Critical Analysis of The Dark Knight

'The Dark Knight' (2008) is a directed by Christopher Nolan and written by his brother Johnathan Nolan. The film is set in a fictional city called 'Gotham' in modern day USA based around the story of the fictional character 'Batman'. 'The Dark Knight' is a hybrid between the film noir, crime, superhero and drama genres.

'The Dark Knight' is loosely based on the comic books by DC comics in which the main character  Batman, is depicted as a superhero. The reason the film fits into the superhero genre isn't only because Batman is a superhero but also a number of codes and conventions an audience would expect to find in the superhero genre can also be found in the movie. Firstly a moral code can be seen as a convention/code with in the genre and Batman definitely has one. He doesn't fight crime for money of fame but only to save his city from its high crime rate. Batman is also mentioned to have his 'one rule' in which he believes it is wrong for him to kill people. Another conventions found in the film include Batman's hidden identity, his financial support, his hidden headquarter and his costume. Iconography also helps the audience relate to the film by letting them know it is a superhero film. Icons such as the symbol on Batman's suit tell us he is a superhero because most superhero have some kind of suit with some kind of symbol on it.

'The Dark Knight' uses mise-en-scene in the first scene to add suspense and mystery to the scene. The scene contain a group of criminals wearing clown mask during a bank robbery. Instead of making the scene comical the masks give the criminals a fearful outer exterior and hide there identity.

Chis Nolan uses lighting in 'The Dark Knight' to add meaning to certain scenes. A lot of the film is shot at night, this causes the city of Gotham to have more of a dark feel; as if it was always night time (more crimes happen at night). This dark feel is based on the film noir genre, a genre which Chris Nolan is a big fan of and a genre that 'The Dark Knight fits into. The lighting also helps the audience see/not see certain things within the film. In one scene where the joker is being interrogated we do not realise that batman is in the room until he comes out from the shadows.

Camera shots also help convey different messages Nolan is trying to communicate to us within the film and keep us interested. In one scene the joker is shot hanging upside down but Nolan put the camera the same way as actor Heath Ledger, this is very unusual because it makes it seem like gravity is backward but helps Nolan keep the audience interested in not just the story but the camera work as well. Nolan is famous for playing with this effect even more in the film 'Inception'.

Chris Nolan uses shots from different scenes in 'The Dark knight' to show they are both happening at the same time. In one scene Batman has to save two different people trapped in different parts of the city. Nolan edits shots of both people and Batman together in the same scene to add suspense and help us understand what is going on. This use of fast editing works very well with the movies fast paced sound track and gets us excited by what might happen next in the film.

If we were to analise 'The Dark Knight' using Todorov's narrative theories the five stages would be these:

1. Batman and Gordon are attempting to stop crime within Gotham city.
2. The Joker makes himself known as a dangerous criminal.
3. The Joker claims he will kill someone everyday Batman doesn't reveal his identity.
4. Batman tries to stop joker a number of times.  
5. Batman defeats the Joker but has to live a life of persecution.  

If we were to apply Vladimir Propp's narrative theory that every story has eight character types it would be this:

Villain. Joker
Hero. Batman
Donor. Fox
Helper. Gordon, Alfred, Fox, Dent
Princess. Rachel
Farther. Alfred
Dispatcher. Gordon
False hero. Harvey Dent

The film is edited in linar order but cuts very often between different character making the film very fast paced. The story is told in basically two different story lines, one for the Joker and one for Batman/Bruce Wayne. Almost every scene in the film is necessary to the story. Some scenes like when Batman goes to Hong Kong may seem pointless but they help the audience understand the power that Batman has and helps them compair it in other scenes that show the power the Joker has, such as when he escapes from prison.

 

Critical Analysis of The Wolf of Wall Street

'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013) is a film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese. Scorsese is famous for directing films such as 'Goodfellas' (1990) and is know for his gangster movies. 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is set in the social context of 1980s/90s and  is a hybrid between the crime, biographical, drama and comedy genres. It could also be argued that the film fits into the gangster genre.

First of all we can see 'The Wolf of Wall Street' as a drama. The story contains all that can be expected from a drama and more. First of all Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) is a happily married man but because of his casual sex life and frequent use of drugs he is divorced and marries an ex-model (Robbie). He continues to use more and more drugs and hires many prostitutes. This leads to Jordan and his second wife falling out and eventually she divorces him when he is in prison.

Secondly we can see the film as a comedy. From the start we are entered into the hilarious life of Jordan Belfort. All through the film we hear controversial humour relating to drug use, sex, homosexuality, incest, disability and money. We also see events intended to make us laugh such as Jordan sinking his yacht and taking a large amount of quaaludes. Staring in the movie are a number of comedy actors such as Jonah Hill this helps bring more humour.

