1. How to Analyse a Film
When analysing film there are two methods that can be used; genre theory and auteur theory. Most
analysts group films into genres such as comedy, horror and action and then look at the codes and
conventions of this style of film. The codes and conventions are
different for each genre for example a teen comedy would usually be
set in a high school and include parties and themes of growing up
whereas a horror would often be set in an haunted house and include
props such as knives. Some movies do not follow codes and
conventions and are usually directed by an auteur director; this
means their productions are less conventional and he challenges accepted genre conventions. By
breaking conventions the films often attract a cult audience instead of the wider audience that
conventional films attract.
The films that I am going to compare are Quantum of Solace and Leon. Leon is directed by Luc
Besson who is an auteur director, unlike the film Quantum of Solace which is directed by Marc
Foster. There are some clear differences in themes between the two films including product
placement, in The Quantum of Solace you see lots
of branding such as Aston Martin and Audi cars as
well as Omega watches and Sony Vaio laptops. It is
rare to see product placement in auteur movies as
the brand could be damaged, for example if
Napoleon Dynamite was to drive an Aston Martin
in the film the brand would be recognized for this
but not from the intended audience of the brand. Conventional crime/action films portray the
protagonist to be smartly dressed and smooth talking as you see in Quantum of Solace, Leon
however is not like this as an auteur director doesn’t follow conventions. In the James Bond saga he
has a signature drink; vodka martini, shaken not stirred whereas Leon chooses to drink milk
throughout the film. Another distinct difference is the setting; Leon is set in a lower class part of
New York, mostly in small apartments or rooms whereas
Quantum of Solace has much more interesting settings. James
Bond films are often filmed in luxurious locations like Sienna, Italy
or huge casinos which is why the protagonist dresses smart and
drives expensive cars to further appeal visually to the audience.
Unlike James Bond, Leon does not wear smart clothes or drive
nice cars, he wears the same clothes throughout the film as well
as an old looking beanie hat and circular sunglasses which are
iconic to the film. At no point in the film do we see Leon driving a
car; he walks everywhere which suggests he doesn’t travel much.
The representation of females is very different in these films,
Quantum of Solace and most other conventional films from this genre use beautiful women that get
close to the main protagonist and often fall in love with him or die trying to help him, again this is
visually appealing for the audience. In Leon the only female representation is a young girl; Mathilda,
which is very uncommon, throughout the film we learn that Mathilda is in love with Leon which is
conventional of this genre of films but the age of the girl gives a strange mood and creates an on-
going wonder for the audience about what will happen between them.

2. Pulp fiction
Whilst viewing the film use your genre analysis sheets, considering the genre of crime thriller mainly
character.
We also need to consider narrative conventions in pulp fiction and how these are broken, towards
establishing how tarantino can be classed as an auteur director.