The two films I have chosen to analyse are Romeo and Juliet and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Introduction:
Firstly, Romeo and Juliet, the film was released on 1st November 1996 by 20th Century Fox. The setting of this film was set in the United States. The film was directed, co-produced and co-written by Baz Luhrmann, co-produced by Gabriella Martinelli and co-written by Craig Pearce, being an adaption and modernization of William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. The certificate age rating for this film is 12A and this means that it is suitable for children aged 12 and above. However, people younger than 12 may watch this film, but they must be accompanied by an adult. The target audience for this film would relate to those who simply love William Shakespeare. It can be also targeted at young children(young lovers) and adults(the parents of young lovers) and lastly, also young loving teenagers as well.
The second film, Hunt for the Wilderpeople was premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival on 22nd January 2016 and then it was officially released in cinemas on 31st March 2016 by Madman Entertainment and The Orchard. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in America on 25th October 2016 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The film was set in New Zealand and the genre of this film is adventure comedy-drama. This film was directed by Taika Waititi whose screenplay was based on the book Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump. Carthew Neal, Leanne Saunders, Matt Noonan and Taika Waititi produced the film. The certificate age rating for this film is also 12A. The target audience for this film is aimed at a teenage to adult audience.
The analysis I am going to apply in these films will be based on genre, narrative and convention analysis.
Synopsis
The classic story of Romeo and Juliet, set in a modern-day city of Verona Beach. The Montagues and Capulets are two feuding families, whose children meet and fall in love. They have to hide their love from the world because they know that their parents will not allow them to be together. There are obstacles on the way, like Juliet's cousin, Tybalt, and Romeo's friend Mercutio, and many fights. But although it is set in modern times, it is still the same timeless story of the "star crossed lovers."
Hunt for the Wilderpeople - Ricky Baker a juvenile criminal who was abandoned by his mother, is taken by child welfare services officer Paula and police officer Andy to live in a remote farm with foster mother Bella and her husband, the cantankerous Hector. Hector is remote, but Bella quickly manages to break through Ricky's defensive shell by taking him hunting and giving him a dog for his birthday, which he names Tupac after his idol Tupac Shakur.
When Bella suddenly passes away and Hector tells Ricky that child services will take him back, Ricky awkwardly fakes his suicide by burning a barn and runs away into the bush with Tupac, where he is completely unable to cope and gets lost. Hector finds him easily but injures his leg in a fall, forcing the two to camp for a period of time. The authorities meanwhile have found the house empty and the barn burnt down, and come to the conclusion that the bereaved and mentally unstable Hector has abducted Ricky. The impression is strengthened after a battle with three foolish hunters who get the idea that Hector is abusing Ricky sexually. Hector reveals to Ricky that he has served prison time for manslaughter and is unable to write. Ricky, in turn says his only friend in foster care has died and that he will not return to the system. The pair agree to disappear into the bush. A national manhunt ensues, and the two slowly bond while working together to escape arrest. They disperse Bella's ashes into a remote lake as per her wishes. After four months of surviving in the wilderness and several close calls, they are finally caught following a car and helicopter chase and Ricky accidentally shoots Hector in the buttock. Hector gets restricted and Ricky is taken in by a kind family he met while on the run. After Hector's release from jail, Ricky with his new foster family's permission, returns to the bush with Hector.
Romeo and Juliet (1996)
Genre analysis
Romeo Juliet (1996) is the first film I am going to fully analyse in terms of genre analysis. First of all this film is a romantic drama film.
The opening scene of this film is set in Verona, where the Montague boys are in the car driving to town which includes Benvolio who is to be Romeo's cousin.
Then soon afterwards the Capulet boys are introduced whilst in the car. Although it starts off with with a low angle of one their shoes which he stamps on his cigarette aggressively. From an audience point of view they would notice by one of the Capulet boy's action they are very aggressive and demanding.
The look of Tybalt's face known as (Prince of Cats) would determine that he is huge troublemaker by the look of his face and this is done as extreme close up shot of his face to capture the expression of this horrible and mean character.
6 minutes and 45seconds into the film Benvolio and Tybalt encounter each other and as the audience would see they are both holding guns. This could conveys that the use of guns could show that, although it is a romantic drama film there is also going to be ugly scenes in this film that would get the audience on their toes. From there the Montague boys and the Capulet boys all encounter each other and all of them are holding guns.
The explosive fire that is shown after they have battled each other would show that the film is going to show more exciting and brutal scenes in the latter stages.
Romeo is first introduced under bright lighting, as a close up shot of him smoking, although you can't really see his face clearly due to the immense lighting. He is the first main protagonist of this film as he will be in a number of scenes, alongside his lover, the other protagonist Juliet.
