tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post6198205030002438013..comments2024-03-19T03:18:53.505-04:00Comments on Not Just Movies: The Ghost WriterJakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-82007143458880183482022-01-01T19:10:41.739-05:002022-01-01T19:10:41.739-05:00I really appreciate your post, and you explain eac...I really appreciate your post, and you explain each and every point very well. Thanks for sharing such information. <a href="https://robincolucci.com/should-you-hire-a-ghostwriter/" rel="nofollow">Does Drake Have a Ghostwriter</a>Ibn E Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16330256290403884751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-49374113530957430282018-03-22T03:45:19.305-04:002018-03-22T03:45:19.305-04:00This post is favorable for the movie maker .It inc...This post is favorable for the movie maker .It includes the ways of making of movie. It says the movies contents .This is important post and thanks a lot. <a href="https://www.bestghostwriters.net/academic-papers-ghostwriting/" rel="nofollow">useful link</a> that helps me a lot on my academic papers writing.<br />Barbara T. Raminezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10396726986900028933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-84210634038005308952018-03-08T17:39:38.207-05:002018-03-08T17:39:38.207-05:00I only know to write essays on the political topic...I only know to write essays on the political topic, but now time to move on the <a href="http://www.mbadiss.com/how-it-works/" rel="nofollow">http://www.mbadiss.com/how-it-works/</a> and learn how to become the Ghost writer.Charlienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-51839564521155867972018-02-24T02:11:56.135-05:002018-02-24T02:11:56.135-05:00There is certainly the particular specific spot fo...There is certainly the particular specific spot for your cat article writer part inside which you'll want to have the website regarding freelance as well as the some other to your net. With all the <a href="https://www.professionalletterwriting.net/professional-letter-writing-services/professional-resume-and-cover-letter-writing-services/%22" rel="nofollow">website</a> Companies you will generate an improved and also healthful articles the a valuable thing.Christopher Blevinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11613880753267363557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-76783741201195112662018-02-17T07:30:47.204-05:002018-02-17T07:30:47.204-05:00There is the special place for the ghost writer se...There is the special place for the ghost writer section in which you can get the blog of freelance and the other for your web. With the <a href="http://www.bestghostwriting.com/our-services/dissertation-ghostwriting/" rel="nofollow">http://www.bestghostwriting.com/our-services/dissertation-ghostwriting/</a> Services you can generate a better and healthy content which is a good thing.<br />mikonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00020457880484119572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-23816024050248077582018-02-15T13:59:37.192-05:002018-02-15T13:59:37.192-05:00There are the movies and the patterns with which y...There are the movies and the patterns with which you can handle your life in a better way. If you want to improve your writing skills in a better way then come into this section. You can also get that why there is <a href="https://www.professionalletterwriting.net/need-to-write-job-promotion-letter-our-service-can-do-it/" rel="nofollow">https://www.professionalletterwriting.net/need-to-write-job-promotion-letter-our-service-can-do-it/</a> and get the special help for it.hlmnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-58084674878096589372018-02-03T10:29:14.851-05:002018-02-03T10:29:14.851-05:00Jake you talk about ghost writers. I am a new writ...Jake you talk about ghost writers. I am a new writer from Austria. I need best guidelines about writing. So I most time follow your website. I want <a href="http://www.bestghostwriters.net/online-ghostwriting-services-australia" rel="nofollow">read more</a> about australian writing service to success in life.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13016318328819103801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-28923537635803709582018-02-02T10:28:06.727-05:002018-02-02T10:28:06.727-05:00Wow, great post.Wow, great post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13016318328819103801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-65223752671636483452010-12-19T10:28:34.911-05:002010-12-19T10:28:34.911-05:00In every respect, this is an example of the art of...In every respect, this is an example of the art of the thriller. Directors like Polanski are a dying breed. We need more of them.CMrok93http://www.dtmmr.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-85806857333621612192010-08-17T12:38:33.539-04:002010-08-17T12:38:33.539-04:00nicenicejonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-45842349894768407722010-05-30T03:08:33.322-04:002010-05-30T03:08:33.322-04:00From the way I see it he was killed by CIA. Some ...From the way I see it he was killed by CIA. Some argue that it was an accident. How do most of you feel? CIA or accident?matsumotonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-47300641217848248932010-05-27T19:05:59.487-04:002010-05-27T19:05:59.487-04:00I think it's an orchestration, proving the Gho...I think it's an orchestration, proving the Ghost was right to be paranoid only after he lowered his guard and allowed himself to gloat.