Presentation Script

The portrayal of violence in the films of Quentin Tarantino can be viewed as comically excessive. To what extent can this qualify the director as an auteur?

Projector: Clip from Inglorious Basterds [3] - Hugh Stiglitz (1min 55secs)

Speaker: This scene is clearly the product of Quentin Tarantino. It could its theme of revenge. It could be its use of Samuel L Jackson. Or it could be its inappropriately comedic style. But it is defintely safe to say that this is clearly of a product of Tarantino's style because of it's excessive violence to the point of comedy. Auteurs leave "distinctive style that their fingerprints end up on the film" [15] and Tarantino's violence is one of the fingerprints of his work; he has even said in an interview: "My work is unmistakably me" [7]. I believe his comically excessive violence makes him an auteur.

Projector: Clip from Kill Bill Vol.1 [1] - Battle against the Crazy 88 (1:18:18 - 1:22:55)

Speaker: "The infamous House of Blue Leaves sequence" [8] is one of Tarantino's most famous scenes. This can be seen as one of his most graphic scenes but it has been described as "a numbing pornography of relentless violence that suggests a gang bang in reverse" [8]; Violence for violence sake and to the extent where the deaths don't mean anything to the audience anymore. When asked about why he uses such gruesome, graphic violence in Kill Bill, Tarantino claimed "Because it's so much fun". [11] He discusses how he takes great enjoyment out of puppeteering the audiences emotions and finds it fun to play the audience like "[his] instruments" [9]. During this scene, we see The Bride battle her way through a sea of O-ren's co-hoards; from the extent of the fighting, Uma Thurman has been quoted saying "It was called 'Kill Uma' unofficially by me." [13] Warrior after warrior is killed off and with no regard for the person who's died. They disappear after their death and are killed off as quickly as they take to the screen. So many co-hoards are killed that it's nearly impossible to make an exact death count from this scene. "Violent death has figured prominently throughout Tarantino's filmography" [8] especially in Kill Bill Vol.1. The style of violence is used by Tarantino as he told Johnathon he has always had a fascination in Japanese cinema and this has inspired a lot of his work and the violence behind it. This persistent use of inspired violence could classify him as an auteur. However, violence is portrayed so excessively in these films that most of the deaths cease to matter, like the deaths of the Crazy 88. The comicality of this excessive violence can also be found in the diegetic and non-diegetic sound of the clip. Before The Bride starts her battle with The Crazy 88, there is non-diegetic music which sounds almost like a laid back club track. This could have been used to give the impression that the battle is serious and almost like a dance between his characters. However, as soon as the battle commences against Oren's co-hoards, this laid back music stops and we are left with the diegetic sounds of the Crazy 88 being slaughtered. The comedy to this scene comes in the idea of how over the top and melodramatic the diegetic sound is and how cartoon-like sound effects are added over the scene to almost highlight that really life violence is completely different to movie violence. So by adding in sound effects, such as: an exaggerated pop when Tarantino used a close-up shot of the Bride rips out a man's eye ball or a swooshing noise to go with her flipping herself and two men; it makes the piece almost like a satire in appearance and the violence suddenly becomes comical with its excessiveness and its accompanying music. Which, again, make the deaths seem more comical than actual deaths; displaying the idea that he could be seen as an auteur.

Projector: Death Count Picture [7]

Speaker: By looking at this pictogram of the deaths in Tarantino's movies, you see that approximately 56 people were killed by samurai swords. These deaths happen simply in the House of Blue Leaves scene. The rest of the movie contains 8 deaths. So simply by looking at the battle against the Crazy 88, you can see the extent of his excessive violence; killing off approximately 56 people in just over 4 minutes. Tarantino has said that "violence is good because it is the most enjoyable form of entertainment" [9]. His passion behind seeing movie violence as he's grown up shows some justification for why it often appears in his films, which could classify him as an auteur. However, this violence doesn't feel like entertainment. It feels like he is "indulg[ing] our repressed bloodlust to the point that it purposefully skewers the boundaries between spectatorial pleasure and punishment" [8]. This "bloodlust" is shown again in Inglorious Basterds.

