Media

1. Mischa Kelleher
Genre Conventions of a Mystery/Thriller film
Notable Protagonists within the genre
Characters: Withinthisgenre of filmthe maincharacter/protagonistwill usuallytake the formof a detective of some sort.
The character in questionmaybe anactual detective orsomeone affiliatedwiththe police force i.e.aforensicpsychologist,
or a pathologist;yettheycanalsomaterialise inthe formof a private investigatorwhichwasmostcommonlyusedwithin
the filmnoirmovement.Infactthe protagonistof the listedgenresof film,cantake anyformat,but are mostcommonly
seeninthe rolesI have mentionedinthe previoussentence.Inadditiontothe latterpoint,itisimportantto note thatwithin
thisbroad genre of filmthe protagonistmustcruciallyhave aninvestigative nature andinadditionmusthave adesire to
seekoutthe truth to whateverextentthatmaytake.Furthermore withinthisgenreof filmthe protagonistdoesn’t
necessarilyhave tobe the stereotypical herothatmanyHollywoodfilmswill portraytoaudiences;infactmanyfilmswithin
thisgenre will use flawedandcomplex charactersinordertomake the characters more relatable tothe audience,andto
emphasize the protagonistsstrugglethroughoutthe filmthusenablingthe audience torootfor himmore.Anadditional
elementthatisemployedthroughoutthisgenre istoconceive amismatchedpairof detectivesasthiscan addanotherlayer
of depthandtexture tothe story,as the relationshipbetweenthesetwocharactersandtheirexchangesoverthe course of
the filmcan make the filmmore enjoyable andentertaining.
Jodie FosterasF.B.I.cadetClarice StarlinginJonathanDemme’sadaptionof ThomasHarris’novel The Silence of The
Lambs (1991).
t

2. Mischa Kelleher
Jack NicholsonplaysJ.J.‘Jake’Gittes,InRomanPolanski’sChinatown(1974).
Guy Pearce plays the character of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator with
short-term memory loss who in Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000) tries to
piece together who killed his wife.

3. Mischa Kelleher
In DavidFincher’sfilmSeven(1995) Morgan FreemanandBrad Pitt playtwodetectivesone
inexperienced,the otheraveterantryingtocatch a serial killerwhousesthe sevendeadlysinsashis
modusoperandi.
The Antagonist/ Villain:
There are twofundamental elementsinthisgenre thatare ubiquitoustothe genre itself andinfluence the
narrative structure of the filmgreatly.These twofundamental processes,allow the directortouse hisown
creative abilitytoarrange suspense andnarrative enigmasfromthe screenplay,intothe textof the film.This
processdoeshowever,relytoanextentonthe directorsowningenuityincarryingoutthisaction.For instance
the firstof the twofundamental processesImentionedthat canbe identifiedthroughoutthisgenre isthe ‘open
mystery’. Thisreliesonaplotinwhichthe perpetratorof the crime,orthe device whichcreatedthe mystery
isn’tdirectlyrevealedtothe audience until the endof the film.The advantage of thisprocessisthatitgivesthe
directoran elementof mysteryandintriguefromthe outset,whichcanthenbe manipulatedbythe director
throughoutthe film.Inadditiontothisthe directorcan (if she/he pleases) place plotdevicessuchasred
herringsintothe filmwhichadda degree of complexitytothe film, andchallenge the audiencesabilitytofollow
the storyline andunderstandtheirrelevance tothe plot.These devicesdorelyonthe director’sabilityto
skilfullyadaptthemfromthe screenplayand weave themintothe sub-textof the film’splot.The secondformat
that can be employedinthisgenre isthe ‘closedmystery’itisreferredtobythisname as the audience becomes
aware of the identityof the antagonist/villainfromthe outset.Thisallowsthe filmtodivertintomore of a
thrillerasthe audience are aware of the villain’sidentity,whereasthe protagonistisnot.Thismeansthatfilm
will usuallytake the formatof cat andmouse gamesbetweenthe protagonistandthe antagonistbuilding
suspense andkeepingthe audience onthe edge of theirseats.
The form of the antagonistwithinthisgenre of filmcanbe relativelydiverse,asthisgenre of filmcontains
numeroussub-categoriesthatcanstray awayor stay true to the original foundationsthatallowedthe genre to
flourish.Forinstance withinthe mysterygenre of film, the formof the antagonistreliesheavilyonthe nature of
the filmi.e.whetheritisa psychological thriller,amysterythriller,anoir,or justa mystery.Thisisdue to the
fact that withinamysteryfilmthatispayinga homage to the firstfilmswithinthe genre,orismakingan
adaptionof an Agatha Christie novelthe villain’saren’tparticularlyinsidiousinnature andthisisusuallyacase
of the filmbeingmore astudyof a ‘crime of passion’orof a case of revenge.Whilstinpsychological thrillersand

4. Mischa Kelleher
Notable Antagonists within the genre
Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in, the Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Jane Greeras the femme fatale KathieMoffettinthe classicfilmnoir
Out of Past (1947).

5. Mischa Kelleher
KevinSpaceyplaysthe legendaryyetmythical villainKeyzerSoze in
The Usual Suspects(1995).

6. Mischa Kelleher