Breakdown

Breakdown Homework.

The genre for this film is action as the editing is very fast. Theres many quick cuts which matches the tempo of the film. To match the editing the music is very up tempo with some high pitched parts and crescendos to signal that high intense action is taking place. However the setting is in Massachusetts
a very desolate country area and a lot of gun crime is used which could suggest that this film is slightly western with a modern twist.

This film follows the Robert McKee's classic five part narrative. The first inciting incident would be when the pick up truck nearly crashes into Jeff and Amy by pulling out in front of them. This is the origin of conflict between them. And is the start of the complications. Then there are 'progressive complications' when Amy goes missing as Jeff begins to panic and seek ways to solve this. Then a crisis occurs when Jeff realises Amy has been kidnapped. The climax is when Jeff then decides to take on all of the opposition by taking them all down one by one. The problems then reside and Jeff actually saves his wife and kills off the enemy, and the problems have all been resolved.

Certain enigmas are displayed throughout the films narrative in order to keep the audiences attention. One of the first enigmas we come across is the 'doughnuts' which Amy purchases from the shop. She spends a good 30 seconds just talking about the packaging which says '90,000 doughnuts or 90,000 dollars'. She then goes on to say 'that could solve some problems'. The enigma is revealed when the bad guys ask Jeff how much money he has in his bank. 90,000 dollars is an amount that they both remembered to say therefore they didn't kill Jeff and Amy as they believed they were telling the truth.

Another enigma used is the car. After nearly crashing into the bad guys out of the blue it mysteriously breaks down after having a conversation with them at a petrol station. It turns out to be them who tampered with the car causing it to break down. If the car didn't break down then the narrative wouldn't have worked as they could not have kidnap Amy.

Personally I believe this film is predictable to a certain extent. Firstly when the car breaks down I did not know what to expect from the film at all. I also never would have guessed that Amy had been kidnapped when she went missing. I had some suspicions however I also thought of other scenarios in which Amy would be in. The narrative was very mysterious and unpredictable up until this point. However after Jeff had found out that Amy had gone missing I believe that the story was highly predictable as I knew he would save his wife and would go to any length to ensure her safety. I think the way he beat the opposition was quite cunning and not to be expected of such a character like Jeff as he was on his own compared to the group of baddies he faced. But I believe the fact that he was going to save his wife in the end was very predictable as he was very panicked and alarmed about her going missing and would've done anything to save her from her capturers. The genre is Action and Jeff is the protagonist,the leading characters usually tend to succeed on their missions and save the day by resolving all problems just like in Robert Mckees classic five part narrative.