Projector: Inglorious Basterds [3] (02:17:19-02:19:46)

Speaker: During this scene of Inglorious Basterds, you see three Jews finally get their revenge on the Nazi regime of Germany. However, in pure Tarantino style, trapping them in a cinema and burning them down isn't enough for our protagonists. We watch as Donny and Omar stand on a balcony and shoot at the unarmed Germans below. Although from a historical view, they have every right to do this out of anger; this violence can be seen as excessive as they've killed Hitler yet they still proceeded to shoot his corpse to the point where he is unrecognisable. Yet this scene does link to the scene I showed earlier from Kill Bill Vol.1 [1] as they only German faces you see are the ones that have previously been given an identity (Hitler and the Director). All of the other Germans are shot from behind, showing the anonymity of these people and how they are seen as a collective. The individual doesn't matter in the case of "murderous retribution" [8] Unlike Kill Bill Vol.1, this scene of Inglorious Basterds doesn't use any non-diegetic music. The comedy of this violence comes purely from it's excessiveness. All the sound in the sequence is diegetic sound of the fire, the film, the guns and the Nazis screaming. Although it should make you feel bad for the people who are being forced to die, you are more compelled to feel they deserve it and almost involuntarily laugh at the sight of Hitler being shot beyond recognition as it's so excessive and fake that he looks as if he is made of rubber. The look on Donny's face as well is so difficult to take seriously because of how serious he's shown in a close up shot, that the comedy is practically unintentional. You could say that Tarantino's excessive violence encourages revenge in such a graphic way. However, Tarantino, himself, says "[his] message is: bad people should be tortured to death on screen for all to watch and enjoy" [6], which is portrayed in many of his movies; such as: Django Unchained. The repetition of his desire to get across this message through comically excessive violence could classify him as an auteur.

Projector: Django Unchained [2] (2:06:04-2:08:43)

Speaker: This scene of Django Unchained shows Django's fight to get his wife to freedom after Dr. King Schultz kills Mr. Candy. This is probably one of Tarantino's most inappropriately comical scenes of violence. Especially when you could liken the shooting of everybody but Django to that of the Stormtroopers from Star Wars and the inappropriateness of the non-diegetic music that they use over the main shoot out. Tarantino said he wanted to see people that get shot "bleeding like a pig" [5] and that's exactly what we get in this scene but so excessively to the point where peoples' blood is actually exploding in front of the camera. Although Tarantino says his one job is 'to make a character and be as true to them as possible' [4] he hasn't been very true to the background characters of this scene. Much like Kill Bill Vol. 1 [1], the men from Candy's property enter the scene and leave as quickly as they appeared. They get killed off so suddenly that their death means practically nothing to us, they are simply another dead body for Django to hide behind during his mission to save his wife. The repetition of the insignificance of the individual in this excessive violence could classify him as an auteur. However, you don't really see 'bad people......tortured to death on screen' [6] during this scene, you see bad people appear and then get their heads blown off. The music in this scene includes the most comedy to the violence shown. The fact that Tarantino chose to play hip-hop music with the quote "I like the way you die, boy" [2] just adds comedy to the 'stylised violence' [10] of the shoot out. Instead of being shocked at the deaths of at least 15 people, you're laughing at Django swaggering through the entry hall in slow motion to non-diegetic hip-hop music before he blows the heads off of another 5 men. The audience is laughing even before the music begins at the start of the violence, Django shoots two men and then launches himself backwards through a door in such a casual way that it is involuntarily comical to its audience. Although, like Inglorious Basterds [3], you could say the violence is justified after the horrors Django has been made to suffer during the slave trade; the character shows as much disregard for the deaths as the director does by even using recently deceased bodies as shields; which could again be seen as comically excessive to the violence, an aspect that I feel makes Tarantino an auteur.

Projector: Picture of Quentin Tarantino [9]

Speaker: Overall, I feel Tarantino classifies as an auteur as he uses comically excessive violence to get across his message: "bad people should be tortured to death on screen for all to watch and enjoy." [6]. In Kill Bill Vol.1, you see this violence shown through Japanese Samurai sword fighting, that Tarantino has grown up watching. In Inglorious Basterds, you see this violence through excessive overkills in a mission for revenge. In Django Unchained, you see this violence through excessive violence to inappropriate music. All of this excessive violence is comical in its own way and I feel that these "fingerprints" [15] in Tarantino's work classify him as an auteur.

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive use of film techniques?

