Movie trance and other texts
Life phenomenon is characterized by various elements that make it interesting. It is sometimes fueled by betrayals and deceptions from the very people we trust. The Trance Movie contains trial elements of psychological thriller that is synonymous to the real world life characteristics. The depicts James McAvoy as being a liability to many people that he tries to plot a gangster attack to rob a nearby masterpiece from Goya to recover some debts and have some good amount left to account for his needs. However, his co-partner in the raid, Franck, betrays him on the way when he gives Simon (McAvoy) a very bad blow on his head till he loses his consciousness leading to loss of memory. Franck tries to fix his state of mind with the help of Elizabeth who is a hypnotherapist. The events from the Trance movie are similar to the happenings that take place in the Headhunters. In this movie, it is told that Roger lives an extravagant life and for him to maintain his social class status, he organizes several theft-related activities from one of the Norway’s top stars which is very affluent and possesses paintings of high value. These ideas connect with the expression in the book of Iliad about power relations between the rulers and the subjects and the betrayal that forms the inner circle of leadership.
In the Trance Movie, the theme of betrayal is very evident. McAvoy idea to partner with Frank leads him to serious troubles. He is unable to unfold the occurrence of events as he has lost his memories and he lost the paintings to his thug partner. He chooses to collaborate with Frank in the robbery of Goya’s painting that is worth millions of money. However, Frank knocks Simon down with a big blow to the head that causes him to suffer intense psychological problems. It was not a mistake. Upon succeeding of the robbery, Frank develops too much greed on the paintings that he wishes to take their possession (Levin, Theodore, and David, 1997, 56-58). As such, to succeed in this purpose, he the only option was to hit Simon on the head to make him lose his conscious. Frank’s attempts to awaken Simon by himself do not succeed. He asks for help from hypnotherapist Elizabeth who after the realization of the value the paintings betrays Frank. She confronts Frank and commands for a share of the paintings since her verdict on Simon is negative. At this particular moment, a clear line between truth, suggestion, and deception starts to blur.
Besides, the movie Headhunters does hold back in displaying the crime fiction carried by the characters in the acting. The protagonist in the movie is one of the few characters in the movie who are at the risk of endangerment from humiliation and desperation. During the robbery planned by Roger, the incident turns out to be awry as things do not go as thou thought. His target victim is a skilled technician who has well set of cameras around his apartment. Besides, he seems to be betrayed by both Diana and his gangster partner, Ove, who tries to double-cross him over the paintings. Betrayal in this scenario arises from two instances. First, Diana is the wife of Aksel Hennie, and during the time of the robbery, Roger finds her with Clas Eve. Secondly, Roger discovers that his friend also had a secret agenda on the paintings and tried to double-cross him (Rapold, 2012, n.p).
Further, in the book of the Iliad, betrayal also prevails in various ways. Helen decides to betray his loyal husband for Paris. At first, she is given to Paris as a gift, but later on, she learns to fall in love with Paris. Further, Achilles enjoys the company of a nun slave while he vividly knows she should be given to Agamemnon. He hesitates to give proper spoils to the Greater Aiax after a scuffle, possessing the armor of victory that is supposed to be rightly owned by Aiax. After Achilles has been betrayed by the gods, Paris shoots an arrow aiming at Achilles’ feet. Astonishingly, this was as a result of betrayal that Achilles had shown to Hector’s body after defeat. Hector asks Achilles to give respect to his dead body when he spears him, but Achilles refuses and asks him, “Do lions make treaties with men, do wolves and lambs agree to get along”( Homer et al., 2012, 287-293). More so, the wooden horse also betrays the Trojans by going against their trust when the Odysseus and the Greeks finally break the wall and start slaughtering them mercilessly, “Like a spirit from hell bent on slaughter and in a widening spiral, the river turned red with blood” (Homer et al., 2012, 24-27). Moreover, the act of betrayal is also seen when soldiers betray Achilles through verbal abuse that makes him retreat from the war. Afterward, when he watches the many deaths of his fellow soldiers, he thinks of committing suicide especially when his target lover Patroclus dies. He says, “My comrade is dead, and nothing matters to me now” (Homer et al., 2012, 222-226)
Works cited
Homer, Verity, Anthony, Graziosi, Barbara. The Iliad. 1st ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2012,
Levin, Theodore, and David, L. “Trance 1 And Trance 2”. Ethnomusicology, vol 41, no. 1, 1997, p. 158. JSTOR, doi:10.2307/852590.
Rapold, N. A corporate big shot with a sideline in art theft. The New York Times, 2012 Accessed may, 2017 from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/movies/headhunters-adapts-a-book-by-the-norwegian-jo-nesbo.html
