Analysis of three crime films

An analysis of 3 crime films

The film Saw (2004) directed by James Wan is about a two men who have to go through physical or psychological torture in survive and escape with better appreciation of life, the Jigsaw Killer puts the victims in this situation. One of the characters, Lawrence has to in order to survive he has to kill another character called Adam, otherwise he’ll lose his wife and child, who were being held captive in their home and left for dead. In the room with the men are to hacksaws and they realize that to free themselves from the chains they must hack off their feet. The men try and stage Adam’s death but an electric shock through Adam’s ankle chain ruins this plan. Their abductor is Zep and as the deadline approaches he moves to kill Lawrence’s wife, Alison, but she frees herself. Lawrence who is only aware of gunshots and screaming, in desperation he saws off his foot and shoots Adam with the revolver. In the opening scene starts with a close-up shot of a character under water breathing heavily as he comes up for air and then screaming. There is then a brief darkness and you can hear two characters talking, and then bright lights reveal two men on either side of what looks to be a rusty bathroom. The camera pans the around and reveals a corpse in the middle of the bathroom with a revolver. As the men try and move, it then shows that the men are chained to pipes on opposite sides of the room. The corpse in the middle of the room is probably there to give an early fright for the audience and also already suggests that the film is going to be a horror. The master shot of the bathroom after the lights are switched on; this reveals to the audience the whereabouts of the characters and emphasizes the bad situation that the characters are in. Editing is used well in the opening scene as it adds suspense, a significant shot is when the camera cuts quickly to a bird eye view shot of the corpse of the floor and Adam’s screaming reaction were perfectly timed.

The film Seven (1995) directed by David Fincher, portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda is to choose seven victims who represent example of the seven deadly sins. Two homicide detectives, one who is about retire and the other young and ambitious, team up to capture the serial-killer and they too become part of his gruesome plan. In the opening sequence of seven is intended to introduce the central character which is Detective William Somerset, as well as setting the mood for the remainder of the film. It gives the audience lots of information about him such as what he does for a living and what he’s like as a person. It also introduces another main character, Detective David Mills. The edits in the opening sequence is fairly fast, this is to keep both the pace and tension as high as possible. There is no music in this scene, only the diegetic background effects of the city he lives in, there are people shouting, dogs barking and alarms and sirens going off.

The film Wolf Creek (2005) directed by Dave Mclean is about three friends in their twenties who set out hike through Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian Outback. They get back to their car to find that it won’t start. A local man, Mick Taylor stops his truck and offers to help the three friends, finds that they need to replace the coil and offers to tow the car to his camp where he could fix it. When they accept this is when their great vacation away turns into a scary nightmare. The opening sequence in Wolf Creek declares that approximately 30,000 people a year disappear and are found after about a month, and 10% are never seen again. This is quite good as it gives facts and the film is based upon true events, also it gives the audience and insight of what the film is going to be about. It then goes on to show one of the main characters Ben buying a car and picking his two friends up and they spend the day at Wolf Creek National Park, the way the film cuts from the facts given in the opening sequence and the three friends is good because it suggests that they might become part of these statistics.

Film Classification

Film Classification

15

 The work must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.


 Drugs cans be shown but it must not be used to promote or encourage drug misuse. Highly dangerous substances is unlikely to be acceptable.


 Strong threat or menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.


 Dangerous behaviour such as hanging should not dwell detail which could be copied, and weapons shouldn’t be glamorised.


 There may be frequent use of strong language, aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language may be unacceptable.

 Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail.

 Sexual context may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to acceptable unless justified by context.

 Violence may be strong but should not dwell on infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised is also unlikely to be acceptable.


18

BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override
the principle that adults should be free to choose their
own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the
following areas:

• Where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commisson of a criminal offence.
• Where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society.
• Where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by the context.