Dear John

John Tyree, a Sergeant in the Army Special Forces, is lying on the ground in combat gear with multiple gunshot wounds to his body. Coins begin to fall over him as, in a voiceover, he recalls a childhood trip to the U.S. Mint. He compares himself to a coin in the United States Military, and states that the last thing he thought about before he blacked out was "you".

In 2001, John is on leave when he meets Savannah Lynn Curtis, a college student on spring break. Over the course of two weeks, Savannah and John fall in love. John meets Savannah's family, her neighbor, Tim Wheddon, and Tim's son, Alan who has autism.
Savannah meets John's father, a reclusive man who is only interested in coins. John tells Savannah his father's obsession with coins interfered with their relationship, and they are not close. Savannah mentions to John that his father, like Alan, may have autism. This upsets John, who gets into a fight with Savannah's neighbor, Randy and, in the process, accidentally punches Tim. John apologizes to Tim, leaves Savannah a note, and they spend one last day together. After his leave ends, John and Savannah begin a long-distance relationship through letters. Even though John planned on leaving the army, the September 11 attacks conflict him, and he ultimately chooses to re-enlist.
Over the next two years, John and Savannah correspond through letters. Ultimately, Savannah sends John a Dear John letter, informing him that she has become engaged to someone else. John, deeply depressed by the news, burns her letters.
Thereafter, John is shot several times by an enemy and, even though encouraged to return home, re-enlists. For the next four years, John takes part in many missions. While waiting to receive orders on his unit's next deployment, John is informed that his father had a stroke. When John arrives at the hospital, the doctor informs him that his father is in grave condition. John, feeling guilty that he was not there, asks the doctor if the outcome would have been different if John had been there with his father. The doctor does not think so, and John writes a letter to his father, which he reads to him at the hospital. It is then that the viewers learn that John's voiceover at the beginning of the film was from this letter, in which he told his father that the first thing to cross his mind after he was shot was coins, and the last thing to cross his mind before he lost consciousness was his dad, ultimately the most important thing in his life. Shortly thereafter, his father dies.
John then visits Savannah. He discovers that she married Tim, and that Tim has cancer. Savannah notes that Tim is confined to a hospital and in need of an experimental drug they cannot afford. John visits Tim in the hospital, where Tim apologizes to John for the situation, but indicates that he is happy his son will always have someone to care for him. Tim also notes that Savannah still loves John. John and Savannah have dinner together that evening, and John says goodbye to her.
John sells his father's coin collection, though he keeps the first mule coin they found together. He anonymously donates the money from the sale to finance Tim's drug. The next scene shows John back with his unit, using the mule coin in a coin toss with his soldiers. John then gets an unexpected letter from Savannah. She writes about how she received an anonymous donation to help Tim with his treatment, which gave him the opportunity to return home and say goodbye to friends and family before he died. She notes that she will always wonder where John is and how he is doing, but accepts that she lost the right to know a long time ago.
In the last scene of the film, John walks a bicycle down a block and, after stopping to lock it up, locks eyes with Savannah through a cafe window. Savannah exits the cafe, and they embrace and they live happily ever after.

How this relates to my Radio play?

-Content: Letters used to keep the lovers together throughout the story.
-Dialogue: Expression of love through letters and Diary enteries. Narration is done by a character of the film.
- Genre: Romance- War- Relationships
- Characterisation: John relates to Billy: Young, dismissive and caring. Lynn relates to Helena: Caring, innocent but vulnerable. Mr. Tyree relates to Emmett: Doesn't have a strong relationship with his son- cares more about a hobbie or work.

This film is similar to my radio play because it contains two lovers who communicate through letters during the war. Their love is distant however it is strong as they express their love through letter which is very similar to what Billy and Helena do. Relationships in this film also relates to my radio play as it is clear that John and his Father appear to have a very distant relationship because John's Father is more interested in coins than his own child . This is the same as Emmett and Billy as Emmett clearly seems more interested in his job and status instead of his sons dreams and emotions. Lynn and Johns relationship is also very similar to Billy's and Helena's relationship as they all risk everything for love and never want to give it up no matter what their situation is. This film also relates to my radio play because it follows the males story throughout which is similar to Billy telling his story throughout.

