Textual Analysis (First Draft)

Harry Brown and The Dark Knight are two films in which the narrative involves the protagonists take on the role of vigilantes; embarking on taking revenge for deaths they blame themselves for. Batman blames himself for the death of Rachel, who he has feelings for and Harry Brown blames himself for the death of his best friend Leonard. Through the motive of revenge Batman and Harry Brown end up cleaning up the mass criminal society around them, (Harry Brown with the South London council estate and Batman with Gotham city). As vigilantes Harry Brown and Batman end up committing morally wrong actions, but as the audience we never see them suffer for their actions, also through the long stride of violence Harry Brown and Batman follow and with the clear up of society, this shows that their wrong actions actually lead to positive results.

Harry Brown is a film in which Daniel Barber makes his directorial debut in this fast paced, grimy thriller. The film is an independent one distributed by Lionsgate UK. Harry Brown the lead protagonist, an elderly man who witnesses the council estate he lives in quickly deteriorating into youth crime; when his best friend Leonard is murdered Harry decides enough is enough. Through his transition into a vigilante Harry then returns to his past lifestyle of when he was fighting in the Marines, except as he says’ those people were fighting for something; for a cause. To them out there, this is just entertainment.’ The Dark Knight is a big budget film in which Christopher Nolan directs his second of the Batman trilogy. The film is distributed by the major Hollywood production Warner Bros. Gotham city is being invaded by mass amounts of crime, the most significant being the Joker. The only one who can challenge his authority and power is Batman.

Harry Brown and The Dark Knight are both introduced by showcasing the mass threat of the antagonists of the film. This sets up the narrative of both films, showing the audience that the protagonists are going to have to overcome the antagonists control of the society around them. This is seen at the beginning of both films. Looking at props in Harry Brown there is drug abuse, and gun control the estate gang portray. Looking at mis-en-scene the use of guns in broad daylight really shows the audience how the estate is really a warzone with no respect for others. With cinematography the opening of Harry Brown is shot in a POV handheld camera phone form, adding a more realistic ideal to the film, along with the camera quality representing the quality of life the youths on the estate have. Along with The Dark Knight in which we see the Joker using menace, violence and smart tactics to kill the other bank robbers who he is meant to be teaming up with him, showing how cunning he is. With the use of masks looking at mis-en-scene this establishes that all the bank robbers posses some menacing and disguised tactics used to cause havoc on others, they also show savagery as when a mask is worn an identity is lost. With cinematography we see The Dark Knight start with an establishing shot to show the audience the scale of crime being committed and the Joker is rarely really shown through close-ups to add to the mystery of his character until he reveals his face at the end of the scene.

Harry Brown and the Dark Knight both follow and break the genre conventions. They both follow the classic Hollywood narrative structure. Harry starts of weaker to the youth thugs on the estate and this is shown in the tunnel scene where he walks past the tunnel in which the youths are in fear. Looking at costume Harry is shown wearing bright clothing and the location around him is generally quite bright showing good, whereas the tunnel is very dark showing evilness. The use of graffiti on the tunnel location also indicates some form of property belonging to the youths. A wide shot is used on Harry as he walks of away from the tunnel in which the location becomes bigger than him to show that the place in which the youths are situated is more powerful than him. In comparison, The Dark Knight shows Batman losing power over the antagonist the Joker who is constantly mentally and psychologically defeating Batman. In the interrogation scene Batman and the Joker are constantly in uniform, the Joker in his war paint mask shows the re-birth of a new evil identity in which he can hide behind. Batman in his dark black cloak and mask shows a sense of hidden darkness inside him, and also a new identity hidden behind a mask. The fact that Batman is in Black which represents evil in comparison to the Joker in purple, green and white showing goodness also breaks the typical genre convention as the evil character is hard to identify. Until the last part the Joker is constantly shown through mid and low angle shots to show his power along with Batman who is also shown through these shots. Only later Batman uses physical violence does he gain power and this is seen where he is shown through low angles shots in comparison to high angle shots on the Joker. The fact that the antagonists in both The Dark Knight and Harry Brown are shown having the upper hand allows the films’ narratives to show the protagonists development in overcoming the antagonist.

