A2 Film Studies Exam Practice: Spectatorship and Emotional Response

Would you agree that strong emotional effects are achieved in some films by the careful construction techniques and in others by the subject matter itself?

Films are carefully designed and produced to ensure that they cause the audience to feel something. Emotions towards a film can range from joy to anger and despair. The three films studied for this topic revolve around controversial subject matter such as racism and hatred and therefore cause most viewers to feel angry, sad, shocked and often a great deal of anticipation as to how they will end. These emotions are encouraged by the filmmakers through both their choice of subject matter and also the carefully constructed micro techniques used.

Nothing a director does is by accident and many techniques such as the use of a soundtrack and editing are there to encourage emotional responses in the audience. American History X, This is England and United 93 all feature non-diegetic soundtracks that increase the sadness of events depicted on screen. Typical instrumental music is added to the film in post-production and violins and pianos are commonly used for sad scenes. For example when Danny dies in AHX and Derek is running in slow motion, there are violins playing and when Shaun is all alone on the beach in TIE, there is acoustic guitar on the soundtrack. Shane Meadows even drowns out the sound of one character’s speech with piano music to emphasise how sad the scene is with Combo being racist in front of Milky. The editing also builds anticipation in these films with crosscutting between Derek and Danny as they part at the school gates, cutting between the passengers and the people on the ground in United 93 and cutting to close ups of character’s reactions as Combo tells his story. AHX also uses voiceover to make Danny more identifiable.

All three films are constructed to make the audience identify more with some characters than others. They have clear preferred readings created through their construction techniques in order to make the audience care for and side sympathise with certain characters. For example in AHX and TIE, there are young characters called Danny and Shaun. Danny’s voiceover tells the story of the film and as it is supposed to be him reading his essay, it even continues after his death. In essence, the audience hears his thoughts and perspective on events and therefore is more likely to identify with him. The cinematography aids this process with close ups and point of view shots and also the fact Danny is played by Edward Furlong who was a minor star after appearing in Terminator 2. Similarly TIE follows Shaun through his daily life. There is no voiceover but the camera sticks close to him, even when he is alone and we learn that both he and Danny have fathers who have died, instantly making them more sympathetic. When Danny dies and when Shaun starts to become a racist thug, there is music on the soundtrack to ensure that the audience feels sad. On the other hand United 93 uses no stars and reveals very little about the passengers’ back stories but through the cinematography and subject matter, still makes the victims easy to identify with.

Cinematography can be vital to creating an emotional response, as can be the mise-en-scene that is captured by the camerawork. In United 93, the camerawork is very often handheld and the view is often obstructed by framing that is not clear and feels improvised. This gives the film a great sense of realism, as if the viewer is watching a documentary caught be a camera operator on the plane with the passengers. This makes it more horrifying and saddening. The cinematography in AHX and TIE is much more composed and formal. Thought it may not have the same level of realism as U93, it still can create an emotional response. In both films, the spectator is put in the point of view of victims; Milky when he is physically attacked and Murray when he is verbally attacked. The camera is positioned in a high angle to look down on Derek after he has been raped and also on Shaun when he is all alone in TIE. Similarly, a low angle is used to make the house look imposing when Doris falls to her knees outside it after her fight in with Derek in AHX. The mise-en scene of AHX is particularly shocking with its use of swastika tattoos and Nazi memorabilia but it is also shocking and sad to see the appearance of the World Trade Centre still standing in U93.

On the other hand, it is certainly not only the construction techniques in any of these films that make them so sad. It is also the subject matter in all three films that is essential to creating the emotional response and one of the main reasons for this is their reference to real life events. U93 is a film based on the real life events of September 11^th 2001 when a plane was hijacked and the passengers all died trying to take back control of the plane from terrorists. The real events are still very raw in the memories of many people who watch the film and the real life tragedy clearly makes the film far sadder than if the film was nothing but fiction. The phone calls that the characters make are based on actual transcripts which make the scenes where the passengers say goodbye to the loved ones extremely sad and difficult to watch.  AHX and TIE may not be based on true stories but they frequently refer to real life events, to make the films more poignant and sad. AHX has Derek ranting about Rodney King and the LA race riots but Derek also pushes hot button emotive issues such as immigration and unemployment to make his racist rants appeal to his audience of followers. Similarly Combo in TIE uses immigration and unemployment but also refers to the Falklands War and Margaret Thatcher to try and convince people of his cause. These real life references will undoubtedly mean more to those who remember them in real life but the use of real footage in TIE means the viewer will get the message that director Shane Meadows is trying to share.

