1. How Do We Analyse Film
Part 1 – Apply genre theory to a range of films eg – quantum of solace/leon/mean girls/napoleon
dynamite
part 2 – explain how leon is an example of an auteur director and explain why
part 3 apple genre theory to pulp fiction and explain 1. How it breaks convention (character,
narrative (non-linear narrative))2. How tarantino is an auteur (time disordered, fragmented)
When choosing to analyse film there are two types of analysis in order to do a successful job. These
are Genre analysisandAuteur theory. Analysts usually group films into genres such as horror,
comedy and thriller and then they begin to look at the codes and conventions of the specified genre
of film. The codes and conventions for each genre are different; however there may be some
similarities between genres like horror and thriller. Themes are also a big part of labelling a genre, a
conventional horror film would have a theme of death or hell and a teen comedy would usually have
a high school theme towards it. Some films do not follow codes and conventions and these are done
by what we call Auteur Directors; filmmakers who have unconventional ideas or challenges.
The films that I am going to compare are Quantum of Solace and Leon. Leon, directed by Luc Besson
whom is an auteur director; a director who believes that his or her role is
to be the author of a production. An auteur director's point of view
dominates that of the playwright, and the director may make textual
changes and modifications. Compare this to Quantum of Solace, directed
by Marc Foster and you will be able to find some obvious differences in
the directing used. The main character in Quantum of Solace (James
Bond) is a popular typical hero found in this type of genre of film,
whereas the main character in Leon has
an unconventional look and an
unconventional feel to him which some
people like I, prefer. Anchoring a film to
a specific genre like Quantum of Solace
infuses one to see the typical codes and
conventions of the intended genre.In the
Quantum of Solace we see a range of
brands, from Aston Martin sports cars to
Audi’s and then smaller products such
as Omega watches and Sony Vaio
laptops. It is somewhat uncommon to
see branding of such popularity being
used in Auteur directed movies, this is
because it could ‘damage’ the product, for example if Napoleon
Dynamite drove an Aston Martin then certainly the brand would
become recognized but not for the intended audience. Another
good obvious difference in these two films is the female
representation. It is obvious to an avid James Bond fan that the
females used within the movies are typically beautiful women whereas the only ‘woman’ used in
Leon is the 12 year old young girl named Matilda. This is again Marc Foster following the codes and
conventions of this genre and applying them to the fullest extent whereas Luc Besson has not. It is
also notable to compare the main characters; Leon and James Bond. James bond dresses in a

2. smart, smooth way, that of which you would typically expect a ‘hero’ to look (unless they are from
the Marvel movies!). Compare this to Leon, whom comes across as an almost ‘shabby’ kind of
character; dressed in a long trench coat and not the newest of boots. He also wields circular
sunglasses and a small woolly hat and isn’t the neatest of trimmed where the facial hair is
concerned. Yet another obvious difference is the settings and locations used. In Quantum of Solace
we are greeted by the beautiful town of Sienna, Italy and then we also go to more rich and exotic
locations such as London, Austria, Chile and more. Luc Besson has done the opposite of this, and
not really focused too much on the settings used, he has used un-glamorous settings because he
would like the audience to focus more on the narrative rather than be distracted by glamorous
locations.