During this topic, I have studied La Haine, a film which depends on film techniques to get across the idea that "The world only goes round by misunderstanding" which was a philosophy by Charles Baudelaire. This is predominately shown through the director's use of time. Throughout the film, we constantly see this image of a digital clock which shows the passing of time and also informs us that the events in the movie happen with in the course of 24 hours. This shot is most significantly used just before the end of the movie which is the only time when you see the clock actually move. The digit moves in a circular motion to change 6:00am to 6:01am. The fact that this is the only time we see the clock actually move shows the significance of the scene that follows which runs in real time along with the clock but (also for the first time in the movie) shows a lot happening in this scene. Usually, the three boys don't have much to do and just sit around but in this scene, it shows a quick succession of events that cause the boys act by instinct; leading to events that have been foreshadowed throughout the rest of the film. This scene also takes place with a picture of Charles Baudelaire painted on the side of one of the projects, as if trying to emphasis his philosophy. By using the idea of time, it could represent the circular motion of time passing on the face of a clock but also the fact that this image of a clock shows the circular movement of time and that it is constantly repeated which could be the director's way of saying that the times are always repeating and that we don't learn from our mistakes. That history keeps repeating much like in context to this film, where French citizens had been having a lot of riots to try and get across their point to the government that their treatment was unfair. These riots changed nothing but still continued to happen, as if the thoughts of the citizens were repeated ignored through out the times and yet the country still moves on; much like a clock, it doesn't notice what's around it, it simply moves on.

Annotated Catalogue

The portrayal of violence in the films of Quentin Tarantino can be viewed as comically excessive. To what extent can this qualify the director as an auteur?

Films

Item 1

Kill Bill Volume 1 - (2003) Director - Quentin Tarantino

I chose this film as it shows the clear auteur traits of Tarantino that my questions focuses on: an excessive use of violence during the protagonist's quest for revenge from not only the protagonist but also the foes that stand in her way. It also has other traits of Tarantino's auteur presence as it shows the main character on a quest for revenge and contains the non-diegetic use of western music. This is very useful to my question as it contains scenes of excessive violence, such as: the fight between the bride, Lucy Lou and the Crazy 88 and also the fight scene between The bird and Copperhead.

Item 2

Django Unchained - (2012) Director - Quentin Tarantino

I chose this film as it also shows excessive violence in the protagonist's quest. However, this film is run by Django's quest to find his wife, instead of revenge like item 1. This film is also from a male protagonist's point of view and based around a historical event that caused even more controversy than Tarantino's violence does. This film is very useful to my question as it shows violence in scenes, such as: the confrontation between Django and the Brittle Brothers and between Django and the people in Candy Land.

Item 3

Inglorious Basterds - (2009) Director - Quentin Tarantino

I chose this film as, yet again, it shows the use of excessive violence throughout the film during the protagonists' quest. And much like Item 2, Inglorious Basterds is also based on historical events which Tarantino blows out of proportion with his excessive violence. However, this film has more than one protagonist on a quest for revenge, it has a whole group of people all affected by the same events and seeking revenge. This film is very useful for answering my question as it has scenes, such as: when shushseana blows up her cinema and when the Basterds are introduced.

Websites
Item 4
thewire.com - (2013) Tarantino's views on violence
I chose this web-link as it is an article containing Quentin Tarantino's views on violence and movies. It is very useful as it clearly gives his opinion on the controversy of the violence in his films since 1993 and shows quotes from Tarantino in other interviews as sources, such as Item 5. It also shows Tarantino's frustration at people linking the violence in his movies to violence in real life which is also useful in answering my question as it backs up why he uses violence in his films.

Item 5
Channel4.com
I chose this web-link as it is an article containing research on Tarantino's opinion on violence as a whole. This link is useful as it gives me lots of quotes by Tarantino over the years but also gives his opinion on people's criticism towards his persistent, excessive use of violence. This link is also useful as it gives an opinion on Tarantino and his directing from the view of someone who isn't Quentin's biggest fan, this gives me a mix of opinions to my piece. It also discusses Item 2 that I am looking at.

Item 6
thedailybeast.com (2013)
I chose this weblink as it includes a report explaining Tarantino's "infatuation" with violence and tries to explain why he uses such graphic violence in his movies, which will be very useful towards my question as it gives me more of an insight to the opinions of Tarantino's violence by critics. It also links to the report in Item 5.

