Antonia Torfs-Leibman

Red Group
Cinematic Analysis Quarter 3
Part A:
The Day the Earth Stood Still starts with a humanoid named Klaatu and a robot named
Gort emerging from a UFO that has landed in DC. The rising action is when Klaatu is under the
governments supervision but is able to tell the Presidents secretary that he has come to earth to
share important information to all of the worlds leaders at once. The secretary explains that
because of the worlds political climate that will not be possible. Klaatu later escapes the
government facility and disguises himself as a Mr. Carpenter where he lives at a boarding
house amongst normal humans. After studying these humans by doing a variety of activities with
them, Klaatu is escorted to his flying saucer by government agents along with an incredibly
smart professor named Dr. Barnhardt. As a demonstration of power, Klaatu creates a worldwide
black out, creating a feeling of the earth standing at a still. The climax is when the hunt for
Klaatu intensifies when he runs away and is nowhere to be found. As this happens, Helen, a
woman from the boarding house who knows Klaatus true identity, is at the flying saucer with
Gort the robot. Klaatu runs there but is gunned down. Gort activates his powers though after
Helen pleads to the robot for help. The robot takes the two into the UFO and there, Klaatu is
saved. The three come back out of the saucer to face a group of gathering scientists. The falling
action is when Gort and Klaatu tell the scientists that they came to earth to warn the human race
that their planet will be eliminated if they do not conform to the laws of peace made by all the
galaxies. Now that atomic power has been discovered on earth, it could be used for violence
against the greater good. The movie ends with Klaatus final message that humans need to stop
their petty squabbles between countries in order to fight for the benefit of the universe. That is
why the theme of the movie is that violence will never lead to peace, and a clear resolution can
never be found if petty disputes continue to happen.

Antonia Torfs-Leibman
Red Group
Part B:
The Day the Earth Stood Still has a great historical accuracy concerning the Cold War.
The movie was made during the time when America had a great mistrust against Russia. The
peoples mistrust for Klaatu and Gort are very similar for how America mistrusted the unknown
scientific happenings in Russia. This paranoia, coupled with that of the Cold War (which was
closely related) can be seen in the film, with the lack of trust and the hostile treatment of Klaatu
(The Journal of Religion and Film paragraph 8). This movie is set in Washington DC, the capital
of America. DC holds many important government officials and thus it seems very appropriate
that the movie be set here. It is the political hub of the country and since this movie was made
during the Cold War, DC was buzzing with activity. The movie also addresses how America, and
other countries of the world, has the power to entirely destroy the world. Klaatu comes to warn
humans that that is not a power to be trifled with. The evidence that we are doing potentially
irreparable harm to the environment is pretty irrefutable. The challenges that we face today are
no less daunting than the ones that we faced before the end of the Cold War. (The Day the
Earth Stood Still: Production Notes). The historical accuracy of the movie reveals much about
Americas relationship with Russia and nuclear power in the 1950s.
Part C:
The Day the Earth Stood Still uses a wide variety of cinematic techniques common to
science fiction type films. One filming technique used was actually not that common for the
time, and greatly changed the way audiences perceived scary or dramatic scenes at the time. One
scene in the movie has Helen fallen on the ground cowering below Gort. The shot is from behind
Gort however, where one can see a portion of Gorts head and shoulder, and all of Helen. This
magnifies Gort and makes him seem much bigger and scarier in that one scene, while Helen

Antonia Torfs-Leibman
Red Group
looks smaller and more inferior. In another scene, Helen and Klaatu are seated in the back of a
car speeding down the road. The camera is positioned so that only the backseats of the cab can be
seen, where Klaatu and Helen are sitting. This is a medium close-up shot and creates a much
more personal setting in the shot. Over all the movie made many groundbreaking cinematic
discoveries since it was such a demanding science fiction idea.