The relationship between the audience
and the film is created when they are watching the film and are either trying
to understand what information is the film trying to pass on or just finding
pleasure in watching the movie. In this example I wanted to talk about the film
Inception as it clearly shows the relationship between the audience and the
film as not only the viewer is able to analyse what they see but also they
might find pleasure in watching that movie.
In this movie the viewer is
able to use active spectatorship when watching as they can try to reconstruct
the deeply complex meaning of this movie. Although it might be hard for them to
do so, as there isn’t really a way to use the knowledge from similar genres as
this film is unique and the meaning is only revealed to the audience when the
director wants it to be revealed. Looking at patterns might help in
reconstructing the meaning but that might be complex as well as there are many
unexpected turns of events and it is really hard for the viewer to predict what
might happen next in the movie or what the meaning of scenes that were shown is.
Pleasure is another aspect
which might strengthen the relationship between the audience and this film.
This is because the audience might feel strong emotions towards the life story
of the main character. They might feel empathy towards him as not only he lost
his wife which he loved a lot, but she made sure that he would not be able to
see his kids and he blames himself for it as he created inception inside her
head. So as the viewer knows that they might relate to this kind of situation,
which of course would look a bit different and more realistic but they can
relate as something similar might have happened to them. This can also, be
dragged under the frameworks of interpretation where the audience might look
for meanings which relate to their own experiences. So as I have said before
they might relate this kind of situation to themselves as they might have lost
someone that was really close to them or someone that they loved. And by knowing
this they might be able to try to understand how the character will develop
throughout the movie and how will he behave.
In this film effects are a crucial
part of the narrative as they show the audience how the world looks in a dream,
that practically anything is possible. This might allow the relationship to strengthen
as the effects in this movie are used to professional standards and they add
flow and context to the movie which would be lost without them. Anyway the
audience are used to effects and they seem to expect to see visual effects
used, so if there isn’t really any effects used then they might feel disappointed
unless it is a movie which a deep narrative and just doesn’t need any special
effects.
If the relationship between the
audience and the film is really strong and they appreciate the film, they there
are many fan websites on which they are able to leave their comments or meaning
of the movie, which in case of inception is practically vital as different
people might have completely different interpretations of what has happened in
the movie. This is usually called fandom and audience can show their appreciation
through official fan websites, fan made websites or even different events that
take place around the world. The same happens with social networking sites
where the audience can share their experience with the movie with their friends
and even recommend it if they really liked it.
The conditions of reception
with this movie is really vital as well, as it cannot be watched with any
disruptions as there is so much action in it that the viewer would quickly get
lost is a complex narrative and would not fully understand the movie which
might weaken the relationship which would be built stronger if the movie would
be watched in a quiet room or even cinema. This is because this allows the
audience to concentrate fully on the narrative and the action that is happening
in the movie and then to understand every little bit that is shown in there. This
would make the audience be satisfied as they would have at least tried to
interpret the movie themselves and at the same time strengthen the
relationship.
The interest in public opinion began in 1920’s and
30’s when Americans began to observe the reactions of their audience relating
their product. But it wasn’t until 1940’s when the producers started to use
experimental measures of viewer response. A good example that shows an in depth
relationship between producers and the audience can be seen by the film The
Dark Knight. The marketing of the film began with numerous websites which
allowed the audience to have a small glimpse at what might be shown in the
movie, telling the people to vote for Harvey Dent just like they would be
citizens of Gotham City and they were a part of the conflict that was going on
between the criminals and the politicians. The next websites showed a hacked
version of the original articles but destroyed by Joker which added few Joker
smiles to the pictures and black hollow eyes, as well changing the text showing
that he is more superior than the law. When the viewer subscribed to the
original website they might have received promotional packs which encouraged voting
for Harvey Dent. On the Joker side, a website was made to rent a clown and the
audience could have sent their picture of them wearing Joker like make-up so
that it would be put on there and others would be able to see it. This engaged
the viewer into the film even more as could already see a conflict rising,
which meant that the film began to show its context even before it was released.