Item 7
miramax.com (2013)
I chose this weblink as it goes into detail about just how excessive Tarantino's movie violence is. This will be useful for answering my question as it shows statistics of how many brutal deaths there are for each of his movies and through the use of a pictogram, shows the methods of violent deaths that are used during each film. This Item also includes statistics on Items 1, 2 & 3.

Item 8
bfi.org.uk
I chose this weblink as it is a very unique take on why Tarantino uses such excessive violence in his films. I feel this will be useful to answering my question as instead of taking the approach that Tarantino uses violence simply for violence sake, this reporter seems to think that Tarantino has a strange attraction to the violence in his own movies and debates whether some of the violence is really necessary in some of his movies. This report also looks into scenes from Items 1, 2 & 3.

Magazines
Item 9
Telegraph - (2010) Violences and Audiences - Tarantino
I chose this article as it gives Tarantino's reasons for why he enjoys using excessive movie violence. This works with my question as it justifies why he uses such graphic violence to capture his audience, despite the controversy it causes.

Youtube
Item 10
Newspoliticstoday - Debate on the correlation between film violence and real life violence (2012)
I chose this debate as it give facts and figures about the correlation between movie violence and real life violence which is useful to my question as it shows a view of whether Tarantino is right for his reasoning behind why he uses violence. It also discusses Item 2 that I am looking at.

Item 11
Kron 4 news - Interview with Tarantino (2009)
I chose this interview as Jan discusses with Tarantino why he uses movie violence and the audiences he aims it at. This is useful to my question as it it gives two views in one video on Tarantino's violence and also tells you why Tarantino chooses to use such controversial violence. It also discusses Item 1 that I am looking at as it is a promotional interview for Tarantino's movie: Kill Bill Vol.1, where they discuss whether the violence is really appropriate.

Interviews
Item 12
BBC4 - Tarantino Talks to Kirsty Walk
I chose this interview as it goes into detail of why and how Tarantino uses excessive violence and his view on the controversial views people have on his movies. This is a very useful video as it also involves statements about Items 1, 2 & 3 and relates directly to my question by discussing the level of violence in all three films.

Books
Item 13
Quintessential Tarantino by Edwin Page
I chose this book as it tells you how the violence in Item 1 differs from the violence in Tarantino's other films. I thought this would be useful to answer my question as it gives an example that maybe he doesn't stick to the same patterns as even in his violence he differs between movies and it also contains quotes that I can use in my presentation.

Item 14
Tarantino by Jim Smith
I chose this book as it gives you information on how Tarantino created the violence in Item 1. I thought this would be useful as the gives a contradiction to what Tarantino has said about his view on violence by Uma Thurman, showing that Tarantino pushes the boundaries of real life violence to get the violence he wants in his films. The author also seems to find Tarantino's violence controversial and makes a point of commenting on his opinions of Tarantino's "Fantasy land" violence which are quotes that I can use in my presentation to answer my question.

Item 15
Film Studies: The Essential Guide by Peter Bennett, Andrew Hickman and Peter Wall
I chose this book as it has a section on Auteurs and Auteur theory which is relevant to answering my question. I found this very useful as it explains the Auteur theory and explains the ideas behind it with extracts from the original Auteur theory: Une Certaine Tendence Du Cinema Francais by Francois Truffaut. This will be useful to quote in my presentation to give more evidence to Tarantino's excessive violence making him an Auteur.

Rejected Items
Movie
Pulp Fiction - (1994) - Director: Quentin Tarantino
I chose not to use this item as it doesn't show as much excessive violence as Items 1, 2 & 3 and also contains some topics that I personally find very sensitive and this made me uncomfortable with watching this film in great detail.

Interview
Tarantino Talks to Johnathon Ross
I chose not to use this interview as it is predominately Johnathon Ross pointing out that Tarantino copies many old Asian movies and references lots of other films including his own. This has no relevance to my question and doesn't talk about why Tarantino uses such excessive violence or the views on it.

Interview
Jon Stewart interviews Quentin Tarantino
I chose not to use this interview as it is just Tarantino publisising his movie, Pulp Fiction. Which isn't an Item I am using in my report and the interview also has nothing to do with his excessive us of violence.

Movie
Jackie Brown - (1994) - Director: Quentin Tarantino
I chose not to use this movie as it has the least deaths of Tarantino's movies and doesn't show the controversy of his excessive use of violence due to the fact that all of the deaths happen off screen.

