Mr Smith Goes To Washington Analysis

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

“Screen on the Green” is an annual tradition where locals from the area go to the National Mall in between the National Monument and the Capital. The film is played on an enormous screen that faces the capital. I attended this event during the feature film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” which played August 26. The significance that the Capital Dome had in the background as this film played gave the movie even more significance to the viewer. I rented the movie to view it in the privacy of my home where I could rewind and fast forward the film at my leisure to capture some of the artistic techniques and applications that the producer, director and actors exhibited throughout this movie.
This movie is a
evil. There are also elements of nationalistic pride, honor, duty, honesty, patriotism, and sincerity. The story plot depicts a man who is selected by powerful and corrupt men to become senator because he is naïve, unsuspecting, and seems to be easily run over. He accepts the opportunity, though confused as to why he is the best candidate, to become senator, and hence becomes an unlikely hero. Jefferson Smith represents the naive ness that is so treasured in children and untainted, sincere hearts, and something that we all would like to claim we are- honest and sincere. Clarissa Saunders, a staff person who worked for the former Senator of Kansas and then for Smith when he was appointed, represents those who have been exposed too long to the scandals, the lies and the heart-aches of the “real-world” and she has been calloused to the society in which she lives, finding it entertaining at first, to watch those who are naïve, such as Senator Smith, suffer humiliation, and there is the idea that she too was once herself, bright-eyed and an idealist. There is also the unlikely hero portrayed in the “Junior Senator” whom everyone in the Senate has jeers at when he stands his ground and there are distance shots of him as he slowly fades in health and stamina as he tries to filibuster the Senate by talking non-stop until the Senators relinquish their efforts to build the damn or time to consider the bill
These images of various locations in D.C. offer historical background, even though the timing suggested that he was able to visit them all was unrealistic. To show the impressiveness of these images, and the pride that Jefferson Smith has for his country and for his newly elected position, the audience gets this overwhelming sensation of patriotism as well as the sequence of images as the towering National Monument, historical Capital, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials are flashed on screen, one directly after the other. Other obvious images that enter the montage are an image of a bald eagle, the words “Equal Justice,” shown as they appear on the Supreme Court Building and the famous words written in the Constitution, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” Another image that adds to the patriotic, nostalgic feeling is the small child reading an inscription of the Lincoln Memorial, and the elder man who is tearing up in the background with his hand on his heart. An image of these two classic Americans is useful in adding to the patriotism of the film. Images are used to bring a “once-upon-a-timeness” to the audience by allowing them to connect with the grandson or grandfather. Images also portray the movie content, that sincere goodness will