COLEGIUL ECONOMIC „VIRGIL MADGEARU”

ATESTAT LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

ELEV: PREDA ANDREI SORIN

CLASA: a XII-a E

PROFESOR COORDONATOR : TOMA MIHAELA

BUCUREȘTI
 Table of contents
• I 1.Argument
• II. 1.Introduction
• III. Silent Film Era
• 1.
• IV. Golden Age
• 1.The Jazz Singer
• 2. The Wizard Of Oz
• 3.Casablanca
• V. The ’New Hollywood’
• 1.The Silence of the Lambs
• 2.Star Wars
• 3.Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Chapter IV . Blockbusters
• 1.Titanic
• 2.Avatar
• 3.Rokcy
• I Argument
• II Introduction
• The cinema of the United States, often generally referred to as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its
history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period.
• While the Lumiere Brothers are generally credited with the birth of modern cinema, it is undisputably American cinema that soon became the most dominant force
in an emerging industry. Since the 1920s, the American film industry has grossed more money every year than that of any other country.It has largely been based in
and around Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
• The most important celebration of film takes place every year when the Oscar awards of the American Academy of Film are given. At these festivals, the message
addressed to the public through film, the performing art of the actors and script writers, the techniques used in speech and the film director, are outlined.
• The success of "box office" is determined, as shown above, by the script, the director, distribution, subject, by the evaluation of film production, by film critics, and,
last but not least, the determiner factor is the public. His majesty the public is the one who "dictates" what it wishes to watch.
• Nowadays, the art film is decreasing due to high production costs of entertainment, adventure, crime drama, SF films, easy to make both artisticly and in terms of
material. However, the two trends of making a film, both art and entertainment, live together and each asserts itself in his own way of expression.
 III. Silent Film Era

