The spy film

Genre: Spy

Spy film is mainly a sub-genre of action and thriller, and deals with espionage, usually in a fictional way but sometimes with realistic elements thrown in. Many novels have been adapted into film, Ian Fleming's James Bond being a prime example. 

The Spy genre is - in my opinion: partly responsible for the glorification of agents and espionage, with its use of 'technological thrills', often handsome, gentlemanly and sexually attractive protagonists and side-characters, and the exotic locations. 

Genre is established: 

'Spies' (1928)

The film, directed by Austrian 'Fritz Lang' was one of the first and most influential films in the Spy genre. Lang established many of the common conventions we see today in Spy films, such as the use of a daring and dashing agent, with a code name based on numbers '326'. He also brought the all too common use of an attractive female accomplice in Agent 326's helper 'Sonya'. The film was insisted on being cheaply made, as UFA was struggling in near bankruptcy. Luckily for Lang and UFA, 'Spies' was a huge success, and one of the most influential in starting the genre of Spy films, which even in 2005 was described as 'Inventive, delightful, superbly made spy thriller' by Michael E. Grost. Clearly 'Spies' was well ahead of its time - even as a silent film!

Classic:

'Goldfinger' (1964)

Considered as one of the best James Bond films and massively influential at the time, James Bond: Goldfinger was the first James Bond to win an academy award - Goldfinger is my Spy film classic.

Although it was the third James Bond film made, Goldfinger was arguably the first great one - putting James Bond on just about everyone's radar. It's blending of sci-fi through gadget technology and action as well as espionage - and written as "even tenser, louder, wittier, more ingenious and more impossible than 'From Russia with Love'" (Alan Dent), and scenes going down in history like the one featuring the woman painted in gold, Goldfinger became the template for future Bond films, with charm and humour yet remaining fiercely tense and entertaining. Even modern spy film releases such as 'Casino Royale' starring Daniel Craig and 'Stormbreaker' use similar conventions to those established in Goldfinger, with each using high tech gadgets; Bond's defibrillator in his Aston Martin; Alex's metal melting zit cream. It's clear that among spy films, Goldfinger was massively influencial.

Pushes boundaries:

'The Bourne Identity' (2002)

Not your typical spy film, The Bourne Identity features Matt Damon as 'Jason Bourne' - handsome, highly skilled and easy to love CIA spy, with (admittedly unconventionally) attractive 'Kreutz' as his love interest. It all sounds rather typical doesn't it? Until we learn that Jason Bourne doesn't actually know anything about himself whilst having to evade and defend himself from other CIA agents for unknown reasons. We learn that the CIA is - rather than giving Jason missions or tasks - trying to take down and kill Jason. This is unconventional for the Spy genre as usually the agent would be working on behalf of his/ her government, and having a main character who didn't even so much as know he was an agent (in the beginning) was also a different direction to your typical Spy film. 

Despite the radically different structure and plot used in The Bourne Identity, many critics praised it for being 'Intelligent' and for being a 'thriller with some brains and feeling behind it, more attuned to story and character than to spectacle' - Charles Taylor. The Bourne Identity was seemingly seen as more realistic than other films in the Spy genre like the often tongue-in-cheek James Bond films. The trade off on spectacle for realism may have been seen as a negative for some however, such as Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine, who stated that the film was 'smart, but not smart enough'. 

Parody:

'Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery' (1997)

One of the most famous of the parodies of the Spy genre is the first installment to the Austin Powers series. A cast featuring Mike Myres as 'Austin Powers' and ... Mike Myres... again - as 'Dr Evil', AP: IMoM regularly pokes fun at the genre signifiers of Spy films, such as an evil mastermind (heavily influenced and parodying 'Ernst Stavro Blofeld' or 'Number 1' from James Bond, with his cat, appearance and even his chair amongst others), the cliche of a handsome, tough, manly and mysterious superspy - which is humourously contrasted by Mike Myres, as his character of Austin Powers is the polar opposite yet still maintains the ridiculous irresistible-to-women nature seen in many spy films. 

Another instance of IMoM parodying the spy film genre is the scene when Austin guesses to his typically gorgeous accomplice that the kit handed to him of dentistry gear is are actually advanced gadgets in disguise - to which she tells him that in fact there has just been advancements in dentistry during his time frozen cryogenically (yes, even that happened!). 

