Sex and Violence on the Big Screen, what ... - SAE Institute UK

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Table of Contents Introduction Page 3 Chapter 1 – Theories <strong>and</strong> Key Concepts Chapter 1.1 – Theories Page 5 Chapter 1.2 – Key Concepts Page 6 Chapter 2 – Natural Born Killers Chapter 2.1 – Historical/Cultural Influences Page 7 Chapter 2.2 –Film History <strong>and</strong> Reception Page 9 Chapter 2.3 – Scene Analysis Page 12 Chapter 3 – Irreversible Chapter 3.1 – Historical/Cultural Influences Page 18 Chapter 3.2 – Film History <strong>and</strong> Reception Page 19 Chapter 3.3 – Scene Analysis Page 20 Chapter 4 – Comparison of Natural Born Killers <strong>and</strong> Irreversible Page 26 Conclusion Page 31 References Page 32 Bibliography Page 36 Appendix A: Natural Born Killers Page 38 B: Irreversible Page 44 C: Extras Page 52 2
<strong>Violence</strong> on the Big Screen, what techniques are employed by filmmakers to shock audiences by depicting controversial <strong>and</strong> unpleasant acts? With reference to the work of Gaspar Noe <strong>and</strong> Oliver Stone. Introduction This dissertation aims to explore the cinematic techniques used by two incredibly unique directors to portray violence in society through the expression of issues in an unconventional <strong>and</strong> shocking way, whilst also looking at the effect it causes on audiences through its realistic as well as fantasy use of violence. The two directors I have chosen to focus on are Oliver Stone due to his reputation as “one of the most respected film makers in the world.” (Young et al, 1999) I have chosen Stone’s most famous film, Natural Born Killers, which at the time had enjoyed the biggest opening of any Oliver Stone movie, making it to number one immediately according to an article published in Film <strong>and</strong> History. (Courtwright, 1998) The film caused incredible amounts of controversy with critics <strong>and</strong> political leaders claiming it was responsible for more real-life deaths than any movie in the history of cinema. (Grundy, 1997) The second filmmaker to be featured in this dissertation is Gaspar Noe, who by contrast to Oliver Stone was not a particularly well-known director worldwide. However upon the release of his film, Irreversible equally caused much controversy over it’s depiction of violence <strong>and</strong> rape, which divided audiences at the films screening at Cannes according to Tim Palmer (2006). Most importantly both films deal with violence in completely different ways, Irreversible being critiqued of depicting violence in an incredibly realistic way, while Natural Born Killers is suggested to use exaggerated fantasy elements of violence to cause shock within audiences. This dissertation aims to identify these techniques <strong>and</strong> evaluate how they evoke shock within audiences focusing mainly on these two films. Before deconstructing both films, I will briefly look into the history of both directors, taking into account their previous films <strong>and</strong> any specific historical <strong>and</strong> social contexts that could have attributed to the controversy that both of these films received. Due to the small scope of this dissertation, I will only briefly look into the history, referencing it when applicable to the current films chosen for this project. As mentioned before, the main focus will be on Irreversible <strong>and</strong> Natural Born Killers, as they are the most notably shocking films released by the filmmakers to date. Through a close scene analysis, I aim to identify <strong>and</strong> evaluate the techniques used by these directors, which resulted in audiences experiencing the amount of shock they did through their depictions of violence within both films. 3
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Page 37: 53 Nesselson, L. (2002) ‘Film Rev

Sex and Violence on the Big Screen, what ... - SAE Institute UK

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