Word: modern
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...most moviegoers, World War I might be a distant bleep on the grand spectrum of wars; World War II stands out not only because it is more recent but also because its brutality documented relentlessly. Grand Illusion asks the modern viewer to make the leap back into the pre-World War II and appreciate the depths of human devotion from a less jaded perspective, a task that ultimately proves impossible...
...etiquette of war is entirely foreign to the modern viewer; for the enemy to eat lunch with his victims almost borders on the ridiculous. Von Stroheim, normally in the position of director, pleasant surprises in the role of a stiff captain serving the German Imperial Army...
...rather violence calculated to prove a point about ambition and the power of evil. And as Gara stood over a dead Dark Schneider, tears welled in my eyes as he criticized his own inability to work with his former enemy. The emotionally ravaged Gara seemed more like a modern-day Hamlet than a silly cartoon character...
...film truly do justice to a literary work? It's a question almost as old as film itself, since the cinema started borrowing from literature nearly right from its onset. The modern debate often dwindles to a simple "The book was better!" or "I hated the book but I loved the movie!" Films based on novels are so entrenched in popular culture that the original literature is often left behind when the film is discussed, with perhaps a passing reference to the director or an actor that captures a certain feel or mood of the work...
However, despite a historical background of blustering and banging, the modern timpani is an intensely subtle instrument. Depending on the music being played, a timpanist will use from two to five drums, each a different size and in a different register. Each individual timpani can be tuned up or down during the actual performance, so the percussionist actually has a significant melodic range. Formerly, this tuning was done by carefully twisting the screws holding down the drumhead but most timpanis today are constructed to be tuned with a pedal. This is quicker and allows one to tune two timpanis...