Identities in Children of Men and V for Vendetta

The two films conform and defy the stereotypes of women. In Children of Men the portrayal of women is mainly through Kee and Julian, being two of the few female characters in the film. Julian is portrayed as independent and a strong leader. This is illustrated throughout; a key scene that links to this point in particular is when she is discussing with Theo about the job at hand, while surrounded by several armed members of her cause. They all listen to her orders and do as instructed, conveying strong leadership skills by determining the response to any choices that arise. Kee can be seen as fairly weak in comparison to other characters, on the basis she receives constant guidance from Miriam and Theo. At the same time, her character acts as a symbol of strength once the baby is born. This is in reference to the sequence when Theo and Kee are thrown into the middle of a war zone. When the baby is born, the conflict stops and allows for our protagonists to exit safely. It can represent the idea that without the presence of women in society, life as we know it would descend into chaos. It relays the message that the masculine use of guns and weaponry will not match the power of women. As I see it, both V for Vendetta and Children of Men have a similar representation of women. I believe they both defy stereotypes of women, but V for Vendetta conforms to The Male Gaze Theory, to a greater extent than that of Children of Men.

In V for Vendetta there are two scenes in which Evey is portrayed as a sex object, exploited for her looks by other characters. One scene is when Evey is getting ready and goes on her way to Dietrich’s house, and is about to get raped by the Fingermen just before V intervenes. The second scene that reinforces this point is when Evey is in the company of the Bishop. In both of these scenes, the point of Evey is to convey the objectification of women. In dressing Evey in a cosmetically pleasing outfit, reinforces the idea of The Male Gaze, which encourages the male audience to watch the film. On the other hand, Evey promotes the independence and strength of women. This becomes apparent when V takes away her fear, establishing the Evey we see at the end of the film. Evey is also responsible for the destruction of parliament, when she pulls the lever on the train; this communicates the power she is is capable of, which can represent the power of women. with this scene in mind, we can make reference the The Final Girl concept. Although Evey is not considered pure or a virgin, she survives until the end and extinguishes the threat (the pulling of the train lever). 

Both films conform and defy the stereotypes of men. The idea of masculinity is comprised of traits such as emotionless and physical strength. In Children of Men, the main character that aids us in the representation of men is Theo. He Is considered to bear both feminine and masculine traits. In one scene the audience witnesses Theo cowering and crying behind a tree, for a brief moment. Showing such emotions is considered feminine, as stereotypically it is deemed that women are the gender to deal with emotional matters. However, in this same sequence Theo can be considered quite masculine as he chooses to hide himself while he cries for an extremely brief moment. In hiding himself causes the audience to assume it is in an attempt to preserve his role as leader. By crying for mere seconds, relays the point that Theo recognises the stereotype of crying as a sign of weakness; so in response decides to take Julians death on the chin, and carry on as normal. Another sequence that conveys Theo’s masculinity is during the war zone. He takes on the role of a protecter and tries his best to get Kee to safety. In this sequence Theo has his arm around Kee several times in order to protect her; reinforcing the view of masculinity and role of the hero, being able to protect others weaker than yourself. At the same time it can be argued he is portrayed as being feminine in this sequence. This is on the basis he doesn't use any form of weaponry, and in order to escape, the birth of the child causes the threat to stand down; as opposed to the stereotypical male action, which is to destroy it.

In V for Vendetta the stereotypical traits of masculinity are conveyed through our protagonist V. Throughout, he battles the minions of the totalitarian government and chooses to use knives as his preferred choice of weapon. This is apparent in the sequences when he fights Creedy and his men in the underground. The use of a knives illustrates V’s masculinity and strength against others, as the knife is considered a phallic symbol because knifes are related to penetration. It is used as a show of power and causes his enemies to recognise his male dominance. There is also moments in the film when V’s character communicates aspects of the developing post-modern man, displayed in our current society; although some may argue they conform more to the stereotypes of women. An example of this is when V is cooking breakfast for Evey in his lair. In this scene he is also wearing an apron. In terms of being more feminine, V’s mask has rosy cheeks and a shaped mustache. These characteristics communicate the use of makeup and male grooming, which is normally undertaken by women to appear more attractive.

