Work for AS media studies coursework. Brief overview of films I am going to compare: The Dark Knight & Harry Brown.

1. By David Owootomo

2.  Harry Brown is directed by Daniel Barber and is an independent film
distributed by Lionsgate UK. Harry Brown is an elderly man living in a run
down South London council estate being taken over by youth crime. When
his best friend Leonard is killed on the estate, Harry decides to take the law
into his own hands and seek revenge on those who killed his best friend.
 The Dark Knight is a big budget Hollywood film directed by Christopher
Nolan and distributed by Warner Bros. Gotham City is being invaded by a
mass amount of crime, the most significant threat being the Joker. Batman,
lieutenant Jim Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent form a partnership
to sort out the cities problems whilst facing a huge problem – defeating the
Joker.

3.  For Harry Brown and The Dark Knight I will be looking at the two
MACRO aspects – narrative and genre. For both films I will looking at the
role of a vigilante and how narrative and genre communicate this. I believe
narrative and genre can both be used very effectively in comparing Harry
Brown and The Dark Knight as these MACRO aspects relate well to each
other. The MICRO aspects I will use to show the role of a viglante in both
films will be mis-en-scene and cinematography.

4.  Both films come under the crime, action thriller genre. Both Harry Brown and
Batman are the lead protagonists and take on the role of a vigilante in both films.
They also are anti-heroes looking at their character qualities, they acquire some
characteristics of a hero (fearless, decisive and courageous) but are also selfish
and vengeful.
 The protagonists are motivated by revenge rather than the typical conventional
hero motive of 'doing the right thing'. Harry Brown is vengeful due to the murder
of his best friend Leonard, and Batman is vengeful due to the death of Rachel, a
woman who he also has feelings for. Batman is selfish as his actions are mostly
due to the fact he has feelings for Rachel and wants to win her over although she
is already in a relationship with Harvey Dent. Harry Brown is selfish as he
thoughts are fully set on getting revenge regardless of the law or his actions
possible effects on others.
 Harry Brown and The Dark Knight show how the lead characters roles as
vigilantes, although motivated by revenge both characters end up cleaning up the
area around them (Batman with Gotham city and Harry Brown with the South
London council estate).

5.  Themes in The Dark Knight & Harry Brown include: vengeance, conflict,
anarchy, justice, evil vs good, crime and fear, power.
 In The Dark Knight themes include: politics, terrorism and corruption.
 In Harry Brown themes include: poverty and gangs.