The shallowness of the characters in typical spy films was also mocked by the Austin Powers series with the second film, in which the first film's love interest is quickly found out to have actually been an evil robot all along, before destroying the robot without much. Austin Powers has been praised by some critics "It would take a stone face not to crumple at Austin's dodgy catchphrases and irrepressible sexual desperation." - Trevor Johnston of Time Out, whilst criticized by other critics, with Maitland McDonagh from TV Guide's Movie Guide claiming that "The bad news is that it's a one-joke picture" with all of the obvious sexual innuendos and 'Groovy baby!' lines. 

Preliminary task script

Script for preliminary task

(Scene starts in a school corridor)

(Joe walks into room, noticeably aggravated in his body language, a girl (Beth or Phoebe) is sitting on the bench, Joe sits down next to her, leaving a space between them - she looks across at him)

Joe: Don't even look at me. {suggests an a dispute or some kind between the two} (The girl looks back at her lap and straight ahead - awkwardly. Joe looks straight ahead angrily - there is an awkward silence)

Joe: Okay. I can't believe you. You had to drag me down with you, you selfish bitch. Why? What's the point! (Frustrated) {suggests that they've been up to no good}

Girl: I don't know, that time when I asked you for your Kit Kat and you said no... (shrugs her shoulders) {suggests that she doesn't care - develops her character as being disconnected from reality}

Boy: Yeah..?

Girl: Yeah. (nodding casually)

Boy: They're expelling me. I held your drugs for you for just one day, and now you give up my name, and they're expelling me... for a Kit Kat?

Girl: Yeah.

Unknown voice: Joe the head wants to see you in his office.

Joe: (sighs moodily before getting up from seated position and hurriedly walking out the door)

My favorite film: discussion I

My favorite film: discussion I

Django Unchained

My favourite actor Leonardo Dicaprio - starring as one of the main roles in a film directed by my favourite director Quentin Tarantino? The outcome could only be a good one - and it was. 

Humourous with scenes like the attempted lynching, informative with the often accurate brutal treatment of slaves and the black race, brilliantly over-the-top fun scenes like the best shootout I'd ever seen in film at Candie's mansion, and tension building scenes like at Candie's dinner table - the film has it all and Quentin's magic makes it work with a star crammed cast. Although there were several points where I thought 'Hmm, the film could have ended here', I certainly didn't mind it continuing further. It meant more explosions, more shooting, more snappy dialogue. A film which has been described as 'crazily entertaining, brazenly irresponsible and 
also ethically serious in a way that is entirely consistent with its playfulness.' by The New York Times' A.O. Scott - it is hard, in my opinion, to disagree in any way. The vividness life of Django Unchained gleams through the writing and colours amplified through filming and editing. Django Unchained is one of my favourite films.

QT... an ironic abbreviation for hotly disputed Quentin Tarantino

Over the top, chaotic, dirty, yet wonderful

(This post contains spoilers)

A man who is described by some as being “morally empty” or a “Schlock and Awe merchant” whilst also described as having “etched his name onto the wall of great American filmmakers.” by others.

A man who he himself claimed to be too afraid to create a film about a serial killer as it would "reveal my sickness far too much". There is really only one man who could produce such prolific yet utterly controversial work: Quentin Tarantino. 

http://www.biography.com/people/quentin-tarantino-9502086 states that (much like many students!) Tarantino “grew up loving movies more than school”, eventually landing a job at the Video Archives in his early 20s. It was here that he began writing his first co-written script; My Best Friend’s Birthday, but yet to his own admission it was poorly directed and it was never officially released. 

No, Quentin Tarantino’s break out was with the independent crime film 'Reservoir Dogs' 1992- a film depicting the stressful events after a heist-gone-wrong. The film gathered critical acclaim with moderate financial success. It was even named "Greatest Independent Film of all Time" by Empire magazine, earning $2,832,029 in the States whilst reaching for higher popularity in the UK, with £6.5 million. The film, now widely regarded as a classic and a 'cult hit' also garnered controversy in true Tarantino fashion.  film critic Jami Bernard went so far as to compare the effect of Tarantino's film to that of the 1895 film L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat, in which audiences saw a moving train approaching the camera and scrambled in shock. Bernard claimed Reservoir Dog's was similar - in that the audience simply weren't ready. 

