Jackie Brown

Title: Jackie Brown
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Year: 1997
Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson, Robert De Niro

The opening scene of Jackie Brown proves very important in explaining to the audience who the woman is throughout the scene and emphasises her moral superiority. 2 minutes and 7 seconds into this clip there is a very clever, low, medium close-up, follow shot. The camera follows the woman we assume to be Jackie Brown and she remains in focus throughout, suggesting her power and dominance.

After 2 minutes and 15 seconds in this clip, there is another clever shot which further emphasises Jackie Brown's authoritative manner. The low shot sees her straight in the dead centre of the shot suggesting she is centre of attention. The fact that the shot is low-angle and is looking up on her, displays her as a very important figure who we should look up to. These aspects successfully denote Jackie Brown as a hugely important and influential character.

This shot, although at first glimpse may not seem significant, proves extremely symbolic towards the overall message of the play. The Statue of Liberty is arguably the most iconic symbol in America, and for it to be portrayed in such a violent way with a gun coming from it, puts across the message of how America as a country is corrupt and acts as a violent environment. This displays the USA as a fractured society - a key theme often addressed in thriller films, e.g. 'The Third Man' and more recently 'Essex Boys'. 

The following shot strikes a contrast between characters. De Niro and Jackson are not dressed to impress like the woman we have seen earlier in the film. They both look unhappy which is different to how the woman seemed. Samuel L Jackson makes several comments about the guns that he is watching on television, opposed to the good looking women on the screen. This emphasises the fact that the men of America seem more interested in violence than love. The obvious juxtaposition of race in this shot allows us to consider how the stereotype of gangs and violence, is no longer specific to the African American race but has now been adopted by all - again highlighting a demoralising downfall to a fractured society. On a more positive note, the fact that two men of contrasting ethnicities perhaps shows how the issue of racism is no longer present in a modern day society. 

This shot sees one of the main characters, Ordell, meet Beaumont. There is a clear and important contrast here which symbolises the social position of each of these men. The contrast is in the way that they dress. Beaumont is half naked, perhaps portraying him as more vulnerable and giving us the impression that he will suffer as a result of this susceptibility. This is further emphasised by the fact that there is nobody else in the scene, displaying no sense of community in the environment these people are living in and portraying Beaumont as an isolated, lonely character.

This shot is very clever again in foreshadowing to the audience what could potentially happen. We see Ordell and Beaumont walking past some rails on the side-walk. Although at first this may not seem like anything symbolic, it in fact displays the idea of a prison cell as the rails look very much like cell bars. This could be referenced to a shot in Essex Boys where light is reflected on to a car window to also look similar to cell bars.

This shot is a typical thriller shot. From a low angle to show power and dominance of the men standing over the camera, dark lighting so that a mysterious feel is given to the shot and a gun being held is an extremely violent object and is a key thriller convention. This shot is similar to one in Pulp Fiction which is a hugely successful thriller film by the same director, Quentin Tarantino.

          There is also a clear contrast in the colour of each character's clothes. Ordell is dressed in black, the darkest colour, symbolising evil. On the other hand, Beaumont is dressed in light colours which could perhaps be seen to portray him as a somewhat innocent and naive character, just a young boy.
          At one point in this clip, Ordell loads the gun. This sound is associated as extremely powerful and immediately presents the person performing the action as the superior. This is also highlighted in the film, Phone Booth. Another classic thriller where a gun and its sound plays a key role in determining who is in control.

Here we see Ordell putting on some leather gloves. This again is a key thriller convention. It connotes to death and is strongly associated with crime, which this play surrounds. 

Ordell then drives the car to the place where he is going to kill Beaumont. The car is personified here to play the role of 'angel of death' because it is leading him to the place where his life will end. The car drives slowly on a dark, wet street. This is a key thriller convention again and is also present in the film Thelma and Louise. The car soon disappears into the vanishing point, creating an enigmatic feel as we are not sure what is about to happen. A vanishing point is used throughout many thriller films such as Essex Boys. This is a very clever technique which creates tension amongst viewers, thus emphasising the thriller genre and its generic features.

This shot, also from Jackie Brown, is very differently shot to any other scenes in this film and strikes controversy to the key generic features of mis-en-scene within the thriller genre. The ambient lighting is extremely bright - broad daylight. This is a big contrast to the other dark shots we have previously seen. This scene can be seen as a direct comparison to the murder of Beaumont by Ordell earlier on in the film. Perhaps because of the fact that Ordell had to plan his crime and do it in a dark, deserted place it shows that he is more wary of what might happen to him as a consequence. Conversely, Louis commits his murder in broad daylight in a shopping mall car park where anybody can see. This portrays him as the more ruthless character of the two and thus, a more powerful man. The competition for alpha-male could be seen as a key thriller convention as it is used throughout many other successful thriller films, most notably, Essex Boys.