2. Russell Crowe -Ed Hoffman

3. Mark Strong - Hani

4. Golshifteh Farahani - Aisha

5. Oscar Isaac - Bassam

6. Ali Suliman - Omar Sadiki

7. Production Company – Warner Bros. Pictures, Scott Free Productions, De Line PicturesRelease date – 2008Country were made – USABox office return – Budget: $70,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $12,884,416 (USA) (12 October 2008) (2710 Screens)Gross: $39,380,442 (USA) (11 January 2009)Alon Aboutboul - Al-SaleemAudience:<br />This film as aimed at people over the age of 15 as this is the certificate that has been allocated. The type of people that would ideally watch this film is those who enjoy a mix between drama and action, but with a very smart storyline.<br />Audience reception:<br />Quote 1 – “Visually, the film is quite striking”<br />Quote 2 – “A certain rawness and despairing urgency is never quite achieved for the message the film wants to deliver, and so it remains a well-intentioned, well-produced, yet generally unmemorable entertainment”<br />Quote 3 – “For all the enthralling visuals and action, the film feels garbled.”<br />Rotten tomatoes:<br />Tomato meter – 53%<br />Audience – 66%<br />Technology:<br />Advances in technology have allowed much easier access to films and knowledge about them. One of the ways that this has happened is because technology has increased the number of ways that we view technology, etc the web. The audience’s knowledge has been increased because they are now able to view the reviews and so on easier. Technology has increased access to the film because people can now discover better ways to view the film, such as blu-ray, or cinema listings of the film. <br />Representation:<br />The main form of representation in this film is religious. The religious people in this film are portrayed as the ‘bad guys’ and are also seen to be extremists. Religion is portrayed in a bad way in this film by the ‘bad guys’ reading their religions prayers just before a massacre. <br />Codes/forms and conventions of the thriller genre:<br />The opening scene is a shot of an Arabic man sitting in the centre of the shot, the man is speaking in a foreign language, and wearing a white cap symbolising his religion. The audience initially believe him to be a good man as of the white cap; this is Helmut Nickels (2002) black hats/white hats theory in action, but they soon realise he is a bad man as he talks about destruction, and bullets can be seen near him, and so Victor Shklovsky’s theory of Verfremdungseffect comes into place, as the character who was presented as good, is actually doing evil deeds. <br />When the police in their protective gear are seen in the opening scene, the audience are led to believe they are the ‘bad guys’ as they are dressed all in black (white hats/black hats – Helmut Nickel 2002) but soon realise that they are the ‘good guys’, this is the Verfremdungseffect.<br />Some of the opening shots of the police are all seeing them in a dominant role (camera looking up at police) and so we, the audience, are led to believe that they are in total control, but just before the bomb is detonated, the police are seen to look vulnerable (camera looking down at police) it is then we realise that the police are not in control and actually in trouble, the bomb is then detonated.<br />Location – the location is set in a much urbanised area. This could betray hidden secrets and dangers behind any corner, as we find out in the opening scene.<br />Character types – the characters involved are very ruthless, and this relates to the film as the film is very violent. The characters are also split in-between ‘good and bad guys’ and the typical conventions of a thriller are shown.<br />Costume – the costumes worn by nearly every character is very practical (police + terrorists), the reason why the police dress like so is for protection against the harms shown in the film, and the reason the terrorists do so is for comfort. Smart suits are worn by a few members, and this is to show their superiority. <br />Objects – many objects inside the film were either guns, bullets or bombs/bombs parts. These are to show the violence that is so very common within this film.<br />Sound – digetic sound includes the native tongue of the Arabic man, dialogue from many people, movement of people/cars, and the sound of weapons – such as bombs and guns. There is not a lot of non-digetic sound within the film, but what there is is a lot of suspense music.<br />Narrative structure: the language used by the Arabic people helps strengthen the religious connotations of the film. Much of the language used is of a harsh, authority nature, further emphasising the violence of this film.<br />Inter-textual references:<br />One film that a part in this film could be related to is ‘Watchmen’. The part that I am referring to is when there are shots looking down on the police, as a similar scene happens in ‘watchmen’, and shortly after the police in that film are attacked.<br />