SALT
The Narrative:
Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent and highly respected by all, including her boss, Ted Winter. Out of the blue, a Russian spy walks into their offices and offers a vital piece of information: the President of Russia will be assassinated during his forthcoming visit to New York City to attend the funeral of the recently deceased U.S. Vice President. The name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt. Concerned about the safety of her husband, who she cannot contact, she goes on the run. Winter refuses to accept that she is a mole or a double agent but her actions begin to raise doubts. Just who is Evelyn Salt and what is she planning.
The protagonist is fallible and has as 'Achilles heel':
Evelyn was a young child when her parents died and she did not have any siblings, as soon as the Russian secret service had become aware that she had a husband they used that against her and killed him along with her normal life, which becomes beyond this once shes on the run. As she is a female protagonist stereotypical a loved one or a man is her weakness but in both cases she doesn't have anyone therefore this film is countertypical of the generic convention.
The Title:
The title of the film is 'Salt' is a mystery just like the true identity of 'Evelyn Salt' nobody truly knows who she is the slogan of the film also questions this. When salt is rubbed onto a wound the sting can be unbearable, the same way we find that Evelyn has been tortured physically, mentally and brain washed by Russians that seek power, she wants revenge and acts as a catalyst to ends their lives, metaphorically rubbing salt on her wounds by eliminating these corrupt individuals bringing her to heal herself. The title also have cleverly been chosen, as the audience does not know much about 'Evelyn Salt' the title doesn't give anything in the film as the audience only find out the truth at the end. Other films i.e 'Insomnia' give away the fact that someone within the film will suffer from this illness.
The protagonist will be seen 'in peril':
The protagonist is seen jumping off bridges, being beaten by soldiers, being chased blowing things up etc, this is countertypical of her role as commonly it is men who play the more physical roles and the women tend to be the source of distraction or a side kick whereas as in this film she has the main role and is the one that is causing the most damage. the film ends of a cliff hanger as Evelyn is released and is still on the quest of eliminating those who caused her a lot of pain and grief in her life.
The protagonist is seen jumping off bridges, being beaten by soldiers, being chased blowing things up etc, this is countertypical of her role as commonly it is men who play the more physical roles and the women tend to be the source of distraction or a side kick whereas as in this film she has the main role and is the one that is causing the most damage. the film ends of a cliff hanger as Evelyn is released and is still on the quest of eliminating those who caused her a lot of pain and grief in her life.
The antagonist ensnares the protagonist:
The antagonist and protagonist isn't clear throughout the film up until the end where we learn that Evelyn was seeking revenge and is infact the protagonist despite all the killings throughout the film. The Antagonist are the Russian mob whom Evelyn is fighting against, and memories that have scarred her for life. The orders she is given by them she completely defies and goes out on her own mission in order to get the people who she isnt supposed to kill. They place so many obstacles in her way when her plan becomes obvious, making her feel isolated and helpless in some situations.
The narrative presents ordinary situation in which extraordinary things happen.
We see the protagonist living a simple ordinary life, going to her office job, being married and seeming like any other human being Evelyn is far from ordinary, the events that unfold after she interviews a Russian defector turn her life upside down completely, causing her to change her appearance constantly as well as her identity causing her to lead different lives and face difficult situations in order for her to fulfill her mission.
Micro elements:
Sound:
Non diagetic ticking sound almost symbolizing time starts the mood of the sequence off as a race for time. As the defector slowly reveals some information the music becomes intensive and slows down giving it a spine tingling effect. The music picks up and the violin starts to become higher pitched as the action kicks in, the protagonist blowing things up, jumping and running is given an up beat tempo that makes it more exciting and takes the audience over the edge.
Mis-en-scene:
costume: the costume is constantly professional the Protagonist and some of the antagonists are dressed very smartly and fit into their surroundings, as Evelyn changes her identity her costume changes according to her character.
setting: The settings change according to the Different scenarios that come into her path, most of them are dangerous and involve a lot of action
props: guns bombs
Editing:
short shot duration- used when the action is taking place and to show the reactions of everyone around, i.e when the expolsives go off or when theres a car chase.
Long shot duration - used when 'Evyln' is conversating with the antagonist and some of the other police officers, these are used in the more calmer scenes when not much is going on.
dissolves - these allow one scene to dissolve nicely and smoothly into the next.
Camerawork:
Long shots- when danger comes towards her long shots are used in order to show the full action
tilts- when she jumps off bridges and buildings tilts are used in order to show the palm sweating heights she jumps at.
Two shot - used in conversations between people allowing the audience to get a feel of who is who and whats happening.
We see the protagonist living a simple ordinary life, going to her office job, being married and seeming like any other human being Evelyn is far from ordinary, the events that unfold after she interviews a Russian defector turn her life upside down completely, causing her to change her appearance constantly as well as her identity causing her to lead different lives and face difficult situations in order for her to fulfill her mission.
Micro elements:
Sound:
Non diagetic ticking sound almost symbolizing time starts the mood of the sequence off as a race for time. As the defector slowly reveals some information the music becomes intensive and slows down giving it a spine tingling effect. The music picks up and the violin starts to become higher pitched as the action kicks in, the protagonist blowing things up, jumping and running is given an up beat tempo that makes it more exciting and takes the audience over the edge.
Mis-en-scene:
costume: the costume is constantly professional the Protagonist and some of the antagonists are dressed very smartly and fit into their surroundings, as Evelyn changes her identity her costume changes according to her character.
setting: The settings change according to the Different scenarios that come into her path, most of them are dangerous and involve a lot of action
props: guns bombs
Editing:
short shot duration- used when the action is taking place and to show the reactions of everyone around, i.e when the expolsives go off or when theres a car chase.
Long shot duration - used when 'Evyln' is conversating with the antagonist and some of the other police officers, these are used in the more calmer scenes when not much is going on.
dissolves - these allow one scene to dissolve nicely and smoothly into the next.
Camerawork:
Long shots- when danger comes towards her long shots are used in order to show the full action
tilts- when she jumps off bridges and buildings tilts are used in order to show the palm sweating heights she jumps at.
Two shot - used in conversations between people allowing the audience to get a feel of who is who and whats happening.
Themes of identity:
the protagonist is given a multi role as to which the audience fail to distinguish whether or not she is a Russian spy or just an innocent civilian being set up, until she reveals her true identity this enhances suspense as the audience are unaware on whether or not to support her character and show empathy or to go against her label her the villain.
The audience of a thriller is placed in the ambiguous position of voyeur:
The audience of a thriller is placed in the ambiguous position of voyeur:
This film breaks some of the generic convention codes as women are seen to be the distraction and the ones who tend to manipulate the protagonist from going off course the task they must complete and misguiding them towards the plan of the antagonist, in other cases the women can also be a distraction i.e someone whom the protagonist is in love with and is in danger, women are seen as the stereotypical distraction within thriller films but a lot of films within the media are starting to juxterpose that and women are now taking on the countertypical lead role merging the two roles together making them a strong character. This film as also shown that Evelyn's husband is a weakness to her doing the complete opposite to the generic convention.
A series of/ one important enigmas are/or set up in the opening sequence of the film:
Within the first few minutes of the film starting the audience can identify that there is an issue or that there is something wrong a female is badly hurt and is pleading for her innocence, immediately the audience want to know why they have accused this woman and who this woman really is,the audience is put in an ambiguous situation as they have to figure out themselves the story that will slowly unfold in front of them revealing small clues about what might come .. i.e. the protagonist is accused of being a Russian spy by the soldiers and then is told by a captive she is interviewing that she is a spy, creating doubt and suspense as the audience questions her identity.
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