But apart from websites, the producers developed
their relationship with the audience by producing merchandise. One example
could be shown by Burger King which made a special meal called Dark Whooper
which was sold as an advertisement of the film. Later on they also produced
advertisements showing their customers doing bad things and saying ‘bring out
your dark side’ which greatly related to the film. They have also produced a
line of advertisement for children. This meant that they have received a free
toy with the meal that they have ordered to further promote the movie and build
a stronger relationship with a wide age range of audience. Other merchandise
was produced in line with Warner Bros and the items ranged from mugs, phone
cases, costumes and clothing which allowed a wide variety of audience choose
what kind of items is mostly suitable for them and buy it.
Varied media was sending the audience on scavenger
hunts, to take photographs in certain places and upload them to the websites
which revealed parts of pictures which either shown a photograph of Joker when
fully revealed or led them to other websites which shown them different views
that might be a concern on the film or allowed them to participate even more in
the project which gave them a satisfaction that they can be a part of it and
the relationship between the producers and the audience grew even stronger.
The real target audience for this film would be the
hardcore comic book fans which were also taken on a trip in Jokers world as in San Diego during the comic
con they were sent on an interactive chase. This chase made them look for clues
that were around the city and at the end of the clues a fan was kidnapped by
the Joker. Later at the con the fans were given a Gotham City newspaper which
said ‘See you in December’ and showed the fan dead with the Jokers card in his
hand.
Another interesting way that the producers used to
build a strong relationship with the audience were the posters shown as they
features the logo of the production and the main characters, which not only
makes the audience interested in the production but is also eye catching which
might bring new viewers to the film as they might feel that they like the way
that the poster was created and decide to watch the film. The main characters
also, showed up on the covers of magazines like Total Film or Empire which might
have brought new viewers to the film and strengthened the relationship with the
old ones.
The film premiere was changed because of the death
of Heath Ledger, the actor that played Joker, in his memory the carpet instead
of red was black and the actors dressed accordingly in dark colours as well,
promoting the movie at the same time but also showing that they lost someone
from their crew. Later on the orchestra played extracts from the movie and
there was a show which featured the iconic Batmobile.
After the premiere of the film, it received a score
of 9.0 points on IMDB and 94% on Rotten Tomatoes which are very high scores
showing that the film was successful and encouraging the people who weren’t
really that interested in it to watch it.
Independent movies are feature films which are
created mostly or completely outside of a major studio. The film is considered
an independent only when less than a half of its finance comes from a major
studio. Independent films might find it hard to get a distributor, this is
because unlike the Hollywood and their subsidiaries which already have
distributors; independent films mostly are complete before they find a
distributer, which mostly happens at different film festivals. When the
distributor would want to acquire the film from the owner they would buy it for
a set fee, meaning that the producers would not receive any further payments
for the money it would make during the sales. Another option is that they might
offer them a cut from the film's profits, which means that they will receive a
certain percentage from the amount of money that the film earned. This kind of
process is called acquisition. Independent films can be funded in anyway the
producer wants. They might fund it themselves, get help from different websites
like kickstarter which might help fund it. The financial determinants depend on
the amount of money the producer has or is able to raise to film its movie. It
is best if an Independent movie has at least one star casted into the movie as
this might help with securing the distribution because the movie might sell
better if the audiences see someone that they can identify.
International co-production movies are created
when two or more countries decide to come together to make a film. Many of the
films which are made outside the USA are international co-productions. The
co-productions are made by official agreement between countries, and they seek
to achieve economic, cultural and diplomatic goals. They open new markets for
films and TV programmes which might increase the quality of the productions
because of the share of investment. International co-productions benefit from
the share of financial resources. This means that the financial situation
depends on those countries who are filming the movie as they share the costs of
the production. So, if big production companies from different countries come
together to make a film then they will have much more money to produce it
rather than if small production companies were supposed to do the same. The
funding bodies for such films would be the production companies which are
making the film or organisations from those countries which help with such
projects. The amount of money that the productions will receive depends on the
production companies and the different organisations that might help. The tax
incentives depends on the country where the film is being made. This means that
the tax that is being paid for the income from the movie is being calculated by
the country in which the filming is taking place. Sometimes production companies
prefer to enter an international agreement if the tax is lower in the other
country and they would earn more money because of that fact.
