Movie Games

Cause & Effect

An interesting thing happens when you study the arc of Westerns: one narrative template begins to inform the next.  An example:  The cattle drivers tame the land and pave the trails at the end of Red River.  However ten years later those same cattle drivers are the jerks kicking the Homesteaders off of "their land" in Shane. 

A supposed "happy ending" results in a very real problem.  Name a happy ending from one movie (the cause) and how it informs the problem of a second film (the effect).  Like this:

Sure the rebels win at the end of Return of the Jedi.  But then what?  The land is now lawless.  Tribes will begin to splinter and argue over the new law.  Power must be consolidated to ovoid further conflict.  In the wake of war will the war hero remain noble or give in to the dark side and take advantage of the war torn lands... which is the plot to MacBeth (although I prefer Throne of Blood).

Be as creative as you can!  Show us how that happy ending actually has unforeseen consequences.  Cause & Effect!

Re:Cause & Effect

The Israelites return to their land, led by C. Heston (The Ten Commandments, 1956), but then the Romans show up three years later to hassle Heston himself (Ben Hur, 1959).

Re:Cause & Effect

Nice!!!

"Let my people go!... horse racing."

Re:Cause & Effect

The Russian Navy refuses to fire on the Battleship Potemkin. Lenin uses the Battleship Potemkin story to fuel the October revolution of 1917 which puts power in the hands of the Bolsheviks. They form the Soviet Union, which Stalin takes control over. After WWII, the USSR takes over East Germany. The communist state of East Germany (later declared sovereign by USSR) creates the Stasi (secret police of East Germany) dissenters of the State and the Socialist Unity Party were questioned, jailed and/or beaten until the accusers heard what the wanted to hear such as in the film, The Lives Of Others.

Allright so, you could have probably fit about 2 or 3 movies in between those two but I would say this was a pretty good example of cause and effect.

Re:Cause & Effect

It's a great example!  Here are some movies that could fit inbetween: 

The Revolution begins and is reported back to the states in Reds.  Hitler, after signing an agreement to the contrary, starts to attack the U.S.S.R.  The war does not go well at first:  Enemy an the Gates, but the tide starts to turn: Ich War 19.  Which leads to the occupation and eventually the GDR.  I could go further but I think thats enough to lead up to The Lives of Others.

Re:Cause & Effect

leeroy711:

The Russian Navy refuses to fire on the Battleship Potemkin. Lenin uses the Battleship Potemkin story to fuel the October revolution of 1917 which puts power in the hands of the Bolsheviks. They form the Soviet Union, which Stalin takes control over. After WWII, the USSR takes over East Germany. The communist state of East Germany (later declared sovereign by USSR) creates the Stasi (secret police of East Germany) dissenters of the State and the Socialist Unity Party were questioned, jailed and/or beaten until the accusers heard what the wanted to hear such as in the film, The Lives Of Others.

 

Allright so, you could have probably fit about 2 or 3 movies in between those two but I would say this was a pretty good example of cause and effect.

I would prefer to see the upside of cause and effect in this situation: The Lives of Others shows the enormous overhead that the East German government has to deal with in order keep its citizens under constant control bankrupts the country and forces the government to fall and gives its people true, capitalist freedoms, although some perfer to dream of a perfect socialist society in Good Bye, Lenin!.

Re:Cause & Effect

unclefestering:

leeroy711:

The Russian Navy refuses to fire on the Battleship Potemkin. Lenin uses the Battleship Potemkin story to fuel the October revolution of 1917 which puts power in the hands of the Bolsheviks. They form the Soviet Union, which Stalin takes control over. After WWII, the USSR takes over East Germany. The communist state of East Germany (later declared sovereign by USSR) creates the Stasi (secret police of East Germany) dissenters of the State and the Socialist Unity Party were questioned, jailed and/or beaten until the accusers heard what the wanted to hear such as in the film, The Lives Of Others.

 

Allright so, you could have probably fit about 2 or 3 movies in between those two but I would say this was a pretty good example of cause and effect.

I would prefer to see the upside of cause and effect in this situation: The Lives of Others shows the enormous overhead that the East German government has to deal with in order keep its citizens under constant control bankrupts the country and forces the government to fall and gives its people true, capitalist freedoms, although some perfer to dream of a perfect socialist society in Good Bye, Lenin!.

I thought of including that one too. I loved Good Bye Lenin!. We could just make an entire cause & effect time line starting with Battleship Potemkin and  Strike and ending with Good Bye, Lenin!. That way I could fit all sorts of my favorite movies like The Tunnel in there.

Re:Cause & Effect

One last stab at the Communism Vs. Captialism cause and effect:

The American Navy gains control of technology that would have made Soviet submarines practically undetectable (The Hunt for Red October) and the Soviets throw away an entire line of research, leading them to lose the edge in military technology and their grip on the government. America wins the Cold War.

After the Soviet Union falls, breakaway factions within Russia seize control of nuclear weapons and may threaten the United States. An American nuclear submarine loses communication with its command, leaving it with the final command of launching missles at Russia, which could lead to a counterstrike. (Crimson Tide)

On a different genre altogether, a band of outlaws teaches Mexican villagers to rise up against and fight off the bandits that have been slowly destroying them for years in The Magnificent Seven. The newly empowered villagers follow one of their own, to fight off the banditis and corrupts officials and take control of the government, only to be undone by a combination of corrupt people in the movement and the money of the bandits (Viva Zapata).