Looking For Thriller Conventions

As in any other genre, conventions of the thriller genre can be found in all aspects of a film, including within the narrative, the characterisation, the themes and morals and, finally, the mise-en-scene.

The mise-en-scene, incidentally, is one of the most obvious aspects of a thriller from which to pick out conventions. Of course, mise-en-scenes vary greatly from thriller to thriller, but there is a huge amount of sharing going on. The use of venetian blinds, for example, is one of the most popular pieces of deco on the set of a thriller. Set as standard by what many call the definitive film noirs (The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944)), they went on to be used throughout the film noir era and were also used to great effect in modern masterpieces such as Chinatown (1974) and The Godfather (1972). Another key feature of thriller mise-en-scene is the consistent presence of night, and a general lack of light. This feature also travelled through the generations, again starting off very early (dating back as early as French poetic realist films of the 1930’s, such as Pépé le Moko (1937)), through the film noir era (in which, like the venetian blinds, it was used to great effect and set as standard) right up to modern greats like Taxi Driver (1976). In cooperation with the dark settings of night and dimly-lit offices and bars, chiaroscuro lighting was used to create dynamic scenery. This feature was again “invented” (and probably used to its greatest effect) within the black and white frames of film noirs. However, this feature seems to have been recently reinvented and “re-mastered” in films like Sin City (2005) and The Spirit (2008), in which many features of the conventional film noir mise-en-scene have been used and taken to extremes to create hugely stylised and dynamic shots. Other popular mise-en-scene conventions include: confined and claustrophobic settings, rain-dashed streets and shiny pavements, shots of spiral staircases, urban settings, fog/ mist or rising clouds of smoke/ steam , and also small pieces of furniture/ deco such as fans, and, as mentioned before, venetian blinds. Coloured filters can also be used to great effect, such as in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear (1991) in which the use of red filters are used very effectively, especially at the very end of the film when Juliette Lewis' Danielle Bowden says in her monologue 'And for myself, I know I'd rather live' after which an extrem close up of her eyes changes first to a white inverse filter (representing her innocence), and then to a red inverse filter (representing how she's been scarred for life by these events). Like this example, many of these features are used as metaphors and are representative of the narrative. A shot of a spiral staircase in the midst of a dramatic scene, for example, can be a metaphor for a climax of the narrative, or a shot of a character walking up a spiral staircase early on in a film (so that this is the first time the viewer is introduced to the character) can be a metaphor for the character entering the narrative of the film. An example of this that has stuck in my mind is that of the scene in The Godfather where Sollozo (who the viewer has heard of but hasn’t fully seen or been introduced to, and is played by Al Lettieri) is shown appearing from a spiral staircase, rising up from the floor below, in order to attend a meeting with Vito Corleone and his associates. In my opinion, this is a subtle yet very effective way to introduce a character. The fan can be used in a similar way; that is to say to reflect a complex narrative, while claustrophobic settings can represent the helplessness or discomfort of a character, such as in Taxi Driver, where Travis Bickle’s (Robert De Niro) taxi is represented as something of a capsule, which in turn represents the isolation and loneliness of the protagonist. This effect is taken to the extreme in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 2, in the scene in which The Bride (Uma Thurman) is buried alive inside a coffin. The use of venetian blinds with bright light shining through the slits (chiaroscuro lighting) can also be representative of the narrative, as it can suggest that the events taking place in the badly-lit room are corrupt and dirty, and are secluded and hidden away from acceptable civilisation. The same goes for the feature that is the events in the film primarily taking place at night. Complex narratives, personal danger and corruption are all essential concepts in thriller narrative conventions.

