What is the significance about setting and/or place in your chosen American films?
In the two American films I have used in Badlands(1973) and Natural Born killers(1996). There are many similarities and differences with some key settings chosen which represent different things throughout each of the films.
The wide landscapes, in the long shots in Badlands are very significant because the wild american desert is used a lot in the scenes where a lot of key scenes for Kit takes place. For example his surrender/capture at the end of the film. To add to that there are many shots of Kit and Holly in the desert in the car, which is a typical convention of a road movie, which could portray the open space as them being free, as america is viewed as a 'free' country and I believed this is projected through the use of scenery and open places in the desert.
In Natural Born Killers, Micky and Mallory married themselves on a bridge. This was a very significant setting as it can reference them leaving there old life and entering a new one as they cross the bridge. This is portrayed through the use of long shots to establish this setting. Also this compares to Badlands as they also come across a train track bridge which represents them together crossing into a 'bad' land.
Also the scenes in both Mallory's and Holly's house is very significant. Holly's house in Badlands was very suburban although the family did not match these normal traits. Holly's mother died giving birth to her and there for her dad was left with her as she grew up without a mother. This dysfunctional family is a theme which occurs in both films. Mallory's house is quite alternate to Holly's. Mallory has a much more stereotypical family, which consisted of her mother,father and little brother. However the dysfunction occurs in the house as her father sexually abuses her which is shown through the use of close ups of the father and Mallory. We can also prove this through the performance of the characters in key scenes which occur in Mallory's home setting from key lines in the diegetic sound such as " you never tried to stop it" which Mallory says before setting her mother on fire. This is showing some sort of revenge for Mallory. In comparison Mallory goes through a great deal compared to Holly in Badlands due to the fact Holly is too naive to realise the dysfunction and just wants to feel loved, however due to the time period of change in NBK it is evident there is a lot more to the change in Mallory than just loneliness.
The wide landscapes, in the long shots in Badlands are very significant because the wild american desert is used a lot in the scenes where a lot of key scenes for Kit takes place. For example his surrender/capture at the end of the film. To add to that there are many shots of Kit and Holly in the desert in the car, which is a typical convention of a road movie, which could portray the open space as them being free, as america is viewed as a 'free' country and I believed this is projected through the use of scenery and open places in the desert.
In Natural Born Killers, Micky and Mallory married themselves on a bridge. This was a very significant setting as it can reference them leaving there old life and entering a new one as they cross the bridge. This is portrayed through the use of long shots to establish this setting. Also this compares to Badlands as they also come across a train track bridge which represents them together crossing into a 'bad' land.
Also the scenes in both Mallory's and Holly's house is very significant. Holly's house in Badlands was very suburban although the family did not match these normal traits. Holly's mother died giving birth to her and there for her dad was left with her as she grew up without a mother. This dysfunctional family is a theme which occurs in both films. Mallory's house is quite alternate to Holly's. Mallory has a much more stereotypical family, which consisted of her mother,father and little brother. However the dysfunction occurs in the house as her father sexually abuses her which is shown through the use of close ups of the father and Mallory. We can also prove this through the performance of the characters in key scenes which occur in Mallory's home setting from key lines in the diegetic sound such as " you never tried to stop it" which Mallory says before setting her mother on fire. This is showing some sort of revenge for Mallory. In comparison Mallory goes through a great deal compared to Holly in Badlands due to the fact Holly is too naive to realise the dysfunction and just wants to feel loved, however due to the time period of change in NBK it is evident there is a lot more to the change in Mallory than just loneliness.
No comments:
Post a Comment