• The Circus is a 1928 silent film written and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film stars Chaplin, Al Ernest Garcia, Merna Kennedy, Harry Crocker, George
Davis and Henry Bergman. The ringmaster of an impoverished circus hires Chaplin's Little Tramp as a clown, but discovers that he can only be funny
unintentionally, not on purpose.
• The production of the film was the most difficult experience in Chaplin's career. Numerous problems and delays occurred, including a studio fire, the death of
Chaplin's mother, as well as Chaplin's bitter divorce from his second wife Lita Grey, and the Internal Revenue Service's claims of Chaplin's owed back taxes, all of
which culminated in filming being stalled for eight months.The Circus was the seventh highest grossing silent film in cinema history taking in more than $3.8
million in 1928. The film continues to receive high praise.
• Chaplin first began discussing his ideas for a film about a circus as early as 1920. In late 1925, he returned from New York to California and began
working on developing the film at Charlie Chaplin Studios. Set designer Danny Hall sketched out Chaplin's early ideas for the film, with Chaplin
returning to one of his older films, The Vagabond(1916), and drawing upon similar story ideas and themes for The Circus. Chaplin was a long time
admirer of French comedian Max Linder, who had died in October, 1925, and often borrowed gags and plot devices from Linder's films. Some critics
have pointed out the similarities between The Circus and Linder's last completed film The King of the Circus.
• City Lights is a 1931 American pre-Code silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the
misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and develops a turbulent friendship with an alcoholic millionaire (Harry
Myers).
• Although sound films were on the rise when Chaplin started developing the script in 1928, he decided to continue working with silent productions. Filming started in
December 1928 and ended in September 1930. City Lightsmarked the first time Chaplin composed the film score to one of his productions and it was written in six
weeks with Arthur Johnston. The main theme, used as a leitmotif for the blind flower girl, is the song "La Violetera" ("Who’ll Buy my Violets") from Spanish
composer José Padilla. Chaplin lost a lawsuit to Padilla for not crediting him.
• City Lights was immediately successful upon release on January 30, 1931 with positive reviews and box office receipts of $5 million. Today, many critics consider it
not only the highest accomplishment of Chaplin's career, but one of the greatest films of all time. In 1991, the Library of Congress selected City Lights for
preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked it
11th on its list of the best American films ever made. In 1949, the critic James Agee called the film's final scene "the greatest single piece of acting ever committed
to celluloid".
IV. Golden Age
• Classical Hollywood cinema is defined as a technical and narrative
style characteristic of film from 1917 to 1960. During the Golden Age
of Hollywood, which lasted from the end of the silent era in American
cinema in the late 1920s to the early 1960s, thousands of movies
were issued from the Hollywood studios. The start of the Golden Age
was arguably when The Jazz Singer was released in 1927, ending the
silent era and increasing box-office profits for films as sound was
introduced to feature films.
• The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. As the first feature-length motion picture with not only a synchronized recorded music score, but also lip-
synchronous singing and speech in several isolated sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of sound films and ended the silent film era. Directed
by Alan Crosland and produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, the film, featuring six songs performed by Al Jolson, is based on a play of
the same name by Samson Raphaelson, adapted from one of his short stories, "The Day of Atonement".
• The film depicts the fictional story of Jakie Rabinowitz, a young man who defies the traditions of his devout Jewish family. After singing popular tunes in a beer
garden he is punished by his father, a hazzan (cantor), prompting Jakie to run away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a
talented jazz singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and
heritage.
• Darryl F. Zanuck won an Honorary Academy Award for producing the film; Alfred A. Cohn was nominated for Best Writing (Adaptation) at the 1st Academy
Awards. In 1996, The Jazz Singer was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" motion pictures.
In 1998, the film was chosen in voting conducted by the American Film Institute as one of the best American films of all time, ranking at number ninety.
• The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced
by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Widely considered to be one of the greatest
films in cinema history, it is the best-known and most commercially
successful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's book, The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was directed primarily by Victor
Fleming (who left production to take over direction on the
troubled Gone with the Wind production). It stars Judy
Garland as Dorothy Gale, alongside Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert
Lahr, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke and Margaret Hamilton,
with Charley Grapewin, Pat Walshe and Clara Blandick, Terry (billed
as Toto), and the Singer Midgets as the Munchkins.
• Legendary for its use of Technicolor, fantasy storytelling, musical
score, and memorable characters, it has become an icon of American
popular culture. It was nominated for six Academy Awards,
including Best Picture, but lost to Gone with the Wind. It did win in
two other categories, including Best Original Song for "Over the
Rainbow" and Best Original Score by Herbert Stothart. While the film
was considered a critical success upon release in August 1939, it failed
to make a profit for MGM until the 1949 rerelease, earning only
$3,017,000 on a $2,777,000 budget, not including promotional costs,
which made it MGM's most expensive production to that time.
• Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison's unproduced stage play Everybody
Comes to Rick's. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid; it also features Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre,
and Dooley Wilson. Set during contemporary World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate who must choose between his love for a woman and helping her
and her husband, a Czech Resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.
• Story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal B. Wallis to purchase the film rights to the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius and Philip G. Epstein were
initially assigned to write the script. However, despite studio resistance, they left to work on Frank Capra's Why We Fight series early in 1942. Howard E. Koch was
assigned to the screenplay until the Epsteins returned a month later. Principal photography began on May 25, 1942, ending on August 3; the film was shot entirely
at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California with the exception of one sequence at Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys, Los Angeles.
