How authority figures are represented in the films Get Carter (M.Hodges 1971) & Ill Manors (B.Drew 2012)

 Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions and enforce obedience. The theme of authority is on-going in most crime/gang movie as it shows the limits in which the gangsters and criminals can operate, for example if there weren’t the obvious authority of the police, the gangsters wouldn’t have to downfall and would automatically win. But authority in gang/criminal movies also comes as the criminals themselves, as most gang movies include a hierarchy in which the gang leader has the power and gives the order.

In Get Carter, Jack is straight away represented as an authority in film as we open up on a wide shot of him dressed in a dapper suit with a glass of whisky, glaring out the window. By opening up on Jack straight away it shows the audience that Jack is the main source of attention as all our eyes are on him which shows he is already above us and does have authority. Also by having him dressed in a well-tailored suit, shows us he is of a high class which again reinforces his authority as he is wealthy enough to have a suit like that, and wants people to notice his wealth to stand his authority out. Also the shot has quite low key lighting as it makes Jack’s figure stand out more and tells us he is the one we should be focusing on and he is the one the story is about which gives him the authority of attention. As the scene moves on we enter the interior of the building in which Jack is in and we see other men dressed similar to Jack with trophy women sitting by their sides and glasses of whiskey and champagne. The rest of the men also have authority as they are dressed just like Jack so are obviously wealthy but Jack stands out more in the scene as he isn’t sitting down and is walking around, which shows he holds the most authority as it seems he doesn’t need to sit down and his tall standing figure gives him that dominance that the others lack. Having the women in the scene lounging around wrapped next to the men show that the men and Jack have succeed somewhat in life and their trophy is that of beautiful women that everyday middle class working men don’t get, which shows his and the other men’s authority as they are superior to other people. The props such as big Cuban cigars, whiskey and champagne are typical clichés of gangster movies or also film noir style movies were the men who have the most power and money have the ability to treat themselves with such things, as they were expensive. The opening scene explains the origins of Jack’s environment as he associates with men of authority and his own dominance and superior power as well, which is shown by the opening shot, the props and the nature of the trophy girls.

 In Ill Manors, authority is also shown in the crime life as in Get Carter. In one scene in Ill Manors, Kirby leaves prison and shows us he has authority which is somewhat ironic as he holds the most power and authority whilst he is leaving a place of well-known authority which is the prison. In a way this scene defeats the stereotypical moral that police always win as Kirby has survived through prison and still holds authority or has even boosted his authority because of his time in prison so has automatically won. Ben Drew edits the mid shot of Kirby walking out of the prison in slow motion to let the audience see him very carefully as he exits a place of authority with more authority. The performance of the acting makes him look even more superior as he smiles and smirks as if he is “too cool for school” as he is walking out which shows that he is mocking the authority of prison and shows he doesn’t care and gives us the impression that he has more important things on his mind which lets us believe he has quite high authority. As Kirby walks slow motion, Drew puts on of his own rap song in the background which keeps repeating the words “Mr drug dealer”, which fits the scene as we basically understand the song is addressed to Kirby as he is a drug dealer. This shows us his authority as people know he is a drug dealer and people know of him, he also wears a long trench coat as he looks like a 60s pimp which again reinforces his authority as he is dressed superior to others.

In Get Carter, authority is also seen in an obvious way in final scene were Jack is face to face with his brother’s killer and chases him through the beach. Jack is seen as the man with the most authority in the scene as the killer is running away from him using all of his strength just to get away from him. This shows us Jack’s ultimate power as the killer is actually trying to get away from him which shows us Jack has the ability to do anything and the fact that people like the killer fear him, it shows the authority he has over him. The audience start to wonder and ask questions about what will Jack do when he catches him, and as the audience realise that Jack has this huge power and authority, it just shows the audience that anything can happen at this point. We then also get a low angle shot of Jack ordering the killer to drink the bottle whiskey, as he shouts "drink it, drink it!". By using the low angle shot with Jack looking down at us seems as if he is talking to the audience which shows them he has the authority and as the audience are looking up to him they understand he has the most dominance. As Jack shouts and orders the killer to drink it, it shows the audience that he really does have authority as he is ordering someone to do something and not getting no for an answer which is the basic definition of authority.