'The Wolf of Wall Street' could also be seen to fit into the crime genre. Firstly the only reason why our protagonist is rich is because he is illegally making money through the stock market. He also solves a lot of his problems through violence e.g. when he finds out his butler has stolen some money his co-workers beat the butler up. It can be argued that the movie is actually a gangster film. Jordan Belfort may not be a gangster but he has become a multi-millionaire illegally and has friends who are drug dealers. Much like a gangster film 'The Wolf of Wall Street' focuses on fast cars, drugs, attractive women, expensive clothing and greed. Jordan Belfort has all of these. During the film he claims that he takes enough drugs to "sedate Manhattan, Long Island and Queens for a month". This is very similar the classic gangster film 'Scarface' (1983). The whole movie is based around one man's greed just like a gangster movie would . Even when he gets the perfect wife and family he goes out every night sleeping with prostitutes and taking vast amounts of drugs. At one point in the film Jordan is told he could end up in jail for a long period of time, because of his greed he resorts to giving the FBI information about his friends and co-workers. this has a lot in common with other gangster films. In 'Scarface' (1983) Tony Montana shoots his best friend because he wants no one to have a relationship with his sister, in 'The Godfarther' (1972) Michael Corleone abandons his wife and children in order to run his organised crime family. The idea that within the gangster film genre protagonist usually betray or abandon there loved ones in order to become more rich or powerful proves that 'The Wolf of Wall Street' is a gangster movie.

'The Wolf of Wall Street' contains a lot of iconography. Money is the most important thing in the movie; it buys him drugs, prostitutes, houses, cars and is probably how he got his wife. Because of this importance Scorsese uses symbols to show what the money does. Jordan snorts cocaine through a $100 note showing that money is what buys Jordan drugs and even helps him snort them. Jordan also points out that money itself is a drug and can make you "invincible".


Scorsese plays with this view of money again when there is a scene where Jordan has sex with his wife in a bed full of money. This scene shows that when you have money just like Jordan Belfort you can do what you want. Martin Scorsese's view on Jordan is not shown we do not know if he thinks Belfort is a bad man, All we do know is that money has a lot of power and Scorsese shows us this perfectly.

Another scene shows symbols that relate to capitalism and USA. In the scene Jordan gets a brass band to perform patriotic American music whilst a stampede of prostitutes run on to the stock floor and stock brokers fight over which one they can have sex with. Martin Scorsese's use of the brass band shows that he thinks Jordan has achieved his own version of the American dream, it may not be he traditional version but this is Scorsese's view of capitalism in the modern world. In one of the only emotional bits of the entire movie Jordan refers to his company as Ellis Island. This refers to the island that was the gateway to USA for millions of immigrants at the turn of the century hoping to become rich. Jordan here shows himself as an american hero bringing millions of dollars to those who work hard. This leaves us to question again if Jordan is a hero or villain. Maybe he's both, Scorsese lets us make our own mind up.

'The Wolf of Wall Street' is full of brilliant cinematic content. Scorsese uses his creative genius to hide what the future holds for Jordan. In the scene with the brass band, Jordan watches a stock room full of brokers having sex with prostitutes, this was all his creation and he is proud of it. The brass band fades away and a different song fades in at this point as we see Jordan smile to himself the light starts to flicker, it starts to look like lightning then the scene ends. I believe this could Scorsese foreshadowing that something bad will happen to Jordan because he creates things like the stampede of prostitutes we just saw, or maybe it could mean there is a storm brewing and Jordan's life will get even more mad than it already is. Either way Scorsese is trying to sy something about Jordans greed.

In a few other scenes Jordan speaks directly to the camera. Scorsese has experimented with this before in 'Goodfellas' but has never used it before this much. The use of getting DiCaprio to speak directly into the camera makes the movie more personal. Instead of us seeing Jordan as evil and greedy we see him as our friend. This makes the film more watch-able as Jordan cheats on his wife over and over his relationship with the camera makes the film more personal towards him.

Philosopher Tzvetan Todorov claims that all films follow the same narrative pattern. He claim in a 1969 book that all films go through the same five stages;

1. Equilibrium
2. A disruption of the equilibrium
3. A recognition of disorder
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5. A new equilibrium

 Within 'The Wolf of Wall Street' these are the five stages;

1. Jordan Belfort has been been running successful and illegal brokerage firm for many years and is now a multi millionaire with two children and a wife.
2. FBI agents start to look into Jordan Belfort's business and suspect him of fraud.
3. Belfort decides to step down from his business to escape the penalties he may face but changes his mind at the last minute and stays with his firm.
4. Belfort is told he will end up going to jail but can have time removed his he cooperates with the FBI he agrees to do this.
5. Jordan is sentenced to 36 months in jail and makes a living doing seminars on sales after his release.

Soviet Folklorist Vladimir Propp claimed that within a story they are eight different character types here are the character types applied to 'The Wolf of Wall Street';

Villain. Agent Patrick Denham
Hero. Jordan Belfort
Donor. Brad
Helper. Danny Azoff
Princess. Naomi Lapaglia
Farther. Manny Riskin/Max Belfort
Dispatcher. Manny Riskin/Jean Jacques Saurel
False hero. Agent Patrick Denham

Semiotics in Romeo + Juliet

In a scene from Romeo + Juliet that I watched I noticed quite a few signifiers. One important one was what the two families were wearing. The Montagues were wearing black clothing where as the Capulets were wearing more colourful outfits this signifies that they are two different gangs each with there own gang colours. Black also symbolises bad and colour signifies the Capulets are good. The Montagues clothes were also quite tight showing there muscles, maybe signifying that they are a though, hard and fierce gang that want to dominate Verona. The Capulets wore loose fitting clothes signifying that they do not want to look hard or though cause they are laid back, relaxed and good.

