Saving Francesca: Response

The novel Saving Francesca, by Melina Marchetta, is an impacting story of an adolescent girl who is discovering her identity in the popular culture of St Sebastians. Francesca, aged 16 is until her mother’s depression, a dependant teenager with an unwilliness to change. When her dependancy is threatened Francesca becomes reclused and intolerant towards her peers. This is due largely to her being part of a minority at the school and her lack of individuality.

The author throughout the book makes constant references to this theme of the novel with quotes from various songs, films and plays, which emphasises the influence that Francesca’s peers have on her values. This is most evident when Francesca begins to form friendships with boys, especially when she lusts for Will Trombal, a school prefect.

As the novel progresses the author subtly develops Francesca’s civic resposibility and tolerance by increasing her adult characteristics and roles. This occurs when Luca and Francesca are separated and Francesca assumes the role as her brother’s motherly figure when the two come in contact.

Throughout the novel the author hostilises the relationship between Francesca and her father Robert. As time progresses Francesca becomes agitated towards her father and begins to dictate how her father should live his life. This troubles Rob but he does still not relent to his daughter’s wishes of revealing the secret of Mia’s illness. This eventually affects the relationship to such a degree that Francesca becomes jealous of her father spending time with Mia and uses the quote “she doesn’t want to have sex” to convey her thoughts to her father.

 As the novel draws to a close the author uses the central theme at the start of the novel to reitterate the previous routine life of Francesca and create the effect of ‘accomplishment’ and her return to normality following her mother’s ordeal.

Character description

Mia

Symbolism of the name

Meaning mine. The author probably chose this name because Francesca is reliant upon her mother for most things and this name is a great way to convey the bond of her and her mother.

Speech

Mia due to sickness is subdued and therefore her language is restricted to facial expressions and body movements. When Francesca talks to her mother, Mia always acts interested and shows affection despite her illness.

 Appearence

The author presents Mia as a motherly figure to Francesca and briefly discusses her occupation and roles as a mother.

 Actions

The author constantly reminds the reader of Mia’s depression by telling us about her malnutrition and dependance on the rest of the family. Despite her lack of movement Mia still holds to her core values by providing some advice to Francesca and giving her greater resposibility especially with her work commitments.

Francesca

Symbolism of name

• It has italian and french roots, it symbolises freedom and anything femine. The author also uses other shortened names such as Fran and Frankie which depends on what group Francesca is in.

Speech

She has lots of moments where she talks to herself, these quotes are generally humourous and give us a greater understanding of the characterisation of Francesca.

Appearance

• The author constantly speaks about the past experiences of Francesca and implies that her mannerisms have been generated by past experiences with friends and events. She also seems to be easily influenced by her peers and her language and interests are highly dependent on the popular culture of her school life.

Actions

• Francesca is within a hostile environment where she sees herself at the beginning of the novel as a minority group that is struggling to survive the daily challenges of school. The interelationships that occur in the novel are somewhat hostile and represent a typical teenage environment.
• This behaivour in the novel encompenses the author’s attempt at creating Francesca’s independence and strong will.
• The central themes are new friendships, adolescene and popular culture.

Other

• Francesca is a stereotype of the ‘new kid’ in school and comes from a stable family but once something goes wrong she begins to realise that life will not also be served up perfectly.
• They are extreme examples of social stereotypes. 

Film Review: Da Vinci Code

Captivating renaissance murder scenes. Conspiracies, intrigues and damning suspense are key elements of Ron Howard’s blockbuster The Da Vinci Code. The film’s suspense is developed in an increasing mould of facts and history that questions why Christians believe the way they do.

The plot is built on four fronts with faith in Christianity the main aspect of the film. One such aspect is the portrayal of the Opus Dei monk Silas and his sinister rituals of self flagellation that present a parallel to present day Islamic extremism. 

Howard also explores various other aspects of the church. More so is the scene where an influential Opus Dei priest, Bishop Aringarosa, meets with cardinals to discuss a deal that he sees as the salvation of Christian values and faith. This scene conveys present day problems facing the church such as Doctrine and ‘Crisis of Faith’.

 

As for the grail story itself, Howard creates a convincing realism that is supported through flashback scenes and dialogue from actors such as Ian Mckellen, Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautau. 

The film follows the basic plot of the book with major scenes such as the grail history being presented in a semitic and belittling manner.

Although the movie itself is based around the facts of Brown, further information which can be obtained in the novel is needed to further appreciate Da Vinci Code. This includeds the pagan origins of Christianity and the ceremonial connections that they share.

 

As a whole Da Vinci Code offers an exciting movie experience. 4/5 stars  

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