Contexts

Batman context and critical reception.

10th December 2019Contextslilianagoncalves Leave a comment

Vigilantism, Justice and Vengeance: Batman “is a force for ‘good’ who fights criminals by putting on a mask, attacking them in the dark and dishing out his own vigilante justice, uninhibited by the laws, restrictions and corruption that the local police deal with”.
By any means necessary – the tactics of Batman: Batman defeats the villain by becoming the villain, as well as good and evil becoming murky concepts as the film progresses.
Inequality in Gotham: People of Gotham are portrayed as “corrupt, chaotic, unequal and unjust” (Douthat, 2012), and how Batman does not fight inequality or any of the other factors that might cause increases in criminality.
The Masses: Nolan deliberately put less faith in the masses, presenting them as docile, useless and incapable of achieving anything worthwhile. Meggs (2009) states “the film’s ideological conflict seems to centre around the fundamental worth of humanity, whether it is as truly as corruptible as the Joker thinks it is, or if it has an essential nobility as Bruce Wayne believes”.
Order vs Chaos: Reflecting on post-9/11 concerns about terrorism, justice and retribution, as well as finishing with this view from Meggs (2009) – “by not seeking to create a radically new system of government or social structure, he ensures that he will always be needed”.

Key context:

CrashCourse. (2019). Terrorism, War, and Bush 43: Crash Course US History #46. [Online Video]. 30 January 2014. Available from: https://youtu.be/nlsnnhn3VWE. [Accessed: 9 December 2019].

Turner, P., 2013. Dark Knight Dark Ideas. The Ideology of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, 37-41

Pan’s Labyrinth Context Research

15th October 2019Contextslilianagoncalves Leave a comment

Context is a major part of studying film and helps the audience understand what the director’s intention is and why they choose to have certain features. Our movie Pan’s Labyrinth is set somewhere outside rural Madrid during the Spanish civil war which took place from 1936 to1939. During the Spanish civil war, Spain was run by fascist leaders and we can see this having a direct impact on Pan’s Labyrinth with Vidal. Vidal and his attempt to destroy the rebels is a clear symbolism for the Spanish fascist leader who was leading around these times and tried to destroy any hint of an uprising. The main theme in the film is disobedience which we see with Ofelia, the doctor and Mercedes. While Ofelia’s disobedience is mainly in the fantasy world (which context can’t really be applied to) the other two are purely disobedient to the fascist leader. Another thing context makes us realise is why Ofelia goes into this fantasy world. It’s a way for her to hide away from the traumatic event’s happening when the movie is set and a way for her to comprehend what is happening.

Spy Genre Poster

13th September 2019Contexts, Genre, Narrativelilianagoncalves Leave a comment

In this poster, there is dun’s which is a reference to the classic mission: Impossible theme song. Most spy movies take place at night which is represented by the lamp post. The security guard is there to show that the building is a guarded place. Most of the places the spies try to get in to are heavily guarded. There is also a man in a suit with a gun looking as if he is ready to shoot. This is a very genetic thing seen in most spy movies. You can see it here in the kingsman movie:

Image result for spy movies behind wall

The key things in a spy movie are that they have big/dramatic openings which help lure the audience in. They also have incredible action scenes with many twists and turns throughout the whole plot. Last but not least the MacGuffin which refers to a goal that the protagonist is tasked with pursuing to further the plot. The poster show this by the guy looking as if he is ready to shoot.