CI5472 Teaching Film, Television, and Media
Module 7: Film/Television Genres ~ Different Genre Types
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A genre related to the action, mystery, detective, and even horror
film genre is the suspense thriller/spy/heist film featuring plots
in which the audience is never quite sure if a main character will
successfully escape being harmed or will succeed on a dangerous
mission, or, in the case of the heist film, pull off the heist. |
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Alfred Hitchcock was the master of the suspense thriller. He
placed his characters, as in North by Northwest or Rear Window,
in situations in which they are continually confronting death as
their enemies seek to murder them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alfred Hitchcock sites: Images: material from Hitchcock films | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The spy genre involves a similar complication in which the spy
is placed in dangerous situations in which his true identity as
spy may be exposed. The spy hero must also employ many of the nefarious
techniques of the enemy to survive. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One of the most familiar of the thriller/spy genres is the James Bond movie series in which the James Bond character created by Ian Fleming was played by five different actors: Sean Connery (Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds Are Forever), George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service), Roger Moore (Live and Let Die, The Man With the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill), Timothy Dalton (The Living Daylights, License to Kill), and Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough). What accounts for the popularity of the James Bond film series? In a study of British viewers responses to these films during the Cold-War era of the 1960s, Bennett and Woollacott (1987) found that the Bond films evoked a stance that invited audiences to adopt a pro-Western, anti-Communist, masculine ideological stance consistent with the prevailing cultural attitudes during that period. Thus, the meaning and value of the action/adventure genre film is not embedded within the film, but resides in the larger cultural attitudes audiences bring to the film. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
James Bond sites: Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang! -The Premire James Bond Website Make mine a 007 - The James Bond Films
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The heist genre, including films such as The Thomas Crown Affair, The Italian Job, Goodfellows, The Killing, The Score, The Good Thief, Oceans 11, Snatch, Three Kings, The Way of the Gun, Gone in 60 Seconds, Heist, A Fish Called Wanda, The Grifters, Nine Queens, Croupier, The Hard Word, Catch Me If You Can, and Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrels, typically involve a gang’s attempt to pull off a highly challenging robbery of extensive wealth or executing a forgery or art thief requiring a lot of careful planning. In the actual heist itself, there are often suspenseful moments in which it seems as if things will go awry, which they sometimes do, only to have the heist succeed, but then, once they acquire their wealth, they are no longer satisfied because the thrill of pulling off the heist is behind them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other important thrillers include Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and Francis Ford Coppola's, The Conversation, as well as Silence of the Lambs, Speed, The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense, and Memento. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Morehart, P. (2002). Charles Derry: The suspense thriller. City Beat. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Schneider, K. (1999). With violence if necessary. Journal of Popular Film and Television | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
For further reading: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chapman, J. (2000). Licence to thrill. New York: Columbia University Press. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cook, K. (2003). Wake in Fright. New York: Prion Books. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cork, J., & Scivally, B. (2002). James Bond: The legacy. New York: Harry Adams. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
D’Abo, M., (2003). Bond girls are forever : The women of James Bond.New York: Harry Adams. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derry, C. (2001). The suspense thriller: Films in the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock. New York: MacFarland. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dougall, A. (2000). James Bond: The secret world of 007. New York: Penguin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frank, A. (1998). Frank's 500: The thriller film guide. New York: Batsford. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hicks, N. (2002). Writing the thriller film: The terror within. New York: Michael Wiese Productions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leigh, J., & Nickens, C. (1995). Psycho: Behind the scenes of the classic thriller. New York: Harmony Books. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
McGilligan, P. (2003). Alfred Hitchcock: A life in darkness and light. New York: Regan Books. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rubin, M. (1999). Thrillers. New York: Cambridge University Press. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rubin, S. (2002). The complete James Bond movie encyclopedia, newly revised edition. New York: McGraw Hill. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Suspense Thriller/Spy/Heist |
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Teaching activities on genre developed by students in CI5472, Spring, 2004 |
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