Autumn in My Heart (2000) - Global TV – Korean and Scandinavian TV

Autumn in My Heart, also known as Autumn Fair Tale or Autumn Tale is a South Korean romance television drama written by Oh Soo Yun and directed by Yoon Suk Ho in 2000 and stars Song Seung-heon who plays Yoon Joon-suh, Song Hye-kyo plays Yoon/Choi Eun-suh and Won Bin plays Han Tae-seok and is also set in Seoul. As the Autumn in My Heart series was very successful in South Korea, it can be considered a pioneer in Korean melodramatic series, which launches a fever that is commonly referred to as the “Korean Wave”.

The story begins with two toddlers being switched at a hospital, and then jumps forward to the teenage years of the two main characters, Yoon Eun-suh (Moon Geun-young) and Yoon Joon-suh (Choi Woo-hyuk). They think they are children of a professor and think they are biological brother and sister up until Eun-suh gets hit by a truck and is in need of a blood transfusion. After the blood test results, they find out she belongs to Mrs. Choi and Shin-ae is the Yoon family’s biological daughter. They switch to their biological families and Eun-suh moves back to poverty. Many years later, Joon-suh (Song Seung-heon) goes back to South Korea as a successful artist. He goes back to his old town to visit his old friend, Han Tae-seok (Won Bin), who stays at the hotel where Eun-suh works as a hotel maid. Tae-seok falls in love with Eun-suh and annoys her until she is fired from her job at the hotel. Eun-suh and Joon-suh try to have a sibling relationship but they fall deeply in love. Eun-suh discovers she has leukemia, the same condition that killed her biological father. Know one is aware of her condition except for Tae-seok, who offers to pay for her treatment, but she soon falls in to a coma. She finally wakes up but is too weak to carry on with the treatment. Joon-suh wants her to spend her last days with him, so he takes her to his home. Joon-suh proposes to Eun-suh, they get married and dies as Joon-suh is carrying her around the beach where they spend their birthday together as teenagers. Joon-suh is too grief-stricken by her death and is hit by a truck in the same place as Eun-suh’s accident as a teenager.

Episode 4 of Autumn in My Heart includes; good acting as well as on and off banter between Eun-suh and Han Tae-seok. There is a lot of bright lighting as well as the colour white used in most scenes within the episode. The setting, fashion and the lifestyles are different to what we may be used to. The constant rain during the episode helps to reflect the mood of a sad moment of a love story of a long lost love. There are also no improper relationships with men and women before marriage.

The only two things I thought was bad about the drama, was that 2 hours were too long for an episode and the foreign language was hard to keep up with for a very long amount of time.

Breathless (1960) - The stylistic influence of US TV on British TV

Breathless, also known as A bout de Souffe (Out of Breath) is a black and white French film produced by Georges de Beauregard, directed by Jean-Luc Godard and written by Francois Truffaut in 1960. This film stars Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean Seberg.

Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a young petty criminal. After stealing a car in Marseille, he shoots the policeman who follows him on his journey on a country road. He is on the run from the police with no money as he goes to his American girlfriend Patricia (Jean Seberg), who is a student, which aspires to be a journalist, and sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets of Paris. He tries to persuade Patricia to hide in Italy with him. Patricia then finds out that Michel is running from the police once they question her. She later on betrays him and tells him what she had done earlier before the police arrive. The police shoot him in the street after a long time from running away, he dies.

During the scenes in French, we see English subtitles on screen and when it comes to the scenes we see in English, there are French subtitles on screen for both audiences can understand what is going on.

Within the film, we see Michel having a casual conversation with himself and to the camera and always seen smoking. He has been traveling as well as running away from the police from the crime he has committed. Throughout the film we become more aware of the storyline and what has happened. We are introduced to Patricia who calls the police on him near the end of the film, which leads him to get shot by the police and dies. 

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) - Television Comedy

Curb Your Enthusiasm is an improvised American Comedy television series produced and broadcasted by HBO and premiered in October 2000. It has been written by Larry David directed by Robert B. Weide and stars Larry David himself as well as Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines and Susie Essman. The series follows the fictionalized version of Larry David and his life as a television writer and producer in Los Angeles and New York City later on.

We have been shown the first episode of the first season of Curb Your Enthusiasm named as ‘The Pants Tent’ aired on the 15^th October 2000. In the premier of the episode, Larry joking refers to his wife Cheryl as “Hitler”, which offends his manager Jeff’s conservative Jewish parents. Larry’s wife Cheryl sets him up with her friend, but the bunch up in Larry’s trousers resulted in many misunderstandings,

Within the episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, they are being followed around, living their everyday life with dull humour and more adult content involved. We come across an awkward situation at the cinema with Larry and Cheryl’s friend, as well as seeing shaky handheld camera work. There is also casual conversation with Larry with his boss at work and we also hear upbeat and quirky music being played. The most comedy that was created was with the awkwardness, the awkward situations and silences.

Everybody Loves Raymond (1999) - Television Sitcom

Everybody Loves Raymond is an American television sitcom directed by Will Mackenzie and started in 1996 to 2005, which stars Patricia Heaton, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Peter Boyle and Doris Roberts. Many situations from the show are based on the real-life experiences of the creator & producer Phil Rosenthal, Romano and the writing crew. The main characters on the show are based on Romano's and Rosenthal's real-life family members.

The show is about the life of the Italian-American Raymond Barone, who is a sportswriter for the Newsday and lives with his family in Lynbrook, New York. Raymond doesn’t take many things seriously, just making jokes in every situation no matter how problematic or series it is and avoids responsibilities around the house, which leaves everything to his wife Debra. Raymond’s family; parents Marie and Frank and his older brother Robert lives across the street from Raymond’s family. Debra’s constant complaints about her husband’s family is a running joke throughout each season.

While watching season 4 episode 8 from Everybody Loves Raymond (1999), I have seen many sitcom conventions throughout the episode “Debra’s Workout”. In this episode, Ray gets jealous when he finally sees Debra’s new aerobics instructor. We hear exaggerated audience laughter at all kinds of situations as well as Raymond’s parents getting involved in their marriage. 

Realistic situations in this episode include everyday things, such as; washing dishes, going yoga, exercising, and the family environment, which includes brushing their teeth. With these realistic situations within the sitcom helps the audience who is watching to escape their own lives with the problems they see within the program. 

Rome, Open City (1945) - Realism

Rome, Open City, also known as Roma, Citta Aperta is a black and white Italian War drama film based on a true story written by Serigio Amidei and directed by Roberto Rossellini in 1945. The film also consists of on screen English subtitles. It is set during the Nazi occupation in Rome in 1944 and was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar at the 19^th Academy Awards. 

Rome, Open City has largely used non-professional actors. There has been no set used but different plots as the central characters die.

The Real locations and non-professional actors used within Rome, Open City have been used to help with the realism. Through the film, we see a handheld camera being used in the football sequence to help the audience feel more involved with what is going on within the film. There also is ordinary and working class people and a partly improvised script to help connect to the lives of the audience.