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Anthony Sangillo
Professor Dana
Cinematography
2 February, 2018
Silver Linings Playbook
As urban dictionary states,“A silver lining playbook is phrase used to tell someone that
there is a brighter side to the problem they are facing.” The phrase comes from the fact that,
every dark rain cloud has a silver edge, or lining. So as other users commented, the silver lining
describes a good side of something that is apparently bad”. (Urban Dictionary). To title a movie
this, it is imperative for a director to truly capture and zone in on the true definition of what a
“Silver linings playbook is”. Director David O Russell accomplished this in his award winning
movie and portrayed the true definition of a SIlver lining playbook.
David Owen Russell who was born August 20th 1998 in Manhattan New York. Russell is
known for his films addressing mental illness as a stigma or hope, which is seen first hand in the
film “Silver Linings Playbook”. Russell’s films portray intense, multi-personality, characters who
are extremely in depth. Russell has been nominated for 5 academy awards, and four Golden
Globes. Along with many other different types of cinematic awards as well, he is a well
renowned director and has produced many movies with big time actors such as Robert De Niro,
Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence who were all main characters in the
film. In Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for the academy award of
Best Actress for her work in Silver Linings Playbook. Russell is also infamously known for his
other films such as, American hustle, The Fighter, and his most recent, Joy. Each of these films
display a type of disorder or troubled character. The types of characters that are complex like this
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are common in his films. Russell is very open about his family’s history of mental disorders and
is very active in the community of raising awareness. Russell son, Matthew, suffers from OCD
disorder and autism, which are very similar to Pats condition in the movie, who is played by
Bradley Cooper. Russell wrote a part for Matthew in the movie, where he makes an appearance
as a noisy neighbor in the film to truly capture the reality of the disorder, first hand. On Russell’s
sons condition he states “”It’s always a moving target and a challenge, but he’s doing great”
(Russel). Russell also made a comment on his sons appearance in the film that “”I was trying to
find a role I thought he could handle. I thought it would be nice for him — for both of us and the
family — to have a movie that his stuff was a part of.”(Russel). Russell speaks from the heart in
his films and shares his personal experiences through his cinema work which is what makes his
