the film have summed it up with the acronym 'WYSIWYS' which translates to 'What You See Is What You Say,' with the 'verbal camera lens,' being able to recount the visual aspects of an audiovisual programme or an exhibition objectively.

Braille is not considered to be amongst the world languages such as English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and dozen other languages, but is rather taken to be a code through which various languages are read and written. Braille has been in use by a lot of people globally in their various native languages, and has provided a literacy means for them all. The language used in the film depicts the creation of intense drama excluding manipulative melodrama; it has been filmed gorgeously, with powerful lessons about the significance of family bonds as well as a heartfelt score. The film is not your typical drama film (Naficy, 2012).

The film does not exclude using some cliches in the characters. In the "The Sound of Music" hills scenes, the main character has contemplated nature to be obvious reminder in-your-face regarding the extraordinary significance of sight, appreciating the scenes and the things we have in life. The film handles genuine sincerity with sentimentalism instead of the usual emotional manipulation. We explore the themes of regret, morality, and their repercussions in the form of divine retribution (Naficy, 2012). The film's religious tone is certainly heavy when depicted since it is only sparsely shown, shown with a kind of heart when done so or holy justice which fits with the content of the film.

Qualitative judgments while watching or reading get in the way of a good film because they constitute a subjective interpretation on the side of the describer, therefore being unwanted and unnecessary. Listeners should be given an opportunity to conjure their arguments based on the specific commentary which targets maximum objectivity as possible. The idea is letting the blind audience come up with their judgments. Their eyes may not work so well, but their interpretative skills and brains are intact.

The audience is taken through cinematic transport into the mind of our little blind protagonist Mohammed, becoming breathtaking in imagery with the camera often following Mohammed's hands as they caress the wondrous nature which surrounds him. There is also the use of religious undertones which especially plague the father; the final act of the film excluding the religious metaphors means canceling out the tragedies as merely overdone devastation for being so. Majidi as well adds a layer of depth to the movie with religious symbolism. The film remains a great beauty with emotion and soul despite any debate on religion and spiritual morality.

In allowing sighted people compare the exact description to the visual images, it is vital to ask if the descriptions will correctly reflect what is being seen on the screen and if they create vivid pictures in the mind of the viewer who does not have access to the video. After listening to the AD before playing the actual video, it is interesting to ask people any particular characteristics they can glean about Mohammed from the description of the interaction with his surrounding, environment and the trees.

Why the Choices

Having discovered "Color of Paradise," it is a very emotionally invasive film. It has been a struggle trying to find the words to use in organizing my impressions. Where other senses could be more acute than others with the loss of one, maybe the congenitally blind do not realize how transparent they are emotional. The film strikes a nerve for me, being a story-journey into the world we don't often see but live in, and thus the interest in world Braille language of the blind in both reading and writing (Hamid, 2007).

The film leaves me wondering who is blind in this world. I as well chose the topics because of the sound, script, direction, and lighting of the film. For each need the little boy appeared to have, he found ways of giving real treasures to everything around him. The cinematography and the sound are excellent, with the pointed themes of the film being heart-rending.

References

Dabashi, Hamid. (2007). Masters & Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema. Washington, DC: Mage Publishers.

Majid Majidi, Iranian Film Director. (2001-2002). Retrieved from http://www.cinemajidi.com/.

Majidi, Majid. (1999). Range Khoda (The Color of Paradise, or The Color of God) [Motion Picture]. Iran: Varahonar Company. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1355&context=jrf

Naficy, Hamid. (2012). A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume Four. Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Majidi, Majid. (2000). Baran [Motion Picture]. Iran: Majid Majidi, Fouad Nahas.