英美影视鉴赏论文

A Study of

The Dark Style of The seven deadly sins

Abstract:This paper first gives the definition of The seven deadly sins, the reason why it is put forward and the influence it brings to people in the modern society. It then introduces some information about the film Seven, including the content, the techniques of representation which mainly include the use of symbolism and the description of details and the environment, and also the purport of this film, which refers to the analysis of the mentality of the modern people and the anxieties to all kinds of abuses. It finally discusses the amalgamation of the film and religion. From the theme, the plot and the characters, the religious factors in the film make the purport known better.

Key Words: religion; film; amalgamation；abuses

浅析《七宗罪》的黑暗风格

摘要：本文首先结合宗教经典，给出七宗罪的定义，其最初的教诲意义及其对现代人生活的影响；然后介绍了电影《七宗罪》的相关信息，包括电影的基本内容，表现手法，包括象征、细节描写和环境衬托，及电影所要传达的思想内容，即对现代社会人们心理的剖析及种种弊端的担忧。最后本文讨论了电影和宗教间的融合，并分析了电影中蕴涵的宗教教义。电影在主题、人物以及情节上与宗教因素的融合，传达了深刻的教义。

关键词：宗教；电影；融合；弊端

1.Introduction

The seven deadly sins, a dark, grisly, horrifying and intelligent thriller, may be too disturbing for many people, I imagine. But if you can bear to watch it, you will see film making of a high order. It tells the story of two detectives - one ready to retire, the other at the start of his career - and their attempts to capture a perverted serial killer who is using the The seven deadly sins as his scenario. Director David Fincher doesn't want his audience to be comfortable for a moment while watching "Seven." Shaky camera shots, dark sets and a disturbing script that takes its characters to the extremes of emotion all contribute to the film creating a unsettled feeling that stays with you for a couple hours after the credits roll.

2.Plot Analysis about the Movie

Much of the distinctiveness of The seven deadly sins can be attributed to its skillful adaption of the conventions of film noir to the contemporary world.There is a common moral ambiguity,which casts heroes as potential villains and villains as potential heroes;a trepidation about the future and nostalgia for a more civilized world that exists only in the imagination;a puzzling and distorting narrative which and ermines one’s expectations;and the characteristic noir style of perpetual rainfall,low-key lighting,and a subdued cu lour palette dominated by bullish grays,murky browns,and putrid.It is a classic film noir, but with a twist—a serial-killer narrative that raises import contemporary questions about the respective roles of morality,culture,and the media in our postmodern urban world.

2.1 moral contradiction

A central feature of most film noir and neo-noir is moral contradiction.It is frequently difficult to draw clear lines between good and bad,or state with certainty who it is that occupies

the high moral ground.This is certainly the case with The seven deadly sins,in that neither Mills nor Somerset demonstrates unimpeachable standards.In their professional lives,for example,both are prepared to take immoral (and even illegal)measures to achieve their goal of arresting and prosecuting John Doe.Somerset bribes an associate in the FBI for access to the library records of borrowers—of course,the fact that the FBI even keeps such records is of questionable legality—and together they use this illegally gat hered information to find out Doe’s address.When they reach his apartment,Mills simply kicks open the door,rather than follow the correct and legal procedures,and first get hold of a search warrant.Aware that illegally gathered information would be invalid in a court of law,they then proceed to bribe an poor local resident to make up a story that will exculpate them.

The victims of Doe’s cruel crimes are definitely no better.The obscenely fat man is an insult to human dignity;the greed of Elias Gould is fed by the money earned from defending rapists and murderers in court;Theodore Allen,punished for sloth,is actually a drug dealer and maker of horrific sexual crimes;the blonde woman is a prostitute in a seedy sex club;and the model was so vain that she could not live without her good looks.

