Analysing Political Thriller Film Openings

Analysing Political Thriller film openings-

A political  thriller is a government based thriller that involves corruption on a governmental or a corporate scale. As well as this it is usually set against the backdrop of political struggles and involves various illegal plots. A few examples include; Day of the Jackal. Syriana, Michael Clayton, The Ideas of March and The Ghost Writer. 

Day of the Jackal- 

The political thriller, 'Day of the Jackal' is a 1973 film that focuses on the idea that an assassin is hired by French paramilitary group to kill the president of France, Charles De Gaulle. At the beginning of the film, there is a narrator. The job of the narrator is to give the audience a little background on the political information for the time this film is set, so we understand what is going on in the beginning. It talks of how many people thought the French president had betrayed the country by giving Algeria its country back. Revenge was the number one priority for many extremists. This is used to educate the audience on the context and to create tension. The music used also contributes to this idea as it has a sound you would commonly associate with the army or military, linking to the idea that it is a political thriller. The music is effective when we are following the man, who I assume is ‘Jackal’ as it is at its loudest. This supports my claim that it allows tension to be built as you wonder who he is, where he is going and what he is doing. Eventually the music dies down when you see him pull up near the French government building, its cleat his intentions are to harm or even kill the people inside as it is a thriller film.

There is a long shot of the clock showing us the time, and then there is a close up shot of Jackal on the motorbike to show his expression. These shots are used to show that he is planning something or waiting for something to happen at a particular time. This is common in thriller film and it may have even been used to create a tense setting for the audience. The camera also pans with the movement of the car leaving the government building; this could be used to show that someone important is in the can. It could be foreshadowing the future of the person in the car, showing that they are Jackal’s target and he is planning for something bad to happen to them. There are various shots of people walking out of the building, we can see that they all hold some sort of importance in the French government/. We can tell this because they are all wearing a suit, which influences us to believe that they are people of a higher class than Jackal We can tell this because of their costumes. 

It is set during the day, which means there is high key lighting, this makes you think that he is just planning, the best way to execute his plan and has not actually doing it. This is because it goes against the convention of a thriller film. It is set in France during a time of political instability, this links to it being a thriller film as we are worried about what is going to happen to the government in the wake of their angry constituents.  

This whole opening sequence is good because it constantly builds and adds tension; you're always on the edge of your seat waiting for something to happen, hoping that something happens so you feel better and not worried/anxious. This shows that it is a strong thriller opening as it involves many conventions of thriller films.

Syriana-

This political thriller is about the petroleum politics and the globalisation of oil. The idea is that America is running out of oil and soon they will be completely out. The most amount of that oil we have left in the world is in the Middle East. It is all about the idea of how to get the oil off of the rich people in the Middle East. 

The opening scene starts with an establishing shot over the city of Tehran, Iran (which is specified on screen), this could be used to foreshadow the idea that it is there, in the middle east where the main plot will take place. Then it cuts to a shot of an Islamic woman, putting her respectable attire on before leaving the house wherever this may be in the city. It shows the corruption of it and how things go on behind the scenes that we aren't sure of, it is indicated that she may be a prostitute, which again shows the corruption. Through the whole section their is low key lighting, which is a common convention of a thriller film, again this could foreshadow the idea of danger and corruption in the area. Then it goes to a group of people, who look to be quite important based on their attire, which consists of suits and ties, which could show their importance and wealth. However the theme of corruption still comes in to it as they are all smoking, and drinking. The conversation is also about drugs, a male character, which looks to come from the area, asks the American male, Bobby if he has ever tried liquid MDMA. This however seems to be a business transaction or deal as he then goes on to ask if they are 'gonna do this'. Despite the reoccurring theme of corruption, when the shot goes to the other person, he looks annoyed and says 'after prayer' so clearly that contradicts to their behavior. 

Overall the thriller opening, isn't as strong as some we have looked at because it doesn't build a sense of tension also without prior research you would be confused as to what is going on in the film or what the film is even about, hence why it isn't a strong opening. 

Michael Clayton-

This political thriller opening is a monologue, someone addressing the character of or maybe too Michael and it seems to be a warning of some sort. The character speaking addresses a situation that happened to him a few a few days earlier. The screen starts off black, with just the title of the film in the corner. There is a voice over, like I mentioned before. He addresses him with an urgent tone; he wants him to listen to what he has to say. This is true to a political thriller film because it's important that Michael understand what’s going on in order to help the man. The voice over continues when there is a montage of an empty business building, a law firm. The man talking's voice tells the story of what happened to him as he left the building. He talks quickly and with urgency and the cuts increase between videos. There are various different shots throughout the scene, we then follow a man through the building, he looks to be the mail man. We have low-angled, close-up shots of his feet to show how quickly he is moving. Slowly the shot zooms out and we get to see his face, it lingers there for a minute. This indicates that the character is an important one. 

Overall I think that this is a strong thriller opening because it adds a sense of tension, we don't quite know what’s going on but we want to find out so we keep watching, this is a good convention of a thriller film. However we aren't quite sure what is going so at the same time we could become a little confused, but we still watch, so that everything will make sense eventually.