ANALYSIS OF BRICK

The film 'BRICK' by Rian Johnson, made in 2005, has typical noir storylines, scenarios and narratives. In the film there are is someone who is trying to be the hero. He is looking for answers about the death of the

girl he loves, and to find those answers he does a lot of fighting, and gets in to trouble although he attempts to stay out of it, this is down to the gangs some of the time. The main guy tries to make friends with everyone so that he can find the information he is looking for, which sometimes means he gets into more trouble. All he wants to do is look after and protect the girl who he is in love with. Like a typical film Noir there is a storyline based on love, but twists ad complications, and there isn’t a happy ending. Also the way the film is presented and the order of the film is done in a way which is Noir style, as they have flashbacks, and also they start the film from the end of the story line.

This film does contain typical film noir characters, for example, the women who dressed in a red dress at the beginning of the film would be the femme fetale, and she goes after the ‘hero’. Also the ‘bad guy’ has a sidekick, which looks out for him and they stick together. Although at the end they turn against each other which is not like Film Noir. In this film there are mysterious shadowy characters, like in Film Noirs. There is the main guy that is like the hero who gets in lots of trouble for example fights to help the victim.

Mise-en-scene is used in this film by the lighting; there are a lot of shadows, darkness, and poor lighting in places, like other Film Noirs. In places the sound isn’t what you would expect from a Film Noir as it is much more modern and doesn't always fit with what is happening, it is more abstarct, whereas at other times it seems to fit and follow the noir style. There are some particular editing styles that are typical of Film Noir, for example they use flashbacks, as at the beginning you see a flash of what happens at the end. Also they use fade outs throughout the film and other camera techniques to add effect.