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-8452534248303154342010-05-27T14:28:35.417-04:002010-05-27T14:28:35.417-04:00The ending is a twist and there are 2 possibilitie...The ending is a twist and there are 2 possibilities. One is that the ghost writer was done in by the CIA and the other is that it was just an accident. What are your views?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-45045660693376782222010-03-31T11:39:47.224-04:002010-03-31T11:39:47.224-04:00Nice possible interpretations. The sweeper's ...Nice possible interpretations. The sweeper's indeterminacy is one reason why I like <i>The Ghost Writer</i>. Polanski doesn't mind including evocative details that do not lend themselves to easy interpretation. <br /><br />I also wonder if Polanski meant to evoke the scene where Joseph Cotton eludes two pursuers in <i>Shadow of a Doubt</i> when the ghost gets away from the two men on the ferry.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-9937568572483985282010-03-28T22:30:02.154-04:002010-03-28T22:30:02.154-04:00I'm not entirely sure what the guy sweeping me...I'm not entirely sure what the guy sweeping means, other than my allusion to the purgatorial feeling of the island. He could symbolize either the Ghost or Lang. The film is, after all, about the way we politicize everything, so perhaps the man is Lang, constantly sweeping out the truth which he can no longer keep at bay. If he stands in for the Ghost, we can infer that it's because the Ghost spends his time, at least until he tries to uncover the truth, helping Lang in his task. He drafts the press release and attempts to soften Lang into an approachable human being for the PM's memoirs (it's funny that he says how much he hates politics and political memoirs when he's doing just what he finds boring: deflecting attention away from issues and decisions onto unimportant personal matters that usually don't inform anything of the politician save in the broadest sense. He scoops all of this padding into the book, only for it to blow out when he uncovers a truth that contradicts Lang's "memories."<br /><br />To be honest, I'm not wracking my brain over it. I think he's there for a reason, but I kind of like him as he is, floating out in the background.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-4830001066727260692010-03-28T18:01:53.185-04:002010-03-28T18:01:53.185-04:00Excellent review. I don't think there is any ...Excellent review. I don't think there is any comparison between <i>The Ghost Writer</i> and <i>Shutter Island</i>. What do you make of the "man outside sweeping the deck that never comes clean"? I like your point about the humor of the long tracking shot late in the film. I kept giggling at the plot twists until my companion said "What are you laughing at?" I was humored by the way <i>The Ghost Writer</i> kept toying with my expectations of where the story will go.<br /><br />Otherwise, I can't wait until this film gets released on DVD so I can study its nuances more closely.The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-56137659101050160422010-03-20T20:37:24.871-04:002010-03-20T20:37:24.871-04:00I managed to hold off reading any reviews of this ...I managed to hold off reading any reviews of this until I finally saw it today, and yours conveys why I like the movie so much. Indeed, I would argue <i>The Ghost Writer</i> is more successful than <i>Shutter Island</i> because Polanski has always been much more comfortable dabbling in genre than Scorsese. It's Hitchcockian in the best sense of the terms, yet all of Polanski's obsessions (and sense of humor) are there onscreen. The best of both worlds. <br /><br />For me the only flaw was the ridiculous dubbing you mentioned (only one F-word allowed), an annoying distraction. Finally, a sidebar: the word "glockenspiel" makes me laugh because it reminds me of a classic line uttered by Jane Leeves in an early <i>Frasier</i> episode: "Dr. Crane, your glockenspiel has sprung to life!"Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-85169868559944556312010-03-20T19:27:58.850-04:002010-03-20T19:27:58.850-04:00Thank you so much, Sam. I'm just sorry I didn&...Thank you so much, Sam. I'm just sorry I didn't comment on your excellent site sooner, given how long I've been reading it (I could have sworn I'd left something on your superb A.I. review but I checked and saw I didn't).<br /><br />I want to see The Ghost Writer a second time as well. Top to bottom it is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking that excels in every facet (I regret that I failed to note how exquisite both Brosnan and McGregor are in addition to Williams -- who I more or less love at this point, though at some point I crush on every lady to be in a Joss Whedon show -- and Wilkinson). I thought last year was a triumph for auteurism, with directors like Campion, Tarantino, Soderbergh, Assayas (though I suppose that's really '08), Herzog and a number of other filmmakers making films that excelled because they were so thoroughly the product of their directors, but we've already been treated to two masters flexing their unwavering late-age skill back-to-back. Funny how both were Hitchcock homages.