Developing countries is a third production
context which refers to the films that are made mainly in Africa, Asia and
Latin America, this kind of productions can also be called third cinema. These
films usually cover political and social issues of those countries which lets
the people associate with the films as they understand the problems that are
covered in there. In Africa, this cinema is called Nollywood and it covers
issues like independence and cultural identity. They can easily identify with
this cinema as the films usually show a lot of tribes but also, moved on to
upper class life, like businessmen and women. Third cinema is a really poor
production context as the countries in which it is aren't that rich. This means
that the films are made with really low budgets and have amateur actors. The
films are also burnt onto CDs after the post-production to lower the costs even
more. But because the these films are made with low budget, then any sponsors
that they might get and make the budget higher might have control over the production
stage of the movie.
The movie In Fear is a film in horror genre, this is because of all the
narrow roads which might make the viewer seem uncomfortable and even claustrophobic,
not only because of the narrow roads but also because the main characters are
stuck in their car, which might not be a safe place, as anyone can easily brake
the window and get to them. Also, the unexplainable situations that happen show
the horror genre. This is because the main characters appear to be in some kind
of a labyrinth from which there isn't any way to escape, which scares the
viewer as they imagine how they would feel if they were in such a situation.
The last aspect that represents the horror genre of the movie is the darkness and
the night that finally crosses the path of the characters. The darkness is a
classical theme that appears in horror movies, as it hides the unseen terrors
from the viewers and that's what scares them the most.
The production context into which the film In Fear fit into is the
British context, this is because it stars mostly UK actors and the action is happening
within the UK. Also, most of the action is happening within one place, which is
visited over and over by the characters, and most of the action is shown in the
car, they barely get out of it. And most of all there aren't that many
characters used in this movie when comparing it to the Hollywood or Bollywood
productions. Talking about the characters, the 3 stars that were presented in
the movie are quite popular Iain De Caestecher, Alice Englert and Allen Leech
have played in many productions before, this means that the British production
context does use popular people, unlike the Bollywood context which uses the
local people which aren't really known around the world.
The film In Fear represents the British production context by different
aspects, like by the narrative, characters, dialogues and locations used. The
dialogue is reflects the British context by the strong use of British accent by
the actors, which instantly communicates the production context to the
audience. Also, they use slang language sometimes in the movie and there is
slight bad language, which is quite common in British films. Another aspect is
the location; the whole movie was filmed in the UK which is not only shown by
the classic UK countryside but also, by the weather. It starts to rain during
the movie and it does so for quite a long time, I suppose that this was made on
purpose to represent the British production context, much clearer, to the
viewer. Furthermore, the characters show that the audience are watching a
British production context movie, as two of the actors originate from UK, so
having a UK cast only strengthens the idea of a British context. The British
style narrative is reflected by the use of effects, which weren’t as
spectacular as Hollywood production context uses, without massive explosions or
incredible CGI effects, but the narrative in this situation is much more
important than the SFX, which shows the British production context as they try
to make the narrative of the film more effective than the effects that are
shown in it.
The technology that was used in this film relates to the production
context as there was no CGI used or any special make-up apart from the blood.
It relates because British production context is much different from the other
contexts, it doesn’t use SFX as often as Hollywood for example but puts more
work into the quality of the movie, rather than the quantity of special effects
or CGI. This film was much different from the other ones which I have looked
at, because of many aspects; some of them include the use of CGI, or SFX
make-up. For example This film is different from World War Z because they,
massively used CGI to create the zombies, or various explosions, which isn’t
really seen in the film In Fear, that’s why it is completely different from the
Hollywood context. Also, in In Fear they didn’t use any SFX make-up to make a
person look like someone else, just like in the film Rise of the Zombie where
they placed a lot of make-up on the actor to make him look like a zombie. In
film In Fear they have only used some blood to show wounds, whereas in the
Bollywood production context they have used much more make-up.
The
film Rise of the Zombie was a horror genre this is because of the brutality,
gore and inhumane behaviour shown in the movie. And all of these actions are committed
by a zombie who eats human flesh and insects. But the whole horror genre starts
from the idea that the main character travels to a forest far from the
civilization meaning that it is very desolate so no-one would be able to help
him if something happens and that is what happens, he gets bitten and there is
no way he could get any help, as he thinks that he is alright and no-one else
saw what happened to him so no-one is worried about it and they won’t put him
in hospital. Furthermore, there is one more aspect which makes this film a
horror genre, it is the parts of the bodies which the main character finds
everywhere, like hands, eyes and other parts, it is really scary to find something
like that in the place where you are, especially if you have no idea what is
happening to you; you don’t expect it, and even don’t remember what happened to
the owner of these body parts.