Representation of parents in We Need To Talk About Kevin and Juno

In We Need to Talk About Kevin, the story isn't told in chronological order as there is a mix of past and present throughout the film. However, as the film goes on, we piece together clues as to why Kevin did what he did and why he's the way he is. The final scene ends with Eva hearing about the high school massacre and the shock on her face when she finds out her sons the killer. What makes her more distraught is that she sees all the young dead bodies and realises that she is partially responsible for their deaths. The film should tell about the horrors of pregnancy, however the real horror is after Eva gives birth to Kevin. The two main characters in this film are Kevin, played by Ezra Miller, and Eva, played by Tilda Swinton. Eva struggles with motherhood and her only strength to keep trying is the need to please her husband and the father of her children, Franklin. However, the only time when her love becomes unconditional is when she sticks by her son even though he has brutally murdered 9 people. She shows that even though she didn't show any love throughout the times when it mattered most. She did try to show a young Kevin love but motherhood didn't come easy to her. Eva also has to struggle with containing her hate towards her son around Franklin who is ignorant to how estranged their son is. This frustrates her and leads her into a state of depression as she feels nothing can make the relationship between her and her son better. She is blamed for the acts that her son did, in which she shares the blame herself. Kevin is the other main character in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Kevin's lack of sympathy for mother makes this story. Ezra Miller plays the satanic child who even though his struggling mother tries to give him the love she could give, but he is not accepting of her love. He channels his hate for his mother to fool his ignorant dad. In the end he easily murders 9 people that he knows for reasons that are hard to understand, for he is a psychological killer. He has no remorse for his victims and he sheds no light as to why he did what he did.The acts that are seen in the film affect the audience by shocking them and leaving them wondering why Kevin has turned out the way he has. We also wonder why Eva lacks so much in motherhood and why she is so deterred to get help. 

In Juno, the story is told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. The whole idea plays on the fact that 'it all began with a chair' and it all ended with a chair. The final scene with Juno and bleeker ends in the summer, which could be a message that they have overcome nature to shine once again. The main characters of this film are Juno MacGuff, played by Ellen Page, and Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. They are two teenagers who along with growing up, have to face the problem of a teenage pregnancy. Juno, who is faced with a teenage pregnancy, makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child. That decision is to have the baby but give it up for adoption. However when her chosen couple faces flaws in their relationship and a divorce is settled, Juno finds that months into her pregnancy her perfect idea isn't going to plan. On top of this she has to face the struggles of a teenagers life.I think that Juno acts like an adult and in fact feels a strong pull toward Mark Loring, the husband in the couple who are set to adopt Juno’s baby. But then she runs around doing childish things like setting up furniture on Paulie’s front lawn, eating Red Vines, and using a hamburger phone. The other main character is Paulie Bleeker, and although he's a quiet and unnoticable character I would say that he is one of the protagonists because of his involved with Juno and how their relationship progresses is shown in the film. He struggles to realise the amount of problems that Juno has to deal with and why she acts mean towards him. By the end of the film Juno realises that her relationship with Paulie Bleeker is strong enough to overcome the heartbreak of giving up their baby. She also realises that a maternal love doesn't have to be with a biological mother. The scene ends with Juno singing a song with Paulie about their unconditional love.

