Eyes in the Sky Movie Analysis Essay

In the movie, Eyes in the Sky, we observed an event that demonstrated multiple qualities of Aristotle's Rhetorical qualities, as stated by Purdue Writing Lab, ”Logos is frequently translated as some variation of “logic or reasoning,” Ethos is frequently translated as some variation of “credibility or trustworthiness,” and “Pathos is frequently translated as some variation of “emotional appeal.”(Purdue Writing Lab) These qualities are very important when writing or creating almost everything, they help to create a goal that the project is trying to achieve. The two characters I chose to write on were Lieutenant general portrayed by Alan Rickman, and Colonel, portrayed by Helen Mirren. 

Firstly, Ethos. This movie did not tell much about the ethos involved but more showed us. It also was able to make me doubt some of the characters at some points because of the way certain situations were handled. With Colonel, she overall showed many good examples of professionalism as well as quite a bit of difficult decision making. That in itself is a great example of ethos, showing that she was trusted with these duties and decisions. But just as there were positives, there were also negatives. In some situations, she had someone in the room that seemed to be a supervisor of some kind. When she was possibly getting too worked up on what decision should be made, he told her to refer up. He did this multiple times. (Hood, Eye in the Sky). This is not to say that she is not a credible character with valuable characteristics and experiences, but it shows that she may be hasty with some choices at times, just to get the job done. 

Lieutenant general also seemed to show quite a bit of credibility, specifically there was q one example at the end of the movie after all was said and done. He and one woman from the team he had been working with were alone in the meeting room. When she said to him something along the lines of, You sat there in your chair, while people were risking their lives. And he responded by saying “Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war.”(Hood, Eye in the Sky).This situation showed the true expanse of his past experiences and what had brought him up to this point in his life and career.

Moving forward, I would like to speak on pathos. Pathos was found often throughout the film, even though you would not think of emotion as being a part of a movie about military operations. The way pathos was shown here, gave a new view of some of those in the military and how they are people and have emotions just like all of us. Pathos seemed to hold a very important place in this movie and the characters, all of which showed Pathos in different ways, held important roles that helped advance the plot.

The colonel showed Pathos through the movie in the way she reacted to the decisions she had to make. She was put into many difficult situations, which she handled to the best of her ability. For example, while the girl was selling her bread and they were trying to get her out of the danger zone, the colonel reacted with Pathos but not in the way you might think. She started to show anger more than sympathy because the mission kept getting interrupted and she had to maneuver around people's feelings so to speak. (Hood, Eye in the Sky)

This seems to be a similar case with the Lieutenant General. Despite him being in a different location, away from the colonel, he reacted similarly to her, showing frustration when the people in the meeting room with him did not agree with him and take his course of action. They wanted to give the girl as much time as physically possible to get out of there, even though that would compromise the mission.(Hood, Eye in the Sky) It is reasonable to react as such in such a situation, because there was so much bickering back and forth, making it difficult to persuade others to his side.

And lastly, Logos. Logos was also an important part of this film because to make a level-headed decision, those in charge had to look at all the facts to make their plan work. There were many numbers and statistics brought forward during this movie, which in my opinion is a good demonstration of logos. The colonel showed logos through the way that she handled the plan, despite the fact that it had many points in which they thought it may fail, she stuck with her goal and kept going till she succeeded. 

Near the beginning, they showed the process of confirming the identities of those in the house.To quote her, she said “I have to know if Danford is inside and who is with her.” (Hood, Eye in the Sky).Instead of letting her emotions take over and hastily moving forward, she seemed to use logic to reason with herself and think about the aftermath of how this may play out if it was handled incorrectly. (Hood, Eye in the Sky) Consistently, she kept her head level, even when many others were starting to disagree with her. One specific example that I remember, is when the pilot started going against her wishes. She was getting fed up, but remained logical and let what needed to happen, happen. (Hood, Eye in the Sky)

The Lieutenant-General also showed some logos, especially during the part of the movie where there was constant arguing back and forth as to when they should drop the attack. (Hood, Eye in the Sky).On the side of many others in the room, they wanted to be as casualty free as possible, while on the lieutenant general's side, he wanted to be quick and efficient with it, even though at some points he walked the line between the arguments. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, It had an interesting plot that I didn't necessarily expect, and it was easy to follow. It's not the type of movie I would generally watch, but since it housed the three qualities ethos, logos, and pathos, it added another level of personality to the movie, making it feel more real and less one-dimensional. Learning about ethos logos and pathos has really helped me, and now I look for those qualities in almost every movie that I watch. I'm glad that I was able to participate in this class, and I will hopefully be applying these skills in every aspect of my life that I can.

Works Cited

Hood, Gavin, director. Eye in the Sky. Hulu, 2015. 

Purdue Writing Lab. “Aristotle's Rhetorical Situation // Purdue Writing Lab.” Purdue Writing Lab, owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/rhetorical_situation/aristotles_rhetorical_situation.html.