- Watch Natural Born Killers and note occasions of shock, visceral, narrative and political
A moving of the mind or soul; excitement of the feelings, whether pleasing or painful; disturbance or agitation of mind caused by specific exciting cause and manifested by some sensible effect on the body.
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1. Visceral shock (often sex and/or violence)
2. Narrative shock unexpected ‘turn’ of the plot – e.g. Marion Crane’s demise in Psycho.
3. Political shock (a subversive message).
Starter:
Task 1:
Shocking could be defined in three ways:
1. Visceral shock (often sex and/or violence)
2. Narrative shock unexpected ‘turn’ of the plot – e.g. Marion Crane’s demise in Psycho.
3. Political shock (a subversive message).
Starter:
List occasions of the three types of shock from the two films we have looked at already;
The Crying Game and City of God.
Task 1:
Watch Natural Born Killers and note occasions of shock, visceral, narrative and political.
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“Films have to be subversive in order for them to be any good, because they force you to look for and ask hard questions that don’t have simple and easily defined answers.” - Oliver Stone
Useful links to Oliver Stone articles:
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Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone loves his country, but he is also its loudest critic. Whether tackling history head-on in films like "Platoon" or "Born On The Fourth Of July," or profiling presidents in "JFK," "W." and "Nixon," and even in seemingly genre-centered material like "Natural Born Killers" or "Any Given Sunday," Stone views America in his own unique, if sometimes contradictory ways. His track record is certainly marked by tremendous highs, definite lows and curious middles (mostly with genre excursions like "U-Turn," "Any Given Sunday" and "The Doors") but he is never one to sit still. For evidence of Stone's constantly changing priorities one can look to his last few films — "World Trade Center," "W.," "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" — and truly get a sense of a director driven both by passion and finance, and by a love for his country that is also pained by its failings.
As much to his detriment as it is to his advantage, Stone remains one of the most unique and vocal voices among working American filmmakers. While his output might be uneven, his films are hardly ever boring. Often experimenting with different lenses, film stock, techniques and camera angles, Stone continually finds new ways to shape and tell his stories.
The film was released in the United States on August 26, 1994.
It tells the story of two victims of traumatic childhoods who became lovers and mass murderers, and are irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
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It’s about how the modern media has ostensibly de-sorted our value system where we have become desensitized to the point of boredom. We are so inundated by endless channels that broadcast much of the same sensationalist and seedy coverage that we’ve become a nation of drones that hungrily feed off it. All the channels on the various networks are scarily the same and there is a haunting conformity that is paralyzing and governing our daily lives.
Stone’s film is a sarcastic, chaotic, energetic, and impassioned riot and revolt versus this media system. To him and NATURAL BORN KILLERS, the real criminals are not the killers, but the media and media state – they are the modern enemy and the subversive message that is buried beneath at the core is that WE are the problem.
The film is based on an original screenplay by Quentin Tarantino that was heavily revised by writer David Veloz, associate producer Richard Rutowski, and director Stone; Tarantino received story credit.
The film was released theatrically on August 26, 1994 in the United States, February 24, 1995 and premiered on Venice Film Festival on August 29, 1994.
The film was a box office success, grossing over $50 million against a production budget of $34 million, and received generally mixed to positive reviews, who praised the cast's performances, the movie's humor, plot, and combination of action and romance, but found the film much too violent and graphic.
Notorious for its violent content and inspiring "copycat" crimes, the film was named the eighth most controversial film in history by Entertainment Weekly in 2006.
Consider
‘However obvious the techniques used, the spectator will nearly always surrender to the
manipulation of their emotions by the filmmaker.’ Discuss how far this is true with reference to
the films you have studied for this topic.
Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994) is a film which has only just been given a BBFC certificate (18, and it passed uncut) after having been refused a certificate on VHS or DVD release for almost 10 years. The film details the love between two victims of traumatic childhoods, who are also psychopathic serial killers.
How does a film text aim to generate emotional response?
(The 5 modes of engagement below are often inter-woven.)
Through its use of micro and macro elements. (These underpin all textual constructions).
Through viewer identification with a particular character or life event.
Through discussions of contentious issues, events or themes. (These could include drawing on historical events).
Through challenging the viewer’s assumptions or confirming their world view. Through shocking the viewer, exciting them, angering them, manipulating them or making them cry.
Within the study of Spectatorship:
The relationship between the text and the viewer is complex.
There exists a plurality of readings and subjectivity of response.
The viewer enters into a discourse with the text they are viewing.
The viewer’s ‘reading’ of a text could be preferred, negotiated or oppositional (Stuart Hall).
Key Questions within the spectatorship debate
Consider:
The film might be based on true events.
‘Word of mouth’, critical and popular criticism might influence expectations.
Knowledge of the director, stars or genre could influence viewer response.
Knowledge of an original text eg. the book that inspired the film, could set up expectations.
Natural Born Killers
Canted angles, opera music when the knife is thrown, shifts from black and white to colour all help to present a stylised sequence that seems surreal or cartoon.
The ‘rednecks’ are clearly presented as the antagonists.
They crush a scorpion with their truck.
There is a dead stag strapped to the truck.
Their language is misogynistic. “That’s some sweet piece of meat, aint it?” “I call it pussy.” The romance sequence with La Vie en Rose as the soundtrack invites us to view Mickey and Malory in a softer light.
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Reasons for Use of Shock in Natural Born Killers
Consider
‘However obvious the techniques used, the spectator will nearly always surrender to the
manipulation of their emotions by the filmmaker.’ Discuss how far this is true with reference to
the films you have studied for this topic.
Natural Born Killers (Oliver Stone, 1994) is a film which has only just been given a BBFC certificate (18, and it passed uncut) after having been refused a certificate on VHS or DVD release for almost 10 years. The film details the love between two victims of traumatic childhoods, who are also psychopathic serial killers.
How does a film text aim to generate emotional response?
(The 5 modes of engagement below are often inter-woven.)
Through its use of micro and macro elements. (These underpin all textual constructions).
Through viewer identification with a particular character or life event.
Through discussions of contentious issues, events or themes. (These could include drawing on historical events).
Through challenging the viewer’s assumptions or confirming their world view. Through shocking the viewer, exciting them, angering them, manipulating them or making them cry.
Within the study of Spectatorship:
The relationship between the text and the viewer is complex.
There exists a plurality of readings and subjectivity of response.
The viewer enters into a discourse with the text they are viewing.
The viewer’s ‘reading’ of a text could be preferred, negotiated or oppositional (Stuart Hall).
Key Questions within the spectatorship debate
- Is the emotional impact of a film influenced by contextual or pre-existing knowledge?
Consider:
The film might be based on true events.
‘Word of mouth’, critical and popular criticism might influence expectations.
Knowledge of the director, stars or genre could influence viewer response.
Knowledge of an original text eg. the book that inspired the film, could set up expectations.
______________________________________________________________________
Canted angles, opera music when the knife is thrown, shifts from black and white to colour all help to present a stylised sequence that seems surreal or cartoon.
The ‘rednecks’ are clearly presented as the antagonists.
They crush a scorpion with their truck.
There is a dead stag strapped to the truck.
Their language is misogynistic. “That’s some sweet piece of meat, aint it?” “I call it pussy.” The romance sequence with La Vie en Rose as the soundtrack invites us to view Mickey and Malory in a softer light.
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