Nick of Time

The film opens with Gene Watson, a mild-mannered, widowed accountant arriving with his daughter Lynn to a train station in Los Angeles.
As Watson makes a payphone call informing an unidentified person that his train was late, two mysterious strangers in suits, named Smith and Jones, survey the station from a catwalk, discussing a yet-to-be-elaborated scheme. Noticing Watson retaliate against a skater who was harassing his daughter, Smith and Jones set their sights on him and swiftly approach the pair.
Showing a badge, the two strangers convince Watson that they are police officers and whisk both father and daughter into a van without justification. Once in the vehicle, Watson begins to notice things aren't right and gets nervous, but Smith subsequently pistol whips Watson in the leg to get his attention.
Smith then informs Watson that they will kill his daughter unless he murders a woman depicted in a photograph. He soon learns that the woman is State Governor Eleanor Grant and realizes that killing her would be a suicide mission.
Once at the Bonaventure Hotel (where a campaign stop is being held) Watson makes several attempts to warn people about his situation, but Smith consistently follows him around, taunts and viciously beats him whenever he doesn't make a move. Watson manages to find a young campaign assistant, Krista who believes Watson's story and encourages him to report the matter to the governor's husband, Brendan Grant. Once in his suite, however, the husband and a campaign lobbyist appear to disbelieve the story, and before anything more can be said, the psychopathic Smith shows up in the room and fatally shoots Krista, causing a tense scuffle between Watson and Smith.
Watson awakens after unconsciousness and finds nearly everyone on the campaign, including the governor's staff and husband, are involved in the plot, with an unnamed right-wing lobbyist masterminding it all.
Watson eventually finds disabled veteran who polishes people's shoes at the hotel. While at first he doesn't believe Watson, Smith talks to Watson about the plot, believing the shoe cleaner to be completely deaf according to a sign. The hotel employee reluctantly assists Watson to get to Governor Grant's suite and advise her of the conspiracy. Although skeptical at first, she later notices her husband acting suspiciously and realizes Watson was telling the truth.
Being hastened by her husband to make the last speech, the governor greets supporters in a ballroom when Watson takes out the gun, points it at a projector room where Smith is watching him and shoots at the window. This unleashes a panic in the ballroom, causing a stampede and brief shootout between Watson and the security people.
In the meantime, the shoeshine man stalls the armed Jones (who is in the van with Watson's daughter, Lynn) after she can't get a signal from Smith, and he annoys her to the point of a violent confrontation. Lynn quickly tries to get out of the van when Smith opens the door and begins to shoot at her. Right after she hides under the seat, Watson appears and shoots Smith, killing him. Before Jones can get a clear shot at the father and daughter, the shoeshine man beats her unconscious with his prosthetic leg.

How does this relate to my radio play?

Content: The idea of how far would you go to save the one you love.
Characterisation: Gene Watson(Johnny Depp's character) relates to Billy as does Christopher Walken's character who could relate to Rory and Emmett.
Genre: Adventure and the idea that time is running out

This film relates to my radio play because it shows how far someone would go for a person they care about. Even though in this film it is the relationship between Father and Daughter and with mine it's about lovers there is still the fact that the main character in this risks everything to save his daughter which is similar to both Helena and Billy risking everything to stay together in a relationship. Howwever this could also relate to Helena's family as they risk everything and decide to hide at the beginning of the radio play. It is clear that all of their relationships are strong compared to Billy's relationship with his parents and that they would do anything for their family. 
Another way this film relates to my radio play  is the certain sense of adventure and time running out for the character which is comparable to Billy's and Helena's adventure and the feeling that there time is running out as Helena carries on staying in the camp. The character that Christopher Walken plays could also be similar to Emmett and Rory as all characters appear to be violent and short tempered when they do not get what they want. They also torture people and are sly in their actions through the way Christopher Walken's character blackmails with Johnny depp and Emmett and Rory interrogate Helena abotu the book.   

