Cameron Turner Media 07-10-2016

Film Opening- The Infiltrator

Analysis:

The genre that the film fits into is Biography, drama,

history and crime. Key conventions that show us these
facts in the opening two minutes are the flickering images
(See Fig. 2) that create a sense of age as the film footage
looks vintage. The music allows the sense of enigma to
take place as it is non-diegetic and sounds very
discombobulated. As both media functions allow the genre
(crime & drama) to fluctuate as it not only adds suspense
to the film but it also makes the audience start to think
FIG. 1
about the film in further detail.

This can be linked to the genre history as it can be linked to

the past. This can be drawn by the scenes as they are linked
towards a certain timeline (1970s) in a vintage bowling alley
(See fig 2). With slot machine and other gambling machines
fixed in to amplify the time era the audience is led to believe
that the film with be factual and have believable and realistic
characters.

However, these conventions can also be linked to the Drama genre, (Drama conventions are showed as
FIG. 2
the events that took place is factual and the characters are believable.). Therefore, the audience also get a
sense of a journey (In this case following Bryan Cranstons character Robert Mazur through his story). This
links in with the film as it contains many climaxes and anti-climaxes to keep the audience emotionally
attached and gripped. In comparison to the crime genre, a male figure tends to be the protagonist (in this
case Bryan). The main theme is around corruption (the drug cartel) and good (the CIA) are set out to
defeat them. In most crime and drama films a happy/good ending tends to happen. This film sticks to that
trend.
Narrative theories:

Todorov suggested that there was a narrative theory within the cinematic world. When put into the Infiltrator context it looks like
this:

Bryan Bryan Cranstons

A drug boss Pablo Escobar Cranstons character holds a
is put into kills many character is set conference and
custody infiltrators to take down tapes drug dealers
A disruption to the Escobar
Recognition that the
Equilibrium Equilibrium Attempt to repair
disorder has occurred
Drug bosses damage
are
A new Equilibrium
apprehended