Cutler: Frantic

    In the thriller Frantic, Dr. Richard Walker finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when his wife is kidnapped in Paris. There are many noir elements in this film including fear/anxiety, helplessness, and moral ambiguity. All of these elements create an intense feeling of psychological entrapment for Walker.
    When Walker's wife is kidnapped, he immediately begins the frantic search to find her. He is overcome by feelings of fear and anxiety because the worst case scenario has happened. He then feels helpless because he is in a foreign country and there's a language barrier, so it further hurts his chance of finding his wife. Also, no one believes him and the local people don't trust him because he's American. He is isolated in a foreign country. Walker realizes the moral ambiguity in the situation when he meets Michelle and learns of why his wife was kidnapped. On his search for his wife, he feels entrapped because of the bizarre circumstances. He meets Michelle who agrees to help him but she furthers adds to his fear and anxiety because she acts as a femme fatale and temptress.

In this picture, the framing places Walker as the central figure because he is in the foreground. He is more dominant than Michelle indicating that he has taken control of the situation. For most of the film, Michelle adds to Walker's entrapment because she is difficult. This scene at the end of the film shows that Walker is dominant and has taken control of the situation and no longer feels trapped by the femme fatale. She is one of the main sources of the moral ambiguity aspect of the film, so this scene shows that Walker has risen above that and will finally be reunited with his missing wife. 

Cutler: The Devil's Own

In The Devil's Own, family is an important theme and shown as central in the Irish and Irish-American way of life. Frankie McGuire enters Tom O'Meara's family under false pretenses and witnesses his close-knit nuclear family. As a child, Frankie witnessed his father's murder and it changed his perspective. He became an IRA terrorist and the film chronicles his attempt at buying and shipping missiles for the IRA cause. In America, he stays with the  O'Meara family, who are unaware of his true identity. They welcome him and Tom seems pleased to have another man in the house, thinking he is just helping a fellow Irishman trying to start a new life in America.

The scene when the O'Meara family is celebrating Morgan's confirmation is an important representation of Frankie's (who goes by Rory Devaney) acceptance by Tom and his family. The large celebration at the O'Meara house shows Frankie dancing with the family. Tom embraces Frankie and is happy that he's there celebrating with their family. Throughout the movie, Tom treats Frankie like a son and feels betrayed when he finds out that Frankie is not really who he thought he was. The familial theme of this film can be characterized by Frankie and Tom's father-and-son-like relationship and the confirmation party scene personifies their bond.

Cutler: Patriot Games

In Patriot Games, family loyalty and legitimacy are two main themes. Throughout the film, there are many traditional and organizational families that add to plot. The traditional families include the Ryans, the Millers, the Royal Family, and the Jacksons. The organizational families are the IRA, the IRA splinter group, the CIA, and the Naval Academy. These nontraditional families are essential to the overall familial theme of Patriot Games because the people in these organizations treat each other like members of a family.
The two main traditional families, the Ryans and the Millers, create several plot points in the film. The inciting incident is when Jack Ryan stops a terrorist attack on the British Royal Family and kills Paddy Miller. Throughout the rest of the film, Sean Miller tries to get revenge for his brother's death. The first plot point is when Miller escapes from custody and plans his revenge and a next kidnapping attempt on Lord Holmes. The next plot point is when Miller and the IRA faction attacks Ryan's family. This leads Ryan to re-enter the CIA and plan revenge on Miller for almost killing his wife and daughter. The last plot point is when Miller and his group unsuccessfully attack Lord Holmes at Ryan's family home. Miller eventually chooses avenging the death of his brother over the plan to kidnap Lord Holmes which shows that he is more loyal to his blood family then his comrades in the IRA subgroup. He kills his comrades and pursues Ryan instead of trying to abduct Lord Holmes.
One thing that Jack Ryan and Sean Miller have in common is their need for revenge. The film focuses on Miller's revenge attempts against Ryan for killing his brother. Ryan then tries to get revenge against Miller because he almost killed his family. Their shared loyalty is part of the central theme of family.