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-59514640335019274762010-03-20T13:17:26.532-04:002010-03-20T13:17:26.532-04:00Wow, you have written a tremendous marathon review...Wow, you have written a tremendous marathon review Jake, that has me completely in awe on this challenging, albeit exceptional film, by one whose talent has not diminished one iota with advanced age. I must say I was enraptured reading your assessment of the film's visual canvas:<br /><br />"Visually, The Ghost Writer is beyond reproach. Polanski clearly boned up on his sociopolitical thrillers before shooting this, particularly the use of darkness in such classics as The Parallax View and The Insider. The Ghost Writer is certainly not as pitch-black aesthetically as, say, All the President’s Men, but no one shot is entirely lit. The skies are always a moody gray, and the artificial light appears in isolated pockets: lamps, streetlights and beacons illuminate small areas within the frame, but the space between them remains dark, creating an effect no less unsettling than pure blackness. Polanski compounds the lighting with his impeccable sense of placement, seen most easily in a shot of the Ghost sitting at his desk in the Cheneyesque bunker where he, Lang and the others stay. McGregor sits in the middle of the frame; to his left is a darkly painted wall, to the right a vast window overlooking the beach, the same beach where Ghost’s predecessor washed ashore. It can be difficult with those wall-sized windows whether characters are standing inside the house or out in a number of shots; combined with the recurring image of the man outside sweeping a deck that never stays clean, this island retreat becomes something of a purgatorial trap, but one of many visual and structural plays on the more familiar definition of “ghost.” "<br /><br />And I loved this:<br /><br /> "That terse exchange highlights the heavy price the political wives pay: behind every great man may indeed be a great woman, but the fact remains that those women must linger behind and give up their own aspirations for the sake of their husbands. Just look at how much flak Hillary Clinton has received for daring to pursue her own political dreams, or how any discussion of Michelle Obama now primarily concerns her arms."<br /><br />LOL.<br /><br />And your apt discussion of the excellent "glockenspiel-laden' score by the great contemporary composer Alexandre Desplat is yet another stellar component in the film, as is your treatment here of the 'wry' dialogue, and the fact that the ample 'MacGuffins' here are accompanied by some most obvious political issues, which includes a very obvious reference to the Blair administration. Your review has me wanting to see this a second time.<br /><br />Thanks so much Jake for your comments at WitD, which I will respond to shortly, and I will be adding you to the site's sidebar blogroll today!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-11533259840999907392010-03-20T08:40:19.051-04:002010-03-20T08:40:19.051-04:00Oh, that long-ass tracking shot at the end was ter...Oh, that long-ass tracking shot at the end was terrific. It started out suspenseful and Hitch-y, dragged on so long that you couldn't help but laugh, then it kept going until you started to dread again. It was this brilliant reverse on the "Sideshow Bob and the rake" gag from <i>The Simpsons</i>, which took a joke far past the point of funniness until it looped back around into comedy.Jakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078001374402400232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-494160638739613756.post-74033600338053552122010-03-20T01:51:24.520-04:002010-03-20T01:51:24.520-04:00You've summed up so many great things about th...You've summed up so many great things about this terrific film- and some of those things, like the way Polanski shoots the ship's prow in the introductory sequence, are things that I need to look more closely for when I go out to see the film again. It's the mark of a victorious thriller when the filmmaker can engage you and then confuse you, but while leaving you with a desire to help correct those confusions. There are so many thrillers out there that have confused me to the point of leaving me cold, so that I didn't much care about the elements I failed to pick up (I'm no fan of <i>The Usual Suspects</i>, for example). <i>The Ghost Writer</i> is, thankfully, not one of those films.<br /><br />The "twist" at the end when we find out that Lang's wife was in on the scheme to eliminate the Ghost is indeed pretty contrived, but in some ways I was kind of expecting something like that to come along in the film eventually. It's the sort of shocking "reveal" that comes with the genre. And even though I love the heck of that scene where Polanski's camera tracks the note that's being passed through the crowd, the irony is that the scene itself is superfluous. I suppose Polanski put it there to prove that he's still "got it", for a filmmaker in his late 70's.<br /><br />Totally agree that the conclusion of the film is akin to <i>Chinatown</i>. It's becoming a theme of Polanski's career that politics usually ends up trumping logical reasoning. I don't mean to get political myself, but in some ways you could say that about Polanski's own trial.Adam Zanziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14524618281515322239noreply@blogger.com