Another sign I  picked up on was the weather. To start with the weather is sunny, its a nice day. even when the Montagues turn up the weather stays sunny because the Capulets make a fool of them. It isn't until Mercutio is wounded that the weather changes into a storm signifying an unhappy ending for the scene.    

Music is also another sign in the scene. It signifies the change in mood, just like the weather. To start with it is just summery background music but quickly turns into western/tribal music to signify the start of a duel of some kind. It then gets very dramatic towards the end as Mercutio dies.

Narrative Theories and Twelve Years a Slave

Equilibrium  0:00-0:10

Solomon Northup is a violin player and free man in 19th century U.S.A.

Dis-Equilibrium 0:10-0:12

Solomon wakes up in chains.

Recognition of Disorder 0:12-1:28

Solomon realises he has been kidnapped into the slave industry.

An Attempt to Restore Damage 1:28-1:55

Solomon writes a letter to his family to tell them what has happend. He burns the letter in oder to not get caught.

New Equilibrium

Gets saved and taken home.

Representaions of Teenager Stereotypes within Films

Here are two photos of tennagers from films. one shows a tennager holding a gun in the movie 'Kidulthood' this is nagative because it represents teenages as violent. The other image shows two teenagers from 'Elephant' this shows them taking a photo representing them as creative and smart. 

 

Representations of Homeless Stereotypes within Films

Here are two photos of homeless people from films. One of the films is 'The Pursuit of Happiness' and shows a positive representation of a homeless person. It does this by showing him wearing a suit meaning he really wants to work and also even though he is homeless he still looks after his son. The other image is from 'Run Lola Run' and is a negative representation of a homeless person. it is negative because it shows him with a gun.

Stanley Kubrick

Stanley Kubrick was an american film director, screen writer, producer, cinematographer and editor. He is famous for the 16 films he directed during his career, including; 'The Shinning', 'Full Metal Jacket' and 'A Clockwork Orange'.

What makes Kubrick an auteur is that all his films have the same style of directing and storytelling. He knew how to get the most out of actors and was a perfectionist with minor details. Because of his experience as a photographer, Kubrick produced shots in the best way he could using symmetry, 'one point perspective' and the 'rule of thirds'. Due to his attention to the composition of his shots a fast moving camera is a rare sight in his films-slow tracking shots are how he would tend to move the camera.
His movies generally have the same themes; usually about someone with an inner struggle but his films tend not to show his personal opinion or attitude to the situation at hand. His film are famously open to our own personal interpretation just as he wanted them.

Themes

• Characters with an inner struggle
• Stories open to interpretation
• Man vs Technology
• Entrapment (the protagonist never seem to escape)

Styles

• Slow tracking shots
• Well composed scenes
• Extreme wide angle lenses

Personally I am a big fan of Stanley Kubrick. Some people may argue that his films are slow moving, uneventful or even boring, but that is because his films aren't about great stories, instead they focus on cinema as an art form; not a type of story telling. Because of my strong interest in cinematography i love Kubrick but others may disagree.

The Orphanage review

Recently I watched the spanish horror film 'The Orphanage' and have been asked to write a review. First of all I was shocked by how good the film actually was. I have always seen the horror genre as cheap and predictable but this was completely different to what I expected. The movie is set in what was once a humble spanish orphanage, but has become a creepy, creaky and, as we can expect, haunted mansion. The story is based around a woman who was once a resident at the orphanage as a small child but has since decided she wishes to go back and set up her own school for special needs children with her adopted son and husband. As you can guess the horrors of a violant past come back to interrupt her plans.

The film is shot brilliantly with long tracking shots and experiments at unusual angles such as right over the head of the actors. the beauty of the film is most certainly the work of its producer Guillermo del Toro, who is also the director of the famous 'Pan's Labyrinth'. Toro makes full use of the typical horror setting. In some respects the film is very simular the the shinning: A large building in a remote area full of the ghosts of the past. But unlike the shinning this is not fully a horror, the first half hour is just like a family drama. They move in, settle down and then it starts to get creepy. The film does contain the typical horror scares (creeking doors, dark lighting) but also highlights issues we wouldnt noramlly find in the horror genre (adoption, HIV). The film isbt the scariest horror ive seen but it did make me jump at least 4 times and there are parts where the protagonist (laura) is in the orphange all by herself... that is certain to creep anyone out.

All together the film is great, it has a strong narrative helped by the brilliant horror setting and beutifull camera movments. The sound effects were also crutial to why the full is so good (as with every horror). also the ending was a brilliant conclution but may be disliked by uniterlectual audiences. In conclutionb 'The Orphanage' is a brilliant horror but may not be appealing to so horror fans who are just lokking for a fright.