Road to Perdition

Michael Sullivan, Sr. is a mob enforcer for John Rooney, an Irish American organized crime boss in Illinois during the Great Depression and the Al Capone mob-rule era. Rooney raised Sullivan, an orphan, and loves him as a son; more so, in fact, than his real son, the ruthless, unstable Connor .
Sullivan and Connor go to a warehouse for a meeting with Finn McGovern, a disgruntled employee. Twelve-year-old Michael Sullivan, Jr.hides in his father's car and witnesses Connor kill McGovern in a fit of rage. Sullivan swears his son to secrecy, but Connor decides to hush these witnesses forever. He murders Sullivan's wife Annie and the couple's younger son Peter, mistakenly thinking he has murdered young Michael. Sullivan and his remaining son flee to Chicago.
Sullivan requests a job with Capone's mob. He asks permission of crime kingpin Frank Nitti to seek revenge on Connor, who has been sent into hiding. The offer is rejected. Rooney is aware of the meeting and allows Nitti to dispatch assassin Harlen Maguire to kill Sullivan. Maguire, a psychopath who likes to photograph his victims, tracks Sullivan and son to a roadside diner but misses a chance to make the hit. Knowing now that Nitti has sided against him, Sullivan begins robbing the banks that hold the Capone and Rooney syndicate's laundered money, hoping to trade it for Connor. Michael Jr. drives the getaway car at the holdups.
Maguire sets a trap with the aid of Rooney's accountant, Alexander Rance. On the day Sullivan comes to Rance's hotel room, Rance stalls him until Maguire can arrive. Rance is killed in the crossfire of the ensuing gunfight. Maguire also falls, his face peppered with fragments of glass, though he manages to shoot the escaping Sullivan in the arm before collapsing.
Michael drives his father to a farm where a childless elderly couple helps Sullivan to recover. During his recuperation, Sullivan discovers that Connor has been embezzling from his father for years, using the names of dead gang members to hide his activities. As the Sullivans depart, they give the couple much of the remaining money from the bank robberies.
Rooney is surprised by Sullivan while attending Mass. He acknowledges that he already knows about the embezzlement and that this must end with Connor's death, but still refuses to be the one to give up his son. That night, cloaked by darkness and a driving rain, Sullivan dispatches Rooney's entire entourage with his Thompson submachine gun and then walks up to Rooney himself, who says "I'm glad it's you". With tears in his eyes, Sullivan pulls the trigger. Seeing no further reason to protect Connor now that Rooney is dead, Nitti reveals his location to Sullivan, making him promise that this will be the end. Sullivan goes to the hotel where Connor is hiding and kills him to complete his full circle of revenge.

Sullivan decides to drive Michael Jr. to a relative's beach house in Perdition, a town on the shore of Lake Michigan. Here he is ambushed and shot by a disfigured Maguire, who has survived the hotel shootout. Michael Jr. shows up and points a gun at Maguire, but cannot bring himself to fire. The standoff ends when Sullivan draws a hidden gun and kills Maguire before dying in his son's arms. Mourning his father's death, Michael Jr. finds his way back to the elderly farm couple that looked after them. He then realizes that his father's greatest fear was that Michael would grow up to be just like him.

How this relates to my radio play?

-Content: The idea of Father and sons and doing everything to keep the ones you love safe.
-Dialogue: At the end of the film Michael Sullivan Jr (the son) narrates his life and tells the story as he grew up on the farm-It almost sounds like a diary entry which is similar to the ending of my play
- Genre: War between people and Trust
- Characterisation: Michael Sullivan Sr: Relation to Emmett. Michael Sullivan Jr: Relation to Billy. Annie Sullivan: Relation to Marie. Harlen Maguire and Connor Rooney: Relation to Rory.

The Road to Perdition relates to my radio play because it carries the theme of Father and son relationship not only between Michael Sullivan and his son ( Michael Sullivan Jr believes that his younger brother is the favourite son) but the relationship between John Rooney , Michael Sullivan and Connor Rooney. In this film Daniel Craig's character is jealous of his Father's relationship with his friend (who Tom Hanks plays)- because Rooney prefers Michael to be his son instead of Connor and how he see's his son as an embarrassment because of his behaviour.
It is also similar through the way this film tells the story of a Father trying to protect his son from a number of people hunting them down- this is similar to Billy protecting Helena and her family from the Germans and the horror of the camps. The endings are also simialr through the way you hear Michaels narration about how he lead his life and how Helena carried on with out Billy through Billy's narration.

