'No Country for Old Men' - Thriller Research
[Part 1]
[Part 1]
Our first task while researching thrillers has been to assess the connotations surrounding starts of thriller films that lead us to believe that it IS a thriller film. The film we first look at was 'No Country for Old Men' it's a 2007 Crime Thriller film that was directed by the Coen Brothers (Burn After Reading, Intolerable Cruelty) the film won 4 Academy Awards and 2 Golden Globes and was a renowned success as it gained the number 1 spot on 14 of the years 'Top 10 Films' list. We watched the first 10 (or so) minutes of the film and wrote down what we believed led to the concept that this film was a thriller film.
Part 2 will be along soon, happy reading!
The opening of the film was completely silent, even over the production companies title cards this seemed unusual as quite often these title cards are displayed with an arbitrary fan fare to help signify the company which created the films. The dropping of these semiotics meant that the silence created extra tension and suspense for the film.
The scenes following the opening showed us a completely empty and desolate area showing you're alone, giving the affect of one of the typical thriller themes of isolation. I think this was a useful technique used, it gave the audience the idea that any characters in the film were solitary, it gave the impression of isolation as well. There may be plenty of open space but there's no real place to run, no-where to hide making the audience the impression that any characters appearing could well be trapped.
The scene after this in the film shows a police officer arresting a man whose face we do not see for some time, adding extra suspense. A question is raised when the traditional American Police Officer who arrests him states over the phone "Sheriff, he has some sort of thing on him. Like an oxygen tank... and a hose that run down his sleeve" this makes us question what this tank was. Also while this is happening the man arrested is climbing over his hand-cuffs so they are in front of him. (At this point we still have not seen his face, sustaining the suspense) The Police Officer is then attacked from behind, being brutally strangled with the chain of the hand-cuffs. Thus bringing the narrative of death into the storyline and also introducing the murder character as a psychotic character. However this character does look away from the Police Officer as his neck starts to spray blood, indicating that maybe he's not totally psychotic.
The scene of the police officers death is taken at an almost 'birds-eye' shot to show perhaps that we are on lookers in this crime. The next shot shows the character washing the blood off of his hands, perhaps showing that he's forgetting the thing he just commit ed. And then a shot of the murderer walking past the dead police officers body to the 'Oxygen Tank' opens up more questions to what it's purpose in the storyline is. Next we see the deception of the murder's character as he follows another car pretending to be a police officer, after asking the pursued victim to get out of the car (who is unknowing to the man's previous credentials giving the film a hint of dramatic irony) and is then murdered through compressed air from the 'Oxygen Tank' answering some questions.
We cut to a different character now who is out hunting, we see his aim for a helpless deer and he re-utters the line the previous murder said before killing the man he'd just pursued 'Hold still' this indicates symbolism between the two deaths, both had no idea they were about to be murdered and both were requested to 'hold still' thus creating a connection between the two characters.
Excellent analysis so far Kenny. I like your close reference to the sound and credits at the start, as well as the language you use in your writing. In the next bit, try to refer to camera angles and how they contribute to the creation of a conventional thriller. M