Sei sulla pagina 1di 11

Genre

• Types or Genres and


their symbolism
• “Genre” - from the
French word for genus,
type, style or kind

Saw, Enter the Dragon & Date Night


Genre
• All contain a loose set of
expectations.
• Relate to previous
examples
• Easy to imitate
• Can fall into clichés
• Common ideas and
aspirations of a culture
• Archetypal story pattern
frees filmmaker to explore
more personal
explorations
Genre
• Slapstick Comedy
• Western
• Horror
• Detective/Crime/Gangst
er
• Thriller
• War
• Science Fiction
• etc…
Genre
• 4 Cycles of Genre
• Primitive:
– Naïve, powerful
because of the
novelty
– Establishes
conventions of genre

The Musketeers of Pig Alley


Genre
• Classical
– Genre’s values are
assured and widely
shared

Little Caesar & The Public Enemy


Genre
• Revisionist
– Genre’s pre-
established
conventions are
used to question or
undermine popular
beliefs

Bonnie & Clyde & The Godfather


Genre
• Parodic
– Mockery of genre’s
conventions

The Big Lebowski & Serial Mom


Genre
• Scarface, 1932 (or Scarface:
Shame of a Nation)
• Dir. Howard Hawks – “I'm a
storyteller - that's the chief function of
a director. And they're moving
pictures, let's make 'em move! ”
• Written by newspaper reporter Ben
Hecht & based on Al Capone in
Chicago
• Starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak &
George Raft
• Visually expressionistic
• Fast & violent – one of the longest,
bloodiest finales of the time
• Motifs (watch for the “X”)
• Version was censored in many markets
(including NY) and pulled out of
distribution completely in 1947 until
restored in 1980
Genre
Suggested changes to conform to the Hays Code (from filmsite.org):

• an added sub-title was required [its original title was simply Scarface, and the first suggested retitle was The
Menace] to illustrate that the film was not a glorification, but an indictment of gangsterism
• an apologetic, moral statement was tacked to the beginning of the film
• various cuts, erasures, voice-overs and changes were made throughout
• Tony Camonte's mother was shown expressing disapproval of her son's behavior - she calls him "bad" and
"no-good"
• although there are almost 30 deaths in the film, blood is never shown, and even more deaths occur off-screen
• moralistic, denunciatory speeches, in a prologue and epilogue, were added by a Chief of Detectives and a
newspaper publisher (several scenes were directed by Richard Rosson),
• "the public" is blamed for the existence of gangs, rather than law enforcement officials: "Don't blame the
police. They can't stop machine guns from being run back and forth across the state lines. They can't enforce
laws that don't exist"
• an alternative, moralistic, sermonizing (and emasculated) second ending (substituted for the shootout) was
created to condemn the gangster as cowardly and show his sentencing and retributory punishment (hanging)
by an effective justice system
• muted hints of an incestuous attachment between the main protagonist and his sister, one of the film's sub-
themes, supposedly went uncontested, or the most obvious references to incest were removed by Hawks
himself
1932 & 1983

Potrebbero piacerti anche