We the Animals and Mustang Film Review

We the Animals and Mustang Compare and contrast Review by Terrance L Xavier Burton

*In the mist of man's darkest traumas are a reflection of childhood dreams, fantasies and loses between family and identity. We the Animals and Mustang have strong contrast between the physiological gladiator struggle in the brain to being accepted by family and have your own identity. Lale and Jonah physiological struggle between their family's authority over them verses their ability to express their own identity is in contrast to their family's desire. With strong point of view perspectives within each story line and theme both frame the actors in medium close up angles. The the children are frame in low angle shots verses high angled medium reaction shots of the parents to establish power and submission as the theme.

The story line of children excepting who they're as a personage is told throughout both protagonist perspectives. Lale and Jonah are the protagonists who share a common desire to leave the environment of their family identity, household and siblings to establish their on personage in the community. The opening animation with Jonah and his brothers sitting down inside of boxes convey Jonah's feeling of being separate from his brothers. While the opening shot of Lala's sisters laughing together without her in the frame conveys she has separate desires from them.

Lale's desire and power struggle between her family's ideas of womanhood and her own self identity is established through her rebellion against her aunt and uncle's viewpoint of marriage, community and womanhood. In a series of scenes she disobeys her aunt and uncle's rules of the house: No sex, No Internet, No boys. Lale is framed in shots by herself, separate from the group as her sisters are being married off. Scenes establish her as the youngest sister and the last to be married off to another family. And the only sister who is trying to learn to drive, in order to get out of the state away from their family. The point of view is from her perspective because we see her challenging her aunt and uncle's decision each time a sister is selected to be married. There are scenes of her sister being selected to be married. This is established through the custom of bringing tea to the elder women in families. Lale's trauma is reflected by her decisions to make this type of adult choice as a child. She dreams of being free from her aunt and uncles authority. Lale fantasies about being somewhere else and looses a sister in the process as she is establishing her own identity.

Each time a sister is chosen there is an emphasis on Lale's struggle to get away from the household, as she is pleads with each sister to run away before she's chosen to be married off. Yet these scenes also establish Lale's self identity. She is a fighter who refuses to give up and just be stripped of her right to choice her own destiny. Lale tries to drive the uncles car several times but doesn't know how to put it in gear and reach the petals. There is an establishing scene of her getting the red high reel shoes on, then another of her inside the car, trying to make it exhilarate yet doesn't know that she has to place the gear handle in drive. The camera is at and angle framing her in a medium shot reaction of confusion until the scene where she enlist the help of Yasin to teach her how to drive. Lale is defining who she is in every action as a physiological gladiator who isn't looking to be accepted by her family anymore. Lale's identity as a fighter or survivor is revealed through these shots which build the suspense of will she get away.

Jonah also struggles between desire and power within his family's ideas of manhood and his own. This is established through his interaction scenes between him with his brothers in the garden verses when he meets Dustin for the first time. Jonah he is framed in a shot alone while they are playing separately. By framing Jonah separated from his brothers relates to his separate identity from his family structure. In the following scenes after Dustin's grandfather finds him and his brothers stealing from his garden. The grandfather realizes they are hungry and invites them back to his house to get something to eat. These scenes also make the case for Jonah's desires are different from his brothers. There is bliss and isolation in the garden, when Jonah is by himself as his brothers playing, joking and eating together, before Dustin's grandfather scares them all by rushing toward Jonah and pushing him to the ground. This gives emotion to the story structure of a children discovering themselves.

Jonah stays outside with Dustin as his brothers go ahead into the home. Jonah has battled physiologically with being accepted by family, has now found acceptance in Dustin. This scene is made lead to show Jonah's point of view or identity outside of the family group, especially in relation to his father and mother's view of male sexual dominance: He is called the pretty boy,and made to feel weaker than his brothers. Jonah doesn't know how to swim and his mother tells him to stay nine years old forever. Yet his mother doesn't tell his brothers to stay nine forever. This shows how Jonah parents view point of him is different from his brothers. There are small scenes between Jonah and his parents, where the father want's to make him tough and the mother wants him to just stay her baby boy. Jonah's boundaries are tested between his parents authority within the household structure over his identity and safety in family identification, and desire for association and acceptance from his family.

*We the Animals and Mustang both have strong contract between society and family by establishing scenes of Lale and Jonah interactions with their community verses what they're being taught at home. Jonah and his brothers are shown in a wide shot throwing rocks at cars as the drive by in contrast to when Jonah runs away from his brothers after taking the backpack straight to Dustin's house. Lale and her sisters swim with the boys in the lake in contrast to the medium shot of Lale standing at the windows as it is being barred shut. There are a series of establishing scenes which propel the storytelling and theme of children coming of age. Yet between the two extremes the tension and pressure these protagonist face from their family has the same act structure as a Broadway screenplay. The first act: The Children find their identity separate from the group, the second act: the children rebel against the family identity, The Third Act: The child discovers there is power in their own identity separate from their siblings. Lale and her sisters go swimming with some guys, they're free from any adults telling them they are misbehaving, while the previous scenes relate Lale 's desire to be accepted and loved. By her community through her finally leaving the home where she is being abused to the teachers home here she feels loved and cared about. Lale is framed hugging her teacher in the beginning scene and hugging the teacher in the end scene, but now in the end, both embrace each others reactions of the others face. the teachers face in the frame which establishes the acceptance of Lale is striking. This reaction to acceptance wasn't met by her auntie and uncle.

The aunt and uncle yell at them all, and never show any affection toward her as a loving parent or retaliative. The uncle starts to hit them all after they came from school in the beginning scenes. Then the aunt and uncle begin to argue about their virginity. The aunt and uncle do not interact with them in an affectionate way, nor do they try to teach them about love and marriage. The sisters are yelled at for being around boys or being locked in the home behind bared windows. Lale is slapped by her auntie in the middle of the street for telling the old lady, who saw them with the boys to “mind her own business.” Establishing her as the protagonist with a separate identity from her sisters who submit at first to marriages. While Jonah is established early on as the protagonist with a separate identity from his brothers through narration. The reaction shots of Jonah writing in his journal each night about what happen to him strengthens his feelings of separation. Each time Jonah hinds the journal from his brothers and doesn't want them to know what he has wrote.

* We the Animals and Mustang have strong contrast in there story lines. Lale and Jonah are used to point out how we all as humans face the struggle in our self identity verses what we are within our family collective. Where we draw the line between our family's authority over us and safety we feel in the people identify like we do. Where is the line between being accepted by our friend and being accepted by ones family members. These story lines contrast because Lale is able to go to the teachers home to get away from the problem, while Jonah doesn't get that opportunity. Jonah and Lale deal with their desire to be accepted by family and society. Yet there is a strong correlation in sexual identity and desires, in comparison Jonah's parents who from the second act, have an abusive relationship where the father teases about the mother being white, he hits the mother, has to leave the home. There is the scene of them in the bathroom kissing and driving together in the car laughing which contrast the abusive visual scenes. The scenes of Jonah and his brothers reacting to their father lie about hitting their mother, Jonah's brothers laughing at their mother afterward. All these scenes carry the story lines structure of man's darkest traumas are a reflection of childhood. The fantasies we all share about family identity and the loss of connection when we choose not to accept each other in love. #kemetlightmediapublishing