This scene comes after the incident with Kevin's sister. His chilling attitude for his sister makes this one of the most disturbing scenes in this film. What makes this more disturbing is the way Kevin peels a lychee fruit with an almost devilish glee. The scene begins with the camera at a medium long shot so that Kevin is at the head of the table while Eva and Franklin are placed secondary to him, as if to say that Kevin has control over them, that he can do anything he wants. For the main part of this scene is that the actors are placed in the middle of the shot. Ignoring the rule of thirds the director takes risks in whether the audience will find that this scene lacks in something, however the results are quite the opposite as the setup intrigues the viewer. The way that the shot is setup when Kevin eats the lychee is clever because during the whole scene Kevin taunts Eva in a way that isn't obvious to his father, Walter. Then when Kevin eats the lychee we can see the juice that spurts out of the lychee, we can also see a close-up of him chewing it. What makes this part of the scene so sinister is that we can also hear the squirting of the juice coming out from the lychee. There is very little sound when nobody is speaking so that we hear the silence in the room, at best we hear the subtle clinking of glasses and knives and forks. As for the props, kitchen utensils and food is needed as it fits with the set. Without these, the scene would not get the desired effect that it has on the audience. I think the most essential thing in this scene is the sound and that fact that its so minimalistic which makes it so cold.

This scene comes near the end of the film when the plot is reaching its resolution. The scene consists of Juno and her father talking in the kitchen. She discusses with him her love life briefly, "...find a person who loves you for exactly what you are," says Juno's father in which Juno replies, "I sort of already have". This is when she questions "relationships", i.e., between not only her and Bleeker but between a mother and her unborn child, a couple who are facing a major cross road in their marriage, her father and his second marriage, and even her best friend's crush on a high school teacher. The scene was shot in a fairly small set as judging by their intentions I think the idea was to make it intimate as Juno was discussing something personal with her father. With dimmed lighting to create a better ambience it ties the scene together. The camerawork is manly shot over-the-shoulder each time the character speaks to another, this is mainly shot like this because its a conversation between the two. When the scene begins, Juno comes out from behind the kitchen countertop, almost as if to show her pregnant belly so it's almost as if she's saying that she's not covering up anymore and it shows that she's about to open up. The scene has been edited so that we see the over-the shoulder camera angles one after the other. This would have been filmed separately and then collected together for editing. Juno starts the scene by talking quietly but as she opens up more her voice gets louder to represent her finding her voice. The props inside the scene fit with the set because if they don't fit with the set then it distracts the viewer from the acting in the scene.

National Identity In Children of Men and V for Vendetta

Comparing V for Vendetta and Children of Men

The narrative of these two scenes show the two main protagonists watching ove their 'damsels in distress'. In Children of Men he's looking through the broken glass, which represents the broken society, to see Kee, who's hope for the future, so he's looking through the broken society to find that there is hope in the distance. In V for Vendetta, V offered to shelter Evie from the rain.

Theme: Dystopian future, does one conform to the dystopian future more than the other? Relates to style because Children of Men LOOKS more realistic. The style of V for Vendetta has a more supernatural and comic style to it. 

Reason: In children of Men it's a warning and the style makes it more realistic. V for Vendetta doesn't seem as realistic because of the genre.

Genre: (video essay) V for Vendetta has more of a superhero genre or has elements of a superhero genre whereas Children of Men is more of an action/thriller. Although they are both thrillers because they contain mystery and crime. They are also both science-fiction films but the sub-genre is dystopian sci-fi. Does one film conform more to a dystopian sci-fi than another? V for Vendetta has futuristic elements such as how he got his powers, however Children of Men is also quite futuristic as it is set far in the future where women are infertile and no women has conceived for years.

Reason: Both are sci-fi because they are set in the future and they have a message that if you don't do anything about it, this could happen.