The Capulet mansion is shown and by the look of their mansion, the audience would notice that the Capulets are very wealthy and even inside their mansion looks very posh. So in a sort of way the expectations of the Capulet Family is very demanding in terms of their wealthiness. Juliet alongside her mother and nurse are fully introduced into the film at the mansion. By looking at the setting of mansion the Capulet Family are extremely wealthy and there is also further examples to this by Juliet's mother's clothing.
After that 20 minutes into the film after Romeo meets Mercutio there is a party at the Capulet's house. There is bright lighting since it is a party. 27 minutes and 2 seconds into the film Romeo and Juliet see each other for the first time looking from the fish tank. From that particular scene in the film it is demonstrating the genre of this film which is romance mainly between Romeo and Juliet and this will be the start of their relationship. Later as the party continues Romeo takes Juliet away with him and they end up kissing each other to signify their love for each other, despite Juliet's parents wanting her to end up marrying the Prince. As they kiss the camera gradually draws a bit closer to them to show the seriousness of their kissing. Later after the party Romeo and Juliet meet again and their relationship gathers even more pace as they kiss in the swimming pool to show true love between the two protagonists.
As the film commences at 56 minutes 21 seconds there is an extreme close up of Juliet walking down towards Romeo to be married. There is a close up shot of Romeo looking happy to marry Juliet. At that time they have tied the knot and they are fully husband and wife which please both of them as they loved each other strongly.
At the beach the mood of the music changes when the Capulet boys arrive at the with the likes of Tybalt. Then 58 minutes into the film there is an extreme close up of Tybalt walking towards Benvolio and his crew. The extreme close up of Tybalt's face shows a clear idea that he is up to something ugly with the Montague boys alongside Mercutio. As soon as Tybalt and his crew come across there is absolute fear on the Montague boys faces especially Benvolio. 59 minutes into the film the camera pace quickens when Mercutio and Tybalt begin to battle each other and also the pace of the music comes into play as well.
After Tybalt beats up Romeo and then Mercutio gets involved after both Tybalt and Mercutio battle as Mercutio is on the floor Tybalt stabs him and then from there Mercutio ends up dying. This happens at 1 hour and 5 minutes into the film. As Mercutio is laying down completely dead, the setting of the beach completely changes as the climate plays a huge part to it to convey Mercutio's death. The sky suddenly becomes darker to reflect the awful situation. From that part of the scene that is the turning point between the Capulet and the Montagues fighting causing the death of Mercutio and their reputation is going from bad to worse at that rate.
The feud between Romeo and Tybalt continues after Mercutio's death as Romeo is extremely furious with Tybalt after killing Mercutio. There is a close up shot of him with the gun shooting Tybalt to death. The face expression of Romeo does really tell that he is not happy about what happened to Mercutio earlier. There is a mid-shot of Romeo who shoots Tybalt and then he falls down backwards towards the pool. There is more added drama involving killing to this point as these scenes are the main crucial parts of the play and from there that could determine Romeo's future with Juliet - as she is related to Tybalt and also Tybalt is part of the Capulet Family so that will stir up even more problems. This commences at 1 hour 9 minutes into the film.
There is also another twist into the film as Juliet will drink the poison later in the film that will make go to sleep and she won't wake up in 24 hours time. This demonstrates that Juliet really loves Romeo and the fact she doesn't want to marry the Prince shows that she wants a bright future with Romeo to signify their romance.
Coming towards the end of the film Romeo drinks the poison and then dies, as soon after that Juliet wakes up, but she has seen that Romeo is laying down dead next to her. So therefore Juliet commits suicide by shooting herself to die and then they both die next to each other. Probably the reason Juliet committed suicide was that since Romeo was dead she will have nothing left to make herself happy, because all she ever wanted was the relationship to keep on growing with Romeo despite both of them coming from feuding families.
