Lauren Potts: Alyways-1989 Spielberg Post 6

Always

Director: Steven Spielberg

1989

It was okay

            Always tells the story of Pete Sandich an aerial firefighter and his girlfriend fellow pilot Dorinda as they try to maintain their relationship with Pete’s dangerous job.   On his most recent mission Pete ran out of fuel and barely held on to his life while landing.  Pete’s best friend Al tries to convince to take a job as an aerial firefighter instructor, Pete angrily refuses.  It isn’t till Dorinda pleads with him to take the job.  Before he goes he decides to take one last mission with Al, while on the mission Al’s wing catches fire, Pete puts out his fire and notices that his engine is on fire and is blown up.  Pete becomes an angel but before he goes to heaven he need to pass “inspiration” to a fellow firefighter. 

            Overall I thought the movie was okay.  It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t good, I felt like something was lacking.  In comparison to the other movies I’ve been watching one of the main characters dies.  But this film the deceased character is seen heavily throughout the feature.  There were a lot of three shots and two shots used in this feature.  The three shots were mostly of Pete, Dorinda, and Ted putting the emphasis on Pete as a ghost, the other actors never looked him the eye.  One two shot of Pete and Dorinda when they are in the plane it was very tight framing trying to get both actors while showing the plane was really clever.

            Because Pete is an aerial firefighter there were a lot of pan and tilt shots used to show the forest/forest fire.  The plane is used as a p.o.v during one of the forest fires.  The plane dives down into the fire giving a sense of intensity to the scene. I noticed there were not a lot of close ups or extreme close ups.  Medium and long shots were the base of the film.  The purpose of this was to catch the vastness of the forest and the distance between Pete and Dorinda have one he dies.  While watching this movie made me think of Smokey the Bear.  His PSA’s on forest fires, I can see the impact forest fire has to the forest and the men, women and families that affect them.   This was one of Spielberg low key film; it serves the purpose as a quiet romantic drama.