The
production context that this film related to is Bollywood, this is because of
the place where all the action is happening, in India. This is shown not only
through the location but also by the language in which they speak in mostly,
Hindi, and by the food which is brought to the main character by one of the
villagers, which is probably one of their traditional foods. Also, the production
context is represented by the effects that they use, because of their small
budget they aren’t using any SFX but to make the main character look like a
zombie they put a lot of make-up on him to lighten his face, make wounds on him
and apply the fake blood. Another aspect is the music, which is just classical
in all the Bollywood movies. Furthermore, the action is taking really long to
develop, and the viewer is waiting really long to see if there would be any
action that would define the climax of the movie, but there is barely any.
Also, the star in this movie is Luke Kenny, which isn’t a really famous person
in our regions of the world, but I can guess that he might be famous in India
and some regions around it, because he not only directed the movie but also,
played the role of the main character.
The production context relates to the film by the
narrative, dialogue, characters and locations used. The dialogues are mostly in
Hindi but there are some English words used which I think is just pathetic, as
it is shown in this movie how much they want to drive to the Hollywood style of
films. But even though they try to do so, the dialogue that they use is all
said in nice language, there is no swearing or other bad language so they still
keep to the Bollywoods’ standards, but drive into the Hollywood direction. Also,
the locations used in the film, they seem like India’s shanty town and forest.
They show completely different standards of filming compared to Hollywood.
Furthermore, the narrative of the film is concentrated around the feelings of
the main characters which are the typical course of action that is taken by the
Bollywood. And even though they broke up at the beginning of the movie, the
main character keeps on calling the girl, and then she tries to find him after
his disappearance, so this means that even though they argued their
relationship, might still develop throughout the movie, which is really weird
but I guess that they might feel bad about what happened between them. The
production context is also, represented by the characters that play in the
movie. All of them are from India, but the main character and his uncle have
English surnames which is another move towards the Hollywood context. But, because
there was a much smaller budget for this production than for the Hollywood one,
there were far less characters playing in it, which didn't even fill out the 7
spheres of action. So, this shows that this production context is way different
from the Hollywood context which usually tries to put many characters in the
film, to fill out all the 7 spheres.
The technology which was used in this film was much
more limited than the one used for Hollywood production, this is because Hollywood
used CGI to make their zombies, which made them look very realistic, and really
scary. But just because Bollywood didn't have the same technology it doesn't
mean that the zombie looked worse, it was just a smaller scale apocalypse than
in the World War Z. The Bollywood context used mostly SFX make-up to make the
zombie look realistic and with the various lightning techniques, it looked
pretty scary at points. At other points, the zombie looked very gruesome, especially,
when he was ripping his skin from his arm to show how he is changing and along
with him his body. But apart from the visual techniques, the film was lacking
in soundtrack, the jumpy bits should have such soundtrack that would scare the
viewer, just like in World War Z when the family was running up the stairs to
the helicopter, there was a lot of soundtrack there which made the viewer jump each
time the zombies came out. Whereas, in Rise of the Zombie, there is a lot of
that missing, as when the main character attacks the people, it's not even
scary because of the lack of the soundtrack. Also, there was one mistake which
I spotted in that movie, when the main character rips out the heart from a man
chest he puts his hand in the part of the body where stomach would be or even
the start of intestines, but still rips the heart out, I think that it would
look more realistic if he would put the hand a bit higher, at the height of the
sternum.
The movie World War
Z is a horror genre this is because the whole film is filled with zombies
running around and killing people. Because there are a lot of zombies, we can
see very animalistic behaviour within the dead society, they are unscrupulous,
driven by hunger which leads them into aggression against human kind and they
are uncontrollable as it can be seen that they don’t even care if their bodies
get damaged or totally broken down. Also, we can see that the action is taking
place in many dark, desolate, secluded locations which bring the tension up as
the viewers wonder what might happen next to the characters and if they would
survive.
