The
Devils Own is a 1997 movie starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, about an
Irish terrorist, Frankie McGuire, who comes to hide in the United States and to
acquire stinger missiles while doing so, and ends up butting heads with the
police officer with whom he lives with in the US, Tom O’Meara, and the
authorities. Patriot Games is a 1992 movie starring Harrison Ford and Sean Bean
about an Irish terrorist, Sean Miller, who escapes from prison and attempts to
kill former American CIA agent, Jack Ryan, and his family out of revenge
because Ryan killed Miller’s brother while Miller and his brother were
attempting to assassinate a British Royal family. Although each film was created as a
completely independent story from the other, each manages to portray a corresponding
foul nature amongst Frankie McGuire and Sean Miller. This is seen in the manner in which the two
Irishmen turn guns on the loved ones of their American counterparts.
In Patriot Games, a thrilling scene occurs
when Sean Miller leans out of a car traveling on the expressway and attempts to
shoot Jack Ryan’s wife and daughter while they drive in their car. This scene depicts the criminal nature of
Sean Miller with flying colors because of the way it showcases his actions as
being carefully pre-meditated. When the
audience sees Sean Miller firing his weapon from a car, they immediately
realize that he is going to be quickly getting away from the scene of the
crime. Also implied is the fact that he
has purposefully traveled to the scene of the crime for the purpose of
committing the crime. Having him enact
his criminal activities from a mobile devise shows that he is rapidly active
and agile with his criminal activity, it’s something that is as tedious to him
as driving on the expressway is for a commuter.
In The Devils Own, a spine-tingling moment
transpires when Frankie McGuire shoots Tom O’Meara’s beloved police partner and
friend, Eddy. When Frankie fires the gun
on Eddy, he does so in a way that implies anticipation. The first thing the audience sees McGuire do
is point his gun at Eddy, in a motion to make Eddy freeze. Eddy, however, does not freeze and draws his
gun. In this moment, McGuire fires on
him, and goes on his way. When McGuire
saw Eddy pull his gun, he knew that killing Eddy would be the only way he would
be able to continue with his mission.
His automatic realization of this, that was showcased by the abrupt
movements he used within the scene, implies to the audience that he is a criminal
that has an outlined agenda which he knows very well. He’s not one of the impulsive, improvised
criminals that O’Meara and Eddy are seen chasing earlier in the film.
By
observing these two scenes, we see that each film portrays the Irish
antagonists as criminals with resonant agendas.
Although this is also illustrated by other aspects of storyline, plot,
and character action within the movies, the above mentioned scenes are by far
the most picturesque screenshots of such a notion. Without the shots being done in the way they
are, the audience might not see the Irish characters as being what the plot
makes them out to be. Each film worked
in a very similar fashion to achieve artist effect, something that was probably
due in part to the parallel nature of these too characters. “Although the films are vastly different, one
cannot help but compare. . .The Devil’s
Own. . .with. . .Patriot Games. (Pfeiffer 236).”
Andrew Wlos
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