Comparative Scene Paper PDF

Running head: COMPARATIVE SCENE PAPER
Comparative Scene Paper
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COMPARATIVE SCENE PAPER
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Over the course of time, there has been much debate and dissent regarding the depiction
of violence in movies. Despite many objection, violence has been an integral part of film making
as one of the most significant element of storytelling. However, there is a fine difference of
portraying violence on screen as a central theme, and using it as a tool to influence the audience.
In the present analytic discourse, there will be an attempt to describe and comparer two such
piece of work, which, unconventionally enough, use violence as a tool to elicit audiences’
emotion and communicate the message across the screen. One is Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear
Window (1954) and the other is Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992). In both the movies, the
element of violence has been masterfully utilized by the stalwart directors as a means to elicit
conflicted emotional response to violence in the part of the audience. Unforgiven being a classic
revisionist Western movie, has more violent elements as compared to Rear Window, which is a
classic Hitchcock psychological thriller. However, Hitchcock’s use of lighting, close up shots,
classical editing and most importantly, POV angles heightens the tension and anxiety among the
viewers during conflict, despite the short span of the sequence in the movie.
Unforgiven is one of Clint Eastwood’s most talked about works, as it stands as the last of
his classic westerns, a genre introduced and proliferated by Eastwood himself. The movie
starring Gene Hackman, Richard harris and Morgan Freeman, along with Eastwood, has all the
elements that should be there in a classic western, yet breaks the conventional patterns of the
genre. The movie revolves around William Munny, a former outlaw and assassin who has long
retired and turned to pig farming. The story unravels as he takes up one last job—killing two
cowboys with a bounty of $1000. In a classic western, there is expected to be a rugged hero, who
goes around winning duels and seeking justice against negative characters. However, in
Unforgiven, Will is an aged man, dishevelled and broken, anything but a cold-blooded assassin.

COMPARATIVE SCENE PAPER
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Whenever the camera focuses him up close, the viewers see a failing pig farmer instead of a
hero, and cannot really empathize him. The film essentially brings out the horror of death and
violence, rather than celebrating it like the conventional westerns (IMDb). It echoes in the Kid’s
voice, as he struggles with the emotional aftermath post the first killing of his life-- "It’s a hell of
a thing, ain’t it, killin’ a man. You take everythin’ he’s got... an’ everythin’ he’s ever gonna
have..." (Ebert). The script shatters the traditional expectations of watching a western, where
there will be gunfights and cold-blooded murders and revenge. On the contrary, it reveals the
suffering and pain that lay underneath all the action, and tries to reconnect with the common
emotions of humanity that underlies all the mythical heroes—regret, insecurity, failure and hope.
Most importantly, the treatment of the movie blurs the line between the conventional
dichotomy of the good guy and the bad guy. And this is most prominent in the scene where Will
goes on to confront Little Bill and eventually wreaks havoc in the bar. The low-key
cinematography inside the dimly lit setting indicates the final showdown between Will and Little
Bill, which was anticipated but dreaded at the same time. The use of negative and positive
framing in the scene magically transforms broken, aged Will into the much coveted hero, while
building an atmosphere of fear and anxiety as portrayed through the supporting actors and extras
in the scene. When Will enters the saloon, the camera catches him a wide-angle shot, with ample
positive space on the viewers’ right, where the action is taking place. On the other hand, Little
Bill is the only person who is caught in a negative space framing to establish him as the sole
negative character, in contrast to the image of the heroic protector of the Big Whiskey town. The
composition of the actors on the scene, including the men accompanying Little Bill and the
prostitutes standing on the staircase, creates an atmosphere of tension, as they are placed in the
direction of the action. The use of the solitary flame behind Will, as he enters the saloon, gives a