Szklarski: Irish Films

Both Patriot Games and The Devil's Own portray the 'same' group of people in strikingly different ways. The I.R.A does not change however, the audience's alliances are shifted. The way that each antagonist is shown in terms of their caring nature or humanity is very different between films. I had difficulty finding a picture of a scene to use for analyzing Sean Bean's character in Patriot Games. Sean Miller is presented as a blood-hungry terrorist blaming his way through Ulster, London, America, and Libya, coming out of the water, airborne, in your attic, nursing a monumental grudge, and just utterly scary. In this frame, Miller is certainly the dominant. All are dressed in black, making the bulk of the image rather dark. No matter what side of the situation people lie, there is potential for corruption. The social camera proxemics allow for us to see more than just Miller in this frame. This allows us to compare him to the people around him. Miller is the only character not wearing a hat. The hats on the law enforcement men around him show their lawful alignment. Miller is lawless and does not follow the rules or social order set by governments or humanity. Miller's rogue and grudgey nature is captured in his hat-lessness. Jack Ryan interferes with the assassination and therefore becomes more of an enemy than Miller's previous opposition.

Frankie's situation is premised with the opening scenes of The Devil's Own. Brad Pitt's character is presented as more of a struggling person than a madman. The empathy we show toward him starts with seeing the scene is grown out of seeing a young boy's father get shot at their dinner table.

In this scene, the gunman that breaks in is viewed from how young Frankie would see him. The low angle of looking up at the gunman puts us in a seat right next to Frankie at the table and the empathy begins. The low key lighting here creates strong contrasts between the mask and the gun versus everything else. The dominant in this scene is eyes. My eyes were first drawn to the face of the gunman because I wanted to see who it was that just barged in. His entrance was such an interruption to the happy, peaceful family dinner. His eyes emerge out of the darkness of the mask. The black anonymity of the mask shows the faceless violence. There is no face to the violence until one side decides that certain men are the cause of it, when in reality, it is the   It is a direct descent into the darkness that envelops the rest of the movie, at least in comparison to the happy Irish music. There are many instances in which we see Frankie is not a heartless wench. We feel his feelings when his friend is shot and must be left behind during the battle in the apartments. He plays football with the can in the streets as he jokes around with his friend he was just reunited with towards the end of Act 2. Overall, Frankie's cause is portrayed as being targeted by the enemy, whereas Sean Miller is the enemy.

Emily Szklarski