World War Z was
filmed as a Hollywood production context, by the Paramount Pictures which are
an American company. Most of the actors which were present in the film were
American which responds to the Hollywood context. Also, there was a great
amount of money put into the film as a budget because the main actor travelled
the world a lot, visiting about four countries and he was also on a ship with
his family. The budget corresponds to the production context as mostly
Hollywood production have a large budget because it is the most popular
context, and if it is known by many people then it is aimed at larger amount of
audience and more money will be earned because of the film so they put a large
budget into it. Also, the CGI that was used in the film making the zombies was
very realistic which means that no amateur did it but it was a job for an
expert, so this also means that more money was put in the film to make it look
as realistic as it is possible.
The star that was
involved in this movie was Brad Pitt, which is associated as a hard to kill,
tuff guy, but also, as loyal man which will fight for his family. This is
because he starred in movies like: Fight Club (1999) or The Curious Case of
Benjamin Button (2008). Both of these films are extremely different, one
showing aggression, fighting and hate and the other one showing love, care and
sympathy for the other person. World War Z combines both of these ideas in one
film, showing Brad Pitt as a dangerous but also a caring man.
The
locations used in the film relate to the production context as there is a wide
variety of places where the main character travels to, this must have involved
a large budget so only big production contexts would be able to do it. But the
action begins in America so it is just simple that the production context would
be American. In the film World War Z the characters greatly refer to the
production context as it uses the full 7 spheres of action. The hero, which is
really obvious, is Brad Pitt. This is because he shows up throughout the whole
movie and practically saves the day, just like all the heroes should. Also,
this actor is quite famous and because of this his character refers to the
Hollywood production context as they usually use very famous people and put
them into the main roles. The villain is usually the person who opposes the
hero, but this time, it is a disease, which by infecting people tries to stop
the hero from succeeding. This means that the villains are the zombies. The
false hero in this situation would be Thierry which is the person that brought
all the main actors onto the ship. The reason that he is the false hero is that
he promises the family to stay and be safe on the ship and then he sends them
off to a different place, which looks like he would betray them when they
weren't needed anymore. Heroes’ helper would be Segen, the woman that the main
character saved from becoming a zombie by cutting her arm off. She helps the
hero to travel to the W.H.O. research facility. The dispatcher in this film is
the Naval Commander which sends the hero to Korea as he begins his quest around
the world. Person that needs to be saved by the hero and at the same time the
princess would be the main characters’ wife as, he is starting his journey because
of her, he does it to protect her so that she would be able to stay in on the
ship with the daughters and be safe. The last character in the 7 spheres would
be the doctor from the research facility; he would be the donor as he gives the
hero the opportunity to get viruses to save the healthy people. The dialogue
used in World War Z is practically the English that we can hear from day to day
basis, it is just, there aren’t any hard or uncommon words used in it, whereas
in British the dialogue might be more complex or just stereotypic. And in
Bollywood movies the dialogue might be done in their language, which would
greatly reflect that production context. The narrative relates to the
production context as it is mostly based on constant action, and the Hollywood
production context is known for making films like this, with big explosions and
dramatic actions, whereas other production contexts try to produce different
kinds of narratives, not mostly action based only.
The
technology used in the film relates to the production context because zombies
were made using CGI, which was used very professionally as they looked
realistic. This allowed the production context to put more money into CGI than
actors, which surely need to be paid more than it is spent on people who would
act. In these scenes there are no way that someone would act in a wrong way as
the zombies were generated in there so fewer scenes had to be retaken. So if
the production company didn’t have to pay so much for the actors then because
of the saved money they could put more of them into CGI and produce much better
quality images. Also, some scenes were probably, impossible to film with
actors, like the climb of the zombies onto the wall in Jerusalem which meant
that CGI was essential to use.