The characterisation similarities:

Michael Sullivan Sr. relates to Emmett through the way both are murderers and do horrific jobs however they clearly have a family who don't know about what they do. If they also hold a grudge they will both keep it until the job is done.

John Rooney character also relates to Emmett as both characters favour another as a son figure instead of their own which is evident as John Rooney favours Michael and Emmett favours Rory. They are also embarassed of what their sons do and behave as John Rooney disapproves of his son being violent and Emmet refuses Billy to achieve his dream and carry on being in thew army.

Michael Sullivan Jr: Relates to Billy because both are dismissive about what their fathers do however they both want to make their Father proud when with them. They also discover that their fathers favour someone else (Michaels brother Peter and Rory).

Connor Rooney is similar to Rory as both are violent when given a job and they both loose their temper easily. They both feel high in status and almost invinsible in what they do.

Harlen Maguire is similar to Rory because both  are violent and like witnessing people's pain. They are both murderers and appear to take the job in hand seriously. The hunt never stops with both of them as they carry out their missions throughout both stories.  

Vultures

In the greyness and drizzle of one despondent
dawn unstirred by harbingers of sunbreak a vulture
perching high on broken bone of a dead tree nestled close to his mate his smooth bashed-in head, a pebble on a stem rooted in
a dump of gross feathers, inclined affectionately to hers. Yesterday they picked the eyes of a swollen corpse in a water-logged trench and ate the things in its bowel. Full gorged they chose their roost
keeping the hollowed remnant in easy range of cold telescopic eyes ... Strange indeed how love in other ways so particular will pick a corner
in that charnel-house tidy it and coil up there, perhaps even fall asleep - her face
turned to the wall! ...Thus the Commandant at Belsen Camp going home for the day with fumes of human roast clinging rebelliously to his hairy nostrils will stop at the wayside sweet-shop and pick up a chocolate for his tender offspring waiting at home for Daddy's return ... Praise bounteous providence if you will that grants even an ogre a tiny glow-worm tenderness encapsulated in icy caverns of a cruel heart or else despair
for in every germ of that kindred love is lodged the perpetuity of evil.

What the poem is about?

The poem “Vultures” is speaks broadly about life and humanity, using the specific example that evil beings like vultures and the commandant in the Belsen camp are alike, both fighting for survival and happiness.
The vulture, “perching high on broken bone of a dead tree” is fighting for survival by feeding off dead animals. In the same way, the commandant tries to survive by killing innocent people. However, they both have some good in them; the vulture loves the other vulture and the commandant loves his baby.
In the first stanza a very dull and lifeless atmosphere is created.
The poet describes the, “…greyness and drizzle of one despondent of sunbreak” and how the vultures “picked the eyes of a swollen corpse in a water-logged trench”. They eat disgusting food in order to survive. In stanza two, the poet starts to contemplate how love can exist in such an evil infested place, and how love is not affected by evil as seen in the line of the poem “her face turned to the wall!”. In stanza three, it starts with an ellipsis to link the vultures with the commandant of the Belsen Camp. After a day of burning human bodies, the unattractive commandant with hairy nostrils still manages to show his love for his baby. “Tender offspring” makes the children looks as if they are human bodies ready to be burnt. The poem finishes off with the last stanza wrapping up the whole poem. It says in a contemplative tone and asks if we should thank god for the tiny speck of good we find in evil or should we feel despair for the evil that will stay forever.
The poem is roughly divided into three sections. The first of these observes two vultures as they scavenge for food amongst human remains before resting up with each other as mates. The second section follows the Commandant of Belsen as he buys sweets for his beloved offspring. Both of these support the observations in the final section which ruminates on how even in the most evil person, love can take shape, whereas in every love there is the smallest speck of evil.
The underlying philosophical question of the poem is "Should we rejoice at the presence of good in the least likely of places, or despair at the fact that it the very presence of this good that allows for the perpetuity of evil?".

How this relates to my Radio play?
Content- Based around a father who works as a commandant but then returns home to his family.
Characterisation: Similar to the character of Emmett
Genre-  Based around WW2

This relates to my radio play because it relates very strongly to the character of Emmett on how he is a commdant of a death camp but yet a father and husband when he returns home. Emmett is also fighting for survival which is very similar to the 'Vultures' described throughout this poem. In my radio play Emmett says that he is in the War and doing this job so that Billy and his future grandchildren can have a better life which does show some good in him.

