Greetings, fellow film enthusiasts! Get ready to embark on a mind-bending cinematic journey as we delve into "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (2022), a genre-defying film that transcends boundaries and challenges our perception of reality. Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (collectively known as Daniels), this film invites us to explore the interconnectedness of existence, multiverses, and the power of human connection. In this blog post, we'll provide you with an introduction to "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and pose thought-provoking questions for you to ponder and discuss in the comments section.
Unraveling "Everything Everywhere All at Once": "Everything Everywhere All at Once" presents a narrative that traverses multiple dimensions and realities. The film follows a Chinese-American housewife, played by Michelle Yeoh, who discovers the extraordinary nature of her existence as she navigates a series of interconnected worlds. As she grapples with the boundaries of space and time, her journey becomes a reflection of the infinite possibilities that lie within the multiverse.
Discussion Questions:
- Multiverses and Identity: The concept of multiverses—parallel dimensions where different versions of reality exist—is central to the film's narrative. How does the exploration of multiverses challenge our conventional understanding of identity and self? How do the various versions of the main character reflect different aspects of her personality or experiences?
- Narrative Complexity and Visual Storytelling: "Everything Everywhere All at Once" weaves a complex narrative that traverses various dimensions. How does the film use visual cues, editing techniques, and cinematography to guide the audience through these intricate layers of reality? Can you identify specific moments where the visual storytelling enhances the film's exploration of the multiverse concept?
- Filmmaking Innovation and Impact: "Everything Everywhere All at Once" stands as a unique cinematic achievement that blends genres and defies traditional storytelling conventions. How does the film's innovative approach to narrative and visual storytelling contribute to its impact on audiences? Can you think of other films that have successfully pushed the boundaries of filmmaking in a similar way?
- Cultural Significance and Reflections: The film's exploration of identity and connection is interwoven with cultural elements and themes. How does the protagonist's Chinese-American background influence her experiences and interactions within the multiverse? How does the film's exploration of identity resonate with broader discussions about representation and cultural identity in cinema?
- Lastly, Did you like the film? Why/Why Not?
This movie is actually amazing
ReplyDelete1. The exploration of the multiverse challenges our understanding of identity and self by making the audience question one's self. The idea of having multiple versions of yourself with different skills and/or talents encourages the audience to think and dream beyond their reality, wondering if there are versions of themselves that have other talents or abilities. The multiple versions of Evelyn reflect different aspects of her personality and experiences through memories and choices. All the versions of Evelyn represent not only the different paths in life that she could have taken but also represent her desires and fears. For example, one of the many versions of Evelyn the audience sees is the Kung Fu trained Evelyn. In that version of Evelyn, she does not go to the United States with Waymond. This version of Evelyn represents the desire she had to stay in China/the fear she had going to the U.S. The multiple versions of Evelyn represent the human feelings of fear and want towards things we may or may not pursue.
ReplyDelete2. The film uses editing techniques and cinematography to guide the audience through these intricate layers of reality. An example of cinematography used as a way to represent the multiple layers of reality is through the use of color. Different color palettes are used to show the difference in universes Evelyn is in. The specific color palettes help the audience recognize and separate all the different realities shown in the film. Rapids cuts and parallel editing are used also to guide the audience through the levels of reality. These editing techniques give the audience a juxtaposition and comparison when differentiating the different realities.
3. The film uses narrative and visuals to contribute to the impact on the audience. The film uses a relatable story of an immigrant mother and a troubling relationship with her daughter as the basis of this film. This narrative is relatable for a specific audience, engaging and connecting them to the film. The strong visuals such as the costumes and props also contribute to the impact of the audience. The distinct costumes and outlandish props help the audience remember the specific realities and also bring a sense of humor to the conflict of the film, although it is serious. The Matrix also pushed the boundaries of film making through narrative and visuals. The story of a post-apocalyptic society and choosing to accept or ignore reality was extremely innovative at the film’s time of release. The use of slow motion 360 camera shots and VFX were also new techniques to the film making community made popular by the film. These techniques added to the overall viewing experience revolutionizing future films for both filmmakers and the audience.
4. Evelyn’s Chinese-American background influences her experiences and interactions with the multiverse. The film dives into the different aspects of her Chinese culture and heritage. Some of the different realities are specifically influenced by her Chinese heritage. For example, one version of Evelyn who did not go to the United States with Waymond and instead became a Kung Fu master. Her culture helps differentiate the different versions of herself. This separation of Evelyn’s identity resonates with broader discussions about representation and cultural identity in cinema. Characters of color are often misrepresented and are given stereotypical characteristics. The broad identities of Evelyn represent that she isn’t just one thing, there is more to her character than just one version of herself.