While watching The Silence of the Lambs I have noticed the use of some
semiotics. The first one would be the fog. Fog is the iconic element of many
horrors representing danger, and being unsafe but also a mystery as something
that cannot be seen because of the fog might be hiding in it. As it was used in
the forest in the opening scene, it made the forest seem as a much more
dangerous place than it really is, and having the image of a woman in there gives
a feeling of uncertainty to what will happen to her. Another semiotic which I
have noticed is the use of moths. Moths are night butterflies, and butterflies
are a sign of rebirth or as it would be more relevant to the story of finding
own identity, referring to Buffalo Bill which didn't feel himself as a man and
wanted to be reborn in a woman's skin, hence the murders. The last semiotic
which I noticed was the clever use of darkness, which is another iconic element
of nearly all horror stories. It was used in many situation, when Clarice was
in garage of some kind, when she found the head in a jar, it was mostly dark in
there and it felt really unsafe, just like something was about to jump out on
her. The other use of darkness was when Clarice was nearly killed by Buffalo
Bill. The action there really brought the tension up and left the viewers in doubt
if Clarice is going to survive, especially
that Bill had noctovision glasses and he could easily see Clarice, how scared
she was and didn't even know which way to walk to escape. This semiotic has
shown the real horror part of the film, and was used really well.
The opening scene in Silence of
the Lambs, clearly shows the horror genre of the film. This is because of the
eeriness within the forest, which is caused by the fog that is just above the
ground and the dark and unlively colour of the forest just like it would be
dead. The forest seems to be a very large place as we can see in the first few
seconds when we are introduced to Clarice when she is climbing a steeper part
of the forest and the camera shows that the a horizon full of trees. This part
adds a little bit of eeriness because the forest seems to be very secluded, and
the viewer might not feel really comfortable with a woman, which seems to be
there alone, to be in that place. Supposedly, it might be because the viewer
can see her running, but they don't know if she is running away from something
or someone, or if she just does her regular training. She surely doesn't look
scared but the viewer might be unsure of her fate, because if she isn't running
away from anyone, then what is she doing in those woods, and will something
attack her during the running? These might be the questions that the viewer
will think of when watching the very beginning, and will start to connect with
Clarice as a character. But this scene is what shows the viewer that it is a
horror movie, because it raises so much questions, and shows her vulnerability
because if she would be attacked by someone in such a large forest then, there
surely wouldn't be any help for her as no-one would hear her screaming if
something happened. Also, the soundtrack that is played in the background sounds
very mysterious, making the this scene seem even more eerie than it is, this is
because it is quite a normal exercise for people to go for a jog, even around a
forest, but the soundtrack makes the viewer wonder, what actually might happen
next to Clarice. So, as the viewer learns a bit later on, she is on a FBI
training camp, and does her routine exercise and in there are few signs which
have been cleverly put in the foreground of the shot. They might seem like
normal signs but it is quite easy to figure out that they correspond to the
character which the viewer meets a bit later, Hannibal Lecter. This is because the
viewer learns that Lecter used to kill people and then eat them, which means
that they were in hurt, agony and pain, and Hannibal loved to do it, so the
words might be a connotation of Hannibal's behaviour but also represent Buffalo
Bill's action, but as far as the film shows it Bill didn't really love the
killing, as he was rejecting that idea as much as he could, treating woman that
he captured as objects rather than people, so I suppose that the signs reflect
the idea of Hannibal's character rather than Bill's. Another thing which is
barely visible about the signs which might also, correspond to Lecter is the
last, a bit blurred sign; when the movie is stopped in the right moment the
viewer might just about to make out the word 'pride' which has really faded
out. Theoretically, it might also
reflect Hannibal's character because it can be easy seen that he was proud of
his actions and did not regret anything that he did; and he did show that he is
capable of continuing his work if he gets out of jail.
The main character in Silence of the Lambs is portrayed to be a
strong, individual woman, which can handle anything. But also, because of the
fact that she is a woman she is disregarded by a lot of people. This can be
mostly seen by the actions of the policemen which see no real authority in her.
This happens when she and her boss are talking with the policemen at a funeral
and when she begins to tell them what to do they look at her like they would be
surprised that a woman gives them commands. This just shows how much respect
they have for her, but there is no surprise in this, because if she is in a
mostly men orientated job, like it can be seen in the lift where she is
practically surrounded by them, then they don’t expect a woman to be as good as
them in the same job. But she proves them wrong, at the point when the men stop
believing that she will be useful and take her of the case.