Cutler: Presumed Innocent

Unlike in The Fugitive, the audience of Presumed Innocent doesn't know if the main character, Rusty Sabich, is innocent. There's evidence leading us to believe the Sabich actually killed Carolyn. When he is no longer under suspicion, he returns to his regular life until he finds the murder weapon. He confronts his wife who admits to killing Carolyn. Sabich is overcome with guilt because he knows that even though he didn't actually kill Carolyn, he is the reason why she is dead. His affair with Carolyn sparked his wife to kill her with a hammer and frame Sabich with fingerprints and sperm. Sabich was the catalyst for his wife's jealousy that caused her to viciously kill Carolyn.
Sabich's guilt is one of the most important themes in this film because he is not only guilty about Carolyn's death, but also his son's future. He knows that if he doesn't destroy the evidence that shows that his wife is the murderer, his son will live without a mother. He ends up taking an unethical approach and destroys the evidence to save himself from his own guilt. Although Sabich didn't actually kill Carolyn, through the trial and his discovery of the hammer, he feels immense guilt for her death.

Cutler: Witness/Mosquito Coast

In both Witness and Mosquito Coast, there is a special relationship between the patriarch and the young boy. Both children lose their innocence early in the film; Samuel in Witness sees a vicious murder in a train station and Charlie is subject to the bizarre and paranoid actions by his father. In Witness, the corrupt police officers come to the farm to kill Samuel and whoever else (they are later thwarted by John Book) and Eli nods at Samuel to run away. This shows not only the loss of innocence, but also show Eli's coming to terms with what has happened to their otherwise sheltered life. At first, Eli did not want Book or any of his "English" standards in their Amish community, but realizing that it would save Samuel's life, he agrees to house Book. When Book kills the "bad" men, Eli realizes that he really saved his family and in turn the lifestyle that they live by protecting them from outside world corruption and chaos. In Mosquito Coast, Charlie watches as the ice maker explodes and his father's reaction. He has lost his innocence completely when he realizes the mental instability of his father. His father took them to Central America to live freely and chase an unattainable utopia. Nothing goes according to plan and Allie goes crazy. Charlie is forced to see his father in a state where he is shown as weak and paranoid so he loses his innocence. In both scenes, the boys are dominant which directs the audience's attention to them to showcase their loss of innocence. Both films depict how young children are influenced not only by the patriarch in their family, but also by the outside world.

Cutler: Blade Runner

There is a lot of symbolism in the last scene with Roy Batty in Blade Runner. Throughout the movie, Rick Deckard is trying to "retire" Batty, but he is smart and good at fighting, so it's difficult. At the end of the film, Batty saves Deckard from falling to his life and releases a white dove. Finally, Batty has grasped some sense of compassion and emotion, which is what differentiated humans and replicants. He talks about memories and how his will be lost like "tears in the rain." This scene really exemplified the definition of human in the film. Tyrell says that the replicants are "more human than human" so is Batty really more human than human now that he is empathetic towards Deckard? The white dove symbolizes peace: he makes peace with Deckard as he saves his life and he is at peace with losing all his memories. When Batty dies (and says "time to die") he has gained empathy and compassion towards other humans, a trait most replicants do not have. The dove symbolizes his transcendence into humanity. When the dove flys away, Batty has really become more human than human because he has gained emotions. It is an interesting turn of events when Batty saves Deckard's life, but it was crucial for the audience to realize the thin line between humans and replicants. We are left with the question, "what makes us human?" and it is unclear, but I think the scene with the dove is a way for the audience to get closure about Roy Batty's human characteristics and the mission of the "more human than human" replicants.

Cutler: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indy changes from mercenary knight to indentured knight and finally to the Holy Grail quest knight. The first scene in this film where Indy is shown as a mercenary knight is when he steals Coronado's cross from the bandits in Utah. Even though he is doing it for a good cause ("it belongs in a museum"), he is still stealing it, therefore doing it for his own gain. The next scene shows Indy as an indentured knight. He and his father narrowly escape the Nazis and come to a crossroads. Indy wants to go find Elsa, but Henry Sr wants to retrieve his diary in the enemy territory (Berlin). Indy begrudgingly obeys his father and becomes indentured to him and his quest to find the Holy Grail. Finally, we see Indy as a Grail quest knight. After years of his distant relationship with his father, Indy realizes that he is on a spiritual quest to find the Grail and he must respect that. He joins his father in finding the Grail. The scene when Henry Sr is shot, Indy becomes a Grail quest knight and follows his father's dream by searching for the Grail using his diary. He uses his knowledge that his father had instilled in him all throughout his life to realize that the Grail is modest and not flashy, so he picks the right one. In the end, Indy narrowly escapes but he has the knowledge that he found the Grail with help from his father.

