post thirty four - macro elements of film form

( POST THIRTY FOUR )

MACRO ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM : MUDBOUND

MUDBOUND

storyline 

Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after war.

representation

The social groups represented on screen include : Black American, White American, the KKK, soldiers, and the Working Class, among a few more discreet, smaller groups. 

With each group we get to see their views and opinions, and we see the injustices and prejudices that some of them safe, especially presented in the Black American, Soldiers and Working Class groups. I think that the different groups are all represented really effectively because they all have important roles that show the racism and all of the other issues that were present during the 1940's. We also feel great empathy and sympathy towards a lot of the characters in the film because a lot of the events that happened were unimaginable. I don't think that any of the groups have been exaggerated for the audience and each group seems to have been represented fairly and accurately because the whole film seems quite factual as the director had chosen to create a film that used complex and difficult situations that many others simply choose to ignore.

genre

IMDb says that it is a historical period drama. This is made very clear through the costume, make-up, location and props because we can immediately see that the clothes they are wearing would not be worn today, and the props and location is quite unfamiliar, which I think suggests that it is set in the past. Also, the whole film indicates that it is a drama because there are real life situations and occurrences, with its characters portrayed realistically and believably, there is conflict, depictions of hardships, difficulties, struggles and emotional, physical and mental pain. The character's movement and expression really helps to show that the film is a drama, because although there are no melodramatic, overexaggerated parts, it has many conventional qualities associated with the drama genre.

narrative

The narrative of 'mud bound' is linear, though broken. I think that the director has done this to really emphasise the brokenness that the characters actually face, and she has replicated it through the film. The film has six protagonists each with their own internal monologue, which I think has been done so that we can see each characters views in different situations, but most importantly the two young soldiers who have just returned home from war. Also, because it is broken, we don't actually get to see how each character's life continues at the very end of the film, which leaves it to the audiences own imagination and the story has been narrated very cleverly. The use of a linear narrative in a movie can often make it a little boring because it leaves little mystery, however because it is so broken up, to the audience it can instead often feel a little non linear. 

audience 

I don't think that there is one particular audience, but it has been rated 15, so the audience should be 15 or over, I agree that this is a suitable age because some of the events are quite disturbing and distressing which could be very uncomfortable for younger viewers. As well as this, because there are so many different social groups presented throughout the entire movie, it is difficult to match the film to a particular audience, I would say it it suited to mature teenagers and any one older who is interested in the history of racism and the wars impact and aftermath. The storyline is fascinating and the film is so detailed that I think people who really enjoy historical dramas, would also really enjoy this film. I think each component of mise-en-scene in this film is prefect for the target audience.