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I just got back from seeing 9 with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lynxgriffin.
I'll be the first to admit I called parts of the plot - tough not to in places - and turned off the story part of my brain. The utterly weird part about that was, once I did, I went straight into IB mode and started analyzing everything.
HOLY SHIT THIS MOVIE. I. SYMBOLISM. WHAT.
I have to do symbolism first or I'll forget everything. Seriously.
1's staff versus 9's staff, after they return from having awakened the OH SHIT PLOT DEVICE. 1's staff is curved at the top, remniscent of the shepherd's crook (keep in mind that 1 gives off religious cult leader vibes strong enough to choke a horse, complete with funny hat and cape), with a bell hanging from the end. 9's staff is a functional lightbulb, the cultural symbol of a new idea, that (as the name suggests) gives off light, classical symbol of illumination, enlightenment, knowledge, etc. Clash of old ideas versus new. Also, 1 loses his staff and gives up his cape ("I can't!") when he is forced to join the group and flee from the black bird (*dramatic music here*), at which point the church also burns. He also spends the first part of the movie referring to the cat robot as "the beast."
The beast = have we read Revelations lately, black cat = ill omen, black bird = generally an ill omen (specifics?), giving up the symbols of religious leadership, heading to the library (new ideas) when the church (old ideas) burns. And have we noticed that 1 and 7 are the only ones who dress (beyond carrying weapons) and that both eventually lose their various clothing articles?
6. My goodness 6. Virtually unable to express himself through words. Drawing the same symbol over and over again. Cryptic phrases - "go back to the source!" Black and white vertical stripes remniscent of the classic prisoner's uniform with a link of a chain and a key around his neck. Said to represent Tim Burton, but I think you can go so much deeper than that (and I seriously thought that damn key was going to be a plot point, especially when the "music" box with the message to 9 had a keyhole).
7 as the warrior type. Masks worn by warriors. The bird skull, bill too long to really be a predator, meant to be predatory anyway? Feathers at the base - remniscent in my mind to Native American headdress, stereotypes of base cultural warriors. Also about the only character in the movie who kicks ass.
Archetypal numbers. 1 as the beginning, as singularity. 2 as duality, a split from the single. 3 is completion (the conjunction of 1 and 2). 4 is earth (4 directions, solidity of the cube). 5 as man (generally two arms, two legs, head). 6 is love, beauty, romance, art, balance (this one didn't quite fit in the movie, unless you want to take "art" and run with it). 7 is a number of completion (addition of 3 and 4). 8 is infinity (another that didn't really fit). 9 is also completion - three times three - the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. In the end, only the numbers of completion (3, 7, 9) and the number of Earth (4) still stand. The end of the era of the machines comes to an end, and Earth is reborn. 3 and 4 are twins - add them together to get 7, a number of completion. Jeez this movie ties up its knots.
Divisions of the soul nine times (cycles, whee):
1. Leadership, the old man, possibly fear?
2. The innovator, the wise one
3 & 4. Knowledge and memory, two factors that work off one another
5. The everyman, loyalty
6. That little part that most people can't understand, deeper than deep
7. The female and the warrior (the fact that both of these aspects were conjoined after coming from a male scientist...the other half that was never expressed, perhaps)
8. The bruiser, the slow wit, the simple one
9. Curiousity, new ideas
Every time they showed a statue or a painting or that book (what was the name on the book talking about the soul I can't remember aaaaaaaa) I wanted to pause it and either screencap or take notes. I have never wanted to sit down and absolutely rip a movie apart the way I did this movie. I want a copy so I can sit down and analyze it for real.
About the only symbolism I didn't appreciate was placing the coin over 2's eyes before floating him down the river. I don't need to get smacked with the symbolism stick, thank you.
*puff puff pant*
And for those of you who want an actual review:
I had fun. I really did have a lot of fun during this movie. There were points in the story where I felt I'd missed some crucial dialogue or character development that never actually happened (see: 9 growing a personality, why do we care about 2, how did they make it to the tunnel that fast), but once the story got going it worked alright. It was definitely on the stereotypical side, and I completely called a good deal of the plot (to the point where I've decided "my foreshadowing sense is tingling" needs to be an icon of some sort), but I did enjoy it. Definitely worth seeing.
...I don't have a lot to say about story because, like I said, story brain shut off and analysis brain kicked right in. I will say I think the robot was the least thought out part of this movie and the random SOUL MAGIC OMG twist just made me go buh? because up until then I'd definitely bought the steampunk/stitchpunk aspect of things, and random soul whatever just made me stop and stare for a bit. Definitely jarring.
And that snake robot? Nightmares forever.
