Institutional Information:
The Manchurian Crisis is a drama/sci-fi film, based from the original film The Manchurian Crisis 1962, released 30th July 2004 in the United States. The film is based off the novel written by Richard Condon, who also helped with adapting the story into a screenplay with other writers such as George Axelrod, Daniel Pyne and Dean Georgaris. The Manchurian Crisis tells the story of Sergeant Raymond Shaw after his army unit is ambushed during the first Gulf War. Starring actors include Denzel Washington as the leading role, Live Schreiber and Merly Streep. The film is a rated R due to strong violence and language, with the tagline '... is anyone seeing the truth?'. The budget for the film was an estimated $80,000,000, with the film grossing an estimated $20,000,000 on its opening weekend and an overall $65,000,000 overall. Production companies involved in the film include Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions and Clinica Estetico.
Images:
The double paged article includes four images from the film. Each of these images are focused on one individual character. The largest image is of the protagonist of the film, Major Marco, played by Denzel Washington. This is a medium shot of the character stood in a tall, formal stance. The fact that this image is almost centred on the double page spread and is larger than the other images, shows the audience that he is the main character in the film and that the plot will be centred around him. The fact that the character is stood alone in the shot also suggests that the plot will follow his personal struggle.
Another image in the article displays Meryl Streep's character, this is also a mid shot. This again tells the audience that her character will play an important role in the plot. The fact that she is alone in the shot implies that her character is a head-strong leader within the plot.
The use of smaller images for the other two photos suggest that these are more minor characters within the film. The use of large images of the well known actors playing a role in this film will intrigue the reader as these are faces they will recognise. This will draw in a larger audience for the film as people will go see the film because they have enjoyed actors such as Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep's work.
Mis En Scene:
In the main image of the article the main character, played by Denzel Washington, is displayed as standing tall in an officers uniform. This suggest to the reader his character has a highly professional and senior job. This subverts black stereotypes within the media as black characters are usually presented as making a living through crime and gangs, the fact that the character is presented with loads of medals on his uniform tells the audience he is very successful and respected within his profession. He is also shown wearing glasses, this presents him as intelligent. This intrigues the audience as the film is about the protagonist second guessing his own memories, the fact that the protagonist appears to be very intelligent suggests that the plot of the film is complex and interesting therefore expanding the potential audience of the film.
The image of the woman, played by Meryl Streep, displays her as professionally dressed, this implies that she is in a senior profession. The fact that she is dressed in all white clothing suggests that her character is innocent, however the caption located in the bottom left of the photo 'Meryl's scheming senator is all smiles in public' contradicts this presentation. This would therefore intrigue the audience as it adds complexity to the plot of the film. Her short brown hair presents her as practical and sensible, a stereotypical hair style of someone in a senior role.
Similar representations are used to present the other two characters. The use of professional clothing, and props such as pens present the characters as professional higher class individuals.
Use of colour:
Throughout the article there is a clear colour scheme of blue, red and white. This can be seen through the large text 'Primary Killer' and the media sized quote within the article ''Movies aren't religion. Nothing is sacred...' Jonathan Demme'. It can also been seen in the top left hand side of the double page spread where the title of the film is located. The colour scheme also matches the colours of the clothing the characters are wearing in the images, for example the blue uniform Denzel Washington's character is wearing, the white suit Meryl Streep's character is wearing, the white shirt of Jon Voight and the blue suit of Live Schreiber. This colour scheme links directly to the colours of the American flag, this links to strong theme of American politics throughout the film. The use of the red font for the word 'Killer's' has connotations of danger, corruption and murder, also themes found within the film. It also grabs the readers attention immediately therefore making it much more likely they will read the article and then go see the film.
Orthography and Graphology:
The majority of the main body of the text is displayed in a simple 'Times New Roman' font, this makes it clear and easy to read. Orthography is used throughout the text, each first word at the start of a new sentence is capitalised and punctuation is used clearly. The main body of text is also surrounded by a text box separating the article from the images and making the layout more clear and easy to read. A typewriter/stamp style font has been used throughout the article, a few examples being the work 'primary', the first sentence of the main body of text 'in 1972, Jonathan Demme' and the quote in the centre of the text 'Movies aren't religion. Nothing is sacred...'. This font appears to be a similar font used commonly throughout cinema to the 'secret' stamp placed on folders of private government information. This links to the themes of secrets, lies and corruption throughout the film.
Text:
The text immediately presents information about the fact that the movie is a re-make of the previous film, also called The Manchurian Crisis, released in 1962. This would attract a wider audience as anyone who had enjoyed that film would be interested in seeing the re-make. The text also gives a brief summary of what the film is about therefore drawing the readers interest in straight away. The quote used in the middle of the main body of text 'Movies aren't religion. Nothing is sacred...' is very mysterious and generates a sense of enigma around the new film.
How does this review advertise the film?
This double page review spread advertises the film through the use of colour, an example being the strong colour scheme of blue, red and white which links to the colours of the American flag presenting connotations of American politics, therefore clearly displaying the genre and main themes of the film. The use of font also advertises the film as the use of typewriter/stamp font for different elements of the article as it creates a sense of enigma as it has connotations of corruption, therefore intriguing the audience. The inclusion of images of the starring actors such as Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep also advertises the film as it draws in fans who had watched and enjoyed their previous work. Overall this article successfully draws in a particular audience for the film The Manchurian Crisis 2004.
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