Narrative analysis
Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of Shakespeare's play Romeo Juliet binds unusual narratives and surrealism to create a romantic yet modernist piece to adapt to the modern audience. Not only does the director compromise unconventional narratives such as non/circular linear and twisted equilibriums, theoretical use of binary oppositions is challenged through Nick Lacey's (2000) modern perspective on them. Usually in the Binary Opposition(Levi Strauss) narrative, the hero on every occasion, dominates the villain at the conclusion. Despite numerous binaries this film Romeo and Juliet (1996) for example, families of Montague verses Capulet, themes of love verses hate at al, is conveyed throughout most of the film. Firstly, it is arguable that in this narrative there are hero's and villain's in which they are used in narratives. It also showed how Romeo is considered to be the 'protagonist' in terms of saving the love between himself and Juliet from 'Antagonist' Capulet Tybalt who aims to destroy not only their bond but Romeo from past family feuds. Towards the climax at Verona beach, Romeo mentions "Villain am I none. Therefore, farewell. I see thou knowest me not", with him ending with a hand shake gesture which is denied by Tybalt. Romeo speaks of peace towards Tybalt, yet Tybalt causes violence which leads heavily to the death of Mercutio. That particular violence is also shown by Tybalt throughout the film, when he crossed paths with the Montagues. For instance, the opening scene at the petrol station resulting in the station being blown up from gun shots over the fight between the Montagues and the Capulets. When Romeo shoots Tybalt underneath the statue of the Christ in anger after Tybalt stabs Mercutio which does show a sign of superiority for both attacking the oppositions, and Romeo defeating his enemy. Possibly, it can be seen that Romeo is also the antagonist. Romeo is shown to be a religious being and his characteristics of being a peace maker, therefore makes him an antagonist not only to the Capulet family, but to their religion. Towards the ending, it shows Romeo dies which suggests 'protagonist' Romeo is not superioer to 'antagonist Tybalt.
The characters in Romeo and Juliet (1996) and how they are integrated:
Romeo Montague - is one of the protagonists in the tragedy film. Romeo, the son of Montague, he secretly marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet. He was forced into exile by his slaying of Juliet's cousin; Tybalt in a battle, Romeo commits suicide after hearing falsely of Juliet's death. Romeo is the only child like Juliet, he is one of the most important characters in the film, and has a consistent presence throughout.
Juliet Capulet - is the female protagonist and of the title characters in the tragedy film as well. Juliet is the only daughter of the Capulet family. She is first integrated into the film as she first appears in the Capulet Mansion when her mother mentions to her that she will be marrying the Prince soon.
Tybalt - is the hot-headed, repulsive Prince of Cats. He is Juliet's cousin. He is also the leader of the younger generation of Capulets fighting the Montagues. When angered at Romeo for showing up at his Uncle's party he declares him a "villain". He later fights with Romeo but ends up killing Mercutio, Romeo's best friend. Romeo filled with huge anger then kills Tybalt and from there he was banished.
Mercutio - Mercutio is Romeo's best friend who is integrated when he persuades him to attend the Capulet House party as he has had an invitation for him, even though he is not part of the Capulet family. Mercutio gets stabbed with a shard of glass after a fight between Romeo, himself and Tybalt.
Benvolio - Benvolio is a Montague and Romeo's cousin. He doesn't like fighting, he is the one that tries to break up fights. He is introduced into the film in the opening scene when him and some of the Montague boys compete against the Capulet boys which includes leader Tybalt.
Nurse - The nurse is a major character in the film. She is the personal servant, guardian of Juliet Capulet and has been since Juliet was born. She is one of the few people alongside Friar Lawrence to be made aware of the blossoming Romance between Romeo and Juliet.
Other characters such as: Lady Montague, Ted Montague, Lady Capulet, Fulgencio Capulet, Friar Lawrence, the Montague and Capulet boys all played parts in the film, however the characters I wrote in little detail were the ones that played important parts in the film, especially the two protagonists Romeo and Juliet.
Setting
The film Romeo and Juliet (1996) was set at Verona beach, little bit different to William Shakespeare play setting of Romeo and Juliet. They have done this to portray an urban modern twist from the original, to give the modern audience an understanding. The use of media is integrated from newspapers to television to appeal more modern which helps to make it easier to tell the story. Also several important scenes take place in Juliet's bedroom. Few stage settings relates to Shakespeare's written text and he did not give any details about the decor of Juliet's bedroom. The setting of Juliet's bedroom could have done in this way to relay certain parts about Juliet and the Capulets in a visual image that would support the spoken one. Juliet's bedroom consists of spacious, high-ceilinged power-blue and pale yellow room, framed by French windows with blue and white filigreed curtains that open out onto the famous balcony. This could signify that Juliet's bedroom was presented like so that people would see the setting of the bedroom and they will think of it as rich girl's bedroom with religious iconography in a place where religion is still important.
Point of view
The audiences understand the reality from the basis of culture. The use of modernism's in the film helped told the story to the modern audience as it is something we would understand from our culture and also it will get us more into the movie since the film is very modern.
Themes
The director's interpretation of Romeo and Juliet includes everything Shakespeare had originally intended which were: hate, violence and love leading to a horrific suicide. The film version combines the elements of a modern action movie, packed with action, fantastic loves scenes, and fiery explosions. The character of Juliet is played with just the perfect amount of innocence, purity and the inner desire to rise against her parent's wishes. This could portray Juliet, balancing love perfectly with love sick Romeo.
