Analysis of Sucker Punch

Sucker punch begins with a zoom into the (distribution company)Warner Bros emblem intriguingly imprinted onto a red curtain, before fading into( the production company) Legendary Pictures logo.This is accompanied by a voice over in a distinctly Russian accent 'You are safe' which then cuts to a two shot  in a car.The words of security suddenly don't seem so promising anymore a heavy contrast to this suspicious looking shot.The female seems asleep in heavy slumber, blond bunches giving her an appearance of vulnerability and fragility.The way that her head is turned away from the male makes it seem as though he is perhaps the antagonist, the counterpart to her role as the lead protagonist.He seems to be glancing over at her although the dark lighting makes it hard to tell.Notice how he is shrouded and he is covered in shadow.This could be used as symbolism for good and evil.Perhaps if we were doing a horror film we could use a device like this but do it to all the characters, which presents ambiguity and obscurity.There also appears to be rain splattered on the windows which is use of pathetic fallacy- when inanimate objects are personified or in this case depicts the mood of the film.The camera then zooms into the females face where another voice over is implemented 'It's all safe'

Transcending into this establishing shot the audience immediately gets the notion that her words are actually ill conceived.The sky seems tempestuous a mixture of many greys reflecting the negativity of the house that lies beyond. The clearing is dark and unwelcoming 'Lennox House' it states giving us the impression that it is very archaic and foreboding.The black railings give it the sense of restricted access, meaning that when someone is lodged here, they cant escape it-it becomes their destiny.

'What your imagining right now, that place can be real as anything' she narrates, a hint of ambiguity in her tone as it fades out, then fades into another equally gloomy shot.We now establish that this house which we may have assumed was a manor in disrepair, is actually for the mentally insane.This may come as a shock to some members but then again maybe not, again the narrators voice springs to mind 'safe', this place seems anything but safe.Reinforcing  the archaic feel of the place is the Gothic capitalised font to express the types of people lodged here. What unnerves you most about this image is the men in white who are hauling the female character into the institute.She appears to be struggling and it seems as though they are treating her as though she is a criminal shown through the fact that it requires two people to take her in.

One of the characters in white is shown here grasping her firmly, both arms wrenching her in a twisted embrace.This two shot is really intriguing as the man's face is not shown, again giving off a mask of obscurity, a nameless identity which makes the whole situation more surreal.Her childlike face seems anguished as she struggles fruitlessly, her arms outstretched trying not to succumb to her fate
'close your eyes' says the next shot ironically, in a flash sequence forwards, the inverted font simplistic in it's nature but it's message is clear- prepare to be frightened out your wits.It then fades out and fades into a closeup of the females eye's where the narrator soothes ' don't be afraid, where she slowly closes her eyes.

Here you can see that she takes pride in immaculate grooming, her eyebrows shaped, her skin clear but the significant focus here is of course her eyes. They have used sweeping false lashes, really accentuating the dark circles under her eyes, showing her lack of sleep. The black gel eyeliner has been smudged in with gold and green eyeshadow making her an object of desire, flaunting her sexuality to the audience.This is effective as it makes the audience less niche by drawing in a male audience through the use  of good looking characters.I really like the closeup eye shots as it represents a vulnerability in the character, it almost feels as though they've been exposed, allowing the audience to understand them more.We could use a shot similar to this (even if we were doing a completely different genre) but through juxtaposition- two eyes of the protagonists, one is dramatic with heavy makeup whereas the other is more naturalistic with pale colours being used such dusty pink.

Again a fade out is used before changing into a completely new scene where the narrator says ' you have all...' the rest is incomprehensible as this shot appears on screen.Again we are seeing this recurring theme of all the characters aside the female and the step dad in the car being faceless.What could this represent you ask? Are they all puppets in the grand scheme of things?

Here the person is unsheathing the long pointy sword which appears quite stealthy and dangerous, his costume that of an ancient Chinese zen warrior, adding to the enigmatic and mysterious feel of the character.The non diegetic  soundtrack is tense , amplified at certain key points to scare the audience, used as a sound bridge throughout. Behind him in the background are lit candles blazing wildly.Often candles are representations of death, as people use them as a vigil to the deceased.However here it may be used as a ritual to impose courage and stealth perhaps.It then transcends into a closeup of a wooden box containing guns, a symbol of upcoming war.
 What follows next is an extremely quick flash sequence as though this is what the females mind is filtering before her time runs out, which I have not been able to process screenshots

 'Your fight for survival ...'as we enter a wide shot , a blizzard scene, snow falling in large drifts, the female standing side profile dressed in entirely inappropriate clothing for the weather but also to fight creating this kind of idealised view of female fighters, suggesting they all have be dressed promiscuously or be portrayed as infantalistic.Here she is wearing an older version of a school uniform which can be compared to the Britney Spears video oops I did it again music video. The black tie top, short skirt and knee highs are certainly reminiscent of it. It then cuts to a shot of monstrous giants before the narrator concludes... 'begins now' These creatures are quite interesting as its hard to describe them but they remind me of the Chinese culture again.

