As the opening credits roll, a sound bridge appears of 'God bless America'. This sets an ironic tone as within the first 3 minutes a woman is murdered and a man tortured. It also establishes the surroundings- USA and could be related to "The Deer Hunter" in that it used this soundtrack to criticise USA's involvement in the Vietnam war (which also stars Robert DeNiro). Therefore Leone is possibly using this soundtrack to make a statement about the USA.
As the sound bridge dies down, a non-diagetic sound of footsteps become louder which engages the audience with tension. The first image from the noir background is a silhouette standing in a doorway. The noir lighting is generic in the thriller conventions as the character is not visible to the audience.
There is then a high angle close up of the girl. The imagery of the girl portrays that she is a femme fatale as she is wearing pearls and diamonds and has red nail varnish which portrays danger. The high angle shot of the bullet holes in the mattress (that outline the shape of body) reinforces the genre of the film. This image foreshadows what possibly waits Eve (the girl). The rule of thirds is used and Eve is a third and the bullet hole body on the bed is another third.
The first image of the gangsters hold connotations of danger with their classic clothes and they form a unity as they are similar, making them more powerful. The male weapon is held menacingly by the gangster and shows how weak and vulnerable Eve is against them. As Eve is shot she falls onto the bed; dying in same place as the outline of the body, suggesting that her death was planned.
There is a quick cut. This suggests fast movement of the gangsters. There is a shot of a man being tortured by the same men. The close up of the victim shows the brutality of the attackers and the vulnerability of the victim.In these first few minutes, the film portrays a corruption in America. So the music "God Bless America" was ironic and unsettling.
You've perceptively interpreted some important aspects of mise-en-scene here. I'd suggest you now identify generic aspects of mise-en-scene and evaluate how well Sergio Leone utilses the generic conventions. Specifically lighting, camera angles and shots, location, costume, male and female signifiers, the femme fatale.
ReplyDeleteI'd also suggest you research the definition of:
1) film noir
2) femme fatale
This would help your understanding of film language, genre and character types.
I asked students some time ago to post definitions of film noir and the significance of the femme fatale on their blogs some time ago. If you'd done this your analysis and a would indicate a stronger understanding of film noir film, and that the construction of the femme fatale was an example of misogyny (i.e. hatred/fear of women).
ReplyDeleteNevertheless your analysis is mainly proficient, i.e mid Level 3.