All thriller narratives revolve around some form of crime, yet there are so many ways in which to tell its story. Many thrillers play around with the idea of non-chronology and tell the story in parts with different time lines for each segment (such as Pulp Fiction (1994) or Sin City), while others involve numerous flash backs (e.g. The Bourne Trilogy (2002/04/07) or Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 (2003/04)), or almost the entire film is shown in flashback mode with a narrator (e.g. Double Indemnity). This idea of non-chronology is taken to the extreme in the film Memento (2000), in which the entire film is shown in non-chronological order. Films that use this type of narrative often, but not always, include a protagonist that suffers from memory loss (Memento/ The Bourne Trilogy) or has been in a coma (Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2) and therefore use this type of narrative in order to confuse the viewer, thereby allowing him/ her to better feel what the protagonist is going through. The theme of confusion and disorientation of both the viewer and the protagonist, however, is a key concept in many types of thriller, not specifically to those which include aspects of memory loss. Fight Club (1999) for example, is heavily revolved around confusion, but in a different way. However, that too has a male protagonist to whom the viewer is intended to relate to. A male protagonist is present in the majority of thrillers and it is a popular narrative convention. The effect of this is that it biases the viewer’s perceptions of any other character in the film to how he/ she thinks the protagonist might perceive him/ her. This heavily affects the way women are represented in thrillers, as, for example in Chinatown, when the viewer meets Mrs. Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) he/ she interprets her in the way that Gittes (Jack Nicholson) does: as a dangerous femme fatale – which also turns out to be a false perception, thus providing a vital twist in the film. Not just women, however, are marginalized and perceived as destructive. Social groups and ethnic groups are also often victims of this viewer bias that is caused by a protagonist. Russians, for example, are often presented as the “bad guys” (e.g. Eastern Promises (2007)). These things, though, are also heavily linked with, and definitely affect, conventions of characterisation within thrillers.

There are several conventional characters in thriller films. One of these is that of the cocky and “imperfectly perfect” private investigator (such as Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon, or Jack Nicholson’s J. J. Gittes in Chinatown), who are flawed and often don’t think too much of the “system”, but have their own ideas of justice, which, in their cases, usually turn out to be correct. This type of character is more often than not the protagonist in such a film where they are present, and are often hired by another conventional thriller character: the femme fatale, with whom they also frequently become either emotionally or physically entangled with. There are countless examples of femme fatales within thrillers (Barbara Stanwyck’s Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity, Mary Astor’s Brigid O'Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon…). These women are prone to be dishonest, plotting, sexual predators and destructive, and they hugely influence the events in the film. Hand-in-hand with a femme fatale often comes the conventional sap, who the femme fatale intends to take advantage of (e.g. Fred MacMurray’s Walter Neff in Double Indemnity). A further conventional thriller character is, in opposition to the “good” private investigator, the corrupt policeman (e.g. Orson Welles’ Hank Quinlan in Touch of Evil (1958) or Michael Madsen’s Bob in Sin City). However, these characters are more common, but not specific to, film noirs, and many examples of such characters can be found in modern thrillers too. In the thriller sub-genre of mafia/ gangster there are also many conventional characters, most notable the wise and philosophical, aging mob boss, most memorably portrayed by Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather. In more modern thrillers and psychological thrillers it is conventional to have a protagonist that is mentally unbalanced, such as Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman in American Psycho (2000) or Ed Norton’s The Narrator in Fight Club. Also more common in more modern thrillers is the “honest cop”, such as Kevin Costner’s Eliot Ness in The Untouchables (1987) or Al Pacino’s Frank Serpico in Serpico (1973). The probable reason that these “honest cops” are much more prone to be found in more modern thrillers rather than old is that the dividing line between good and evil is often much more clear-cut in modern thrillers (possibly influenced by the effects of Hollywood) as opposed to classic film noirs, thus giving rise to one of the thriller’s most important themes: moral ambiguity.

Moral ambiguity, along with corruption and crime, is the most important themes in thrillers, and all aspects of the film mentioned thus far (mise-en-scene, narrative and characterisation) are all used to present them. In conclusion, whether it be the composition of the mise-en-scene (such as in American Psycho) that consistently suggests that the protagonist has two separate ways of life which creates moral ambiguity, or whether it be the first person narrative which leads to the viewer not knowing who to believe (such as in Memento), or whether it be through the characterisation of corrupt officials (such as in Touch of Evil) which presents crime and corruption, all of these things are designed to represent one or more of the thriller themes, and that is why there is “so much sharing going on” between thrillers.