Narrative: Neither films conform to the classic hollywood narrative. An example of this would be that the protagonist dies at the end of the movie. In Children of Men, there is no clear resolution as we dont actually see Kee get on the boat. However in v for Vendetta, it ties all the loose ends whereas Children of Men doesn't. V doesn't have the hero's journey as he is not the typical hero as he is a vigilant. As seen in the domino scene, V manipulates everyone because he is knocking down the system and conforming everyone to his rues, his vendetta against the government. However Evie follows the hero journey as she sends V off on the train to blow the government. Also, she is reborn again so she finds herself and finds the hero in herself. V for Vendetta is a thriller film so it has to manipulate you and twist the story so that it grips you. the narrative starts of as a comic book film but then they start adding messages to the film. The narrative of the film are trying to reflect the characters. For example V is not trying to be funny and is more of a symbolism for the people. It subverts our expectations.

Representation: Masculinity, Femininity, National Identity and Social Class.

Textual Analysis Presentation

Film Clip Comparison

These two scenes from the two films I chose, We Need To Talk About Kevin, and Juno, are similar in the fact that they are discussing issues over the breakfast/dinner table. However, the two scenes have very different environments. For example, in We Need To Talk About Kevin the atmosphere is very cold and tense as it's so quiet that you can hear the clanking of cutlery. The difference in the film Juno is that the environment is made so that Juno and her father are closer together and the lighting shows a homely environment. In We Need To Talk About Kevin, the family are very separate from each other and Eva walks away from the table whereas in Juno, she comes closer to her father.

I chose these two scenes to compare as it shows the motherhood of the two mothers Eva and Juno. The scenes are different to society's outlook on pregnancy because above we can see that after Eva gives birth she's in a state of depression and doesn't want to hold her son, as seen in the picture above. This is the opposite of what she should be feeling after her birth to her son as her joy of seeing her son should counteract the pain of giving birth that is in the sub-conscious part of her brain. However, in Juno, Juno MacGuff feels the happiest during her pregnancy compared to after her birth when she first feels sadness because she has emotional attachments to the baby she has given up for adoption. She does however still share the same bond with Paulie Bleeker (seen above) as she did when she was pregnant with his child. I think the reason why their relationship continue to blossom is that they share the same grief of giving their baby up for adoption. Between the two films, both mothers didn't want to see their child after both. 

These two images show the point at which the main female characters from my films, Juno and Eva, are at either their highest or lowest point. The image above shows Juno in hospital with Paulie some hours after her birth. She said that she didn't want to see the baby as she knew it would be hard to give it away. 

Debate - Culture Eats Itself (GROUP WORK)

The idea that culture eats itself means that there are no new ideas. The films have become more formulaic, as they have followed other films down to the detail. Film producers don't want to take risks as they want to gain back the money that they spent on the film. Two films that we would like to compare are:

• American Pie (1999) - The film about rebellious teenagers has inspired other popular films that we've heard of today such as Superbad and Inbetweeners.

• Django (1966) - The film about a rebellious cowboy seeking revenge has the plot that has inspired many other films such as Django Unchained and Inglourious Basterds.

For : Proves that even after max 50 years the directors are referring back to old movies to establish with new technology or remakes to reach new modern audience. Even Romeo & Juliet wasn't the original love story.

Against : Independent films don't copy each other as much as hollywood films do as independent films are more controversial and radical. 

