I have been asked to critically analyse two films of an auteur, so I am going to write my essay on Guy Ritchie in relation to the auteur theory and I am going to compare two of his films, one film being Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and the other being Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
When producing a film every crew member is just as important as each other in their own way from the producer right down to the runner. Producers do however have the edge on importance because like discussed in the The Relationship between Film Producers and Audiences: Part 1 article, producers have quite a strenuous job as they have to research the audience that watch whatever genre of film they want to make (which in this case is the comedy crime thriller genre) so that they can justify whether or not the film is worth making. Once they have gathered enough audience research they will parley with the director to give them the go ahead to start filming, then sometime within the editing process the producer will call for a test screening to find out what an audience would think about the film and what they believe the film is lacking; with this information gathered the producer would again parley with the director to tell them what is what and what could need adding or changing on the film, but because of this lack of control some directors such as Alfred Hitchcock produce and direct their own films. In contrast other directors such as Guy Ritchie just prefer to direct films rather than producing and directing at the same time, because one he can solely devote his full attention on the film and two with a seperate producer he could possibly get a bigger budget to work with as producers may have more of a knowledge on how to raise more funds. Even though producers are involved in Guy Ritchie’s films they do not influence how he makes his films thus he can be classed as an auteur. Furthermore the producers of Guy Ritchie’s films have all produced many other films under the genre of crime thriller so they have the same mindset of making crime thriller films as Guy Ritchie, therefore they let him get on with making his films.
Over the years Guy Ritchie has recieved a bigger and bigger budget as after each film he became more of a household name within the film industry, this is one of the reasons why I chose his first film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and his last film so far Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows to compare so that I can show how his budget has changed over the years, I also chose these films so I can show how far he has come in his film making career. The budget he recieved for Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was $1,350,000 opposed to $175,000,000 he recieved for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. That difference in budget backs up my point of saying over the years Guy Ritchie has recieved a bigger budget after each film he has made, with an increase of $173,650,000 in his film budget it really is astounding in that it shows how far the film industry has come.
In the film industy audiences are a very integral because without them there would no point in making films and there would be no revenue to make and fund them with, so without revenue the film industry would not make a profit thus films would not be worth making. An article of a study done by The Oxford Guilde on film audiences shares the same viewpoint as me on audiences, a quote from this article really sums up how important audiences are to the film industry “When the hundredth anniversary of cinema was celebrated in 1995, ‘cinema’ was defined as the screening of moving images for a paying audience. The presence of an audience is, in other words, an essential part of the very definition of the medium”.
In his films Guy Ritchie combines the genres of crime thrillers with comedy and this is the case with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels because it is about four friends who get wrapped up on the wrong side of the law, in the world of drugs and murder, and with the use of actors such as Vinnie Jones and Jason Statham who specialise in this genre of film it backs up my point of saying this film is a crime thriller.
Likewise with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is part of the comedy, crime thriller genre because it is based on the very first detective crime novel so the film is about a detective hunting down a terrorist, which again backs up my point that this film is a crime thriller.
The only difference between the two films being Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is set in modern London and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is set in Victorian London.
The zeitgeist of A Game of Shadows is in the aftermath of the war on terrorism putting forward the United Nations stand against terrorism with the use of a popular character such as Sherlock Holmes. Most films seem to follow political views of its time, for example Hitchcock’s Saboteur that was portraying the current situation of world war two and it was used to boost morale, which is likewise with A Game of Shadows because in my opinion it was made to boost morale and support the current war on terrorism.
In contrast Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels differs to A Game of Shadows because it was made in a quieter period of history, and the film was purely made for entertainment so it is classed as pulp fiction.
A Game of Shadows is under the mise en scene of Victorian Britain with Victorian costumes, transport and weapons, which makes its audience feel like they are back in the 1800’s with the characters.
Whereas Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is under the mise en scene of nineties Britain with the use of costumes associated with that time along with transport and weapons.
