BACKGROUND

· Who is the writer of the film? Has the screenplay been adapted from another work?

· Who is the director?

· When was the film made?

STRUCTURE / FORM

· What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?

· How are the opening credits presented? Do they relate to meaning?

· Why does the film start this way?

· Are there any motifs, scenes, images, bits of dialogue which are repeated? What purpose do they serve?

· What three or four sequences are most important for the film? Why?

· Is sound used in any vivid ways to enhance the film (i.e. enhance drama, heighten tension, disorient the viewer, etc.)?

· How does the film use color or light / darkness to suggest tone and mood in different scenes?

· Is there any striking use of perspective (seeing through a character’s eyes, camera angles, etc.)? How does this relate to the meaning of the scene?

· How and when are scenes cut? Are there any patterns in the way the cuts function?

· What specific scene constitutes the film’s climax? How does this scene resolve the central issue of the film?

· Does the film leave any disunities (loose ends) at the end? If so, what does it suggest?

· Why does the film end with this particular image?

THEME

· How does this film relate to the issues and questions evoked by the topic of your essay?

· Does the film present a clear point of view on your topic? In what way?

· Are there any aspects of theme, which are left ambiguous at the end? Why?

· How does this film relate to the other literary texts you have read on your topic (or in class this year or on your own)?