Why my radio isn't historically accurate

Boy In the Striped Pajamas review:

1st review
The story isn't true, but it could very well have been. It is refreshing to read a story from the war that takes a totally different slant to usual, after all, the Germans were human and had families as well. We all know the atrocities that happened during the war, especially in the concentration camp. The Boy In The Stripped Pyjamas talks about the war, not only from the German prospective, but from that of a small innocent boy.

Before reading this I was put off by the fact that all the one star reviews I read were stating that the book is historically inaccurate, and they were absolutely right but in my opinion John Boyne never set out to write about his knowledge of the holocaust and isn't for a second suggesting that there was a boy like Bruno who was entirely unaware of what was going on.

The book is solely about ignorance, that was what Boyle wanted to write about and there isn't a more extreme case of ignorance than a boy who lives beside a concentration camp, who's the son of a high-ranking, patriotic, german soldier and yet doesn't know what a Jew is. This is the reason the book is set in Nazi Germany and the inaccuracies of the book are therefore irrevelant to what the author is trying to communicate

2nd review:

As one earlier reviewer wrote, there is a difference between innocence and ignorance. I could have believed that Bruno isn't particularly interested in politics or other grown-up things but Boyne makes him look like he has serious difficulties in grasping reality at all. Bruno is aware of the "Heil Hitler" greeting his father has taught him but he has no knowledge of Hitler as a person or his politics, has no idea who Jews are and it seems he has not heard of the war. As a 8-year-old boy he surely would have learned about these things at school and as his father seems to be a high ranking nazi officer, it is probable that he would have learned more about the nazi ideology at home.

It is true that the whole concept of the book (Bruno befriending a boy behind the strange fence near his house) is highly improbable but a talented writer could have easily succeeded in making the reader forget the fact or even worked his way around it. It is possible to live with plot holes like that if the story is told well enough. Unfortunately, Boyne fails in this regard. His Bruno is unbelievably dense and ignorant and the loose ends in the story irritate and distract. Where are Bruno's parents when he seems to spend hours and hours away from home in a place no-one (strangely enough) knows of or ever comes to? Haven't somebody told Bruno to stay away from the fence? How is it possible that nobody told Bruno he's in Poland?

Even though the flimsy plot, bad characterizing and Boyne's apparent ignorance of Germany in the 1940s are distracting, the most offensive thing about this book is its ability to insult Holocaust victims. I'm sure this was not Boyne's intention but using the name "Auschwitz" as a basis for a word play isn't something that will evoke sympathy in this day and age. It just seems insensitive. Boyne also unintentionally, I hope, makes the prisoners of the camp seem like a bunch of idiots - if it's that easy for a small boy living in the camp just to sit idly by the non-electrified fence for hours undetected and for another boy to actually get inside the camp unnoticed, why haven't the prisoners tried to escape already?! The end where the reader is supposed to feel great sympathy for Bruno and what happened to him just adds insult to injury: never mid all the people inside the camp and what happened to them, just think about one German boy and his poor nazi officer father.

This book could have become a great piece of literature if written differently but it would have required much better research of the subject and thorough editing and re-writing of the text. As it is, "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" comes off as alternatively callous and mind-numbingly stupid with redeeming qualities hidden few and far between.
The other reviewers have detailed what the story was based around, so I wont repeat that. All I will say, is that although the ending was expected it was still shocking and upsetting. The beautiful part of this film was that it showed all too clearly, how innocent children are - before they become too privvy to their parents views, prejudices and expectations. It also showed that good people can do bad things, that they dont necessarily agree with for much the same reasons. A minority of people in power, can so control the mind set and actions of the greater majority. This film made me think, made me cry and made me reevaluate what being a parent should be about. Even though it showed the bad side of some people - it showed that most people do have good and hopeful hearts and children, inparticular are innocent souls who should be cherished and nurtured.

Why this relates to my radio play?