It then transforms into this shot, introduced with fast paced music to implement the action of the scene.As you can see here tinted blue lighting has been used to create surrealism suggesting that this is all in her mind- further evidenced by her costume which would prove futile in war and snowy weather.The wind billows her hair wildly as she raises her head up in jolty, sharp movements, expressing that she is ready to take on anything before fading out to black. Like with any other accredited film, it states at 30 seconds other films which has been produced 'from the director of Watchmen and 300' which adds to the appeal of the film, especially since these two films did quite well in the box office.Watchmen made $185,258,983 and '300' made $456,068,181.

The female protagonist then declares ' I need to escape from here' in a mid shot using the rule of thirds.She appears to be in the asylums bedroom, talking to someone but we are not sure who, though she is facing forward.To the left side of her is a bed with a half shot of legs, but again it is a faceless identity.
Why has the director done this?
To set the mood the lighting has been dimmed but unlike the other dark shots, this one radiates a sense of security and warmth through softer lights.Perhaps this expresses how their only sanctuary is the bedroom.
It quickly transposes into a shot which could be categorised as a wide/ establishing/ over the shoulder shot where we see the female walking towards a Chinese style house, basked in the blue tinted glow the snow still falling heavily.

 It then jump cuts to a wide shot of another planet which seems quite dreamlike as initiated by the wispy clouds and the large rings of Saturn looming overhead the war ridden city .The shot appears to have used CGI and has also used a sepia frame to add to the unrealistic effect.We then cut to an over the shoulder shot of a female character who we have not been introduced to yet.She is wearing a tan Alice band, her hair long and blonde, she appears to be wearing minimal makeup. For once our lead female has been blurred in the foreground as you see the other from her point of view' there are armed guards everywhere' the new one exclaims, a hint of desperation in her voice.She seems quite doubtful at the prospect of sneaking out past them.
The next over the shoulder shot shows professional looking men in black suits, who radiate a sense of a tough no nonsense attitude , hugely smirking at the blonde protagonist before them, a fenced gate behind them.'If blue finds out...' to which a multi mid shot appears on screen, showing the person in question. Blue is presumably the one flinging the doors open with reckless abandon, his suit pristine, immaculately groomed with a curt moustache, flanked by two bodyguards giving him a sense of authority. To his further left is a sobbing girl, shoulders hunched , head bowed low as though he is making her suffer.Certainly she doesn't seem pleased to see him.

 '...were dead she concludes in this over the shoulder shot.She appears to be the one with authority here, initiated by the way almost everyone( apart from one) is giving her their full attention whilst she intones this dramatic sentence. They appear to be in burlesque dancer costumes, with bustiers and suspenders giving this promiscuous ideology of how women should be represented.They also appear to be in a dressing room preparing perhaps for a showcase but what makes us inquisitive is what will they do to defy Blue that is so reckless that they could die because of it?As the blonde with the pixie short hair says ' were already dead' in  a mid shot, her eyes closed in defeat. Quickly it cuts to a centred shot of our lead on a show stage, the red curtains each side of her, a spotlight behind her, her head hung low.

As the curtain closes behind her, it cuts to a closeup of the female designed to capture her fear and horror, perhaps she is worried that the plan will fail, whatever that may be.Her lips are open as though she is talking to herself perhaps to instill some faith in herself, her eyes wide open as she considers it.Quickly the shot transcends into a birds eye angle shot at 40 seconds which appears to be showing a scene of flames billowing from a stone platform displaying a sense of danger and recklessness. The flames seem to be a CGI effect as the fire is all in one area whereas if it was actual fire it would be spread out more evenly.By using the CGI it has allowed them to create an idealised view of what war should look like,rather than invoking a sense of realism.

Reinforcing this ideology is this rule of three shot which portrays these women as sexual objects through the use of costume, particularly through the baring of flesh.This is quite similar to Tomb Raider, where Angelina Jolie is presented as an object of desire as well as a female warrior.The fact that the females are fighters may be appealing to a male audience who could view them as resourceful and brave.Behind them appears to be a fortress , radiating an air of formidability, generally quite foreboding. The fact that all is dark inside the door (aside from a dimly lit lantern) perhaps symbolises that they better watch their backs as something may be lurking in the shadows.Quickly they march down the fortress bridge, two of them pointing their guns forwards whilst the other points it the side, checking that they have got each area covered in case of an ambush.

In this shot the protagonist is leant backwards as if against her will as the anguished expression so clearly conveys.The shot has used dark lighting to blend in with the brown costume choice, making it seem as though she is trying camouflage herself in these war ravaged scene couplets.Her hair is messy and wild a symbol of the chaotic disorder that its taking place and her lips are parted as though she is trying to say something but the words cannot come out.

 

 Compare the previous shot to this here, which appears as though they are resuming a love affair.This makes us perplexed as we know that Blue is an evil character suggesting that he is trying to hurt her.Judging by expression she appears to be in pain( though this could be interpret look of longing but we know that this is not the case.The closeness of the bodies give a symbolism of  several connotations; lust, forbidden love, rape, blackmail which is dependent on the watchers interpretation.The  positioning of the antagonist is angled cleverly towards the upper part of the protagonist giving the impression that he wants to use her for her body and reinforces the ideal of women being treated as a vassal rather than a real human being.

The play then ends with this title sequence which is quite fantastical in the stylistic conventions, through the sketch art effect, an example of modernised calligraphy.The inversion of the colours ( white upon black) is often a standard method to be used in this genre as it makes the text leap of the page for the audience to sit up and notice.