Sherlock Holmes - Symbolism Overkill
I've not really put too much effort into the analysis of this film, mainly cause it was just something I noticed while watching it.
Sherlock Holmes is the latest in the line of Guy Ritchie flicks, but I've personally never especially loved the guy's work. Just something about it, but Sherlock Holmes did look pretty exciting by the trailers and I think since Robert Downey Jr.'s revamped career in 2005 he's become an amazing actor. His roles in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Iron Man particularly impressed me.
So, I decided I would see the film. I was pretty open minded throughout the film and yeah, I did enjoy it. But there was one thing that really bugged me throughout the film. The crows, or raven symbolism.
Before and after every death scene you saw a raven appear and then leave. Obviously Guy Ritchie's taken an attempt to use 'subtle' conventions of thriller films, particularly those by Alfred Hitchcock. But I'm not sure if everyone else noticed while watching but the crows seemed to be blindingly obvious! There were no surprises in the storyline cause it was shown every time someone was about to die! Okay, yeah it kinda worked, but it didn't work well, symbolism needs to be subtle!
During the film's climax I noticed a nearly subtle symbol, when a raven flew past, but no i was mistaken the next shot was a 4 second close up of the raven landing nearby, oh looks like someones about to die!
So through noticing these crucial complaints from me, a film lover. I've decided that during the open of our thriller we're going to try and keep our symbols very subtle. However, I do have doubts that I only noticed this because I've been studying these conventions recently, so I'll ask people who have seen the film if they've noticed therefore influencing our decisions in the making of our Thriller Opening.
Please post if you did or didn't notice these raven/crows!
Sherlock Holmes is the latest in the line of Guy Ritchie flicks, but I've personally never especially loved the guy's work. Just something about it, but Sherlock Holmes did look pretty exciting by the trailers and I think since Robert Downey Jr.'s revamped career in 2005 he's become an amazing actor. His roles in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang and Iron Man particularly impressed me.
So, I decided I would see the film. I was pretty open minded throughout the film and yeah, I did enjoy it. But there was one thing that really bugged me throughout the film. The crows, or raven symbolism.
Before and after every death scene you saw a raven appear and then leave. Obviously Guy Ritchie's taken an attempt to use 'subtle' conventions of thriller films, particularly those by Alfred Hitchcock. But I'm not sure if everyone else noticed while watching but the crows seemed to be blindingly obvious! There were no surprises in the storyline cause it was shown every time someone was about to die! Okay, yeah it kinda worked, but it didn't work well, symbolism needs to be subtle!
During the film's climax I noticed a nearly subtle symbol, when a raven flew past, but no i was mistaken the next shot was a 4 second close up of the raven landing nearby, oh looks like someones about to die!
So through noticing these crucial complaints from me, a film lover. I've decided that during the open of our thriller we're going to try and keep our symbols very subtle. However, I do have doubts that I only noticed this because I've been studying these conventions recently, so I'll ask people who have seen the film if they've noticed therefore influencing our decisions in the making of our Thriller Opening.
Please post if you did or didn't notice these raven/crows!
I was also surprised when looking at the winners of this years golden globe that this was the only Thriller to win any award... or really be nominated for any... hmmm gap in the market? or has the overkill of cliche's such as the ones in this film made it an empty market?