Content Analysis
Language
Whilst the film was set in the modern day, the characters talk in Old English, showing contrast between old and modern. The diegetic music particularly shown in parties are also songs from the modern day. While the characters speak in old English, they sing and understand the modern music played, such as "Young hearts run free."
Text Translations
Baz Luhrmann's film Romeo and Juliet is introduced to the audience as segment from a news bulletin during an interview. His intentions was to make the move violent and entertaining the way Shakespeare had if he was a filmmaker.
Interestingly, the corresponding scene from the film shows Benvolio and the Montague boys cruising along the freeway in a bright yellow convertible, laughing with one of them turning around to the camera and yelling "A dog of the house of Capulet moves!" The fight scene between the Montague and Capulet boys provides a good example of the difference in choreography and props. In the text, the characters all fight with swords, on a stage empty of all but citizens of the watch. However, in the ultra-modernalized film, the characters are all possessed of pistols bearing the name of their respective houses and they make use of the surrounding cars and various obstacles of the gas station where the fight is staged.
Music
The director carefully chose recorded songs to underline and pinpoint the mood and meaning of particular moments in the story. One of the musics that stood out the most was 'Kissing You' by Des'ree. This particular music appeared in the film when Romeo meets Juliet for the first at the Capulet House party when they saw each other from the fish tank, from that particular scene there a definite romance.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Genre analysis
The second film I am going to analyse is Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The genre of this film is adventure-comedy.
The opening setting of this film starts of at the countryside zooming in very high into the forests and relating to the conventions you would know that the movie is very adventurous by looking at the forests.
A lot of close ups are introduced towards Ricky, to demonstrate that he doesn't talk much at the beginning of the film. This takes place two minutes into the film. Ten minutes into the film Ricky and Hector did not talk to each as much at the start of the film.
As the film progresses a little you would notice it is kind of adventurous when Bella's dog spots there is pig around and then Bella goes off to kill the pig by using a sharp knife, to demonstrate that the sort of a area they are living at they kill a lot of animals especially pigs. During that period the music changes and also the pace of the camera cuts very quickly to show the huge tension of Bella killing the pig.
32 minutes and 22 seconds into the movie Ricky, a dancing is playing in the film and Ricky is dancing to convey the conventions of the genre, you can also tell by him holding a thin stick and wearing a type of string full of leaves on his to demonstrate that he is being adventurous and it is also adding humor to the film at that time.
Forty minutes into the film music tension rises again when Hector fights with a group of men that were picking on him after they found out that he was sexually abusing Ricky, although it did not seem that way. Ricky helps out Hector to overcome these men by using a gun to scare them off. Use of guns are involved in this movie to add a weapon as well as security of the characters due to where they are living and they also hunt for animals as well.
The mood of the music changes alongside the pace of the camera when the dogs spot a pig again, however Zag is killed by the pig and Hector could not deal with the pig. So after a tough battle Ricky kills the pig via a gun. This happened at 1 hour and 7 minutes into the film.
One hour and 12 minutes into the film, chapter nine of the movie Ricky and Hector are casually walking then suddenly the police have found them and they chase after them the mood of the music changes again and more drama. The fact both Ricky and Hector have been in the wilderness for four months presents that it has been a real adventure for both of them as it is portraying the genre of the film.
At long last the police have spotted Ricky and Hector as the drama continues to get interesting and coming towards the end of the film. Later on music plays again in the film relating winter as it is snowing around the countryside. After a long chase the police eventually capture both Ricky and Hector - Hector is sent to prison whilst Ricky was sent to another family that were introduced in the film which involves the girl and her father.
After Ricky and Hector meet again there is a establishing shot of Ricky when he hugs Hector that they will be together again despite what happened earlier with the police. This demonstrates a good ending to the film between two protagonists that have come a long way since they first met, going missing for four months and then towards the end there is a happy ending.
Narrative analysis
Ricky Baker supplies the main character throughout by being a real nuisance. Overweight and steeped. Ricky gives the audience a chance to experience what it is like to be in his problematic situation. (This happens during the situation.)
Until Bella, it seems as if no one wants him - and he wants to be nowhere. As much as Ricky does not want be anywhere, Hector doesn't want to around anyone. Hector creates problems everywhere he goes. From Bella's kitchen table to life on the farm working with Ricky to arguing with hunters that think that he is a "pervert". Hector's Influence Character Through lines challenges Ricky to stand up for himself and grow as young man. (This happens during the fixed attitude.)
