Minority Report
Introduction:
Minority Report is a movie that
takes place in Washington D.C. Year 2054, it is the setting of an experimental justice
system called pre crime, these being called pre cogs have the ability to see
into the future to prevent crime, John Anderton head of pre crime, is forced to
go on the run when the pre cogs predict he will murder someone. In the end his
mentor and oldest friend turns out being his greatest threat.
Similar Noir Qualities:
1.
Traditional detective working for the justice system alone and by himself.
2. A white male
protagonist
3. Detective is alone
and only thinks about his work
Ambiguous
Protagonist:
John Anderton being Chief Justice of
his precinct is a classic example of old noir due to his own self isolation and
constant drive to put forth his best foot forward for his work. Because of his
sons shawns disappearance Anderton joined the police force. And through this
repercussion Anderton is isolated, distant from any real contact with people. Also
with his disseverance of himself being predicted to be a murder he crosses the
line and breaks his oath of justice.
Circumstances with the Protagonist:
1. Pre cogs predict Anderton
will murder someone in the next 36 hours.
2. He runs in an attempt
to purposely flaw and flawless system to ultimately save himself for being imprisoned
for life.
3. Anderton is forced
outside the law and becomes himself an outlaw, breaking every code he held as
an ethos as former Chief Justice.
Minority Report Neo-Noir Science fiction film:
This film does have many classic
noir attributes that make it in line with an updated version of such old
fashion noir. Mostly the advancements and various twists make it a neo noir
film. In Lee Horsely article “An introduction to Neo-Noir”, he says, “elements of 'the noir vision', most importantly the moral
ambivalence of the protagonist and his (or in neo-noir often her) ill-fated
relationship with a wider society that itself is guilty of corruption and
criminality.” Like classic noir films neo noir professes an over whelming
atmosphere of corruption and dismay yet the neo noir aspect is to inflict twice
as much corruption and criminality. With this film corruption is at every
corner and even from within its own justice system.
1. A huge characteristic
of all classic noir films is the infamous femme fatale, a sexy dangerous person
with a mean of doing whatever it takes to get what she wants.
2. This films
deviated from this character and thus allows it to have one more attribute of
neo noir.
3. Male
protagonist doesn’t really interact at all with the opposite sex instead this
film focuses mainly on the case at hand as well as the protagonist.
Sex and Violence:
Classic Noir films
did a very good job portraying the dark side in all human beings. The
corruption and betrayal were an everyday reality even for such a time. As time
went forward certain events such as wars, unemployment, racial movements, assassinations
of the presidents and various other history altering events were thrusted into society
as a result of bad time changing into worse situations. With the result of this
the movie industry evolved and lead to the expansion of immoral entertainment. People
become used to it and development a tolerance due to calamity throughout history.
As Keven Taylor in his work “Raising the bar in neo noir genre in film” he says
, “To achieve this effect, neo-noir films were forced to use themes
that were unimaginable to the audiences of the 40s and 50s.” Todays audience is not easily shaken by murder, drugs and sex
scenes.
1. Although the sexual content and violence
are extreme characteristics of the noir and neo noir genre this film only
amplifies one.
2. This film is a very good example
of violence it portrays murder scenes as well as shoot outs among criminals and
cops.
3. With constant upheaval of
injustice this film consists of car chases and questionable methods exploited
by Anderton. The violence in this movie is a prime example of classic noir
violence, the only difference is the unrestraint to show more of it.