Cutler: Temple of Doom

In Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the scene on the rope bridge is both an apotheosis for Indiana Jones and an initiation into a higher form of behavior. Before the bridge scene, Indiana was just in it for money and glory, living up to his categorization of the mercenary knight. However, on the bridge, he lets go of his opinion that the stone was just a ghost story. When he is stuck on the bridge with Short Round and the stones after escaping the Temple of Doom, his enemies have him surrounded. He decides to cut the bridge, sending the other men into their watery grave, and saving himself, Short Round and Willie. It seemed like a crazy action as he said "prepare to meet Kali in HELL!" but he did it when he realizes he can't act like a mercenary hero anymore.
He used the powers of the stones to go through an apotheosis into a higher form of behavior, both literally and religiously. The stones were a religion for the people of the village and he used them to connect with a higher being to save the stones and kill the antagonists. He also went through an initiation into a higher form of behavior because he no longer acted selfishly and for the fortune and the glory, but rather for the sake of the village and Willie.
When the climatic rope bridge scene ends, we see Indy in an entirely new way. He no longer wants money, but uses his skills as an archeologist in a good way to better more people.

Cutler: Princess Leia as a Goddess and a Temptress

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Princess Leia is both a goddess and a temptress. She is one of the most complex characters in the trilogy because of the thin line she walks between these two identities. As a goddess, Leia gives purpose to the hero's journey (according to Joseph Campbell) and she does this for both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. For Luke, she gives him purpose to be a Jedi Knight and fight for the Rebel cause. For Han, she is an object of desire and goes from being a rich princess for whom Han will receive a reward from to someone he really loves and cares about. He fights for the Rebel cause partly (maybe mostly) for Princess Leia.

She also acts like a temptress. When it is revealed that Leia and Luke are brother and sister, Luke's bond with Leia is immediately compromised because he now knows that there will be nothing between them and that she can use the force like he can. Leia also acts as a temptress to Han because they are obviously in love and it compromises their ability to fight for the rebel cause. However, they are able to overcome this and destroy the Empire. Leia's role in the trilogy is to compliment the male hero while he finds purpose and meaning for his journey. She also acts like a goddess and a temptress for both Luke Skywalker and Han Solo.

Cutler: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

In the second act, Luke Skywalker (the contemplative hero) and Han Solo (the civic hero) dress up like Imperial Storm Troopers on the Death Star. Princess Leia is captured in the Death Star and is scheduled to be terminated. It will be very difficult to reach her to rescue her and Han does not want to rescue her. When Luke tells him that Leia will be killed, Han replies "better her than me" which indicates his selfishness and status as a civic hero. Luke tells Han that if they save Princess Leia, there is a large money incentive for him ("she's rich"). Han agrees and they rescue Leia.
This particular part of the film shows an obstacle for Luke, Han, and Leia. Luke wants to rescue Leia because she has the droids that hold the plans for the Death Star, equalling a shot at success for the Rebel Alliance. Leia is captured and the Empire plans to execute her. Han does not care about the Princess until Luke tells him that there will be a reward if they rescue her. He agrees and when they rescue her, he gets paid. However, towards the end of the film, he comes back to help Luke destroy the Death Star and becomes a Captain in the Rebel Alliance. Luke needs to rescue Leia because he is fighting for the Rebels and wants to destroy the Empire. He tells Han about the reward in hopes that he will agree to rescue her, which he does. Leia is trapped and relies on Luke to rescue her with Han Solo and Chewbacca.
This scene shows Han's initial transition from civic hero and smuggler who is just in it for the money to a contemplative hero and someone who wants to help the Rebels and his friends. While he agrees to rescue Leia only because of the money, he also agrees because he wants to help the Rebel Alliance. At the end, he is totally committed to the Alliance.