These reviews that were written about 'The Boy in the Striped Pajamas' is a perfect explaination why my radio play isn't historically accurate in terms of the plot. Many have said to me that in WW2 it would be impossible that a German soldier would behave like Billy would or the fact that he would come into the industry because his father was a commandant however, Like John Boyle(the author of the Boy In The Striped Pajamas) i want to write about the ignorance of Billy as a teenage boy working as a soldier and his adventure with finding out the truth why soldiers had to behave like this. This would make the audience think the impossible in this story and would make their minds think around some situations that happen in the story. Also i wanted my radio play to be a fictional story and not a biopic or a real life story that would of happened. Like The Boy In The Striped Pajamas i am writing a fictional story which is set in a time and place that the audience would know about even though it isn't exactly accurate- This will make the plot more chilling, interesting and exiciting for the audience and a great source of entertainment that many would be keen to listen to. Plus even though the ending is probably expectant it does still create a deep atmosphere because of what the lovers have been through. The plot also does raise the real issue of war today and lovers who are parted from it.

A World War II Diary and Lost Love

In 1943, a Marine pilot kept a diary during his service in World War II. Lt. Charles C. Winnia chronicled his missions flying against the Japanese in the Pacific, and his love for a girl back in Nashville, Tenn. Winnia was shot down, and never came home. His diary — nearly forgotten for over 60 years — was recently discovered and read by his sweetheart, Violet Jane Watkins, for the first time. V.J. Watkins tells NPR's Bob Edwards that she and Winnia, who had met in college, wrote each other a couple of times a week. Winnia was flying "a lot of missions — sometimes two and three missions a day," she says. "Sometimes he was so tired when he wrote that his handwriting was shaky."
"I do think that our friendship, our relationship was, of course, deepened by the letters," Watkins says.
Winnia's diary was kept by a Marine friend and pilot. It was discovered in the now-deceased man's garage five years ago behind his drill press. Diary hobbyists quickly started looking for Winnia's "V.J." In an impossible coincidence, Watkins was identified by Internet-savvy researchers at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, Ga. They made the connection when processing Watkins' donation to the school. Soon, Watkins read Winnia's diary for the first time.
"The diary of course naturally did revive a lot of memories — not that they ever departed," Watkins says. "But [reading it] was an emotional experience."

How this realtes and can help me with my Radio play:
- Content: The whole idea about Diaries and letters to help lovers communicate during World War 2
-Dialogue:The Diary extracts given on this site can help me see how the lovers expressed their feelings to one another

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1671596

Lyrics: Dialogue, Characterisation and Content research

Green Day- Time of Your Life:

Another turning point;
a fork stuck in the road.

Time grabs you by the wrist;
directs you where to go.

So make the best of this test
and don't ask why.

It's not a question
but a lesson learned in time.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.

Hang it on a shelf
In good health and good time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.

For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

(music break)

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

This song could reflect the characterisation of Billy as this song shows questions that shouldn'tbe answered and it shows orders that possiblyothers havetold him. This can also show content as it contains someone's feelings and luckfor what they have to do which is the same as Billy going to do work for his Father. Dialogue is shown too as it could represent Rory and Marie talking to Billyabout his job.

The song:

Mcfly: End Of The World

I thought I saw somethin' movin'
Eyes in the dark
Under a cloud of confusion
They're gonna tear you apart
I heard that girls are from Venus
And that guys are from Mars
But in the end they all leave us
Once they've destroyed your heart

Looking in your eyes
I can see forever
I heard somebody say
We're being hypnotized
And if it's true then
I really think this could be

The end of the world
(It's the end of the world)
The skies falling down
(The end of the world)
So guys grab the girls
(The end)
And spread the word around

I'd sell my soul to the devil
If I had one to give
The line between good and evil
Is not a safe place to live
I guess that fate drives a needle
She taking me in, oh
But as the clock reaches zero, oh oh

I really think this could be

The end of the world
(It's the end of the world)
The skies falling down
(The end of the world)
So guys grab the girls
(The end)
And spread the word around

Looking in your eyes
I can see forever
I heard somebody say
We're being hypnotized
And if it's true then
I really think this could be

The end of the world
(It's the end of the world)
The skies falling down
(The end of the world)
So guys grab the girls
(The end)
And spread the word around

Oh, this is the end of the world
(It's the end of the world)
The skies falling down
(The end of the world)
So guys grab the girls
(The end)
And spread the word around

This song could represent the secrecy behind Helena and Billy's relationship and the surrounding that they face of War and Death. It also could show the dialogue of the Jews and Billy. The Jews because they believed that their world came to an end because of this torture that the Germans put them through and Billy because his world soon comes to an end at the end of the play and because he witnesses horrfic treatment of the Jews which he does not want to perform himself. It could also show the dialogue of Billy's father as he witnesses what his son has done with Helena.

