Akira Kurosawa’s film Seven Samurai (1954)
and
John Lassester and Andrew Stanton’s film A Bugs Life (1998)
 |
Roger Ebert once said that, “Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954) is not only a great
film in its own right, but the source of a genre that would flow through the
rest of the century. It is in this genre and borrowed storyline of Seven Samurai that John Lassester and
Andrew Stanton’s film A Bugs Life
(1998) came about. A story of people or
bugs coming together to help others in need.
At first I struggled to envision how to compare these two
movies. One movie about Japanese Samurai
based in the 1600s appears to have nothing in common to an American computer
animated movie about bugs with no apparent timeline or location. But the two have a common message of desire
for harmony and prosperity. Two achieve
these two goals, both films use parallel story lines, that touch on cultural identity
(Japanese / Ant Colony), structure of class (Samurai vs Farmers / “Bigger Bugs”
vs Colony Ants), and overall Nationhood (Japan / Ant Island).
It is how these two are alike that I will base my
comparative research paper on. I will
define how the two movies engage the concept of transnationalism and cultural
identity. For it is in these two concepts
that I will base my thesis on, that film viewers will always root for the
underdog and find satisfaction in harmony and prosperity.
I will start off by watching both films (again) to further
gain new perspective and further craft a film analysis.
Afterwards, I will gatherer secondary resources (seven ideally) on the
two films as well as information on transnationalism and cultural identity to
prepare my bibliography. From there, I
will plan my thesis and complete a full detailed outline to map my rough
draft. After completing my first draft,
I will have it revised, and type up the final draft.
Timeline:
Annotated Bibliography (21 March)
Thesis and Outline (30 March)
Rough Draft (18 April)
Final Draft (2 May)
Your link between a common theme of "harmony and prosperity" and a critical concept of transnational is thin at the moment. How will "A Bug's Life" prove to be a result of transnational forces?
ReplyDeleteI encourage you to make concrete plans and set aside extra time to complete each stage of this assignment; it is in addition to your usual coursework.
I also encourage you to visit the KSU Writing Center for proofreading and general assistance with organization and concision.
http://writingcenter.kennesaw.edu/