The Leon

Is Leon a typical thriller

"Leon perfectly fits the conventions of a thriller. It does not try to challenge the conventions."

Explain how far you agree with this statement.

I believe that the thriller has used some typical conventions that we would expect in a normal thriller and tried to put in some unconventional things, but not very many.

 The protagonist/s deals with death (their own or someone else's)

I would say that this is quite conventional because he carries dangerous weapons that link to death, as we got a close up shot of Leon having a gun to his mouth as a microphone. This indicates the fact that he is used to carrying a gun around him, and the fact that he is using that to pretend to speak to speak to the microphone, whilst talking to one of the people that give him “jobs” to do, is quite comical. We could say that it is almost as if Leo tries to link death with comical act. Also the way he just killed that guy like it was nothing shows that his job is some sort of mafia. This again, is very conventional for this convention because it shows that is used to death and killing. This indicates that he is quite cold. Another that is conventional about the protagonist’s way of dealing with death is when he kills another person and it makes a diegetic sound of a neck breaking. This makes us feel very uncomfortable and disgusted, but it is very conventional for a thriller to add these diegetic sounds to make it sound more real.

The main story line for the protagonist is usually some sort of quest

I would say that this is conventional because , the mystery has been created because this “fat bastard” has done something that they don’t like, so the quest is to get him.

As this fat guy- breathes heavily, before Leon kills him, there are quite a few straight cuts. This is very conventional because this has been used to create a sense danger and panic. The lighting is very dark, which shows mysteriousness and panic. This is conventional because thriller uses this to indicate danger and the fact that we know that when it is dark, something bad is going to happen, so it makes us feel tensed. The close up of his face looks very scared, which again is very conventional considering what circumstances he is in. This again, is supposed to create the mystery of the fact that he doesn't know what is going to happen to him, and automatically the audience doesn't either. This allows us to know what the actor is feeling.

The music as Leon goes and gets him, mirrors the heartbeat, and when Leon gets him, it stops, as if his own heart beat stopped. This is conventional because it shows how frightened he is and when he gets him, it is like his heart beat has stopped beating.

The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved

Straight away in the thriller, we get a close up of someone that looks like a baddy, so straight away; the mystery is there, which makes this very conventional. He looks like a baddy because of his dark glasses to hide his identity and the cigarrete in his mouth, which makes him look like someone from the mafia, which creates a sense of mystery, because we can’t see him properly and for the way he looks like, later though we find out that it is Leon.

The mystery has built up when we get a close up shot of the numbers going up on the elevator. This shows that it is conventional because this is cutaway shot which is there to symbolize something or create tension/ mystery.

However, the fact that Leon has come out of form underneath to push another actor over was not expected, as we had expected him falling over or someone pushing him over and because we didn't expect it, means that it is quite unconventional.

 We get to meet another character. This person looks like a girl, possibly another protagonist, and she is smoking, so automatically the mysteriousness has been created there. Also the music reflects on how young she is, which is very conventional, to help reinforce the fact that she is a child. Then we get to see how she is sitting. This is very mysterious because she has the bars in front of her face; actually hiding her face a little. This shows the fact that she may never get to go anywhere, which that in itself is very mysterious. She says that she has enough problems of her own, and she shows that she has a mark on her face. This could indicate that she is being beaten. Leon notices which shows that he is quite caring. And as he walks of, he looks annoyed that people treat children like that. This is conventional because the mysteriousness has been created because we want to know what he is going to do, and also it shows that there is more to the plot.

 

Type of Mise en scene How are each of these elements presented in Leon? Are they conventional?

Costume     -                 Her mum looks a bit tarty, she dresses inappropriately. So Matilda dresses                                          inappropriately too because her mother is a very bad influence. It is because of her, Matilda is now dressing very inappropriately.

Lighting     -    The lighting in the house is very dim and artificial which creates mystery and the dull         atmosphere.

                                                                                            Her house lighting is natural, which contrasts Leon's lighting.

   Props      -           He is using the door to have a look at what is going on in the corridor.  He lets us in his life- the plant shows life, which shows that he does care about things and shows that he is quite lonely and he wants something to care for. He sprays the plant-shows that he cares about it. The plant plays a big part of his life.

A lot of weapon on his body, which shows the fact that he is dangerous but also that he messes with the wrong people so he is wanted. It his job and he does that all the time

The random pink glove shows that he likes animals and it is not conventional for a hit man to have such things.

He is religious, because there is a photo of some religious figure, and he put a gun in front him, which shows the contrast of death and religion. He might believe that getting rid of bad people is good thing.

The glasses hide his identity which is unconventional because we can't really relate to him too much.  

They don’t really care about Matilda, the phone breaks the conflict ta home that they have.

Setting -The setting is in the house. The house looks quite dirty with the yellow walls. His flat looks very dull. 

Her house is a mess- a massive contrast because it is a mess.