Tarantino Coursework

Theme: his use of excessive violence

Possible items to use:

Movies:
- Kill Bill Vol.1
- Kill Bill Vol.2
- Pulp Fiction
- Reservoir Dogs
- Django Unchained
- Jackie Brown
- Death Proof
- Inglorious Basterds

Interviews:
- Tarantino talks to Kirsty Walk
- Tarantino talks to Jonathan Ross 2003
- Tarantino on Hollywood's Boy Wonder

Books:
- Quintessential Tarantino By Edwin Page
- Tarantino By Jim Smith
- Pulp Fiction By Tarantino
- Teach yourself film studies - Auteur theory

Webpages:
http://www.scoop.it/t/film-studies?q=tarantino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrsJDy8VjZk - "I'm shutting your but down"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCPTDQkKe3I - Trying to act black
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foRhVd7id9s - nothing to do with violence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGQaJcwAtpU - violence is fun to watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqxIRwe61zo - correlation between film and real life violence
http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/2013/01/quentin-tarantino-violence-quotes/60900/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6975563/Quentin-Tarantino-violence-is-the-best-way-to-control-an-audience.html
http://www.channel4.com/news/tarantino-cinema-violence-django-unchained-quentin
http://www.miramax.com/subscript/quentin-tarantino-violence-in-films
http://news.yahoo.com/everything-quentin-tarantino-really-thinks-violence-movies-200748205.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/11/quentin-tarantino-s-infatuation-with-raw-violence.html
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/sight-sound-magazine/comment/death-tarantino-style

IMDB Quotes:
On media criticisms of violence in his movies: "Sure, Kill Bill's a violent movie. But it's a Tarantino movie. You don't go to see Metallica and ask the fuckers to turn the music down."
On violence in "Kill Bill: Vol. 1": "When I was on "The View", Barbara Walters was asking me about the blood and stuff, and I said, 'Well, you know, that's a staple of Japanese cinema.' And then she came back,'But this is America.' And I go, 'I don't make movies for America. I make movies for planet Earth.'"

Captain America: The Winter Solider

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Plot:

Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier.

Genre: Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi

Released Date: 04/04/2014

Certificate: 12A

Budget: $170 Million

Box Office:

- Opening Weekend: $95,023,721

- Worldwide: $476,706,000

Stars:

- Chris Evans (Well Known: Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World; Human Torch/ Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four and Captain America in The Avengers Assemble)

- Samuel L Jackson (Well Known: Stephen in Django Unchained; Gerald Olin in 1408 and Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction)

- Scarlett Johansson (Well Known: Samantha in Her; Olivia Wenscombe in The Prestige and Sarah Jordan/Jordan Two Delta in The Island)

Production Companies:

- Marvel Entertainment

- Marvel Studios

- Perception

- Sony Pictures Imageworks

Marketing:

- Tease trailer was released in July 2013

- Later in July 2013, the directors and main cast held a panel at the San Diego Comic-Con

-First offical tralier was released in October 2013

- Captain America made an appearance in Disneyland in honor of the film in January 2014

- First televised advertisment during the superbowl on 02/02/2014

- Released a Captain America Experience App in March 2014 which could be shared on instagram and twitter

- Aired a televised special on 18/03/2014 which had a sneak preview of the film in it

- 01/04/2014, Evans and Stan rang the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange in honor of the films release.

Reviews:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/captain_america_the_winter_soldier_2014/

Inside Llewyn Davis

Inside Llewyn Davis

Plot:

Follow a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter, he is struggling to make it as a musician against seemingly insurmountable obstacles; some of them of his own making.

Release Date: 10/01/2014

Certificate: 15

Genre: Drama/Music

Budget: N/A

Box office: $32,560,319

Stars:

- Oscar Isaac (Well known; Standard in Drive; Blue Jones in Suckerpunch; and Prince John in Robin Hood)

- Carey Mulligan (Well known: Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby and as Irene in Drive)

- Justin Timberlake (Well known: Sean Parker in The Social Network; Will Salas in In Time; and Boo Boo in Yogi Bear)

Production Companies:

- CBS Films

- Studio Canal

- Anton Capital Entertainment

- Mike Zoss Productions

- Scott Rudin Productions

Marketing: Social Media Advertisement and Clips released on the internet

Reviews:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/inside_llewyn_davis_2013/

What is the significance about setting and/or place in your chosen American films?

