Analysis of a clip from the film Hotel Babylon using the theory of Roland bathes'

1. By Millie Holt
ROLAND BARTHES: SEMIOTICS
HOTEL BABYLON

2. Barthes described 5 codes which are woven into any text to create meaning:
1. The Cultural (referential) code
2. The Symbolic code
3. The Semantic code
4. The Hermeneutic (enigma) code
5. The Proairetic (action) code
Within this PowerPoint I will be analyzing a clip from the film Hotel Babylon,
concerning the use Roland Barthes5 codes. You can the clip I am analyzing by
following this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wl5EDzss4-Q
THE 5 CODES:

3. This code refers to any external body of knowledge held by an audience. Directors rely on the audience having this
knowledge present in order to make sense of the text. Typically this involves either science or religion, although other
banks of knowledge, such as magical truths, may be used in fantasy stories.
Within the clip from Hotel Babylon, you’ll find the use of the cultural code through the two maids. The two female
characters that first present themselves within this clip, appear to be maids. However, after more of the plot of this clip
is revealed, they appear to actually be some kind of strippers, which are ‘performing’ for some important man.
However, due to the un comfortable nature that the two female characters express (especially the younger one), it
leaves a first time audience confused as to what exactly is happening, to who these characters actually are, and to what
part they actually play within the film. Furthermore, a cultural code within this film could be that the director expects
an audience to know why the younger maid within the clip ran out flustered, when you’d naturally assume that the job
she was doing is something which she’d signed up for, and why this ‘facility’ is even available at something which, at
first glance, appears to be a professional hotel.
THE CULTURAL (REFERENTIAL)
CODE

4. This is very similar to the semantic code, but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into
broader and deeper sets of meaning. This is typically done in the use of antithesis (opposites), where
new meaning arises out of opposing and conflict ideas.
You can find an example of Barthes’ symbolic code within the clip from “Hotel Babylon”, when the
two chefs are arguing within the kitchen. The tension between both a French and British character is
symbolic as it highlights the tension between not only two characters, but two races, and tension
between race is something that is very common in not only films, but in real life. The occurrence of
problems due to race is a world wild phenomenon, it’s in escapable due to the fact that racism is
everywhere. Furthermore, this is why the tension between both the British and French actor (in
contribution to tension between other races within the media product) could be hinting at a bigger
problem outside of the fictional show, that’s instead happening in real life itself. This is why the tension
between the French and British chefs is an example of a symbolic code.
THE SYMBOLIC CODE

5. This code refers to connotations (additional meanings
beyond the literal) within the narrative that give additional
meaning to the basic denotative meanings of the text.
I think that within the clip we have been shown for the film
Hotel Babylon, a semantic code which you could pick up on
is the way in which the blonde haired woman, as well as
various other minor characters within the film, are dressed in
professional, and higher class clothing. This higher class
attire gives a more professional nature the characters, but in
addition to this, it also gives them superiority and power over
the more working class characters in the scene, who are
dressed in less glamorous clothing. Furthermore, this could
be a semantic code as it could hint that the higher class
characters within this clip are almost like puppet masters
over the rest, and that there actions and choices could
possibly result in disaster for the lower respected characters
within the scene
THE SEMANTIC CODE

6. The Hermeneutic code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to
the reader. The purpose of the director in this is typically to keep the audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the
final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved; Unanswered enigmas can be
frustrating for the audience.
THE HERMENEUTIC (ENIGMA)
CODE
The first hermeneutic code which I picked up on within this clip is the 2 men, which
both seem to be presented by the director to appear as almost juxtaposing characters,
they appear to have very different priorities and values, yet clearly, through the dialogue
of the script, they have some kind of backstory. This sparks intrigue within an
audience; how do these men know each other? What happened to change the man in
the suit into what he is now, when it appears that in his past he was a very similar
character to the other man present within the scene? These are the type of questions
that are surfacing in my mind during the viewing of this clip, so therefore, it is likely
that similar questions are surfacing in fellow viewing audience members. These
questions, this curiosity towards the clip within the scene, created by the enigma codes
placed within the media text, make an audience want to keep consuming the media text,
and furthermore help the producers of the film to make a profit.
Within the clip I have watched, taken from the media product ‘Hotel Babylon’, there seems to be several hermeneutic codes.
Due to the fact that I am very unfamiliar with this film, I am unaware if these codes appear as an enigma to me because I
have never seen this film before, or if they appear purely as an enigma to an actual viewing audience that is familiar with the
rest of the text. Regardless, I am going to treat like the enigma codes that I am picking up on as intentional enigma code,
that the director placed within the text purely to confuse and intrigue his audience.

7. The Proairetic Code builds tension. It refers to any sequential action or events that indicate something
else is going to happen, and which hence gets the viewer guessing as to what will happen next. The
Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the viewer
interested.
Within the clip we have been shown for Hoten Babylon, you could say that a Proairetic code is shown
with the two chefs within the kitchen. There’s clear tension between the two characters, that only seems
to build and build within the scene. When one of the characters grabs a large knife, the tension builds
even more. The grabbing of the knife could foreshadow a dark , penultimate moment within the plot
that has yet to happen, this will help keep an audience on the edge of their seats, and furthermore,
persuade them to keep watching.
THE PROAIRETIC CODE