2.2 “The over-riding noir ”theme

“The over-riding noir” theme is a passion for the past and the present,but also a fear of the future.The noir hero dreads to look ahead,but instead tries to survive by the day,and if unsuccessful at that,he retreats to the past.Thus film noir’s techniques emphasize loss,nostalgia,lack of clear priorities,insecurity;then submerge these self-doubts in mannerism and style.In such a world style becomes paramount;it is all that separates one from meaninglessness.”(Schrieffer,Paul.1999.Notes on Film Noir.) The seven deadly sins employs many of the classic film noir/neo-noir techniques to create its disturbing visual style.The main techniques and their effects are shown below. The look of "Seven" is crucial to its effect. This is a very dark film, the gloom often penetrated only by the flashlights of the detectives. Even when all the lights are turned on in the apartments of the victims, they cast only wan, hopeless pools of light. Gary Wissner, the art director, goes for dark blacks and browns, deep shadows, lights of deep yellow, and a lot of dark wood furniture. Film noir/neo-noir relies on the play of light and darkness for its characteristically oppressive mood,and The seven deadly sins is no exception.To increase the luminosity of light tones and the density of the dares,director of photography for The seven deadly sins,Darius Khoikhoi,employed the seldom-used method of silver retention.The contrast is further exaggerated by the use of mine-en-scene:shadows,silhouettes,and flashlights probing into the enveloping darkness are the visual hallmarks of the film.Darkness thus becomes a symbol of that which is hidden beneath the surface;as Amy Tau bin remarks,the film’s visuals”Literate the struggle of bringing things to light”.Yet while film noir/neo-noir tends to use darkness to create its sense of unease,this is not inevitably the case.In the final sequence,The seven deadly sins relies not on darkness but on brightness—the scorching light of the desert—to induce a sense of fearful anticipation.Khoikhoi puts it this way,”For me,when I read the sc ript,scary had to do with darkness.But it’s not always the case,sometimes it’s to do with a lot of light and no shadow at all```I thought that the scariest thing to suggest would be that there’s nowhere to hide.”

2.3 you just can’t get a grip on lurking o n the periphery

As in most film noir/neo-noir,the setting is the city.Even when,in the final sequence,Mills and Somerset drive out into the desert,the city and its objects are never far away—it is the ere in the pylons that ferry electricity to and fro,and it is there in the helicopter circling overhead.Scenes are

generally filmed either in darkly lit interiors,or outside when it is raining.This predilection for city settings and dark interiors contributes to the prevailing mood of claustrophobia and entrapment.

The low-angle shot is employed with great regularity,and has the effect of making buildings,ceilings,and human figures seem to loom down on the camera(and audience) in a sinister,heathenish manner.Wide-angle lenses exaggerate this effect still further by distorting lines of https://www.360docs.net/doc/de11616213.html,passionately,lines are used to split the screen diagonally;they are used most prominently in this way in the final desert sequence where the electricity cables crisscross the screen.

The seven deadly sins breaks the 189-degree rule in the scene in which Somerset and Mills drive Doe into the desert.One minute the camera is filming from the left,the next from the right,then from the back towards the front,and then from the front towards the back.This creates an effects of dislocation and visual confusion that is part of the overall sense of unease of film noir.

“Even in close-ups,feather keeps an uneasy distance(he favorites low-angled shots,rather than eye-of-God overheads).The camera sometimes seems to float,sometimes seems dragged as if by sn undertow.The extremely shallow focus is a way of controlling the view’s eye,making you look at waht you don’t want to see and suggesting that there;s something worse that you just can’t get a grip on lurking on the per iphery.”

3.Own analysis

The concept of film noir first emerged in 1940s France.Having been deprived of Hollywood films during the Ger ma occupation,French critics were finally able to see an number of Hollywood films that had been made during the war years.The group of films that they saw shared a common visual style and a mood of cynicism,pessimism,and darkness,and they christened them “film noir”.

3.1 morally ambivalent

Film noir characters aremorally ambivalent,that is to say ,it is often impossible to draw clear lines between the “good” and the “bad”,and the traditional distinctions no longer apply.Police and law enforcers are frequently corrupt,or at least corruptible; criminals and lawbreakers may emerge as sympathetic figures;and victims are often themselves also villains.The protagonist is no hero;instead,he is an all-too-human figure who may both perpetrate(as well as suffer)some appalling abuse in the course of the film.

3.2 The audience experience

A surreal,nightmarish atmosphere characterizes film noir film.This mood is fostered by unexplained motives and confusing plot twists.It is often difficult to establish motives for characters’actions,and equally difficult to predict in which direction the plot will spin. The audience experiences the kind of uncertainty and disorientation,feeling in a dream.

The overriding theme of film noir is a fear of the future..The mood of film noir is that of loss,nostalgia,and trepidation.

4. Conclusion

All in all,The seven deadly sins deserves all the reputation it has received.It gives us such a shock by successfully employing many of the classic film noir/neo-noir techniques.Its lighting、settings、shooting and scenes all together make the film worthy of the name of perfection.

References

[1]Jill Nelmes. An introduction to film studies[M]. Rout ledge.1996.

[2]Schrader,Paul. Notes on FilmNoir[M].Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,1999.

[3]Taubin,Amy.The Allureof Decay[M].Shanghai:Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press,2000.

[4] Yin Li. English-Chinese Idioms and Folk Culture[M]. Beijing: Bejing university Press, 2007.

[5] 马爱英(Ma Aiying).中英文化翻译[M].北京：科学出版社,2006.

[6]姚军.大学影视欣赏[M].上海：上海人民出版社，2000.