5. I really liked this movie, I’m mad at myself that it took me so long to watch the film. I think the film does a great job of representing the individuality of humans and how our actions matter. I also liked the themes of trauma and how people, often parents, force their trauma onto their children. Now that I’ve seen it I can definitely see why this movie won so many awards :)
At the beginning of the movie Eveline is constantly thinking about how she never did anything important with her life she is constantly daydreaming about her life and all the different decisions she could have taken. The film plays with that since the concept of the multiverse is that every decision that could be taken has been taken and that impacted the world, every small decision caused massive changes. One of the most important Multiverses in this movie is the multiverse in which Evelyn doesn’t leave her parents or go with Waymond, a decision she keeps thinking about. She is constantly thinking about what would have happened if she stayed. When she traveled to that multiverse she realized that she became a great movie star and is famous she realizes that the reason she is special is because she didn’t make every decision that led her to be someone important and live up to her father’s expectations this reality crushes her and the reason why she tries so hard to be the one that saves the multiverse is because that would mean that she did something important with her life. But in every single multiverse shown in the film she is alone just like in the start of the film she is alone in the table even in the multiverse where Waymond is also extremely successful he says “So, even though you have broken my heart yet again, I wanted to say, in another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you” (first off all just want to say you know a movie is good when you are quoting it in a school project that doesn’t require any quotes ) when she has nothing she has everything, in a world where every decision has and will be taken nothing really matter, yet at the end when she hears all the other multiverses calling her, multiverses where she has money and fame she ignores them and says “im listening” the fact that everything will eventually be meaningless makes every moment meaningful she could be everything Everywhere all at once yet at the end she decides to be there with her family out of every possibility she chooses the one where they are all together.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with multiverses it is very easy to lose the people watching the film since the constant switches from one universe to another can make a story confusing but just like Spider verse,the film uses different visual hints to know when you switch to another universe just like following the characters actions and the items they use from one universe to another. the aspect ratio is constantly changing when switching universes, you are rarely looking at the film the same way for more than a minute except for the beginning of the film, it is constantly changing but in a way that makes sense since every universe is extremely different from the others the editing in this film is incredible and it makes every single switch to another universe impactful
DeleteThe movie is very absurd you can tell they were having fun when making this, but what is incredible about this movie is that it does all of that + incredible action scenes and still tells an amazing story that definitely made some people cry a great example of this is the rock scene, its a concept so absurd but the conversation inside that world is extremely important to the overall message and story of the film. all the ridiculous world she travels to have meaning and at the end of the film they all come together and show an expect of her life is actually incredible that they manage to mix the sillines with a very heartfelt story i can’t think of any movie that also does tha…. Anyway shrek and this movie are not similar at all except for the fact that they are about a person who wants to turn his life back to normal and is launched on a quest to return to that status quo they fight some people and make some jokes you know standard hero’s journey however what this movie and Shrek have in similar is just how absurd they get they are funny even disgusting at times but they use those things to benefit the story shrek shrek doing disgusting things or making balloons out of animals improves the story by showing how isolated and lonely he is to make the ending more rewarding same thing with Everything Everywhere all at once the hot dog world the raccoon world the rock world (was this just an excuse to talk about Shrek….ehhh… maybe )
Evelyn is an Asian American immigrant and actually one of the main story beats is her constantly questioning if it was a good decision to leave China and go with Waymond to America. the multiverse represents all of those questions she had she feels like she has lost potential and feels like she could have done more and those feelings are projected toward her daughter and husband
1. The exploration of the multiverse challenges our conventional understanding of our identities and self. This is because if you can see every version of yourself at once, you can see versions of you that you never knew could exist. And within the film, to verse-jump, they had to do an action that was absurd to themselves in their multiverse. This just shows that even we can and will do things that surprise us in any given situation depending on what our situations are like or lived experiences have been. And in each reality we find out that our desires or goals may be different. For example, in the film Evelyn in our universe is married to Wamond, has a child named Joy, and owns a laundromat. However, in one of the universes she hops to, she finds a version of her that was never married, has no child, and is an actress. Then she hops to another universe and finds herself with hot dog fingers, and she is also in love with a lady named Deirdre. This multiverse in specific is an interesting point to bring up because she claims to accept her daughter for being lesbian, however she later asks Jobu, Joy from another universe, if she is the one making her daughter gay. But in the hot dog finger universe, we find out that she herself is gay. So this is just showing that the multiverse can show that even ourselves can be completely different depending on our experiences and what else is going on within those universes. Also, Evelyn in our main universe seems to just be an overworked woman who loves her daughter and wants to support her, however doesn’t exactly know how and kind of gives up on her. But in another verse, the alphaverse, she sees a lot of potential in her daughter’s ability to verse-jump and pushes her too hard. She ended up pushing her so hard that she fractured her mind across every time line all at once. Whether this was out of love or a want to control Jobu is unclear, however we can again see that depending on our resources and circumstances, we can do things that we probably wouldn’t have done in our own universe. And these choices that we make can have effects that span across every universe. But with Evelyn being able to see every universe at once at the end of the film, we can see that she begins to see the beauty of everything and everything. And this ability to know everything, while it is overwhelming, helps her in a sense to be more present in the moment. Evelyn says to Joy at around 2:10:00 “We can do whatever we want. Nothing matters.” This shows that at some point, she realized that despite them both being able to travel to see everything everywhere all at once, she still wants to be with her daughter. This line encapsulates her love that she has for her daughter and shows that even though she can go to any universe, she’d rather reside in the one that her daughter and husband who she now loves are currently in.
