'Sicario' (Villeneuve, 2015)
Plot
'Sicario' is an action/crime thriller film. It is about drug violence worsening on the USA-Mexico border and the FBI sends an idealistic agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) on a mission to eradicate a drug carter responsible for a bomb that had killed members of her team.
The opening scene shows when the team sets out to a Mexican home, charging in and looking for hostages. Someone had tried to shoot the protagonist, but she had dodged it, managing to shoot the man dead. The attempt shot left a hole on a wall which leaded to the protagonists' fellow team member to notice something weird inside the walls - dead hostages.
(After 3 minutes on, another team member found a locked basement. They tried to opening it, only to find out there was a bomb)
Mise-en-scene
Front room of house - It has the below minimum of basic household items: a TV, a TV stand with 3 legs and a chair which came from the back seat of a car. It shows their low-quality of life, and the extent of it, they don't even have basic items to live in their home which may be their motive as to why they do what they do.
Mexicans outfit - The first man was in a vest and 3/4s with flip flops, eating on a small plastic bowl. This suggests that they are not that wealthy and are possibly the antagonists because as the FBI are intruding into a house like that shows they must have done something really bad to be raided by that many FBIs.
Location - It is in the middle of nowhere, adhering to the fact that it is a thriller. Usually, thrillers are set in an area of a stranded land where there is barely/no-one around.
Costume - The FBIs are in similar outfits as it is their uniform. The fact that the protgonist, we assume, is a woman and she is holding a gun goes against the conventional of a protagonist of a thriller (which is usually a strong, brave man). This is interesting because it makes the audience read the character better and question her position, in terms of position in the FBI and who she is in the film.
Mexicans outfit - The first man was in a vest and 3/4s with flip flops, eating on a small plastic bowl. This suggests that they are not that wealthy and are possibly the antagonists because as the FBI are intruding into a house like that shows they must have done something really bad to be raided by that many FBIs.Location - It is in the middle of nowhere, adhering to the fact that it is a thriller. Usually, thrillers are set in an area of a stranded land where there is barely/no-one around.
Costume - The FBIs are in similar outfits as it is their uniform. The fact that the protgonist, we assume, is a woman and she is holding a gun goes against the conventional of a protagonist of a thriller (which is usually a strong, brave man). This is interesting because it makes the audience read the character better and question her position, in terms of position in the FBI and who she is in the film.
Editing
'In Mexico, Sicario means hitman' - This gives the audience some background information as to what the film could be about. Hitman means someone who is paid to kill someone for a criminal or political organisation. The audience will immediately know it is an action/crime genre and the fact that it is only one line of information says very little, making the audience crave more information.
Match-on-action when gun shots - The match-on-action shows a continuity flow to the action. Because it contains short cuts, it creates a faster pace and higher intesity making the audiences' experience more exciting. This is conventional to a thriller as thrillers always have fast pace scenes where the audience need their eyes peeled to see what has just happened.
Match-on-action when gun shots - The match-on-action shows a continuity flow to the action. Because it contains short cuts, it creates a faster pace and higher intesity making the audiences' experience more exciting. This is conventional to a thriller as thrillers always have fast pace scenes where the audience need their eyes peeled to see what has just happened.
Camera Compositions
Establishing/Wide Shot of Arizona -
Midshot crew - The midshot of the crew shows how many FBIs were sent for this specific task, suggesting it is a very big mission for them. It is represented in a slowly, zooming out, mid-shot, creating suspense as it takes quite long for the final view of the team to appear.
P.O.V car towards house - This point of view shot makes the audience feel as if they are driving the car or at least inside it. It makes them feel part of the action, which was the director's intention as it is a way of keeping the audience peeled.
Mid-shot of dead hostages - The mid-shot of dead hostages is a moment of realisation of how bad the things the Mexicans were hiding, making the audience understand why they needed that many FBIs for this big mission.
Midshot crew - The midshot of the crew shows how many FBIs were sent for this specific task, suggesting it is a very big mission for them. It is represented in a slowly, zooming out, mid-shot, creating suspense as it takes quite long for the final view of the team to appear.P.O.V car towards house - This point of view shot makes the audience feel as if they are driving the car or at least inside it. It makes them feel part of the action, which was the director's intention as it is a way of keeping the audience peeled.
Mid-shot of dead hostages - The mid-shot of dead hostages is a moment of realisation of how bad the things the Mexicans were hiding, making the audience understand why they needed that many FBIs for this big mission.
Sound
Increasing drumming sound towards house - The sound is important in creating a mood for the audience, especially in a thriller. The increasing tone and volume of the non-diegetic sound makes the audience be at the edge of their seats wondering where the FBIs are off to.
Dialogue of protagonist 'FBI don't move' - This dialogue shows a sense of leadership and determination. Kate is clearly a good leader to the others, regardless of her gender, which is unconventional as usually protagonists in thrillers are men who are supposedly muscly and masculine.
Gun shots - The Mexican man shot once as opposed to Kate shooting about 5 times ensuring he is dead. This shows how smart the protagonist is, which is a quality of a thriller as protagonists are usually the heroes and the ones who evolve the puzzle within the plot.
Dialogue of protagonist 'FBI don't move' - This dialogue shows a sense of leadership and determination. Kate is clearly a good leader to the others, regardless of her gender, which is unconventional as usually protagonists in thrillers are men who are supposedly muscly and masculine.
Gun shots - The Mexican man shot once as opposed to Kate shooting about 5 times ensuring he is dead. This shows how smart the protagonist is, which is a quality of a thriller as protagonists are usually the heroes and the ones who evolve the puzzle within the plot.
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