Close Reading 10/13

Gravity

It gives outer space back its beauty, terror, and wonder.

By: Dana Stevens

Article from: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2013/10/gravity_with_george_clooney_and_sandra_bullock_reviewed.html

       Gravity starts in early with the rug-pulling twists and keeps them coming straight up to the end" says Dana Stevens, a movie critique who recently reviewed the new Blockbuster hit Gravity. Throughout her article Stevens goes into detail about the key effects of this thriller and what make it unique, however, she doesn't fail to add her opinion of how the movie went wrong. Stevens uses facets of diction, syntax, and imagery to encourage others to go see Gravity.
        Throughout the article Stevens maintains a everyday language with a hint of informal diction. She mostly uses common words however to emphasize some points she uses some more peculiar words. For example, she describes the characters and how they interact with one another in an interesting way, "Clooney and Bullock's exchanges in the early scenes have a disarming screwball charm-- he's unflappable if fatalistic optimistic, she's an uptight loner with a tendency to give up too soon--" her descriptions of the characters do not make them that appealing, however I think since she emphasized that they have special quirks it makes the reader more interested to see for themselves how they interact. Even this short quote displays some of the uncommon words she uses such as "unflappable and fatalistic." I think her use of this kind of wording makes the reader much more interested and even adds excitement to wanting to watch the film. Stevens does a very good job of persuading, her diction gives a sense desire and urgency to the reader to see the movie.
           Syntax is another element of rhetoric Stevens uses to support her opinion of the film. Stevens often uses longer sentences throughout the article which are full of lots of detailed descriptions and persuading ideas. The long sentences open and end ideas in one sentence; she describes and ends a point all at once to keep the readers attentions. For example, "But I think it's sage to disclose that this is an unusually paced action movie: Despite its trim 93-minutes running time, there's room for both contemplative beauty and chilling suspense (a structure enabled in part by that whirling space debris, which orbits the Earth at a set speed, allowing big action scenes to alternate with periods of serious inactivity and silence)." This is a very long sentence, however it still is very interesting and had key information for someone interested in the film. Stevens also uses punctuation as a element of persuasion, especially when describing thematic points that the dialogue shows, "Loneliness! Courage! The Need to Contact!" The use of exclamations here add drama to these points and make the reader more interested in finding out the cause behind them. Stevens uses different types of syntax in this article and in affect they make the reader much more interested in the movie.
           Stevens also uses detailed imagery to add to the appeal of this film. Supporting her statement of
"Gravity's great gift to the viewer is that it gives outer space back its beauty, terror, and wonder" she identifies outer-space as "the awe-inspiring black chasm in which our tiny blue world floats" which is a very unique way to describe space. Her use of imagery here helps place an image in the mind of the reader and therefor makes them curious to find out how the movie portrays space so well to make Stevens give it such an interesting description. Stevens highlights how well the cinematography is by describing what is shown, "an orbiting spacecraft, a character's face in close-up, a dropped tool spinning into the void-- floating into view just when we need to see it." This sentence alone instantly puts an image into the reader's mind and makes them want to see proof of these good camera skills. Another instance of good imagery is the description of the Russian satellite debris, "a dangerous cloud of jagged debris that's due to whiz past at any second." This previews some of the suspense Stevens claims it entitles.
       Stevens movie review did not seem like a typical review to me, and due to this, I am actually very interested in seeing this movie. Her tactics of some of the elements of rhetoric indeed worked on me and I am now persuaded. Usually, I never agree with film critics because they are usually too harsh or too general, however Stevens gave great details of the film and wrote in a unique way that made the film seem much more tempting.