Authority in Ill Manors is similar to the authority in Get Carter as ordering and pushing around confirms to the audience that authority consists of that. In a certain sequence of scenes, Aaron and Chris order and push around a young woman in to different kebab shops and takeaways to pay back for a lost phone by having sex with the owners. The fact that the two men are ordering this young woman to go in and sell herself to these strangers gives them the authority over her as she follows them and does whatever they say because she fears them. Fear shows the audience who has the most authority as who ever fears more has less authority. As the young woman tries to defend herself and refuse to go in the random shops, Chris violently pushes her around and really shows his ugly side which makes her fear him more which ultimately downgrades her status more and helps his authority stand out as the audience understand who has the power in the scene and in the storyline in the film.

In conclusion,  the two films show us that authority is held in the hands of the characters that show the most power and dominance, and ultimately in the gangster genre authority is mostly shown through violence as the characters have to show their status through their actions.

How far do the narratives of your films dramatize the problems facing key characters?
The narratives in the two chosen films, Get Carter and Ill Manors, dramatize a lot the problems facing the key characters. Drama is a genre which is built on tragedy and situations that involve over exaggeration which makes the audience feel mixed emotions. All the key characters in the two films have their own personal problems, and the way the films are shot and the way in which the narratives are shown, dramatize those problems to the audience.

The key significant character in Get Carter (1971) is Jack Carter himself. Throughout the film we know and we see Jack’s struggle in searching the murderer of his brother. The death of his brother is the main strand of the narrative which is in his mind and is the main problem in which he is facing as he has dived into a sea of trouble, gangs, and violence just to seek justice for his brother. A significant scene, in which the audience have been waiting for the whole duration of the film, is the final scene where a crazy Jack chases the restless murderer of his brother in a secluded northern beach. As we get a wide shot of the two men who are the only ones in the scene, faded music invades the beach as Jack gets closer to the murderer. The audience are relived that they are witnessing this showdown as it is the most significant scene in the film’s plot which is the search for this secret intelligent man who is now powerless, dropping on the floor with sand in his mouth. The way the scene is shot in a wide shot to describe the secluded setting, the music fading in, and the significant relentless chase, all contribute to making this scene dramatic which ultimately makes the problems that Jack is facing even more dramatic as the audience doesn’t know what will Jack’s reaction be. The drama in the scene at this point affects the audience as they feel mixed emotions for the two characters. They would feel scared for the murderer as Jack’s reaction is not clear yet, but they would feel a bit uplifted as Jack has reached the end of his aim and found the man he and the audience where searching for, but really the audience would also feel excited and on the edge of their seat as the dark lonely setting in which the scene is set dramatizes everything as a whole. 

Another main strand in Get Carter is that Jack is out of his comfort zone. As we know Jack is a well-known London gangster who has travelled up to Newcastle for the search of his brother’s killer. In the film we see that Newcastle in the early 70’s was very different to London as it was much more industrial, tight and much more poor than the city. We understand that Jack feels as if he is in a strange land in a particular scene when he walks into a local pub and the locals start to stare at him. Jack is wearing a fine black suit as he walks through a bunch of northern blokes and locates himself in front of the bar. As he does this we get a series of shots of different men taking sips of their drinks and following Jack with his eyes. Jack feels out of his comfort zone because if he was in London no one would have stared at him because they know of him, but up north the locals aren’t familiar with him and get a feeling that he isn’t from around there so they stare to understand who he is. This dramatizes the situation as the audience expect either one of the men or Jack to react towards each other because of their differences. At one moment in the scene, Jack asks the barman for a pint of bitter, the barman goes to prepare it in a round glass but Jack clicks his fingers and demands it to be in a thin long glass. This shows the difference between Jack and the locals of Newcastle as we get a shot of the men looking at him drinking from round glasses as he wants to drink it from a long glass to try and show that he isn’t from around there. As this happens all the diegetic music, laughter and chatter starts to decrease as it promotes that something might kick off or happen between the men and Jack. This makes the audience prepare themselves for violence or conflict as they understand that Jack is not in his comfort zone and is surrounded by men he does not know at all.
A main problem in Get Carter is also family ties. Jack faces a main problem in the film which is his niece Doreen. Doreen has lost her dad and has no mother which Jack feels he is responsible for her and wants her to be treated well. This is significant to the sub-genre of the film which is gangster, as family is a very big theme in gangster movies which shows that even violent gangsters come very emotional and destructive when it comes to family. In a certain scene in the film, Jack lays alone on a woman’s bed as she takes a bath upstairs. Out of boredom or pure sadism, Jack finds a pornographic tape and chooses to watch it on a projector. As he sits up with interest, we have a mirror behind him with the tape playing in the reflection. As he watches it he gets excited, gives nasty grins and smokes a cigarette. Suddenly he sees a familiar face in the tape, and as he does, so do we exactly the same time in the reflection. We the audience and Jack both realise that his niece Doreen is in the tape. He continues to watch it but starts to feel angry and disgusted with himself. This scene is very dramatic as its almost a bad karma for Jack and his evil ways as he was first getting excited about the tape but then realising Doreen is in it made him think about what he has done and how disgusting he feels. The scene was dramatized also by how it was shot, as we get a long mid shot of Jack on the bed with the mirror and film playing in the reflection without any cuts or transitions, so when he sees his niece, so do we, and we also get his candid disgusted expressions and his mood changing as the film goes on. This makes the audience feel nearly the same emotions as Jack feels which is disgusted and surprised, but also makes them feel scared as they’ve only seen one side of Jack Carter which is the cool gangster side, but now they’re being introduced to this angry unstoppable Jack which the audience don’t know how he will react. The scene doesn’t share much sounds as it indulges the audience in this dramatic life changing moment for Jack and doesn’t get any distractions from any other noises. The performance which Michael Caine gives and the way the scene was set up dramatizes the situation a lot as we see a scary and different side to Jack, but also it involves us the audience by letting us watch the tape and receiving Jack’s reaction at the same time which helps it be more dramatic but also more realistic.