• Although Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to be anything out
of the ordinary, just one of the hundreds of pictures produced by Hollywood every year. Casablanca was rushed into release to take advantage of the
publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. It had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was
released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run.
• Exceeding expectations, Casablanca went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Curtiz was selected as Best Director and the Epsteins
and Koch were honored for writing the Best Adapted Screenplay – and gradually its reputation grew. Its lead characters, memorable lines, and
pervasive theme song have all become iconic and the film consistently ranks near the top of lists of the greatest films in history.
V. The ’New Hollywood’
• The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror film directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott
Glenn. Adapted by Ted Tally from the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris, his second to feature the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a
brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. The film was the second adaptation of a Harris novel featuring Lecter, preceded by the Michael Mann-
directed Manhunter in 1986. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter to apprehend another serial killer,
known only as "Buffalo Bill".
• The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed $272.7 million worldwide against its $19 million budget. It was only the third
film, the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best
Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Adapted Screenplay. It is also the first (and so far only) Best Picture winner widely considered to be
a horror film, and only the third such film to be nominated in the category, after The Exorcist in 1973 and Jaws in 1975.The film is considered
"culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in
2011.
• Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) is a 1977 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the
first film in the original Star Wars trilogy and the beginning of the Star Wars franchise. Starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter
Cushing, Alec Guinness, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Peter Mayhew, the film's plot focuses on the Rebel
Alliance, led by Princess Leia (Fisher), and its attempt to destroy the Galactic Empire's space station, the Death Star. This conflict disrupts the isolated
life of farmhand Luke Skywalker(Hamill), who inadvertently acquires two droids that possess stolen architectural plans for the Death Star. When the
Empire begins a destructive search for the missing droids, Skywalker accompanies Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Guinness) on a mission to return the
plans to the Rebel Alliance and rescue Leia from her imprisonment by the Empire.
• Star Wars was released in theatres in the United States on May 25, 1977. It earned $461 million in the U.S. and $314 million overseas, totaling $775 million. It
surpassed Jaws(1975) to become the highest-grossing film of all time until the release of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(1982). When adjusted for inflation, Star Wars is
the second-highest-grossing film in North America, and the third-highest-grossing film in the world. It received ten Academy Award nominations (including Best
Picture), winning seven. It was among the first films to be selected as part of the U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically,
or aesthetically significant". At the time, it was the most recent film on the registry and the only one chosen from the 1970s. In 2005, the British Film Institute
included it in their list of the 50 films you should see by the age of 14. Its soundtrack was added to the U.S. National Recording Registry in 2004. Today, it is
regarded as one of the most important films in the history of motion pictures. It launched an industry of tie-in products, including TV series spinoffs, novels, comic
books, and video games, and merchandise including toys, games and clothing.
• The film's success led to two critically and commercially successful sequels, The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. Star Wars was reissued
multiple times at Lucas' behest, incorporating many changes including modified computer-generated effects, altered dialogue, re-edited shots, remixed soundtracks,
and added scenes. A prequel trilogy was released beginning with The Phantom Menace in 1999, continuing with Attack of the Clones in 2002, and concluding
with Revenge of the Sith in 2005. The film was followed by a sequel trilogy beginning with The Force Awakens in 2015, and continued with The Last Jedi released
in December 2017. A prequel set directly before Star Wars, Rogue One, was released in 2016. A spin-off prequel titled Solo, centered on the backstory of the
character Han Solo, is set for release in 2018.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (also known as Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark) is a 1981 American action adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, with
a screenplay written by Lawrence Kasdan, from a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It was produced by Frank Marshall for Lucasfilm Ltd., with Lucas
and Howard Kazanjian as executive producers. Starring Harrison Ford, it was the first installment in the Indiana Jonesfilm franchise to be released, though it is the
second in internal chronological order. It pits Indiana Jones (Ford) against a group of Nazis who are searching for the Ark of the Covenant, which Adolf
Hitler believes will make his army invincible. The film co-stars Karen Allen as Indiana's former lover, Marion Ravenwood; Paul Freeman as Indiana's rival,
French archaeologist René Belloq; John Rhys-Davies as Indiana's sidekick, Sallah; Ronald Lacey as Gestapo agent Arnold Toht; and Denholm Elliott as Indiana's
colleague, Marcus Brody.
• The film originated from Lucas' desire to create a modern version of the serials of the 1930s and 1940s. Production was based at Elstree Studios, England; but
filming also took place in La Rochelle, France, Tunisia, Hawaii, and California from June to September 1980.
• Released on June 12, 1981, Raiders of the Lost Ark became the year's top-grossing film and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. It was nominated
for eight Academy Awards in 1982, including Best Picture, and won four for Best Art Direction, Film Editing, Sound, and Visual Effects with a fifth Academy Award: a
Special Achievement Award for Sound Effects Editing. The film's critical and popular success led to three additional films, Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), with a fifth slated for 2020; the television
series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–1996), and 15 video games as of 2009.
• Considered one of the greatest films ever made, the film also ranked #7 on Empire's list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. In 1999, the film was included in the
U.S. Library of Congress' National Film Registry as having been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."
Chapter IV . Blockbusters

• Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance-disaster film directed, written, co-produced and co-edited by James Cameron. A
fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as members of different social
classes who fall in love aboard the ship during its ill-fated maiden voyage.
• Cameron's inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks; he felt a love story interspersed with the human loss
would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the disaster. Production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the
actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the research vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron
had used as a base when filming the wreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built
at Baja Studios, at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California were used to re-create the sinking. The film was partially funded
by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of
$200 million.
• Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, it
tied All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won 11, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director,
tying Ben Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was
the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's Avatar surpassed it in
2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4, 2012 to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional
$343.6 million worldwide, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.18 billion and making it the second film to gross more than $2
billion worldwide (after Avatar). In 2017, the film was re-released for its 20th anniversary and was selected for preservation in the
United States National Film Registry.
• Scarface is a 1983 epic crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana. Based on Howard Hawks'
original 1932 film of the same name, the film tells the story of a fictional Cuban refugee who comes to Florida in 1980 as a result of the Mariel Boatlift. Montana
becomes a gangster against the backdrop of the 1980s cocaine boom. The film chronicles his rise to the top of Miami's criminal underworld and subsequent downfall
in tragic Greek fashion.
• The film is dedicated to Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht, who were the writers of the original 1932 film.
• The initial critical response to Scarface was mixed at best, with the film receiving criticism for its violence and graphic language. The film has since gathered a cult
following and has become an important cultural icon, inspiring posters, clothing, and many other references. The film's grainy black and white poster is a popular
decoration and is still in production; as a result of its popularity it has been parodied many times.
• In June 2008, the American Film Institute revealed its "Ten Top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people
from the creative community. Scarface was acknowledged as the tenth best in the gangster film genre. The line "Say hello to my little friend!" (said by Montana of
his rifle-grenade-launcher) took 61st place on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes list. Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #8 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult
Films", and Empire Magazine placed it among the top 500 films of all time.
•
• Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 crime film and the debut of director and writer Quentin Tarantino. It incorporates many of the themes
and aesthetics that have become Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, memorable dialogue and nonlinear
stories.The film depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist, though not the heist itself. Reservoir Dogs stars an
ensemble cast with Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, and Lawrence Tierney. Tarantino has a
minor role, as does criminal-turned-author Eddie Bunker. It incorporates many themes and aesthetics that have become
Tarantino's hallmarks: violent crime, pop culture references, memorable dialogue, profuse profanity, and a nonlinear storyline.
• The film has become a classic of independent film and a cult hit. It was named "Greatest Independent Film of all Time" by Empire.
Reservoir Dogs was generally well received and the cast was praised by many critics. Although it was never given much promotion
upon release, the film was a modest success by grossing $2,832,029, which made its budget back. However, it did become a major
hit in the United Kingdom; grossing nearly £6.5 million, and it achieved higher popularity after the success of Tarantino's Pulp
Fiction. It is often criticized for its high degree of violence and profanity, and audience members reportedly walked out during the
film's now notorious torture scene.
• Reservoir Dogs itself inspired many similar films in the 1990s, often low-budget independent films. Movies often cited as examples
include Destiny Turns on the Radio (which featured Tarantino), Suicide Kings, Thursday, 2 Days in the Valley, Killing Zoe(Tarantino
was the executive producer), S.F.W. and Mad Dog Time. Reservoir Dogs is influenced by numerous films, particularly Hong Kong
action cinema, French New Wave, the heist film and Samuel Fuller.