In the opening sequence "Pravda", there is a stereotypical representation of gender. Ella, the young woman in danger, is the classic female victim who is constantly threatened and scared. This is conveyed by the inevitable sobs and screams she lets out when she is hiding. Her horrified face expression can be seen through camerawork in the right side of the frame, standing out because if the lighting. Although she is dressing in sports clothes, she is wearing quite feminine earrings. She is dependent on the male figure, David. The evidence could be when he tells her to hide and she mumbles, ending the moment with a cry full of emotion: "David!" The organisation the scene, with the props and furniture where they are, contribute to this representation of gender. We see her feet, wearing only socks, and then her crawling under the bed in a very vulnerable position. David seems to be the absolute lead. While Ella stays in the room, lying in bed, he is in charge to go search for blankets because she is cold. He is also extremely protective and runs back to warn her about something out there. He makes sure that she is hiding properly before going to look for a safe place himself. In the fight scene, he is both brave and reckless, trying to fight the extremists back with his bare hands. In the end, he is essentially a typical defeated hero who has done everything he could to try to save his damsel in distress but ends up dying. Even in the moment before he gets shot, he somehow finds time to look at Ella directly, as a silent goodbye.
Ethnicity is also represented stereo-typically. The Russian extremists are viewed as a threat and treated from a viewpoint of lack of knowledge and understanding. They talk in their own language and therefore isolate themselves. The pleonastic sound of their boots walking side to side contributes to the sense of danger that they give off from the beginning. The use of props helps create this image as well, with their guns being visible most of the time as an explicit reminder. The editing in the moment of the gunshot is based on a hyperbole aimed at dramatising the death of the boy and stressing the menace that the terrorists constitute. A second layer with increased brightness in the edges of the objects in the room was added as part of the shock, and two gunshot sounds are overlapped additionally. Although the choice of a one-shot sequence was made because of its complexity and originality and, most importantly, as an alternative of creating tension, in this case it also highlights the feeling of uncertainty and fear as we do not see the extremists' faces in any point. They are just unknown Russians, merely antagonists, and certainly plain characters. This representation is constantly chosen in the media when treating minorities which have been involved in war conflicts previously, like the Nazis in the "Indiana Jones" saga. The ingredient of ignorance always adds up to the general uneasiness when treating with these enemies. Cultural detachment pulls the characters apart.
The lead couple have a conventional straight relationship. Their sexuality is depicted as we can usually find it in media texts: a perfect combination of love, playful jokes and a deep care for each other. They understand what each other wants perfectly and any negative comments always have a comical remark. One example of this is when David complains of "how much (Ella) wriggled last night". He introduces it in the conversation as part of the good-humoured complaints of her towards his attempts of having sex. They are both mocking each other for things that they care about but they do not want to make a big deal out of, as in many TV shows which include couples who argue that way, being positive about whatever they do not like in order to solve it more easily than if they were to get involved in a fight. They understand each other and the dialogue develops fluently. The chemistry between them is obvious in their lines and actions, as well as in sounds like their laughter when they are together on top of the bed. They also perform activities together like going hiking in the mountains, quite ideal, and they dress similarly as a consequence. They are both matching in the dark colours and the fact that they are half undressed: they have already got rid of the winter clothes a boots from the outside. This contributes to set a calm, intimate environment within the hostel room. The choice of lighting, with a yellow-amber quality in the inside and a colder, pale pink in the outside as a reflection in the window is a detail that sets the mood of the stereotypical relationship of David and Ella.The pleonastic sounds that come from the adjoining rooms are part of this representation of sexuality. The couple next door is mirroring the main action, them being organised in duos of a man and a woman. The man, again, is certainly scared but also protective and full of energy to grasp any opportunity to save both: "Stop it, stop it!", while the woman is simply screaming non-stop until she gets shot three times. This means that, once again, the man is more or less in charge of the situation beyond the fact that he is pleading and his partner can not pull herself together and reacts hysterically.
Overall, the thriller sequence is very stereotypical in terms of representation, which makes the viewer focus more in the bits and pieces which stand out rather than in the background of the story. This is a common strategy to avoid unnecessary distractions and immerse the audience in the plot, especially used in action thrillers. The public gets attached to the characters quickly because they find it easy to identify them; they have seen similar ones a thousand times before. Everything that is left is to see how the situation unravels.
No comments:
Post a Comment