The song:

Atonement

When Briony Tallis, 13 years old and an aspiring writer, sees her older sister Cecilia and Robbie Turner at the fountain in front of the family estate she misinterprets what is happening thus setting into motion a series of misunderstandings and a childish pique that will have lasting repercussions for all of them. Robbie is the son of a family servant toward whom the family has always been kind. They paid for his time at Cambridge and now he plans on going to medical school. After the fountain incident, Briony reads a letter intended for Cecilia and concludes that Robbie is a deviant. When her cousin Lola is raped, she tells the police that it was Robbie she saw committing the deed when in fact it was a visitor to the estate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement_(film)
This is similar to my radio play because it features a love story during World War Two. It also features the themes of love, betryal and trust as Robbie and Cecilia battle with their love.

Character Research: Isaac Cohen

Character research: Isaac Cohen: Jewish Father: Schindler's List: Ben Kingsley: Itzhak Stern:
Itzhak Stern was a Jewish accountant to German industrialist Oskar Schindler. He worked alongside Schindler as the accountant for his enamelware company. Even though he was Jewish and Schindler was a Nazi, Schindler gave his gratitude to Stern. In their first meeting, Stern informed Schindler that he could use Jewish slave labour to staff his factory at a lower price than Polish laborers. Schindler, recognizing the advantage, took Stern up on his suggestion. Stern was said to be able to bring out the strong moral side of Schindler. Stern, like Schindler, was an opportunist, and he was a main contributor to the rescue of the Schindlerjuden. Stern discovered a way to channel his essentially forced labor for Schindler into a way to help his fellow Jews. As Schindler left Stern to run the factory, he immediately began to give factory jobs to Jews who otherwise would be deemed “nonessential” and would most likely be killed. He forged documents to make teachers and intellectuals appear to be experienced machinists and factory workers. Stern’s motivation to help his people is abundantly clear. He would often advise Schindler about things, mainly the company.  While the relationship between Stern and Schindler was initially purely business, by the end a definite friendship had arisen


This realtes to Isaac because he is a Jewish worker who experienced the horrors of the camps. He is a Jew who dedicated himself to work but appeared to be a good man to work with. He was caring towards other workers and was very old fashioned through his personality( like Isaac).

Character research: Isaac Cohen

Lionel Logue: Geoffrey Rush: The Kings Speech: 

Lionel George Logue, was an Australian speech therapist. Most notably, Logue successfully treated King George VI, who had a pronounced stammer. In this film there is an issue with status which divides these men apart however the disability of the stammer and the friendship that these men have brings them together

This character is similar to Isaac because Isaac like Logue is very caring towards his children and he wants to do the best for other people. Even though he doesn't own much he is still very happy with what he does and he is also very old fashioned which is similar to the Jewish father in my radio play.



Jonathon Cohen: Character Research

Character research: Jonathon Cohen: Jewish Brother: Aldo Raine: Inglourious Basterds: Brad Pitt

Aldo is the main leader of the Basterds who believes that the Germans should be punished for what they have done. He plays a Jew who rebells against the Germans orders and wants the see blood from the Germans. He is violent and is committed to what he wants.

This relates to Jonathon because Jonathon is a young Jewish man who wants to get revenge on the Germans- Jonathon wants to fight and get pay back off his enemy. He wants to protect others around him and he is very focused on what he wants which is very similar to Brad Pitt's character in Inglorious Basterds.

Character research: Jonathon Cohen

Freddie Mays: David Thewlis: Gangster No 1: He is the tough yet humane gangster that Gangster 55 fetishizes. He is a gang leader who most people look up to. However he believes that you should only punish people if they deserve it. He does however later regret who he becomes and retires after seeing the horror that he has done. 