Setting is a key aspect in both Badlands & Natural Born Killers as it shows main themes and ideas in the films that aren't always obvious to an audience.

A main convention of a "Lovers on the Lam" movie is the setting of the car. Kit & Holly spend a lot more time in their car than Mickey & Mallory do in Natural Born Killers. For Badlands, the car becomes an idea of escape, from the world and even from each other. This is shown in the scene just after Holly & Kit have sex for the first time when Kit calls her "Stupid". Once Kit says this, Holly replies with "Don't call me stupid." and walks off towards the car. She leaves the man she is supposed to be in love with and goes and sits in the car. Almost as if it will make everything better for her, that the car is a safe place or an escape from hurt and misery. The car is also their escape from the world when they start living in the car when they are on the run. They are sat in the back seat holding each other tight as if nothing can get in through the walls of the car and it is their safe place.

However in Natural Born Killers, the setting of the car shows Mickey & Mallory at their closest. They aren't in the car unless they are trying to get away (unlike Kit & Holly, who live in their car for a period of time) but when they are, they are often more lovingly towards each other than in other scenes after they run away. For example, just before the first motel scene, Mallory asks Mickey if he still thinks she's sexy. She tries to quickly make herself look pretty and Mickey replies by saying the need to find a hotel room and he rubs her leg as if to comfort her. By rubbing her leg, this shows he genuine cares about her feelings, that he's trying to show he does love her and she has nothing to worry about

But unlike Badlands, Mickey & Mallory spend a lot more time living in motels then their car whilst they are on the run. But we see a lot more of the characters background in the motels as Stone uses the setting of a psychological landscape. The psychological landscape shows clips of animals, almost to demonstrate the animalistic nature of Mickey & Mallory, but it also shows clips from Mickey's past of Mickey as a child and of Mickey's screaming mother. This demonstrates the common convention of a dysfunctional family in the "Lovers on the Lam" genre but twists it a little as normally it is the girl with the dysfunctional family, in Natural Born Killers, both Mickey and Mallory have the dysfunctional families. They were both abused growing up and surrounded by abusive events.

But since Badlands doesn't use the technique of a psychological landscape or use motels (as there wasn't many around in the time that the film was set) Kit and Holly spend the majority of their time living in the woods. However, the dysfunction in the film was also shown in them living in the woods as they start to form a dysfunction with each other. This is main portrayed in the scene where Kit and Holly are dancing. As a couple, they would normally be dancing together but there is a clear distance between the two characters as they dance seperately and don't even look at each other. They spend the entire dance looking down at the floor to the song "Love is Strange" which definitely shows how strange their love is. Normally lovers dance together (like when Mickey and Mallory start dancing together after they kill all those people in the diner at the start. Fire works explode behind them to show the true love behind them) but Kit & Holly keep their distance almost as if there a physical barrier between them, keeping them from truly being lovers and it could be suggested to an extent from them both truly being happy.

How far do the two films you have studied in this topic present similar messages and values?

Both Badlands and Natural Born Killers are based around the same murder spree story of Charles Starkweather. However, the messages they show come across in different ways.

Natural Born Killers' main message is that the media corrupts people. This is shown by using a number of different techniques but one scene that shows this the most is when Mickey and Mallory first meet. This scene is set out like a classic American sitcom. When Mallory's dad is talking about checking whether she's "clean", a canned laugh is used as non-diegetic sound. This makes the abuse seem comical as it's so americanised and it shows that even television is making abuse funny. Because, as a audience member, it makes you laugh at the absurdity of it, you become almost as bad as the father through how the "media" made you feel in this scene. However, Badlands' main message is that people will do anything to be famous. Kit models himself on James Dean and at the end, after his murder spree, Kit is handing out his belongings to the coppers like he is a worldwide star. He throws them his pen and lighter, etc. But because mass murderers were rare in the 1950s, by going on his rampage, Kit got the fame he desperately wanted. Henceforth, also showing the message behind NBK, that by the media covering Kit's story, the media has corrupted him futher.

How far do the American films you have studied for this topic depend on well established narrative and/or genre conventions?

Badlands and Natural Born Killers both run along the typical narrative conventions of the "Lovers on the Lam" genre. Both involve the story line of "Fall in love, kill the parents and run away". However, they both take different approaches on how the story is told.

