8: What storytelling devices (e.g. dialogue, description, first-person narrator, character POV, storyboarding i.e. sequencing of scenes in time, mise-en-scène, symbolic use of color…) do you find particularly effective here

@Jane Ekhtman
I like that you mentioned Christy’s camcorder. I think that you’re right, it does serve to show her point of view in many of these situations. The other method I saw her perspective represented through is her three wishes she believes she has from her brother’s angel. These three wishes, and the scarcity with which they’re used, indirectly shows the audience what Christy values. She uses her first wish to “save” the family’s rent money at the street-fair game, by wishing that her father’s throw would be accurate. This shows that she’s perhaps inherited some of her father’s more logical focus on money and safety. In her wish, however, we also see a contrast between her POV and her father’s. Her father is the one arguably acting like a child- he gambles their rent money and doesn’t seem to be able to stop himself in the game. Christy’s POV is the more “mature” one, desperately hoping the game ends with her family keeping their money, and using one of her wishes to that extent. It’s a strange shift in perspective, from what we usually see in the movie. I think, however, Christy also clearly values her family and their emotions, and we also see a POV which is very family oriented. She uses her final wish for her father, asking Frankie to let him “say goodbye” and move on. In an extremely touching moment, we see the way Christy has always valued her family first, and places her father’s emotional wellbeing above anything else the wish could be used for. By letting us see what Christy uses her wishes for, the movie does a great job of presenting her point of view to the audience.

The brilliance of Jim Sheridan’s narrative film, In America, comes not from bold symbolism or a larger than life plot, but from its subtle acknowledgement of the personal mental, physical, and emotional toll of surrendering identity in the face of the first world standard. Indeed, a sad reality many immigrants face is the inevitable loss of parts of their culture and philosophy during the processes of self-transformation and universal acclimation. But key to this film is the heartfelt, individual crusade taken by each member of the Sullivan family, as exhibited by the first person perspective of Christy, whose reserved sentiments and naive optimism characterize the narrative as a whole. The very first glimpse of the characters is through Christy’s camcorder, which is the literal embodiment of the raw and non-discriminating perspective marked by her innocence and bewilderment. Christy is the ideal narrator for this story; she bridges the gap between the past and present. Both the past and future are distant to her, but she brings them together through her memories of Frankie and the three wishes he bestowed. Christy’s silence upon being questioned by the border officer perhaps signals timidity, distrust, or detachment, but we are quick to understand her passive dissent of the seemingly hostile and foreboding new life that America holds.

In the film, the camera makes itself known by individualizing shared experiences; the characters are cleverly blocked in each scene, with the principal subject in the foreground while the other characters remain out of focus. Christy herself says that people in New York all seem like actors. Nonetheless, she finds solace through her observations, which gradually reveal a growing sense of maturity. Christy’s newfound independence serves as an indication of her dynamic persona; at the end of the film she manages to put her camcorder down and embraces the present. So effective is her emotional storytelling that we are able to feel the immense void left by Frankie’s loss even before truly understanding the circumstances of his death, and are capable of letting go of him without intense retrospect. With the firsthand perspective of a child we are challenged to resist the inevitable routines of judgment, persuasion, and animosity spawned from the irreverent plateaus of stereotypes and moral ambiguities that consume the American social landscape. The blind nature of this approach to the environment is invaluable, for without it, neither Christy nor her sister would have befriended Mateo and maintained a deep connection with him that irrevocably altered his outlook until his very last breath. With Christy’s first person perspective comes a sense of refined silence; the most touching moments from In America arise from the beauty of human interactions in a strange and desolate world.

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• This reply was modified 3 years, 9 months ago by Varin.

I agree with everyone that Christy’s narration is key to the success of the movie’s story telling. It’s interesting that Christy is using a camcorder to record events, as if looking at the events separate from the time and place, yet all while remaining present. This could be seen as somewhat of a parallel to the many sorts of looming shadows over the characters in the movie. Such shadows include the recent death of Frankie but also the pressing need at the beginning of the movie for the Sullivan family to find a means to successfully survive. Similarly, Christy’s perception of the events taken place are viewed through the camcorder, and we the audience are looking at what Christy sees. Thus the audience is much more engaged in the story.