We Need To Talk About Kevin Textual Analysis

The story isn't told in chronological order as there is a mix of past and present throughout the film. However, as the film goes on, we piece together clues as to why Kevin did what he did and why he's the way he is. The final scene ends with Eva hearing about the high school massacre and the shock on her face when she finds out her sons the killer. What makes her more distraught is that she sees all the young dead bodies and realises that she is partially responsible for their deaths. The film should tell about the horrors of pregnancy, however the real horror is after Eva gives birth to Kevin. The two main characters in this film are Kevin, played by Ezra Miller, and Eva, played by Tilda Swinton. Eva struggles with motherhood and her only strength to keep trying is the need to please her husband and the father of her children, Franklin. However, the only time when her love becomes unconditional is when she sticks by her son even though he has brutally murdered 9 people. She shows that even though she didn't show any love throughout the times when it mattered most. She did try to show a young Kevin love but motherhood didn't come easy to her. Eva also has to struggle with containing her hate towards her son around Franklin who is ignorant to how estranged their son is. This frustrates her and leads her into a state of depression as she feels nothing can make the relationship between her and her son better. She is blamed for the acts that her son did, in which she shares the blame herself. Kevin is the other main character in We Need To Talk About Kevin. Kevin's lack of sympathy for mother makes this story. Ezra Miller plays the satanic child who even though his struggling mother tries to give him the love she could give, but he is not accepting of her love. He channels his hate for his mother to fool his ignorant dad. In the end he easily murders 9 people that he knows for reasons that are hard to understand, for he is a psychological killer. He has no remorse for his victims and he sheds no light as to why he did what he did.The acts that are seen in the film affect the audience by shocking them and leaving them wondering why Kevin has turned out the way he has. We also wonder why Eva lacks so much in motherhood and why she is so deterred to get help. 

Juno Textual Analysis

The story is told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. The whole idea plays on the fact that 'it all began with a chair' and it all ended with a chair. The final scene with Juno and bleeker ends in the summer, which could be a message that they have overcome nature to shine once again. The main characters of this film are Juno MacGuff, played by Ellen Page, and Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera. They are two teenagers who along with growing up, have to face the problem of a teenage pregnancy. Juno, who is faced with a teenage pregnancy, makes an unusual decision regarding her unborn child. That decision is to have the baby but give it up for adoption. However when her chosen couple faces flaws in their relationship and a divorce is settled, Juno finds that months into her pregnancy her perfect idea isn't going to plan. On top of this she has to face the struggles of a teenagers life.I think that Juno acts like an adult and in fact feels a strong pull toward Mark Loring, the husband in the couple who are set to adopt Juno’s baby. But then she runs around doing childish things like setting up furniture on Paulie’s front lawn, eating Red Vines, and using a hamburger phone. The other main character is Paulie Bleeker, and although he's a quiet and unnoticable character I would say that he is one of the protagonists because of his involved with Juno and how their relationship progresses is shown in the film. He struggles to realise the amount of problems that Juno has to deal with and why she acts mean towards him. By the end of the film Juno realises that her relationship with Paulie Bleeker is strong enough to overcome the heartbreak of giving up their baby. She also realises that a maternal love doesn't have to be with a biological mother. The scene ends with Juno singing a song with Paulie about their unconditional love.

Recreation V for Vendetta scene comparison

Realistically, our swedes that we made were not going to be exactly the same. Although, comparing the two clips, there are similarities and ideas that are the same. 

Original                                                    Swede

       

This is the beginning of the clip where we see a man with a hat who is V. When re-creating this part of the clip, V was played by Nick and we used a hat and a coat for our props. I think the lighting could have been better although it was difficult to get the same lighting as the original clip because this part was filmed outside in the dark. Unfortunately we didn't have that opportunity so we used a dark room instead.

      

This part of the clip shows Chancellor Sutler's speech, in which for our swede, Aaron played Chancellor Sutler. For our props we used a hoodie and a strip of red paper to show the nazism that comes across in this scene. Our lighting could have been better but again it was hard to get it right as we filmed it in a dark room. We could have filmed it outside although it would have been hard to get the same black backdrop.

      

These pictures from the scene show the marching army of Chancellor Sutler, for the swede we were able to get all the props as in the original image such as black trousers and boots. However I think we were able to get the point across of a large force of people.

                    

It was hard to re-create this part of the scene because the mise-en-scene was difficult to re-create exactly. However, I think that we used our resources well in order to get the idea across. Our mise-en-scene was shot in the cafe in which we try to get the emotion across from the dying prisoners. 

                     

These pics shows the part of the scene we re-created last, however our swede looks different because it was filmed in a portrait view which makes it look different to the other shots we filmed. We did try to use the mise-en-scene that we had, however it doesn't look similar to the original but the ideas are still there.