ConstableNewt3287
Choose one of the following Indigenous films to watch. As you…
Choose one of the following Indigenous films to watch.
As you watch your chosen film, take notes on how the film discusses a theme of your choice.
Write a film analysis.
NOTE: The film is Uvanga (Myself) and is free at CBC Gem here’s the link to it https://gem.cbc.ca/uvanga. If you don’t trust links just go to CBC Gem and search Uvanga it will be there.
Themes to consider: Choose one topic.
Abuse
Beauty
Betrayal
Bullying
Change
Consent
Death
Desire to Escape
Destruction
Disillusionment
Empowerment
Failure
Family
Fear
Fulfillment
Gender Roles
Honour
Hope
Identity
Illusion
Injustice
Innocence
Isolation
Loneliness
Love
Manipulation
Oppression
Poverty
Power
Rebirth
Self-Awareness
Survival
Examples of Topic in Movie
Notes on Scene from Movie
(How is this event an example of the topic you chose?)
Example #1
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Example #2
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Example #3
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Film analysis example:
The Topic of Betrayal in Black Panther (2018)
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2018 film, Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler, takes us into the fictional African nation of Wakanda following the death of King T’Chaka in Captain America: Civil War. His son, T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman, must now take up the mantle of king and protector of Wakanda as the Black Panther. As T’Challa learns what it means to be king, he must also learn about the many betrayals that now threaten to dismantle everything he knew and loved about his country and their place in the world.
Our first instance of betrayal started in Oakland, CA, in 1992. N’Jobu, King T’Chaka’s younger brother, was tasked with living undercover as an African-American to better understand the threats to Wakanda. However, his time in America caused him to realize the many injustices facing the descendants of Africa and he decided to secretly use his nation’s greatest resource, vibranium, to help them. King T’Chaka and the tribal council saw this as treasonous and sent a young man named Zuri to spy on N’Jobu. Zuri befriended N’Jobu, concealing the fact that he was also Wakandan, so when T’Chaka confronted N’Jobu about stealing the vibranium and it was revealed that Zuri had been working for T’Chaka all this time, the sense of betrayal was overwhelming. To protect Zuri from N’Jobu’s wrath, T’Chaka was forced to kill his own brother. Sadly, rather than take N’Jobu and his young son, Erik, back to Wakanda to bury the prince in his homeland, T’Chaka left his brother to die alone in that Oakland apartment and his nephew to struggle in a country that never valued their race.
Another instance of betrayal occurs in the present day when Erik first arrives in Wakanda. He uses the murder of Ulysses Klaue, the arms dealer his father worked with, to gain the trust of W’Kabi, the leader of the border tribe army and T’Challa’s close friend. W’Kabi was already upset that T’Challa hadn’t brought Klaue to justice for all the pain and suffering his plundering of the vibranium in the borderlands had caused. So when Erik, who had been working with Klaue until he murdered him, brought his dead body to Wakanda, Erik showed W’Kabi that he was ready to be the leader that T’Challa couldn’t be. W’Kabi already believed in Erik and N’Jobu’s visions for Wakanda. When Erik proclaimed, “It’s about 2 billion people all over the world who look like us, but their lives are a lot harder. Wakanda has the tools to liberate them all,” W’Kabi agreed wholeheartedly (1:14:26-34). So when Erik defeated T’Challa in ritual combat for the throne and demanded that all Wakandan spies go and arm Black communities around the world, W’Kabi was willing to fight against his friend and his wife, General Okoye, to follow through with Erik’s vision, even though T’Challa announced that he never conceded in the ritual battle.
Overall, Black Panther as a film, showed us that the idea of betrayal isn’t as clear cut as we would like it to be. T’Chaka and T’Challa believed that going against the tradition of Wakanda protecting itself from the world was a betrayal of their nation, while N’Jobu, Erik and W’Kabi believed that sitting by and doing nothing was a betrayal to their race. W’Kabi and Okoye were willing to betray their marriage to stand up for what they believed was right for their country. It allowed us as an audience to question not only right and wrong but why we believe what we believe and how our lived experiences can inform those beliefs.
Works Cited:
Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, performances by Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, and Forest Whitaker, Marvel Studios, 2018.
NOTE: Make the film analysis just like the example above.
