Animal Kingdom Analysis- General Notes

Animal Kingdom (2010)

Director: David Michôd

Plot: Tells the story of seventeen year-old Josh as he tries to find his way to survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him.

THE OFFICIAL TRAILER

The film used a lot of generic thriller conventions:

• Innocent victims
• Criminals
• Drugs
• The Police
• Dimly lit scenes
• Wide open spaces

Camera angles used:

• Close ups- Showed the characters reactions and emotions.
• Point-of-view shots: This put the audience in the characters shoes as well as helping the audience to understand the action being undertaken by the character at the time. Most of the POV shots were of Josh, because he was the main character, this helped the audience relate to Josh and the position he was in, also making you feel for Josh and the trouble/trauma he was going through at the time.
• Tracking Shots: Followed cars and the characters.
• Low Angle Tracking Shots: A low angle tracking shot was used around a corner, this added suspense to what would lie around the corner. This made the film very unpredictable.
• Over the Shoulder: This links in with POV shots because it made you relate to the character and made the audience feel as if they were there at the precise moment as a by stander.

Memorable Moments:

-The film began with Josh sitting next to his over-dosed mother as he watched an Australian popular games show. The idea that Josh does not act upset or distraught at all- gives the impression that his mother was dead to him a long time ago. This automatically made the film hard to predict what would happen as well as hard to understand Josh's character as he makes a phone call to his Grandma that he hasn't seen in ages.

-As we were introduced to his family, we were immediately aware that it is very male dominated. Hence the image of the iron lion at the beginning of the film. As well as it being predominantly male dominated, the audience are aware of their being no 'father figure' in Josh's life because of all his uncles being criminals and not on good terms with the police.

- We are aware that even the police are corrupt in this film, which gives the impression that we cannot even trust authority figures.

- Josh's character does not have a lot of dialogue which is very strange for a main character. The way in which James Frecheville demonstrated his character of Josh to the audience was through body language and emotions. His character also gave the impression that he did not fit in with this criminal family.

- The audience get the impression at the very start that the family have a hierarchy within the family and that the Mum/Grandma is queen bee. She is a matriarch. The way in which she kisses 'her boys' on the lips, suggests a sense of power over them and shows that she dominates the family home very much as well as dominating the boys lives.

- The introduction the Josh's third uncle, Pope shows that he is not a guy you want to mess around with. Throughout the film Pope gives the impression that he is mentally ill, by the way in which he looks at Josh's girlfriend in a predatory way. When he carries Josh's girlfriend to bed, the audience get the impression that he is going to try to rape her, which is very unsettling and uncomfortable to watch. Later on in the film, Pope murders the girlfriend is is very intense scene and Pope does not seem to care, as his emotions show him re-authorising his power and that he almost finds the thought of killing this innocent and naive girl thrilling.

- At the end of the film, when Josh returns to his grandma's house we get the impression that he is as bad as everyone else for returning to this mess of a family. Josh's attitude to being home was very calm, which gave the audience a feeling that something was not right. As he shoots his uncle Pope, it then implied that Josh was the same as everyone else in his family and that he had finally moved his way up from being the young, pathetic teenage nephew to now a powerful man authorising his power over his family.

- The end of the film suggests to the audience that there will be a sequel, hence him walking back into the room where his grandma is. The use of a cliffhanger at the end of the film makes the audience question what will happen to Josh and the rest of his family.