How far do the American films you have studied for this topic depend on well established narrative/genre conventions?
Thriving as one of the most poisonously hollow genres within our world of cinema, Lovers on the Lam films soar due to the complex meanings embedded within each micro feature. Based on the true harrowing case of Charles Starkweather's killing spree, Badlands ingeniously follows the conventions of this genre, with a combination of elements of Road, Romance, and Crime. For instance, one common theme within this genre's narrative is that the protagonists have dysfunctional families. This becomes prominent in a scene where Kit talks to his lover's father within the film's rising action, whereby the empty mise-en-scene of a vast and endless landscape surrounds the duo to symbolise their isolation from perfection. The way in which the father is painting a dominating and vibrant picture of a large house and greenery contrasts against the dry mise-en-scene, whilst also introduces the convention of The American Dream. This illustrates the world that both Kit and Holly strive for, which many were driven to achieve in the fifties. By having a piece missing from the painting creates a sense of disillusionment, and the long shot of Kit standing infront of this gap implicitly portrays his desperation to escape into this dream. Furthermore, Malick may have utilised the protagonist's father as being a painter of advertisements in a slightly satirical light to represent the man-made world in which we live in, where these unattainable ideologies are drilled into our heads by a corrupt media.
Mirroring this philosophy, Natural Born Killers also stabs at our society through the manipulation of key micro features. For instance, the scene in which the two protagonists kill Mallory's father not only again conjures this convention of a dysfunctional family, but is also filmed with a variety of editing techniques; This both contrasts against the slow and droning pace of Badlands, and represents how we have become surrounded by the media and are desensitized to violence, to the extent where it is glorified and controls us. One editing technique is the way in which the father figure's television is one of the only things in colour to reinforce how the media colours our vision and shapes us into who we are, whilst he watches the wrestling to signify where his violent nature bore from. This sums up the film's somewhat ironic title, as Stone is suggesting how we live in an era where the media has become a part of our nature, which contrasts against its true mechanism and the use of a montage of animals such as an eagle and scorpion within the film's opening to introduce the animal motif.
The American Dream is also imprinted within Stone's work. This can be displayed through the mise-en-scene of Mallory's room, whereby smiley faces are plastered over her bedsheets. The sad faces on her wall juxtapose against this, to portray how this lover can only find happiness within her dreams, and is surrounded by a brutal world of beatings and rape. For Holly, she wanted to escape her near perfect world. For example, within the scene where the lovers burn down her house, a mid-shot is used to show a burning dollhouse. To me, this can represent her loss of innocence, yet, conversely, throughout the film she is dressed like a doll with pastel coloured dresses, to perhaps show how she can never escape this man-made world. Furthermore, red white and blue colouring is embedded throughout the film, such as within the mise-en-scene when Kit, dressed in blue denim and a white shirt, releases a red balloon into the blue cloudy sky. Whilst his actions represent hope, these three colours are symbolic of the American flag to again show the westernisation of society. This colouring is also utilised within Natural Born Killers when Mallory is angelically dancing on the car, and she is illuminated by red, blue and white lighting. However, a sense of surrealism is added to this scene through the use of horses quickly riding in the unrealistic starry sky, to show how distant, warped and unreachable this dream is.
Mirroring this philosophy, Natural Born Killers also stabs at our society through the manipulation of key micro features. For instance, the scene in which the two protagonists kill Mallory's father not only again conjures this convention of a dysfunctional family, but is also filmed with a variety of editing techniques; This both contrasts against the slow and droning pace of Badlands, and represents how we have become surrounded by the media and are desensitized to violence, to the extent where it is glorified and controls us. One editing technique is the way in which the father figure's television is one of the only things in colour to reinforce how the media colours our vision and shapes us into who we are, whilst he watches the wrestling to signify where his violent nature bore from. This sums up the film's somewhat ironic title, as Stone is suggesting how we live in an era where the media has become a part of our nature, which contrasts against its true mechanism and the use of a montage of animals such as an eagle and scorpion within the film's opening to introduce the animal motif.
The American Dream is also imprinted within Stone's work. This can be displayed through the mise-en-scene of Mallory's room, whereby smiley faces are plastered over her bedsheets. The sad faces on her wall juxtapose against this, to portray how this lover can only find happiness within her dreams, and is surrounded by a brutal world of beatings and rape. For Holly, she wanted to escape her near perfect world. For example, within the scene where the lovers burn down her house, a mid-shot is used to show a burning dollhouse. To me, this can represent her loss of innocence, yet, conversely, throughout the film she is dressed like a doll with pastel coloured dresses, to perhaps show how she can never escape this man-made world. Furthermore, red white and blue colouring is embedded throughout the film, such as within the mise-en-scene when Kit, dressed in blue denim and a white shirt, releases a red balloon into the blue cloudy sky. Whilst his actions represent hope, these three colours are symbolic of the American flag to again show the westernisation of society. This colouring is also utilised within Natural Born Killers when Mallory is angelically dancing on the car, and she is illuminated by red, blue and white lighting. However, a sense of surrealism is added to this scene through the use of horses quickly riding in the unrealistic starry sky, to show how distant, warped and unreachable this dream is.
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