ReplyDelete2. The film's visual cues and editing techniques used really help to show the multiverse in a way that was never seen before. An example of this is the final battle. In many other films that have multiverses, there are big spectacles, over the top effects, or large portals to show them traveling between multiverses. However, they opted out of this choice and chose to use smash cuts and costume changes to show that the universe has changed. And obviously there are some CGI effects used like the bagel that Jobu is trying to get herself and Evelyn sucked into, but that is not the way that they show the multiverse switch. Choosing to go for a quick smash cut approach to the multiverse hops helps us to be guided through the universes in a very fun and unique way. It could be easy to get lost in the sheer amount of universes shown, and sometimes you do, but using this method to show them makes it very chaotic yet still trackable.
2 continued: As well, this approach makes it able to truly feel a fraction of what the characters would be feeling; you are feeling everything from everywhere all at once. You get to experience the film as Evelyn instead of just an outside viewer. This enhances the film because, while you could never truly know what it feels like, you get a small amount of understanding for what it would feel like to be in a situation where your mind is fractured across every multiverse.
Delete3. Having an innovative approach to the narrative and visual storytelling makes this a film that sticks with many viewers after watching it. A film that is this chaotic, yet fun, engaging, and not extremely confusing hasn’t been created before. As well, this film had stunning visuals considering that there were only 7 people on the visual effects team. And the visuals are not wasted or over the top. Every visual effect has a reason to be there and contributes to the story in some way. For these reasons, this film stuck with many viewers. The film touched on many topics and had many jokes that people would consider taboo or not appropriate to put in a mainstream movie. But these jokes were the funniest parts and are what stuck with many viewers. The story is also something that sticks with many people because every detail that is brought up is significant at some point in the film, such as Racacoonie. He was said as what most movies would use as a one line throw away joke about “Oh look, she doesn't speak great English and doesn't know what Ratatouille is.” But they chose to actually have a racoon eventually come and be a chef like Remmy the rat. Details and plot points like this blew audiences away at the amount of care put into the story. A film that stuck with audiences long after its release for its visual storytelling was Jurassic Park, the original one. Though some of the effects are a little bit janky compared to what we could create today, it still holds up pretty well. This is because they chose to do it differently than what the others were doing at the time. They made the dinosaurs by having animatronics, men in dinosaur suits, and CGI. And the movies dinosaurs are so appealing because of the dinosaurs being really on set most of the time with animatronics and suits. The reason why I say it had a big impact on audiences for its visual storytelling and narrative is because it was a lot better visually than most of the effects from the movies being put out at the time. One thing I would like to point out is that the dinosaurs were only on screen for a total of 15 minutes of the movie. But everyone remembers the story, and they especially remember all 15 minutes that the dinosaurs were on screen. Scenes like the T-rex chasing the car or the Velociraptors in the kitchen are things that will stick with people forever. In a similar way, Everything Everywhere all at Once is a film that will stick with people forever as well, just for some different reasons than just innovative visuals.
4. Evelyn being a Chinese-American immigrant influences many of her ventures through the multiverse. Even though she understands most of it, she still has a hard time understanding some of the things that people are saying to her. She feels belittled at times because of this since she doesn’t get everything that everyone else around does. She also hasn’t come to adopt all of the American customs. She still holds onto her roots in China where LGBT is frowned upon. This means that she is not fully accepting of her daughter until the end of the film. And in Chinese culture, there is a big emphasis on making your parents proud, so she feels like she would be letting her father down if he knew about his granddaughter. Evelyn wants to make sure that her own father is proud of her and not disappointed, and she tries to get Joy to act the same, but is to no avail (until the end).