She shows that not
only they were wrong when looking through the suspects, but she finds the real
killer and saves the kidnapped girl. This shows that she has a strong character
and doesn’t give up easily which has helped her when she was talking with
Lecter. At that point we can nearly see her breaking, as she was really touched
by his opinions about her life, but she gets back on track each time and gets
some information from him. This also shows that she takes risks to achieve what
she has to, as she was warned not to play Lecters’ games as he might destroy
her psychologically, but she does that anyway.Clarice is also, portrayed as an attractive woman because,
Buffalo Bill admires her for a long time before he decides to kill her, this
just shows that even for him she was attractive. But also, a lot of men try to “hit
on her” as she asked one man herself. Another scene, where it can be seen that Clarice is portrayed as an attractive woman is when she is running with her friend on the training camp and male officers gaze at them even though they have run next to them, they still look back. Apart from being attractive she is also,
seen as a sexual toy by the prisoners. This can be seen at the point when she
enters the prison and all the men start behaving like animals and one even
throws his cum on her, showing that he would want to do only one thing with
her.
The
Queer Theory is relatable to one of the characters in this film, more precisely
to Buffalo Bill. This is because he would want to become a woman, but it was
made impossible to him, so instead he dresses like a woman and puts make-up on
his face to look like one. But he is so obsessed with the idea of becoming a
woman that he kidnaps woman and kills them to cut the skin from their backs to
make himself a woman suit that he would probably want to wear. This is a very
negative portrayal of a homosexual because people might associate all
homosexuals to be so obsessed about the other gender that they might kill to
become someone else, but it isn't really relatable to all homosexuals as all
people are individually different from others and they cannot be stereotyped
because of someone's behaviour. But as it was said in the film, we learnt that
Buffalo Bill wasn't born a homosexual, he was cruelly treated, so this might
connote that he hated himself for being so weak that he couldn't protect
himself and wanted to become someone
completely extremely different, and maybe because he considers women as
beautiful but weaker creatures then he felt like he needed to become one to
match his way of feeling about himself.
I think that the
most memorable scene in the film was the crucifixion of the policeman when
Lecter was escaping. This kind of death might connote the way in which the
policeman died, as he was beaten to death by Hannibal, or tortured. This means
that his death might symbolise the death of Jesus, that both of them died as
martyrs.
Apart
from the points which I have already discussed I have found some more
interesting scenes which I wanted to talk about. The first one would be about
Buffalo Bill, and the way he treated his victims. In the video above there is a
scene in which he talks to the kidnapped girl and he doesn't talk to her
normally but refers to her as to an object "It rubs the lotion on its skin
and does this whenever its told". Also, after she screams that she wants
to see her mummy again, we can see a slight movement on Buffalo Bills mouth in
a gesture like he would be nearly crying. This might connote that he isn't
really excited about the killings and only does them for the skin and after he
would have enough he would stop, how else could it be explained that he is sad
that he hurts the girls and refers to them as 'it' as an object, which was
never alive, it never felt anything. This might suggest that it is easier for
him to kill if he refers to the girls in this way, if he doesn't associate his
victims as humans . Another interesting scene was shown when Clarice was supposed
to meet Lecter for the first time and she was warned that he is really
dangerous by showing her a picture of a nurse attacked by Hannibal. We aren't
really shown the picture but as the shots move between the characters there is
a bright red light shining on them, I suppose that this light might refer to
the picture at which they are looking at, and the colour of the light
represents the blood, signifying that the nurse wasn't in a good state after
the attack, and that the picture consisted of a very bloody image. After the
meetings with Clarice, Lecter knows that she depends on him and that he is in
control to how much information she obtains, this allows him to play around
with her and manipulate her however he wants. For example, he lets Clarice walk
off, but when he calls he back she comes running hoping to gain more
information, and this action makes Lecter more satisfied as he is in the centre
of interest and everything depends upon him. The last interesting scene is
right at the beginning of the film when Clarice is called into her boss's
office and before he comes in, she has time to look at some of the articles
about Buffalo Bill. I suppose that this moment let her hook onto the case. I
suppose that at this time she heard the crying of the defenceless lambs once
again, meaning that when she could help in the case, she wanted to find the
killer even more than anyone else to take revenge for all these women which
couldn't defend themselves and eventually save the lamb that she blames herself
for throughout the film.