Harry Brown Analysis

By Connor Cummings

The opening begins with what appears to be a first person perspective of a group of males within a gang. The first person perspective is commonly used in modern films as it involves the audience in the storyline because we feel that we are there in the gang meet up. The mise-en-scene is effective in this opening as the use of colour and clothing in this scene helps to set the scenario. The males are all dressed in what

could be considered lower class clothes as they appear to be more subordinate in their position in society. The graffiti on the wall behind the men immediately imply that they are in a run down area as graffiti is often

associated with crime. The lighting is very dark and this helps to create an unsettled atmosphere for the audience. The music contradicts the action in this opening as it has a very innocent tune that could possibly describe the youth of the boys. Youth tends to have connotations of innocence however the brutality of these young males makes us think otherwise. The boy wearing black on the left side of the

image is being trained by the other gang members and this hints that he is a ‘newbie’. The mid shot helps the boy appear subordinate in comparison to the back male who is stood over him. The males have

distinctive accents that help emphasise their low positions in society

The next shot is the boy smoking what appears to be illegal drugs. This is a crime in itself and helps build to their destructive nature. The mid shot shows all of the gang members

surrounding the boy as if forcing the smoke down his chest. By them surrounding him, this makes it look like that he is being swallowed up by the gang and could suggest that the gang is corrupting his mind. These scenes make the audience feel uncomfortable and concerned as we know that gangs are associated with danger and we start to build assumptions that

good people are at risk because of them.

One of the gang members pulls out a gun. Our assumptions of people being at risk by these men are now confirmed as guns have connotations of murder and injury. The close-

up on the gun reveals to the audience that this will play an important role in the development of the opening as this member later goes on to shoot an innocent mother. The gang member then passes the gun to the new boy and says ‘you are a member for

life now’. This twisted gang see this weapon as a way of promoting violence and this propaganda has proven successful because the boy takes the gun and smiles as if

achieving something significantly important.

The scene then cuts to two men, the new boy and another gang member, on a motorbike. They are travelling through their neighbourhood and from what the audience see, they are living in a run

down area, possibly a council estate. The camera shakes a significant amount to show that the new boy is recording their duplicitous behaviour. This is effective as it makes the audience struggle to work out whats going on and this maintains our attention. However this could be

considered a poor choice of filming as those who suffer with motion sickness may find this scene hard to watch. The audience can hear the diegetic voice of one of the men and the use of

expletives expresses their deep anger and rage and this slightly frightens the audience. The audience feel very similar to those living in the gang members area as we begin to feel insecure

and unsafe around them.

The camera then turns off for a second. It turns on again to show the two men driving in a local park with a woman pushing a buggy ahead of them. Their derogatory language towards the woman can be

heard and this shows to us that they live in a place that has little respect for woman. This issue is a constant theme in the film as prostitution can be seen at various moments. When the men stop moving,

a low angle shot is used to reveal the rookie holding the weapon that he was given at the start of the film. This angle is effective as we see his twisted nature fully revealed because he finds death and

destruction almost amusing. By taking out the weapon, this alerts us and and our consternation towards the woman’s safety becomes apparent. The gang member says ‘lets kill her’ in a happy tone

of voice and this creates tension because we don't know if they will cause harm to an innocent mother.

The boy then shoots the gun and the sounds is very loud and almost deafening to make the audience jump and leave them confused as to why they could do such a thing. The sound isn't that of a gun, it has a very unique sound that helps emphasise the danger of the situation. The

camera tracks with the bike and we see the woman in the middle to show that the men are circling her. It could represent the men being wild animals as they are ‘circling’ their prey. The gun gives the men dominance over the female and at one point she even shouts, ‘Help!’. The fact that no-

one comes to help her shows that their is no real society in this area. The camera looks down the end of the gun and this makes the audience feel as if they are the ones targeting the woman

The men eventually achieve their target of killing the woman. At this moment, everything happens so fast that it is hard for the audience to process what they are viewing. The first person filming style

makes it even more tense for the audience as we feel that we are viewing the action from the back of the motor bike. Everything becomes quiet and the men do not speak for a moment. This hints that

maybe they have sympathy for what they have done however they are portrayed more like cowards as they quickly get back on the motorbike and drive off. The camera shakes a lot more vigorously at this moment and this suggests that the men are perhaps in shock or maybe more to do with the fact of not

being caught. The shaking of the camera also helps to emphasise the chaos of the moment.

We then witness the men getting hit by a van because they drive out into the middle of the road during the getaway. This scene is very fast paced just like the shooting of the female and

this engages the audience because the two scenes have been put together to create a chaotic and tense atmosphere. When they are hit, the camera flies out of the boy’s hand and

lands to reveal a mid shot of the crash. The two gang members are motionless and this makes the audience feel that justice has been served for the barbaric crime that they had committed

just moments ago.