4 continued: Since she comes from the background she does, she doesn't know how to express her love to her daughter in an American way. So to Joy it may seem like she is cold and doesn't care, the audience never second guesses how much Evelyn actually cares. This film shows the good and some of the struggles that can come from an immigrant trying to grow into a new culture that is in many ways vastly different from their own. This means that it resonated with a large audience. Having an Asian immigrant mom as the lead of a film was something that didn’t seem desirable in Hollywood. However, they were able to show the intricacies of not only being an immigrant but also as a mother that it really stuck with audiences. And while there were some stereotypical tropes in the film, these tropes are not offensive and in fact help the story in most cases. Plus, much of the film explored areas of good and struggles that wouldn't have gotten explored otherwise.
Delete5. Yes, as you can tell by how much I wrote, I really enjoyed the film. It made me feel all of the emotions while watching it. It was super funny at times, sad at times, very tense at times, but very fast paced and engaging the whole time. There wasn’t a single moment that let my attention slip. It was so beautiful, and the acting was amazing. And after watching some break down videos and behind the scenes, I got an even greater appreciation for the film. They were working on a much smaller budget than most films nowadays. It had a budget of 25 million dollars. In comparison, Thor Love and Thunder had a budget of 250 million dollars. The fact that the film that had such a great story and visuals with a budget 10x smaller than Thor Love and Thunder is insane to me. I think the only other movie I would say I have seen recently that I liked as much as this one is Godzilla Minus One. However, I obviously like them for vastly different reasons. But this movie is definitely one that I am going to watch again in the not too distant future because of how much I enjoyed it. The pacing was fast, but it felt right for the story they were telling. It was a story that could have easily become very confusing, but they wrote it and portrayed it in a way that it made sense the whole time. And I really appreciate that they sold almost every major prop and costume on the A24 auction page for charity. (I found it really funny that Racacoonie sold for $90,000)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1. The concept of the multiverse in this movie is explored really well and in a way that is useful in real life application and is also used to metaphorically (and literally in one of those alternate realities) explore the intricacies of the relationships in a more applicable and contextual way (the main character accepting her daughter, then taking pride and not depending on the acceptance of her father, etc.). The characters in the film come to terms with how they are merely “statistical inevitabilities” and not unique or significant in any way; merely products of the existence that they were born into. Those things to enjoy, take pride in, be invested in, etc. all lose their significance when there’s so much outside of any one remote existence to care about any remote existence. In real-life application, it implies that any person or thing is insignificant when they’re excluded from a context. Anything that may make life worth it loses its significance when you acknowledge that it’s nothing in the grand scope of things; that we ourselves will eventually die out (statistical inevitability) and don’t matter to other beings that probably exist many galaxies away. Ultimately we all return to the ashes we rose from, which makes everything that we are insignificant to to the grand context of everything. In the end, however, though we may not matter in the grand context, we do matter in our own context, which the main character eventually is able to convince her daughter. Our context is the one that matters; what we enjoy is what makes life worth living, so do it. If life means nothing, if the things we enjoy don’t matter in the end, what difference does it make in whether or not you enjoy it? Why not appreciate the only existence you can guarantee? To answer the second question, the main character is told that she is her “worst self” or the worst variation of all the variations of herself (whether or not that actually makes sense as there are infinite possibilities is irrelevant). In that interaction, she comes to the realization all that she could have been in her reality and all that she was capable of doing (as some of the realities closely-connected to hers were quite feasible as there was merely slight differentiation between each of them). She also comes to realize the significance of choices and the differences in her variations, for example, the celebrity version of herself listened to her father to not pursue her husband. As these variations of herself are quite close to herself, they represent only slight differences. In her reality, her relationship with her husband is struggling, which is why a reality so closely-branched to her own was feasible. With this, she learns not only how significant actions are, but other aspects of herself (in her given context), as well as how insignificant she really is as a person, as she isn’t an ‘individual person’, but rather a “statistical inevitability”, as is any other variant of herself, whether that be a lesbian version of herself with Deirdre and hotdog fingers, a celebrity version of herself, a martial arts master, or even a serial killer. As “statistical inevitability” implies, there exists a perplexing idea that individuality does not exist as we are merely a product of circumstance. Lots of people who we deem “bad” are merely products of circumstance—murderers to addicts and everything in between—are merely products of circumstance. Anyone could have and by the laws of the multiverse, has already done the worst of the worst. Every person is as bad as any other and is as good as any other with no exceptions. As ethics and morals seem to fate out of vision with this existential dilemma, all one can think is “Nothing matters.”
