StaggShire

Wow, these posting assignments just keep getting longer and longer. I hope next week's post doesn't climb to 700-850 words.

At the dinner table scene (which is the first time we see much of Adams in the film) I liked how Adams was portrayed because even though I'd never imagined Adams specifically it seemed to me that was exactly how Adams was. Paul Giamatti plays him with such naturality you don't even question him as a believable Adams. It made me smile to see Benjamin Franklin's spectacles, and many times throughout the movie he made me laugh. I didn't realize he was such an eccentric chracter, although having known he wanted the turkey. to be the nation bird... I shoulda known. Dr. Holzapfel emphasized many times how the Founding Fathers had to buy their time for independence, and it seemed like Benjamin Franklin was the orchestrator of that. John Dickinson, in his first speech, didn't seem as eloquent and polite as Adams said he was. His accent was also really weird. I don't think the actor they picked for John Dickinson really did him justice, because in reading "John Adams" I really felt a lot of sympathy for him and I could feel how much he was respected and what a great guy he was, even though he did support reconciliation. I also think that he was the one who said the "s" word during a talk in Congress, which I think no one would have said in Congress, much less John Dickinson, being the venerable and eloquent lawyer he was. I was disappointed with that.

I very much appreciated how throughout the film it showed Abigail often, because that was definitely a window onto Adams himself. Abigail was very important to him, and it wouldn't have properly shown the man he was without giving her and the family the screentime she was given. I really identified with her opinions and thoughts. I think she was probably even more frustrated with Congress than Adams was, because she knew all that was going on, but, being a woman, could not have a voice in Congress.

I noticed the camera angles were very real and at first I was bothered by the backs of heads in the frame partially blocking main characters and such, but then I realized they were shooting it like a live, on-the-scene documentary. This really contributed to the reality of the story to me.

It was great to see Adams have such human emotions after he sees the soldiers wounded from Conchord. When you think of John Adams you think of all the lofty words he spoke and the stirring way he spoke and the ideals he stood for, but you don't often picture his face, picture his eyes wet with tears, picture the love in his eyes for his wife and family. It was funny because in watching this movie Adams seemed more human and at the same time greater than before.

Although I'm sure I read it in this class before, I didn't realize exactly how important Virginia was in the negotiations. I also didn't realize how tall George Washington was. I thought his character was PERFECT. His face wasn't good-looking, but his voice was so leadership-filled; he sounded like Liam Neeson, and we all know if Liam Neeson asked us to do something we'd do it right away, and that's probably how George Washington was too. I liked how he said he felt he wasn't equal to the task, because I think all great leaders have though that, which is why they didn't get power-hungry and become corrupted. The interchange between Jefferson and Adams when Jefferson asked him the write the Declaration, and then the meeting of the Committee afterward was very moving and funny at the same time. It felt so real to me, because a lot of the time that's how life is, moving and great one moment, surpring the next, and then totally hilarious the next. I appreciated how they focused on John Adams and how when he was fighting for independence Benjamin Franklin told him that he seemed "quite carried out of himself". It really helps the audience to recognize God's hand in this and to recognize the Spirit's influence on him and on the other members of Congress.