The hunters aren't the only ones who think Hector is a pervert. Social worker and terminator Paula leads the manhunt for Hector and Ricky once the two disappear into the deep bush of New Zealand. All the other polices join in the manhunt.( This happens during the overall story line known as the activity.
But the main part of the story rests in the relationship story through line between Ricky and Hector. Forced into a relationship neither really wanted at first but as the film progressed they eventually grow to a place of true friendship and respect. Alone together they must grow beyond their own way of thinking and see things from the other side. (This happens during the way of thinking.) You can relate this type of narrative to Character Roles (Vladimir Propp) since this type of narrative is relied heavily on the characters.
The following characters in this film is followed as listed below:
Ricky Baker - Ricky is the big chubby kid that plays a massive role in the film. He is integrated into the film as a boy that didn't talk much, but as his confidence grew he became a massive figure in their quest to survive in the wilderness, but him alongside Hector were caught by the police.
Hector - Hector is the husband of Bella. He is first integrated into the film as a grumpy old man, especially when Ricky came across at the beginning of the film. He too tried to survive in the wilderness alongside Ricky Baker before they were caught by police. Hector was sent to prison, but after towards the end of the film he came back.
Bella - Bella was the wife of Hector before she suddenly died. She was first integrated into the film when she sees Ricky for the first time and she was the one that welcomed Ricky and she also provided for him as well. Then suddenly she died much to the huge disappointment of Hector and Ricky.
Paula - Paula is the child welfare worker who deals with children like Ricky. She is first integrated into the film when her alongside police officer Andy drop off Ricky to a foster home to live with Hector and Bella. She also played a major part in the play by man hunting Ricky and Hector alongside other policemen.
Other characters such as: Psycho Sam, Andy and others all played parts in the film. However, the ones I wrote in detail were the ones that played a huge to the film.
Setting
In terms of the setting for this film it was done in New Zealand at the countryside for most parts of the scene. Although there scenes that the characters were in their house. It complements the story being told, because relating to the genre adventure, where the movie was set looked very adventurous and also the things that the characters did was really adventurous. For example early stages of the film Ricky done a runner far away from where he was sheltered before Bella found him. Also another example when Ricky and Hector battle to kill the pig, although it was simply Ricky shooting the pig to end the animal's life.
Point of View
From an audience point of view they would think that the film is very interesting and from the way the film was plotted out they would definitely understand the narrative of the film. The fact the film is adventure comedy would make the audience watch the film again and me personally I would recommend someone to watch this film.
Themes
I would say the theme of that this film is trying to portray will be friendship between Ricky and Hector. They have come along way from the start of the film when they weren't keen on each others company and then after working together by battling to be in the wilderness. Then towards the end of the film Ricky and Hector signified their solidness by Ricky hugging him and Hector accepting with relief.
Content analysis
Language
The type of language that has been used in this film I will say it is very strong with the use of appropriate language that was said in the film. The way the characters spoke can be related to the modern era today as quite lot of people speak like that today. In terms of the audience I would this type of language integrated into this film would be easy for them to understand.
Music
Lots of entertaining music was played, but the one that stood out the most was opening one which is called "Makutekahu." It was a wonderful music that blends electronic synth textures, chimes and rhythmic ideas with classical-sounding, chanting voices featuring lyrics in both Latin and Maori dialect and an overall atmosphere that sounds like medieval plain song mixed with Celtic influences. The track plays over the opening scene, a majestic vista of New Zealand countryside, and I think it is superbly effective in terms of the setting and drama.
Lighting
I would say the lighting throughout the film was bright lighting since it was set at the countryside. Although some scenes there dark lighting at the night for example when Ricky and Hector cook up food by making a fire first. But the majority of the lighting was bright to reflect the genre and the excitement of the film.
Conclusion:
My summary of my findings were both really interesting, to analyse. However, me personally Romeo and Juliet (1996) was the one that I was able to imply my ideas more, because there was lots to talk about, because of the family feuding, relationship between Romeo and Juliet, death of Tybalt and Mercutio and lastly the death of Romeo and Juliet conveyed a sad ending to the story. Whereas, with Hunt for the Wilderpeople, although Bella died there was some funny moments and some fighting scenes as well. But this film ended on a happy note despite what happened. In terms of the narrative I would say they were both easy to understand from an audience perspective view and the structure of this is not necessarily difficult to interpret.
If I was to recommend someone to watch one of these films I would Hunt for the Wilderpeople, because it is adventurous and the dramas that are included in this would make the audience have their full attention. It is funny as well, and the use of language is modern the way we speak today.