With all of his films Guy Ritchie incorporates slow motion action shots, which have become his trademark so much so that when his film’s audience witnesses the shot they know it is a Guy Ritchie film, this further proves that he is an auteur. He uses slow motion simply because of the cinematic aesthetic qualities.
Those shots I mentioned in the previous paragraph are evident in A Game of Shadows’ cinematography when the narrative is playing out Sherlock Holmes’ thought process usually before a fight scene. In comparison those shots are also evident in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’ cinematography at the start of the film when the narrative is establishing the viewer with the story leading up to the opening scene and at various different points throughout the film.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels uses montage to introduce all of the characters and to tell their stories to the audience; the films use of montage is to keep it flowing in the correct pace. However A Game of Shadows by contrast avoids using this type of montage as it would disrupt its flow. This is mainly due to the amount of action, and also the characters Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson do not need as much introduction to its audience.
Another key element to Guy Ritchie’s films, which additionally proves he is an auteur is his use of both diegetic and non-diegetic soundtracks, which are evident in both A Game of Shadows and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. This is apparent in A Game of Shadows with the use of Hans Zimmer’s composed non-diegetic classical Romani Gypsy music, this is then combined with the diegetic sound effects. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels likewise with A Game of Shadows also uses diegetic and non-diegetic soundtracks, however rather than using an original score for the non-diegetic music it uses pop songs, this is then put together with diegetic sound effects, which adds to the cinematography of the film to create the desired effect.
Another trademark of Guy Ritchie’s films is his use of plots in the narrative, the use of a plot in films of the crime thriller genre is quite common so this further again proves that he is an auteur. This is apparent in both of the films I’m comparing. In Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels the use of a plot is in the form of unexpected twists in its story, which keeps its audience on the edge of their seats as they don’t know what is going to happen next. Similarly A Game Of Shadows also uses a plot in its story with the use of a twist but by contrast this film just uses one twist, which is situated quite near the end of the film. I think the twist is placed at the end down to the fans of Guy Ritchie’s films knowing that he incorporates a twist into them, so because of this in A Game Of Shadows the audience is waiting for a twist all the way through the film and due to the twist being placed at the end it keeps them interested in the film, which I think is a very clever idea.
In conclusion I have compared two of Guy Ritchie’s films and in doing so I have proved that he is an auteur; with the points I made which are as follows, my point about the type of genre of Guy Ritchie’s films, which justified me doing my essay on him as an auteur, my point explaining why Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows were made, my point clarifying the mise en scene of the two films, my point on his use of shots where I explained his use of Slow motion and I went on to talk about the cinematography in his films, my point explaining the montage used in the two films I have compared, my point about his use of diegetic and non-diegetic music where I explained the type of music typical to Guy Ritchie’s films and finally my point about his use of plots where I talked about the use of plots being common with crime thrillers. I chose Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows to write my essay on simply because the former of the two films is Guy Ritchie’s first film and the latter is his most recent film, so I thought it would be good to compare them as you can see how far he has come in his film making career. My conclusion is that Guy Ritchie is an auteur director because when you watch one of his films you know he directed it.
Bibliography
IMDB, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels [Online] Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/?ref_=sr_3 [Accessed: 14 March 2013]
Wikipedia, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lock,_Stock_and_Two_Smoking_Barrels [Accessed: 14 March 2013]
IMDB, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows [Online] Available from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515091/fullcredits [Accessed: 21 March 2013]
Wikipedia, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes:_A_Game_of_Shadows [Accessed: 21 March 2013]
I Love That Film, The Relationship between Film Producers and Audiences: Part 1 [Online] Available from: http://ilovethatfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-relationship-between-film-producers.html [Accessed: 4 June 2013]
Gripsrud, JG (1998) Film Audiences [Online] Available from: http://wwwusers.rdc.puc-rio.br/imago/site/recepcao/textos/gripsrud.htm [Accessed: 4 June 2013]
Mark Chapman Media 