Reservoir Dogs and the unnerving moments like the ear-cutting scene that came with it was just the beginning of Tarantino's now glittering career in directing. You see, Tarantino is one of the most experimental directors out there; blending together different genres and darting along the edge of what is acceptable yet delightfully entertaining in film with relative ease. 

His next film was Pulp Fiction.

 "so well-written in a scruffy, fanzine way that you want to rub noses in it—the noses of those zombie writers who take 'screenwriting' classes that teach them the formulas for 'hit films.' " - Roger Ebert

"It towers over the year's other movies as majestically and menacingly as a   gang lord at a preschool. It dares Hollywood films to be this smart about going this far. If good directors accept Tarantino's implicit challenge, the movie theater could again be a great place to live in." - Richard Corliss

It's fair to say that Pulp Fiction went down well. A film so daringly different in nonlinear narrative writing style and directed in a highly stylized manner - it followed the intersecting story lines of multiple characters in a mix of dark comedic and crime genres. It's still to this date widely considered as one of the greatest films of all time. 

With his use of what I would describe as 'cool violence', humor derived from the punchy dialogue and often shocking (in a good way!) writing, Tarantino proved he had the skill to direct a legendary film with many popular and high caliber actors and actresses.

Propelled by his newly found mass fame and fortune, Tarantino went on to create five other films, each of them reflecting various styles that we've (mostly) come to love from his first great pieces of work. The controversial violence, the immersing yet irrelevant conversations of the characters - none of which, we learn, are safe (example: Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction).

Tarantino has even established recognizable traits for certain camera shots, scenes and themes, such as the mirror shot: 

Which might serve to add a sense of humanity to the characters in Tarantino's films, making them feel more realistic and emotional to the audience as they question themselves and reflect the intimate moments of being by yourself. 

Or for another example, the torture scene: 

Making the audience feel captive too as they are forced to watch the scenes which make us feel the most squeamish

Yet he never delves too far from the very edge; something that some critics have qualms with. In nearly every Tarantino film, there has been torture scenes; there has been death; there has been violence be it with guns, knives or drugs; there has been racist language; there's even been alleged foot fetish hints. He's never far from being called out on such matters. Pulp Fiction was criticized by Kenneth Turan as he wrote, "The writer-director appears to be straining for his effects. Some sequences, especially one involving bondage harnesses and homosexual rape, have the uncomfortable feeling of creative desperation, of someone who's afraid of losing his reputation scrambling for any way to offend sensibilities."

 Is Tarantino a 'Schlock and Awe merchant'? I don't know, I don't care, it's ruthlessly entertaining. 

My blog

Welcome to my blog

Name: Joe Panton

Age: 16

As the world changes around us, so do I. From a younger age, all I ever wanted was to stay at home and play games, and then all I ever wanted to do was go to the park or playground with friends, then it was a mixture of the two. What I wanted to do never really consisted of learning about film, television and the media... until that changed too. As I became more analytical through GCSE with subjects such as History and English and even through watching my favorite team Chelsea, I started to enjoy picking apart the work of others, evaluating the good and the bad. The ideas were never few in between but putting it onto paper was perhaps an issue, something which I look forward to improving in A Level.

What also changed was my outlook on film and the effort that goes into great pieces within the art as I found great satisfaction in examining what directors cleverly produced and obviously in just watching for joy! I always found gaming great for escaping the stresses of school, finding endless amusement  in games such as 'Call of Duty' (a long time ago) but also games which make you think such as the Fallout series, or more recently 'The Last of Us', before resorting to more mayhem and madness in 'Grand Theft Auto V'. All the while getting into television programs such as my favorite gut-wrenchingly-dramatic 'Breaking Bad' and then the simple gut-wrenching action packed 'The Walking Dead'. But I also admire great pieces of film, with my favorite director being Tarantino for his often humorous yet vigorously entertaining and currently learning more about others such as Stanley Kubrick for his plain weirdness! I love the use of motifs in film and television and yet also love things which are eye catching and just look cool.

Really, I look forward to finding out exactly what I can do in media studies.