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1. PR3 Critical responses to media
When it comes to media products we can respond to them in a plethora of ways, are responses can
be determined in the manner in which we analyse. The first thing we will look at is what the genre of
the movie is. This is action thriller with aspects of dark comedy. The narrative of the story is linear,
meaning it goes in order of events.
Another way in which we can analyse is by Semiotics. This is basically what things symbolise,
whether it is the colours used in a poster to the way a character is stood and positioned. Lastly there
is representation, when it comes to this you need to look the way the media product betrays ideas,
class’s, groups, ideology and communities.
The media product I am going to analyse is Leon the Professional. Leon is a movie about a 12 year
old girl called Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, who is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional
assassin, after her family is murdered. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she
becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
The Director of this movie is Luc Besson, and it was realised in 1994. The cast is:
Jean Reno – Leon
Gary Oldman – Stansfeild
Natalie Portman – Mathilda
Danny Aiello – Tony
Peter Appel – Malky
When applying narrative theory to this film you are picking out he key features which set the movie
in motion. The first part of this is the exposition/inciting incident, in this case the inciting incident is
Mathilda’s family being killed; this is what starts narrative for the film. Then there is the rising
action/climax of the movie, this is Leon training Mathilda to become an assassin and how we learn
that Garry Oldman is actually a corrupt DEA. Finally there is the falling action/ Denouement, in my
opinion this is the gun fight at the end of the film and Leon walking behind Garry Oldman holding the
grenade, pulling the pin and killing them both.
Moving on, when it comes to the genre of the film we pick up on what it is straight away, as the
main image for the film is red and black, these two colours illustrate blood and death which are
typical conventions for action thriller. Also in the opening scene for the movie there is an
establishing shot of New York which is conventional for this genre.

2. Now a stereotypical representation of a hit man in movies if is played by young strong adults, usually
very attractive. Although in this film the hit man is played by an elderly man, this isn’t a typical
representation of an action hero. Also his protégé Mathilda is a little girl, so the last thing you would
expect from looking at the two characters is it to be an action movie but you learn very quickly that
Leon is a professional.
Furthermore at the start of the film when we first see Leon he is holding a Knife in one hand and a
phone in the other, while he is in the dark, making use of binary opposition. In this case the dark
behind him being death and the light in front of him being life and the knife and the phone either
side of screen is the tipping point in which will decide Leon’s captive’s fate.
Another feature about Leon that goes against typical codes and conventions is his personality and
way of life. When he isn’t working he comes across as caring and nice, and he looks after a little
plant in this apartment that is far from luxurious, were your usual representation of a crime as a
profession is betrayed as luxurious, nice house nice care etc.
Mathilda also isn’t your typical young girl, as from her life in the movie is shown as neglectful in
some ways, so her personality as a character is somewhat disturbing at times, as she acts older than
her age, you could argue that she got her maturity as she is forced to grow up real quick as her

3. family died but she is also seen in the first part of the filming smoking dangling her legs over the stair
case balcony.
Mathilda makes inappropriate comments throughout the film relating to her relationship with Leon,
which to him is parental. Not only is her personality very bizarre so is her role in the film as a trainee
assassin, this is defiantly not a typical representation of a young girl in media.
The style of the film incorporates the action thriller in only a few ways, In the first opening scene you
realise straight away that it’s an action movie but without that part it could take you a while to come
to that conclusion, as in the mise en scene though out the start of the movie only shows busy streets
and tall buildings which is only one convention of action thriller.
The main character Leon isn’t wearing a suit or anything classy or expensive, and the only other
object that can be seen as dangerous is when he occasionally cleans his guns. The editing
throughout the start is also slow, and dragged out which is against the typical style of editing for
action films.

4. In my conclusion, there is an equal balance of action/thriller conventions that help promote the
genre of the film but I think the director wanted to keep away from some clichés and try to make the
film more original. Although as it gets to the inciting incident the aim and the narrative of the film
becomes clear.
Pulp Fiction
Another film we analysed is Pulp Fiction; this film is about the lives of two hit men, a gangster, his
wife and a boxer. The film cleverly entwines their lives with a few twists and a mystery that leaves
the audience wondering. The narrative of the film is non-linear, from watching the film you start to
become confused as the footage is fragmented between past and present, as characters come back
to life when they died.
Although at the end of the film it all ties up and finally become clear what it was about. This goes
against most typical crime/thriller/comedy genres as most plots are linear. Moving on the film
contains postmodern references; one of the main scenes that depict this is in jack rabbit slims.
There are a few features of post modernism, the first one is intertextuality, and this is references of
other media texts. The first example of this is when John Travolta and Uma Thurman are sat in the
car table and she is talking about a show she stared in. The show is called fox force five, and he
characters in this how, who she describes, are all in another movie by Quintin Tarintino called Kill
Bill.

5. Another example of this is the Marline Monroe scene where she i s having her dress blown up from
the grid in Jack Rabbits, although this is intertextuality, you can argue that is an element of pastiche,
as Tarintino is paying homage to the movie Sven YEAR Itch by BILLY Wilder. Moving on, at the start
of the scene Uma draws a square with her hands and a square appears on the screen, when a
director refers to the film making process with in the mise en scene or narrative, breaking the
illusion that the film or TV sow isn’t real, we referee to this as intertextuality.
Another aspect of postmodernism is the use of a bricolage; this is a reference to a mix of
genres/historical eras within one shot or scene. This happens in two scenes, in the Marline Monroe
shot and in the bathroom. In the Munroe shot you see people dressed from the different time era’s
and even a man who looks almost exactly like a famous presenter from the 1950s-1960-s.
In the bathroom scene the hairstyles of the women are all form different era, as well, but Uma has a
very distinctive hair cut which isn’t from any particular era. There are also hints of self -referentiality,
which is where a producer of a media text or actor makes a direct reference to previous work. For
example in my first point about fox force five, one of the characters in that are actually played by
Uma in Kill Bill so she is referencing another role she did in a future movie. Also when they are
driving to Jack Rabbits they are in a red car and it looks exactly like the scene from grease with john
Travolta.

6. Lastly weather this is intertextually or a parody of Saturday Night Fever can be argued, as Jon
Travolta has to dance with Uma but he isn’t that good at it were as when he was younger he was a
really good dancer and was in a film about it. In my conclusion all of these aspects make the movie a
postmodern film, as through clever devices used by the director it has stood the test of time.