'Cinderella Man' is a film based on the life-story of James Walter Braddock, who was a proffesional boxer between the 1920s-40s. The narrative follows his life through the great depression, and after a promising start to his career, it shows his rise from manual worker to World Heavyweight Champion of the World.
Genre
The film is a Drama/Thriller, consisting of a pulsating whilst dramatic, uplifitng and inspiring narrative, as we follow Braddock's life during the depression. The opening plays up to audience expectations, as it opens with cheering and immediate action, thus also conforming to the characteristics of the genre.
Film Language
The opening credits of the film are brought up in typewriter font, not to convey that the film is a crime-thriller, but instead to denote the setting of the film, as in the 1930s typewriters were used to type up stories and report on events - in this instance, boxing matches. The credits also feature a quote from Damon Runyon, who says that: "In all the history of the boxing game you find no human interest story to compare with the life of James J. Braddock." The opening shot of the scene also shows a man in a ring bleeding - these features help to define the background theme running through the film, that it is a boxing film.
One further technique that the director cleverly harnesses is the use of panning action to show a shift in time; as Braddock places his braces on his drawer, we cut to shots of it and see the items that are placed upon it, panning along. They are valuable items such as jewellery and perfume, however as the pan moves on we move away from the drawer and into the darkness in the corner of the room; we remain in the darkness for a few seconds, before panning into another room to another desk with little on it. We then see Braddock in the mirror, picking up his false tooth and place it into his mouth. This techinque innovatively shows the shift in time, and the changes that have occured during that shift. From here, we cut to a shot of the room, which seems basic and crammed, with little room for living, reinforcing the sense of change.
As the titles' run, there is an uplifting piece of music, which reflects the overall feel of the film.The music placed over the track helps to underpin the period setting of the film; the music as Braddock prances around the ring is classical/jazz, the main sounds of the era. The commentary placed over the music also helps to establishing the setting of the opening of the narrative.
The opening image we see in the film is a blurry still; this fades out twice and becomes clearer, before forming the image of a man's face bleeding, as if a photo for a newspaper; this is then cleverly cut into live action, as we see the man being punched.
Narrative
The narrative, as with most thrillers, takes a linear approach, though the scene is montage editid, as it does not reflect a continuous movement of time. The audience are positioned to see events unfolding in front of them, to witness the story as opposed to feeling involved with it.
Tension is created subtly within the scene as Braddock steps out of his car towards his house; he does so in darkness, connoting that whilst everything is happy and cheerful at this point within the narrative, something dark may happen at a later point. Whilst it is briefly dropped, it returns later in the scene with a monotonous drone in the background, whilst Braddock looks into the mirror with a concerned expression upon his face.
Representation and Ideology
Within the clip, the main social group represented are middle class males, whom are commonly associated with the glamorous face of boxing of the time; whilst during the 1930s this representation would have been a dominant ideology, it would now be considered residual, as there is little intergration between social groups - for example, there is poor representation of ethnicities, different classes and genders.
There is also the representation of a typical middle-classed family - as Braddock walks back we see a shiny car and a decent-sized house, with his wife at the door to greet him as he returns. His children then all run out to hug him and congratulate him on his win; later on in the evening, Braddock and his wife Mae sit down in their garden with a glass of wine, connoting a subtle elegance about their lifes. Mae goes on to congratulate Braddock, telling him: "I'm so proud of you."
Media Audiences
The target audience for this film would have been boxing enthusiasts and a more specialised and mature audience, who would perhaps be attracted to the film after watching a blockbuster - this is supported by the fact that the film was released on 3rd June, a typically busy time for films to be released.
Institutional context
Braddock was played by Russell Corwe in the film, whilst Mae was played by Renee Zellweger. It was distributed by Touchstone pictures, and produced by Universal, thus meaning Cinderella Man was an industrial film.
There were few marketing strategies used on the film, however AMC Theatres offered people in 34 market territories worldwide a refund on their ticket if they were dissatisfied with the film, after it had a relatively poor opening run in the charts, saying that: "AMC believes Cinderella Man is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy Cinderella Man we're offering a Money Back Guarantee". This campaign was also employed by Cinemark theatres, and the box office revenue for the film was moderately increased for a short period.
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