The 2013 film, The Bling Ring, follows the life of a few desperate students and their endeavors of breaking into the homes of celebrities and stealing their belongings. The movie is actually based upon real acts committed 5 years prior to the movie, and the story line seems to be pretty similar based on an article posted by History Vs. Hollywood. The real members of The Bling Ring actually did break into celebrities homes, and were sentenced based upon the acts they committed. According to History vs. Hollywood, the movie outraged the real members of the acts, as they stated that the movie showed an inaccurate portrayal. The film opens on a group of teens breaking into a house. They steal anything and everything in sight, while the camera skips from scenes of the stealing, to close-ups of the expensive items, to clips of real celebrities. The movie then rewinds to a year earlier, where a kid named Mark is beginning school. He seems like a nerdy, awkward kid, but is befriended by a girl named Rebecca. Rebecca is popular, opinionated, and obsessed with celebrities. She invites him out to the beach after school, where they smoke marijuana. Rebecca then invites him to a party, where she begins to show her obsession with celebrities. She leads him outside, where they begin checking to see which cars are unlocked and then stealing people's belongings. The scene then cuts to a clip of Marc at therapy, where the therapist is asking Marc about Rebecca. The scene then cuts to school where Rebecca is asking Marc if he knows if anyone is out of town. He says he does, so they visit the house and break in. Marc seems hesitant and insecure about the situation, showing that he is nervous and knows that it is wrong. Rebecca urges him to continue, where she then steals a purse, money, and a car from this house. In the next scene, the two are out shopping with all the stolen money and there is upbeat music playing. The music shows us as viewers that they are feeling on top of the world and that nothing can bring them down. The two are next shown out at a club, where they meet up with some of Rebecca's friends. I noticed in this scene that Marc is wearing a shirt that he had bought with the stolen money. The group takes lots of pictures and posts them to social media. The next day at school, Marc brings Rebecca coffee, and the scene slows down and draws its attention to Rebecca. A voice over on the scene has Marc talking about how he really loved Rebecca, and she was like a sister to him. This slow down in the shot allows the viewer to really focus on the beauty that Marc sees in Rebecca. In the next scene, Rebecca says that she wants to break into Paris Hilton's house. While there, Marc again seems hesitant while Rebecca assures him that nothing is wrong. They grab the keys from underneath the door mat. What I found particularly interesting about this is that the real criminals actually did find Paris's keys underneath the door mat, and in the movie, Paris Hilton's real house was used. According to Paris Hilton and The NY Times, Paris states, "it was really hard to actually watch my home being invaded and re-enacted on screen. The feeling of someone invading your home and your privacy to that level, it's disgusting". They steal, and the next day Rebecca brags about how easy it was at a party. The next scene shows an interview of Nicki, where she is stating that she just had bad friends who influenced her decisions. The two then return to Paris's house and bring along their friends, where they then steal everything and anything. The scene then cuts to mugshots of some individuals in the group. The group continues to break into Paris's house, stealing more and more each time. This time, though, cops are gathered outside of the house, but lucky for them, the two were not caught. They drive off carelessly. The two then break into Audrina Patridge's house, where the camera cuts to a full continuous shot of the house. There is no noise during this scene besides the sound of the city and the cop cars in the background. This entire scene is filmed in a single shot from them entering the house and leaving moments later. The next house the two invade is Megan Fox's. They bring along their entire group of friends, where one of the friends finds a gun and begins to tease the others with it. The next scene is a shot from the security camera's in Audrina's house, where Marc's face is clearly caught and shown. The two then sell the Rolex watches that they stole from Orlando Bloom's house, and receive five grand in return. The next scene is of the group at a club, drinking, flaunting their money, and taking lots of pictures. Dance music is being played over the track so that it is all we here. I noticed a lot throughout the film that the use of not diegetic sound is very prevalent. There is often scenes where we hear music that the characters do not. In the next clip, the break in is on the news. Even though it seems bad, Rebecca tells the group not to worry. They continue with their next victim, where we as viewers do not hear anything but white noise. Marc then has a voice over where he says that it got so bad because there were no bad consequences. They break into Lindsay Lohan's house, where Rebecca states that Lindsay is her role model. Rebecca tries on her jewelry, and the clip becomes quiet and slowed, which shows how much Rebecca idolizes her. This is something personal to Rebecca and not just another break in. The next scene is Rebecca leaving, saying that she needs to go visit her father in another state because she is not getting along with her mother. The scene becomes quiet to show Marc's loneliness without her. Short after, Marc and the other members of the group are arrested. The cops go to Rebecca's dad's house, where she says she wasn't involved in any of the robberies. The next scene shows Marc is unfriended by Rebecca on social media, which shows us that they are no longer friends. The group arrives at court for their hearing, and the scene goes quiet as the doors close and as soon as they are shut, they open again to let everyone out. A voice over of the judge states the punishments to everyone, including four years for both Rebecca and Marc. The jail scenes of Marc show regret and loneliness as he is shown separated in the scenes. The movie ends with Nicki, at an interview, saying that she didn't rob anyone. http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/the-bling-ring.php http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/movies/sofia-coppolas-bling-ring-delves-into-celebrity-obsession.html
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