'Taking Lives' analysis

After watching 2004 thriller 'Taking Lives', I decided to write an analysis aiming to reach a conclusion as to wether it conformed to or subverted the typical conventions of a thriller.

In what ways does ‘Taking Lives’ conform to or subvert what you consider the conventions of the thriller genre?

Each genre of film has its own set of techniques and elements that define it. Films classed at thrillers generally make use of things like suspense, complicated storylines usually with many twists and character driven action sequences. The film Taking Lives features some typical thriller characteristics, but rejects others.

The storyline of Taking Lives is one you would expect from a thriller. The basic overview is that there are a series of murders and the detective is trying to track down the killer. Special agent Illeana Scott uncovers various clues and becomes closer to solving the identity of the killer. There are various twists, turns and red herrings along the way designed to keep the audience guessing, as is usually the case with this genre. Near the end of the film, Costa (who was previously believed to be a witness, a love interest and the next victim) is revealed as the killer, but just as the audience have got over that shock, at the very end of the film another twist follows. Illeana is seen to be living in a remote house, and it also pregnant. Costa tracks her down and they fight in the house, culminating in him stabbing her in the stomach. Illeana then stabs him back, whilst telling him she wasn’t really pregnant and it was a trap devised to catch him. This twist at the very end when the audience think the film is over is used in many thrillers, for example The Usual Suspects where Verbal Kint is shown to be Kaiser Sosay and Layer Cake where Daniel Craig is shot in the last few seconds of the film.

Taking Lives is full of tension and suspense. A particular scene that exemplifies this is when Illeana Scott is walking around the killer’s old bedroom. Dramatic music is used, the room is dark and Scott is slowly walking around it on her own. Suddenly the killer grabs her from under the bed accompanied by an increase in the music’s volume and tempo, and runs out of the room before the audience or Illeana can see his face. This makes the audience jump, even though the built up tension means they were expecting it. The use of suspense shows Taking Lives conforming to the conventions of this genre.

This film is very character driven, as usual with thrillers. The protagonist, Illeana Scott starts off in a normal situation – working as a special agent and doing her every day job. As the plot thickens she becomes part of a situation that is extraordinary even for a special agent, she becomes romantically involved with a suspect who turns out to be the murder and almost becomes a victim before becoming a murderer herself. However this act of murdering Costa symbolises her life becoming ordinary again, as the audience gain a sense that things can now go back to normal and Illeana can have her life back. Films in the thriller genre often follow this structure, with a character starting and ending with a normal life and a problem being encountered in the middle. This film also follows the idea that the hero is usually someone in a dangerous job such as a police officer, spy, assassin etc, and in this case Angelina Jolie plays a Special Agent. The film ‘Taken’ is one of many that follow these elements, the family start of living quite normally - although the dad is a retired spy – before the daughter is kidnapped. The bulk of the film is taken up with the dad trying to track down his daughter, and at the end he succeeds and normality is restored.

However not all elements of Taking Lives follow the conventions of the thriller genre. The genre typically includes violence, either for the shock value or to tell the story. On first viewing you may think that Taking Lives is quite a violent film, but actually it is not very graphic and hardly any actual violence is shown. It focuses on the aftermath of brutality, with quite a few gory shots (particularly a shot of Costa in a lift holding his mothers head which he has just severed). Even the first scene where a boy is pushed in front of a car and then gets beaten with a rock, sound effects mainly create the illusion of violence. This makes Taking Lives similar to legendary thriller Psycho, where in both cases the lack of actual violence subverts the conventions of the thriller genre.

The lead character in Taking Lives is Special Agent Illeana Scott. This is unusual for a thriller, the protagonist is typically a strong male character. In this case it also makes the film slightly implausible, the idea that someone such as Angelina Jolie would have a job like that, let alone fall for average-looking witness/killer Costa. It is refreshing to see a strong female lead though, especially someone like Illeana Scott who is tough, good at her job, organised and meticulous. This makes it similar to ‘The Bone Collector’, as this is one of few other female-lead thrillers (also starring Angeline Jolie in the main role). In this regard, this film subverts the typical ideas of the thriller genre, along with any sexism that occurs when writing a film such as this.

In conclusion, Taking Lives is very much a typical thriller including all the elements you would want to find from one. However there is enough examples of it subverting the genre’s conventions to make it individual and stand out from other films in the thriller genre.