...I'm sure I'll write more about my life at some point, as soon as I can back my brain out of analysis mode and into normal living mode. Uh-huh. 8D
lynxgriffin.I'll be the first to admit I called parts of the plot - tough not to in places - and turned off the story part of my brain. The utterly weird part about that was, once I did, I went straight into IB mode and started analyzing everything.
HOLY SHIT THIS MOVIE. I. SYMBOLISM. WHAT.
I have to do symbolism first or I'll forget everything. Seriously.
1's staff versus 9's staff, after they return from having awakened the OH SHIT PLOT DEVICE. 1's staff is curved at the top, remniscent of the shepherd's crook (keep in mind that 1 gives off religious cult leader vibes strong enough to choke a horse, complete with funny hat and cape), with a bell hanging from the end. 9's staff is a functional lightbulb, the cultural symbol of a new idea, that (as the name suggests) gives off light, classical symbol of illumination, enlightenment, knowledge, etc. Clash of old ideas versus new. Also, 1 loses his staff and gives up his cape ("I can't!") when he is forced to join the group and flee from the black bird (*dramatic music here*), at which point the church also burns. He also spends the first part of the movie referring to the cat robot as "the beast."
The beast = have we read Revelations lately, black cat = ill omen, black bird = generally an ill omen (specifics?), giving up the symbols of religious leadership, heading to the library (new ideas) when the church (old ideas) burns. And have we noticed that 1 and 7 are the only ones who dress (beyond carrying weapons) and that both eventually lose their various clothing articles?
6. My goodness 6. Virtually unable to express himself through words. Drawing the same symbol over and over again. Cryptic phrases - "go back to the source!" Black and white vertical stripes remniscent of the classic prisoner's uniform with a link of a chain and a key around his neck. Said to represent Tim Burton, but I think you can go so much deeper than that (and I seriously thought that damn key was going to be a plot point, especially when the "music" box with the message to 9 had a keyhole).
7 as the warrior type. Masks worn by warriors. The bird skull, bill too long to really be a predator, meant to be predatory anyway? Feathers at the base - remniscent in my mind to Native American headdress, stereotypes of base cultural warriors. Also about the only character in the movie who kicks ass.
Archetypal numbers. 1 as the beginning, as singularity. 2 as duality, a split from the single. 3 is completion (the conjunction of 1 and 2). 4 is earth (4 directions, solidity of the cube). 5 as man (generally two arms, two legs, head). 6 is love, beauty, romance, art, balance (this one didn't quite fit in the movie, unless you want to take "art" and run with it). 7 is a number of completion (addition of 3 and 4). 8 is infinity (another that didn't really fit). 9 is also completion - three times three - the end of one cycle and the beginning of another. In the end, only the numbers of completion (3, 7, 9) and the number of Earth (4) still stand. The end of the era of the machines comes to an end, and Earth is reborn. 3 and 4 are twins - add them together to get 7, a number of completion. Jeez this movie ties up its knots.
Divisions of the soul nine times (cycles, whee):
1. Leadership, the old man, possibly fear?
2. The innovator, the wise one
3 & 4. Knowledge and memory, two factors that work off one another
5. The everyman, loyalty
6. That little part that most people can't understand, deeper than deep
7. The female and the warrior (the fact that both of these aspects were conjoined after coming from a male scientist...the other half that was never expressed, perhaps)
8. The bruiser, the slow wit, the simple one
9. Curiousity, new ideas
Every time they showed a statue or a painting or that book (what was the name on the book talking about the soul I can't remember aaaaaaaa) I wanted to pause it and either screencap or take notes. I have never wanted to sit down and absolutely rip a movie apart the way I did this movie. I want a copy so I can sit down and analyze it for real.
About the only symbolism I didn't appreciate was placing the coin over 2's eyes before floating him down the river. I don't need to get smacked with the symbolism stick, thank you.
*puff puff pant*
And for those of you who want an actual review:
I had fun. I really did have a lot of fun during this movie. There were points in the story where I felt I'd missed some crucial dialogue or character development that never actually happened (see: 9 growing a personality, why do we care about 2, how did they make it to the tunnel that fast), but once the story got going it worked alright. It was definitely on the stereotypical side, and I completely called a good deal of the plot (to the point where I've decided "my foreshadowing sense is tingling" needs to be an icon of some sort), but I did enjoy it. Definitely worth seeing.
...I don't have a lot to say about story because, like I said, story brain shut off and analysis brain kicked right in. I will say I think the robot was the least thought out part of this movie and the random SOUL MAGIC OMG twist just made me go buh? because up until then I'd definitely bought the steampunk/stitchpunk aspect of things, and random soul whatever just made me stop and stare for a bit. Definitely jarring.
And that snake robot? Nightmares forever.
...I'm sure I'll write more about my life at some point, as soon as I can back my brain out of analysis mode and into normal living mode. Uh-huh. 8D
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If someone else who wants to see it takes me I totally will. /would need to mooch