The Spectacle of Violence in a Post-Chc Film
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The Spectacle of Violence in a Post-cHc Film
During the era of classic Hollywood cinema, oftentimes the violence that was part of a film’s narrative was often downplayed or even eliminated from the actual script and substituted by means of implication or through verbal narration. This was largely in part because of The Production Code which was enforced in 1934, which forced filmmakers to censor blatantly violent scenes. But later in that century, when American society is much more accustomed to, and even excited by, such violence, a new era of filmmaking began to emerge. It was the era of spectacle-centered, big blockbuster movies. A movie that I find to be very representative of that era is Die Hard. In this movie, the narrative is only second to the spectacle aspect of it, the stylistic flourishes that make it the action-thriller that is it. Action and violence are heightened in a way that classic Hollywood cinema had never experienced. I have chosen Casablanca to represent a cHc movie that, while it includes aspects of violence, is in no way centered around the violence as much as Die Hard is.
Although we have already been exposed to many gunshots and several occurrences of violence, the first scene in which John McClane becomes directly involved in the action and comes face to face with the terrorists is when they realize they are not only battling the building, but also someone else in the building who is working against them. The scene begins with John pacing the 32nd floor, preparing for a rescue, when you see a terrorist come into view holding a large machine gun. He steps in front of the camera, with the gun centered and in focus. After some fiery gunshots and a rough struggle, they both end up down half a flight of stairs and the terrorist is dead. This scene is shot with many short cuts with varied camera angles. In addition to the dramatic music that corresponds with each action, there are many grunts, shouts and heavy breathing coming from the two men, which show us the urgency of what is happening. This scene is very important to the movie’s narrative, mainly because this is the first time when all the terrorists become aware that they are now fighting someone else in the building. And since Tony, the man killed, was the brother of Karl, one of the other terrorists, Karl vows vengeance and from this point on his sole motivation is revenge against McClane for his brother’s