Both films have the death of the parent/s to kick start the couple's stories, however, the circumstances of these murders are very different. In Badlands, Holly's father won't let the couple be together. Kit goes back to Holly's to take her anyway but when the father comes home and tries to stop them, it is Kit that shoots him. Through this part of the scene, Kit is filmed at a low angle to show his position of power. This is completely different to Natural Born Killers. In Natural Born Killers, Mickey turns up to whisk Mallory away to their happily ever after and Mickey smacks Mallory's father around the face with a crow bar when he tries to stop them. Mickey and Mallory are both shown from high angles in this part of the scene as they both have the power, they both take part in the murder of Mallory's family. But Mallory plays a much bigger part in the death of her family than Holly does. This is because Holly's dad was always a dad to her. He brought her up all by himself after her mother died and tries to make sure she is safe. So when Kit kills her dad, she just stands and watches. Almost as if she is a ghost on the scene, that she is emotional detached from the situation. Whereas, for Mallory, killing her father is a lot more personal. During the movie, you find out that her father raped her and due to this, Mallory takes enjoyment in the murder of her parents. She has a much greater part in their death and holds her dad's head under the water. She also yells at her mother "You didn't try to stop him." just before se lights her on fire and lets her burn to death. In Badlands, Holly is very naive to her father's death. She evens goes up to her dad and asks Kit is they should get a doctor. She's very childish and detached towards the event, as if it isn't really happening to her. Whereas Mallory is screaming at her parents and seems to take great pleasure in their death; which suggests she is a much more emotional character.

Both films also follow the narrative convention of the lovers running away together. Whereas, Mickey and Mallory's run away is far more violent than Kit and Holly's, they both run along the same idea of a fairytale life or a fantasy world. Kit and Holly end up living in the forest for a period of time and create a new life there. They are constantly shot from low angles as they are in a position of power in their own little world. They become almost like a married couple living together in their tree house and using the forest around them to survive. Much like Badlands, Mickey and Mallory also live in a make believe world. When they run away and get "married" on the bridge, they become aggressive towards the drivers who take them out of their fantasy world. Mallory starts screaming abuse at them. But as soon as the drivers are gone, they pick up where they left off in their fantasy and have a "wedding" in the style of a make-believe one you'd have as a kid. When they get "married", it's filmed as if it were a home movie. This adds to the idea of kids playing pretend. This differs to Badlands as Kit and Holly only act like a married couple but a couple that have been together for 40 years and can no longer stand each other. For example, when they're dancing out the front of their tree house, they are dancing to "Love Is Strange" and are completely separate to each other. Most loving couples would be dancing hand in hand or at least smiling at each other. However, Kit and Holly don't even glance at each other. They dance looking down at the floor and Kit has his hands in his pockets, almost as if they were strangers being forced to dance together. Which is unlike Mickey and Mallory as they constantly have their arms around each other like they can't get enough of the other person or like they are dependant on the other person to survive.

This Is England

This Is England

A story about a troubled boy growing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across a few skinheads on his way home from school, after a fight. They become his new best friends even like family. Based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.

Genre: Crime/Drama

Production Company: 
- Warp Films
- Big Arty Productions
- EM Media
- Film4
- Optimum Releasing
- Screen Yorkshire
- UK Film Council

Certificate: 18

Cast

Thomas Turgoose - Also in Somers Town (which was also directed by Shane Meadows), The TV Series of This Is England and more recently Post Jump.

Director

Shane Meadows wrote and directed This Is England. The story is based on fur events of his life when he was growing up and dropped out of school before his O-Levels to become part of a gang.

Marketing

A viral video was released on YouTube to promote the movie. Anyone who saw the video was encouraged to watch the movie. However, the film was mainly heard about through word of mouth. 

Box Office

Budget:£2.2 million

Box Office:$8,176, 544

Awards

Won: 

BAFTA Best British film 2008

Best British Independent Film 2006

Young Audience Award 2007

UK Film Talent Award 2006

Best European Film Award 2008

Young European Jury Award 2008

Best Director Award 2007

Jury Award 2007

Special Jury Prize 2006

Just Film Award 2007

Writer's Guide of Great Britain Award 2007

Nominated:

BAFTA Film Award 2008

Golden Kinnaree Award 2007

British Independent Film Award 2006

Empire Award 2008

Grand Prix 2007

Golden trailer 2008

ALFS Award 2008