Applying the theories to Retribution

For this project we studied the four main theories relating to thrillers, so I decided to apply them to Retribution to see whether or not it contains some of the generic conventions. I am applying these theories to only the opening itself because we haven't made the rest of the film.

Claude Levi-Strauss - Binary Opposites
male vs female - you can tell the intruder is male
freedom vs entrapment - she cannot get out of the house without passing him
prisoner vs captor - he has her trapped within the house
justice v injustice - Zak getting justice against Detective Trent's injustice

Roland Barthes - Action & Enigma Codes
Enigma Codes:

• You don't see the intruders face - Who is he?
• There is no interaction between them and he doesn't make himself known, yet he was waiting for her - Does he know her? What is their relationship?
• The last shot being just of their feet in the bathroom - What happens next? What does he do to her?
• The phone call whilst she is in bed and she gets up - Who was on the phone? Is she going out somewhere?
• The camera moving behind the car from the intruders point of view - Has he been planning this? Is it spontaneous? Why is he waiting for her specifically?

Action codes:

• She gets a phone call - leads to her getting out of bed
• Goes to bathroom - leads to the intruder trapping her inside the bathroom
• Drops door keys - leads to her leaving the door open
• Leaves the front door open - leads to the intruder getting in

Tzvetan Todorov - Narrative Structure

Equilibrium - Woman walking home
1st disruption - Leaves the front door open and the intruder gets in
2nd disruption - The woman is trapped in the bathroom

The final sections of this narrative structure do not work because we haven't made the rest of the opening and usually this theory is applied to the entire film. However the first few do work because they generally happen at the beginning of the film. The sections of the theory which don't apply are the big disruption, thwarted attempts at resolution, a resolution and a new equilibrium. However if we had continued to make our film according to our synopsis, then the other sections would be applicable. The big disruption would be Zak kidnapping Evie and holding her hostage whilst setting a trail for Detective Trent to follow, the thwarted attempts at a resolution would be Detective Trent attempting to find her, the resolution would come in the form of whether or not Evie lived and Detective Trent possibly being framed for her supposed murder and finally the new equilibrium would be Zak's new situation concerning his revenge and whether he achieved it or not.

Vladimir Propp - Folk Tales & Character Types
1. The villain/antagonist - Detective Trent (for his actions which made Zak end up in jail)
2. The hero/protagonist - Zak (we follow his story and want him to achieve his revenge)
3. The donor - Evie (in that she gives Zak the means to achieve his revenge)
4. The helper - there isn't really a helper in our plot, but it could be Evie due to finding our her father killed her mother
5. The princess - In the sense of him getting his revenge it would be Detective Trent, but due to his relationship with Evie then it could be her if she wasn't killed
6. The father figure -Again there isn't really a father figure, although in the rest of the film Evie could hate her father when she finds out her father killed her mother
7. The dispatcher - Detective Trent
8. The false hero - we don't really have a false hero

I also studied a fifth theory, by Syd Field. His theory is that thrillers contain a three act plot structure. So I have chosen to apply this theory as well, although it is slightly more difficult to apply as the synopsis didn't go into immense detail of the ending etc.:

Act One - Setup

• Two of three main characters identified in opening sequence: Evie and Zak
• Detective Trent would then be introduced along with the story behind the kidnapping
• The audience are given reasons to support Zak in that he was wrongly framed, yet also don't agree with him kidnapping Evie - there are split loyalties
• The problem facing the protagonist is identified: Zak is having to keep ahead of Trent, who is a detective and so has far more resources available to him

(Plot point one: Evie discovers that her father killed her mother)

Act Two - Confrontation

• Zak is beginning to face more problems as he begins to fall for Evie and she has to die for his original plan to work
• Evie also wants to die to punish her father
• Detective Trent keeps following the clues, but quicker than Zak anticipated.

(Plot point two- Zak realises that he cannot kill Evie, so he begins to conduct a plan to frame Detective Trent as planned, but without killing Evie or having a body)

Act Three - Resolution

• Zak carries out his plan and frames Trent
• Trent goes down
• However Evie may or may not be dead, which has the possibility to tarnish his revenge