I was nobody..

John Lennon..

A man who's life revolved around peace, love and imagining the world without any possessions. A man who was brutally killed by someone who believed that he would be a nobody until he killed the biggest somebody around.

About two weeks ago I was flipping through the channels and I was irritated by all of the horrible attempts at entertainment. I kept flipping, coming very close to turning off the TV completely, when I noticed a title scroll across the guide, The Killing of John Lennon. I stopped and put the converter down, not picking it up until 2 hours later.

John Lennon's killing had an intense affect on millions of people across the world. Not only was it completely unexpected but it was the murder of the most peaceful, humble, influential human on the face of the earth at the time.

This film is a dramatization of Mark David Chapman's plan to murder John Lennon. Mark believes he is searching for a purpose in his life and that it has no direction. He seeks refuge in the public library where he finds the book, 'The Catcher in the Rye'. He becomes obsessed with the book and believes that he himself is the protagonist in the book, Holden Caulfield. He believes the ideas in the book reflect his own personal life and how he does not fit in anywhere and he reads it constantly. This book becomes his life and he bases his plan to murder John after every detail in the book. This film weaves you through his plan as though you are part of it, you almost feel like you should be guilty for watching. You are so a part of his plot that you feel like you could reach in and change the outcome. It has the ability to grasp an audience member and real them into the mind of an estranged killer. This movie experience is hard to handle at times and overwhelms the viewer with a sense of evil and psychological discomfort.
I personally enjoyed the way that this film was shot. The narrative is Marks voice speaking about every move he is about to make, about how he is going to do it and why. His logic throughout the film is so insane but so thoroughly thought out that it ends up making complete sense, in a very mentally unstable sort of way ha ha.. The most memorable line in the film for me was when Mark says "I was nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on earth". The crazy thing is .... its true.

The cinematography in this film is really cool. I think that my favourite scene from a cinematography angle is when Mark is imagining what the police will do and say when they investigate his hotel room after the murder. The shot begins at the door and its from the perspective of someone walking in and it is a simple dolly shot all the way into the middle of the room, it has a neat feel to it when you watch it. The musical and narrative support during this scene makes it epic and helps to complete a beautiful shot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and I would absolutely recommend it. It is a heavy film so I don't believe it is suitable for a young audience. It is very true that Mark was a nobody until he killed the biggest somebody on the earth.. But is the somebody he is now.. better then the nobody he was before?





FIN - tRACIe VoLPe