ReplyDelete2. As the film becomes more chaotic, it additionally can become a lot more nonsensical and dimension-jumping becomes erratic and frequent. Additionally, as Joy is introduced to us as the antagonist, her nihilistic viewpoints regarding the multiverse are foreshadowed. She’s constantly making nothing of what we would deem serious or awful. In Joy’s introduction as the antagonist, she murders a few police officers by playfully turning them into confetti and other lighthearted objects, in which the film is already implying her nihilistic perspective and the implications of the multiverse; nothing matters, so lighthearted and serious blend together in merely what is and isn’t. A murder could be as insignificant as a balloon popping or a toy squeaking. Additionally, things only exist as particles randomly assorted to create specific contexts, which she often uses as an ability of hers—manipulating the particles of something or changing what particles are assorted. How everything is presented contextually is so well done throughout the film that I believe this is one of the most well-produced and intentional films to date.
Delete3. As everything seems to blend together regarding most other films, EEAAO stands out due to its interesting storytelling. As the film presents itself, it packages everyday, relatable emotions and thoughts and puts it into a very grandiose, energetic, solemn, and chaotic representation. Due to how it's presented and how relatable it is, I believe that it has had a huge impact on many, including myself. Most of the artistic representation stems from the visuals. It’s quite difficult to pinpoint what genres it may be a part of, or if there are genres it can’t be a part of. It feels like a powerful blend of lots of genres. Other films to have done something similar I would believe to be Toy Story and The Matrix. Toy Story’s significance can’t be understated as it pushed the technological boundaries of animation to another level and acted as the first step towards Computer Generated Animation. Additionally, The Matrix also, like EEAAO, acts as a blend of many genres, though it seems to be a bit more formulaic than EEAAO, as I believe it is a bit more action-leaning.
4. I believe that there are three significant levels of understanding within the film represented by the grandfather, mother, and daughter. The grandfather is supposed to represent the stubbornness often found in older generations; he’s supposed to represent the comfort in familiarity and resulting lenience on that foundation. As he’s comfortable with his life at that point, having lived most of it and therefore having his beliefs and framework with which to view the world developed, anything that may contradict his understanding of the world he fears, as at his old age he has discovered his form of normalcy and no longer wants to explore what he thinks is right or wrong. The daughter is supposed to represent the opposite, the explorative side of thinking. At her young age, especially in a time of modernization, she is interested in discovering who she is and understanding the world in her own context, not in the same one as her grandfather’s. The mother is supposed to represent that bridge; as she is the inbetween generation, she is affected by both trains of thought. She grew up as the child of the grandfather, though currently exists in a time of modernity and raising the younger generation that embraces it. She is supposed to represent the equilibrium between the two trains of thought regarding the multiverse as well, those being that the concept of the multiverse is insignificant and your given context is all that matters and the other that nothing matters and context is just another factor, a variable. The mother throughout the early film sees the daughter as the villain, but comes to eventually understand her viewpoint, though she doesn’t (eventually) allow it to blind her from what’s important to her. The grandfather on the other hand, does not care about what the daughter thinks and just wants to stop her; the mother is constantly told that ‘there’s no reasoning with Jobu Tupaki,’ even though she had a very logical, though tragically nihilistic view of existence. The mother eventually convinces both sides that each of them is equally right; the grandfather understands the daughter’s side (both being lesbian and the tragic insignificance of all that is) and the daughter understands the grandfather’s and mother’s side (the given context does matter. Even if nothing technically does matter, things can matter to you, so enjoy what you love and have). The generational gaps here are well-represented with how each of the three characters interact with the information regarding the multiverse; the grandfather doesn’t care, the mother is quite curious, and the daughter believes that nothing matters because of how significant the multiverse and its laws are. Secondly, the film represents identity in a way that is very human; there’s no separation of people due to their race or ethnicity or beliefs, just merely their context. The film subtly states throughout that ‘Context is king’ and that it’s all that stands between existence and the lack of. People are merely products of their context, and we should therefore respect that and treat everyone with a proper mutuality. Therefore, representation and equality are themes explored throughout the film because we’re all just people on this rock and we all deserve to live happily and together.
ReplyDelete5. I believe that it’s most likely one of the greatest films of all time. It’s just so well-rounded as a film; it’s well-produced, directed, written, and presented. It’s also heavily philosophical and relatable, which is why I believe it resonates with many people including myself. I absolutely loved the film. It also managed to be very funny, which I doubt many films could do well while covering such depressing topics.