This relates to Jonathon because Freddie Mays is a man who goes by his word. Freddie appears to be a gentleman however his violent side can be seen when someone provokes him or leaves him angry. If he wants revenge he does it but patiently and in his own time. He is a good leader and is also very caring. In gangster No 1 Freddie falls for a woman and he will do anything to keep her safe- this also goes for the other members of his gang- this is similar to Jonathon because Jonathon will do anything to keep his family safe even though he has anger towards the Germans.

Helena Cohen: Character research

Character Research: Helena Cohen

Juliet: Romeo + Juliet: 

Having not quite reached her fourteenth birthday, Juliet is of an age that stands on the border between immaturity and maturity. At the beginning however she seems merely an obedient, sheltered, naïve child. Though many girls her age—including her mother—get married, Juliet has not given the subject any thought. When Lady Capulet mentions Paris’s interest in marrying Juliet, Juliet dutifully responds that she will try to see if she can love him.

Juliet gives glimpses of her determination, strength, and sober-mindedness, in her earliest scenes, and offers a preview of the woman she will become during the four-day span of Romeo and Juliet. In addition, even in Juliet’s dutiful acquiescence to try to love Paris, there is some seed of steely determination. Juliet promises to consider Paris as a possible husband to the precise degree her mother desires.

Juliet’s first meeting with Romeo propels her full-force toward adulthood. Though profoundly in love with him, Juliet is able to see and criticize Romeo’s rash decisions and his tendency to romanticize things. After Romeo kills Tybalt and is banished, Juliet does not follow him blindly. She makes a logical and heartfelt decision that her loyalty and love for Romeo must be her guiding priorities. Essentially, Juliet cuts herself loose from her prior social moorings—her nurse, her parents, and her social position in Verona—in order to try to reunite with Romeo. When she wakes in the tomb to find Romeo dead, she does not kill herself out of feminine weakness, but rather out of an intensity of love, just as Romeo did. Juliet’s suicide actually requires more nerve than Romeo’s: while he swallows poison, she stabs herself through the heart with a dagger.

Juliet’s development from a wide-eyed girl into a self-assured, loyal, and capable woman is one of Shakespeare’s early triumphs of characterization. It also marks one of his most confident and rounded treatments of a female character.

This is very similar to Helena because she too is sheltered and naive at the beginning of the radio play like Juliet however when Helena meets Billy she has a sense of adventure and hope and seems a lot more mature compared to her at the beginning of the play which is also used in Romeo + Juliet. Also, Juliet will do anything for Romeo and she has this idea of their perfect world together even though it is never possible. This is the same as Helena and Billy's relationship.

Character research: Helena Cohen

Alice: Alice In Wonderland: Alice, an unpretentious and individual 19-year-old, is betrothed to a dunce of an English nobleman. At her engagement party, she escapes the crowd to consider whether to go through with the marriage and falls down a hole in the garden after spotting an unusual rabbit. Arriving in a strange and surreal place called "Underland," she finds herself in a world that resembles the nightmares she had as a child, filled with talking animals, villainous queens and knights, and frumious bandersnatches. Alice realizes that she is there for a reason--to conquer the horrific Jabberwocky and restore the rightful queen to her throne.

Alice relates to Helena because they are both innocent at the start of their tale. They are also dismissive, vulnerable and young, however there is a sense of adventure that relates to both of them as Alice runs away from her mothers dream of marriage and finally has the courage to kill the Jabberwocky; this is similar to Helena who runs away from the Germans orders to be with Billy and have that sense of adventure.



Research: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is a classic tale of romance set during a war that complicates everything. It all starts when childhood friends Rafe and Danny become Army Air Corps pilots and meet Evelyn, a Navy nurse. Rafe falls head over heels and next thing you know Evelyn and Rafe are hooking up. Then Rafe volunteers to go fight in Britain and Evelyn and Danny get transferred to Pearl Harbor. While Rafe is off fighting everything gets completely whack and next thing you know everybody is in the middle of an air raid we now know as "Pearl Harbor."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Harbor_(film)

How it relates to my Radio play:
-Love story during war
-Father and son relationships
-How war effects people
-Relationships- Best Friends
-Tragic story
-Content