Smith – Patriot Games vs. The
Devil’s Own
Both
movies open and close the same way. In the Devil’s Own the British refer to the
IRA, which is a way for them to slant the news. They are implying that the IRA
hasn’t decommissioned their weapons, that anybody who fights against them is
the IRA and it’s the American FBI agent that refers to them as the provisional
IRA. The sentimentality of the family and the music in both of these films is
very interesting and makes us understand the importance of family in both of
these movies. The idea of Tom becoming Rory’s surrogate father and then the
conflict between the father and son at the end of the movie is important. After
Tom discovers the money he is torn because he has started to let Rory become a
part of his family and he has a gut feeling that he should be protecting his
wife and daughters from his newfound son.
The
scene where Harrison Ford kills the member of the PIRA shows the importance of
the protagonist and the antagonist. The dominant in that scene would be
Harrison Ford because he is in the center of the shot. The lighting key is dim
to set the sad tone and the amount of action going on in the shot creates a
very dense scene. In the patriot games the older brother acts as the father
because the father has been killed. When his younger brother is killed he goes
to get Jack Ryan because he killed his brother. Both Patriot
Games and The Devil's Own feature Irishmen as
antagonists. Both not only challenge the Protagonist but also plan and do
things that the audience in America would consider evil. Each film frames
our attitudes towards the antagonists.
The
Patriot Games starts in England where Jack Ryan who is a teacher in the Naval
academy and a former CIA agent is giving a talk. When he walks out of the
college where he is giving the talk he sees two taxis that are converging on an
road. He sees the guns before the shooting begins because the Provisional IRA
is trying to abduct or kill 3 members of the royalty. He foiled the attempt and
in the process he kills one of the IRA men. The IRA was really constituted
after the 1916 Easter uprising, however it continued a kind of military action
in the north because the north had been separated from the rest or Ireland. The
IR decommissions its weapons. The Provisional IRA was people that wanted to
continue the military action. People in the ski masks are provisional IRA
members. Putting these masks on is making a statement. The problem with both of
these films, there are more Irish in America then there are in Ireland and we
have always had a close relationship with the Irish.
The
scene at the end of the Devils Own when both men are trying to get them to
understand each other’s situation is what needs a mise en scene analysis. The
dominant in this scene is Harrison Ford because we get to watch him decide how
to assess the situation. The subsidiary would be the gun because we do not want
either of them actually shoot the other. The form is open because they are in
the middle of the ocean and are the only ones that are in the scene. Tom wants
to keep Rory from getting hurt or killed by going back home and Rory can’t even
consider not going home.
How
are we to look at Sean Bean who plays the one who is shown much more as a
criminal and a terrorist then Frankie who is played by Brad Pitt. Sean loses
his brother and his only goal is tot track down the person responsible for that
crime and Frankie witnesses his fathers murder by probably volunteers. He grows
up to become a PIRA man and he goes to New York to get money. This is the
second act. Both of these films are about the northern island troubles. How do
the Irish from the northern island react to the world outside the Northern
island? Harrison Ford is reported as commenting, "The
film was pretty unabashed in its admiration for the I.R.A. and all things
Irish" (Pfeiffer 234). This quote demonstrates the importance of the
antagonists in both films and the importance of violence and acceptance in both
movies.
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