Review of Avatar (2011) by Devin K — 07 Jul 2015

An Analysis of the Movie Avatar.

The movie Avatar takes place on Pandora, a planet that is located at a distance of 5 years, 9 months, and 22 days from planet Earth by high speed travel. It is a planet that has an indigenous population of humanoids call the Na'vi. They are very tall, have blue skin, and wear only primitive clothes. They also have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber, making them very hard to kill. The only reason for people from Earth to be on Pandora is to search for and mine the mineral Unobtanium, little gray rocks that are worth a great deal-20 million per kilo. Humans have created remotely controlled bodies called avatars through which people can function in the otherwise toxic climate of Pandora and interact with the Na'vi. These avatars are grown from human DNA mixed with DNA of natives and physically resemble the Na'vi in every way. Consequently, every "driver" is matched to his own unique avatar, so that their nervous systems are in tune. Jake, a human "driver", will inhabit an avatar body in order to try to learn from and behave like a member of the Omaticaya tribe of the indigenous people in order to learn how to later manipulate them. Complications arise when Jake realizes that the Sky People (humans) have evil intentions in that they are willing to destroy anything and everything in order to get what they want-the mineral. Simultaneously, Jake comes to understand that the inhabitants of Pandora are the "good guys" because they have a special connection with nature coupled with a pure spirit.

Marulanda 1.

The most important scene in the movie, helping to advance the plot in conjunction with the interaction of all the elements-including lighting, costume, make up, color, props, set, décor, action, performance, space, framing and camera position-is the scene where Jake, the protagonist, goes to talk to the Tree of Souls, known as "Utraya Mokri", which is the direct line to connect to Eywa, their goddness. Jake asks Eywa for help in saving Pandora from certain destruction by the Sky People.

There are three important elements in this particular scene that help to dramatically advance the story in favor of the Pandora population. These elements of mise-en-scène used by the director to advance the story and the plot are not simply props, characters or words, but they also play an extremely important role in letting us know that this story is about more than evil Sky People from Earth fighting indigenous Pandoran victims over territory. This war is about saving all of Pandora because on this planet there is a network of energy that flows through all living things, which the Sky People are willing to destroy in order to obtain the mineral.

Three important elements in the story are powerful and helpful to advance the plot: the Tree of Souls "Utraya Mokri", the words "I see you", and the death of Grace. For instance, the Tree of Souls represents the indigenous people's direct line to Eywa and to their ancestors. To clarify, Eywa their goddess deity, is made up of all living things, everything they know. Furthermore, through Eywa, prayers can be heard and sometimes answered. There is a deep connection that the Omaticaya people have with the forest, and Jake, a human operating within an avatar body, wants to save Pandora from the his own people, the Sky People, so he talks to Eywa about the dilemma. This is the moment when he is entirely connected with Eywa through the Tree of Voices, known as "Utraya Mokri". It is very painful for him to talk to Eywa and ask for help, knowing that Eywa does not take sides, but instead only protects the balance of life.

Marulanda 2.

In the scene, the camera tilts up and pans left showing us the power of the tree and revealing a huge space that tells us how small and insignificant humans are in relation with nature. The power of Eywa is revealed with this camera position contrasting the power of the tree over Jake and revealing his internal and external world through the unmotivated light that comes from above of his head as a symbol of his emotional state of needs, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, and lack of control. In addition, the natural environment such as the forest, the tree, and the animals add peril and mystery because of the silence and the darkness in the forest and in Jake's state of mind in this particular situation. For instance, the tree branches are part of the foreground, Jake is part of the middle ground, and the forest is part of the background. These offer us a sensation of drama and help us to define the characters. In addition, another important element that helps to advance the story occurs when, connected with Eywa, Jake talks to the goddess about Grace, who died a few days ago and whose spirit and memories were assimilated into Eywa by the roots of the tree. Jake learns that there is some kind of electrochemical communication between the roots of the trees like the synapses between our neurons, and each tree has 104 connections to the trees around it, and there are 1012 tress on Pandora. In addition, Jake knows, at that moment when he is asking for help, that this is a network of energy flows through all life and that the only way to save the planet is by connecting every living thing on Pandora to each other. The death of Grace provides the means by which Jake can communicate with Eywa, since the goddess can access Grace's memories of the Sky People's world and now see and understand how humans themselves have destroyed their own planet; this prompts Eywa to mobilize life forces on the planet in order to protect the balance of life on Pandora.

The last and most powerful element is composed of the words "I see you". These words are powerful because of the meaning that the indigenous give to them. This is not only the.

Marulanda 3.

Meaning of "I see you in front of me." The real meaning of this phrase is that people from Pandora can see each other from their insides; they can see others from theirs hearts, and they can see others who have a pure and honest spirit. As a result of allowing Jake to be part of them, Jake has become part of their family and part of their electrochemical communication with nature. "I see you" is a very powerful phrase that helps to advance the entire story in conjunction with the Tree of Souls and the death of Grace because of the network of energy that flows through all living things and their deep connection that the Omaticaya tribe of the Na'vi people have with the forest. Jake doesn't care about superficial things because he is internally connected with the Na'vi population and the planet. He loves his life on Pandora, and he is going to do everything he can in order to save the planet, its people, and way of life.