Ill Manors (2012) has more than one narrative as it shares a whole bunch of different storylines with different characters who have different problems but somehow all intertwine with each other. One character in Ill Manors, Aaron, faces a personal problem when an unstable woman leaves her baby on the train and he is the only one at the scene at try’s to help her get it back but fails which leaves him with a baby in the pram. Aaron is a character who is involved in South East London crime but with a sense of morality. As Aaron is about to get off the train, he looks out at the station and sees a bunch of armed police men waiting. As he is carrying a gun, dressed as an urban thug and paranoid about getting caught, he takes his hat off, sorts his clothes out and hides the gun with the baby. As he gets off he walks through the policemen with the pram thinking he is going to get stopped but doesn’t. The fact that Aaron takes his hat off and sorts his clothes out gives the message that the police and authorities tend to search and stop young lads with a certain appearance without any particular reason. Also by putting his gun in the pram with the baby dramatizes the situation as no one would put a weapon with a baby as it is dangerous and outrageous but at the same time it shows how messed up situations in the film are, as characters have to do certain things to reach certain things. As he walks through the policemen the scene goes in slow motion and high tempo music starts to fade in. This dramatizes the situation as the audience are expecting him to get caught or asked to stop, but with the slow motion it also expands the tension as the audience are waiting for him to get passed the police without getting stopped. The music adds to the drama as it starts getting more tense and serious and the audience are at the edge of their seats because they don’t want him to get caught but are excited and intrigued to what will happen next. Aaron’s baby problem is dramatized through the slow motion and the music a lot as it builds up tension and suspense for the audience to watch because it gives Aaron a 50/50 chance of either getting caught or getting through.

Another main problem/theme in the film which affects the characters and is over dramatazied in the film is the ugly nature of prostitution which affects two main storylines. Ben Drew explains to the audience that prostitution is a daily habit in the lives of some of the characters and is a daily consumption of the local area in which it is set. In one particular scene, Aaron and Ed prostitute a 'local whore' to a range of different shops, kebab takeaways, in order to reimburse money for Ed's lost phone. Ben Drew really dramatises the situation as we get a long sequence shot fast forwarded of the two young men and the woman walking in and walking out of shops. By Drew having the characters walking in and out of the shops and edited in fast motion shows the enormity of the situation as they are visiting more than one shop and the woman is being forced to perform certain things to more than one person. The audience also feel very sympathetic towards the young woman as she can't escape the situation she has fallen in, and also like the 3 fallings of Christ carrying the cross the audience can see the tiredness and fear that the woman is feeling as she moves slower and slower every time the shop visits increase. As the situation isn't enough, Ben Drew adds his own rap music in the background to add tension as it refers to the tough and rough life that the characters each live in. This all adds to the drama in the situation as the audience feel disgust towards what they are seeing as they understand how significantly horrible the scene is, as this poor woman is being forced to have sex with a load of different shop owners as the fast motion doubles the effect on the audience, and the music score in the background excites the audience as it fits the violent ugly genre.

In conclusion, the narratives in the two films dramatize the problems the key charcters are facing a lot by the way the scenes are shot and also the dramatic nature of the situations. By over exagurating the drama in the films the audience feel more emotionaly connetced.