Harry Brown and Batman start to grow in development through narrative as vigilantes. Both Harry Brown and Batman are motivated by revenge based on the death of loved ones, due to the deaths both characters equilibriums are disrupted. Harry Brown is motivated as his best friend Leonard is murdered and decides to avenge those who are responsible. Looking at the Harry Brown subway scene the atmospheric music with rhythmic editing sets the iconic suspense of a thriller. Through mis-en-scene the tunnel location is used to show this scene as it is the estates youths main place to ‘hangout’, and the fact Harry is coming in there shows him being voyeuristic and invading their area. This also shows through narrative Harry no longer fears the threat of the antagonist’s. The use of lighting to show Harry coming out of the darkness into the bright tunnel shows his development as an anti-hero through him becoming evil. The Dark Knight shows the Joker’s threat as an antagonist, as Batman is motivated by revenge through the death of Rachel. The Joker is shown growing as a threat. The use of costume with the Joker being in a nurse uniform this shows his natural evil ability to be threatening even whilst looking like a woman. Also when the Joker hands Harvey a gun to shoot him the Joker is still shown through low angles, showing he is still in full control. The location of the hospital being used to be blown up shows the Joker’s success in beating Batman as he is able to continue to wreak havoc on Gotham city. Also the long shot of the hospital building being blown up shows the large threat the Joker has against Batman.

Batman and Harry Brown’s actions as vigilantes effect others and it is evident how both protagonists have fulfilled their roles as vigilantes. Harry Brown by killing all the estate youths involved in the revenge of Leonard does restore peace on the council estate and restores a stable equilibrium. At the end of the film Harry is seen walking through the tunnel he once feared with peace, through mis-en-scene the removal of the graffiti on the tunnel is shown and replaced with a white background, which shows purity, this also represents the removal of evil from the estate. Depth of field is used effectively to show Harry walking into the tunnel and being bigger than it, showing how he has overcome the antagonists and is more powerful now. Also the use of sound when the tunnel is now being shown is with quite calmly atmospheric music, rather than the suspenseful dark music that was associated with the tunnel previously. Through narrative Harry Brown has now finished his task and can return to his normal life. In The Dark Knight Batman’s role as a vigilante is not fully fulfilled, he does not completely stop the crime in Gotham and also has to leave Gotham. The narrative is able to continue in The Dark Knight as Batman still has tasks to fulfil which is why the films ends like this due to the fact it is the middle of the Batman triology. Although Batman leaves Gotham he is still shown through low and mid angle shots foreshadowing him regaining power and returning to Gotham. As he also leaves with the Batman costume and bike it shows he is still not finished and that he is to return a hero.

Looking at both The Dark Knight and Harry Brown, the protagonists of the film take up the role of a vigilante. Through both the films narratives, we see the characters progression as vigilantes.  In The Dark Knight and Harry Brown we see how through the motive of revenge and redemption both vigilantes (Harry Brown and Batman) therefore clean up the criminal society around them. This is seen with Harry Brown cleaning up the crime in the South London council estate and Batman cleaning up the crime in Gotham city. Although we as the audience see Harry Brown & Batman do morally wrong both protagonists escape punishment, this shows through narrative both films communicate that the protagonists are right through their actions. In Harry Brown we see Harry's equilibrium restored at the end of the film as the estate he lives in is no more infested with youth gang crime, rather replaced with peace. Also the fact that he has avenged his best friend Leonard's death by killing all those involved restores his equilibrium as he no longer feels guilty for the death. In the Dark Knight we see Batman's equilibrium still unstable as he does not avenge Rachel's death. Comparing both the two, Harry Brown is not as morally right compared to Batman. Harry kills many people and perhaps more than he needed to but Batman does not intentionally kill anyone and ends up leaving Gotham for greater good. Also because he no longer feels he is a worthy leader and also "Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now“.