All three films are about racism, hatred and violence. These are potent issues for creating emotional responses as many spectators will feel strongly about them. AHX deals with the issue of racism through the redemption of one Neo-Nazi skinhead who goes from brutally murdering an African American to being raped in prison by other Neo-Nazis to agreeing to help solve the problem or racism. TIE tells a coming of age story of a young boy who gets in with an older crowd before being influenced by a racist thug and finally turning against racism. U93 is about four men who want to kill a plane full of people because of their religious beliefs and their hatred of America. These are clearly emotive subjects where characters feel extremely strong hatred, say shocking, vile things and commit horrendous acts against each other.

In conclusion, it is not simply the subject matter or the construction techniques that create the strong emotional responses to these films. It is a marriage of both where the content is disturbing, challenging and often brutal while the music, editing and cinematography encourage the viewer to react with sadness, shock or horror. The script and the performances ensure that the audience care for the characters, even characters who they may have at first hated. The most emotional scenes of the films all occur towards the end where the subject of racial conflict comes to a head but also the music, performances, editing and cinematography add inexorably to the emotional impact.

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice: Spectatorship and Emotional Response

Creating the opportunity for emotional responses in popular films is simply to do with manipulating the audience: mainstream films don’t attempt to use emotional responses to make any more considered points.  From your experience would you agree with this?

Mainstream films have a reputation for often being shallow and involving clear-cut heroes and villains with no moral ambiguity.  Emotional response is key as audiences want diversion from everyday life and to be thrilled, happy, excited or saddened by the on-screen events.  However despite the manipulative techniques used by mainstream filmmakers to provoke responses from the audience, some films do deal with serious issues and try to raise serious points about subjects such as racism

Manipulation of the audience’s emotions can be subtle or blatantly obvious.   Sometimes this is just to make the audience feel something and to enjoy the piece of entertainment.  The films studied for this topic are all challenging and do provoke strong emotional responses in the audience.  ‘American History X’ (AHX), ‘This is England’ (TIE) and ‘United 93’ (U93) all deal with the issue of racism and conflict between races.  The films are constructed to manipulate the emotions of the viewers.  Each film is categorised in the drama genre and as expected ends with the viewer encouraged to feel sadness.  This is achieved through the narrative structure, the script, the performances of the actors and the construction of the film form (micro-elements).  The soundtracks of all the films mentioned are particularly manipulative.  The use of violins, a choir and piano music is designed to provoke strong feelings of sadness in the audience.  The end of AHX uses slow motion running, close ups of crying characters and strongly emotive music to generate a feeling of sadness in the audience when a main character dies.  Similarly the ending of U93 uses violin music and handheld cinematography to create a feeling of unbearable tension and sadness in the viewer and likewise, TIE has moments where the piano music is designed to evoke feelings of sympathy and sadness. 

However the films studied do not just use these manipulative techniques to create an emotional response.  The films use these emotional responses to make very well considered points and challenge expectations that viewers will have of characters.  In AHX, the protagonist Derek is a racist skinhead gang leader that kills a group of African Americans for attempting to steal his car.  The film encourages hatred of Derek and disgust at his actions but also gives him a platform to air his shocking and controversial but very articulate viewpoints.  The camera, the script and the narrative structure all identify Derek as the focus of the film but the viewer is encouraged to empathise most with his younger brother Danny.  The death of Danny at the end of the film makes the audience sympathise with Derek.  After he has been raped in prison by white inmates and helped to recovery and rehabilitation by his African-American school principal, Derek is changed and the viewer is challenged to change their feelings for him.  The film uses Derek as a symbol by revealing that even the most hateful characters can find redemption and deserve a second chance.  Similarly the killing of Danny by a young African American in the film suggests the never-ending cycle of hatred that is spawned from the actions of racist people.  

This is England makes an explicit link between racism, nationalism, war and politics.  The use of real footage of Thatcher, the Falklands war and extreme right-wing rallies shows the context of the film and the real-life events that were occurring in the 80s when the film is set.  Shaun’s father has been killed in the war and Combo uses his anger to mould the young boy into a racist, hateful skinhead.  This makes a serious point about the dangers of sending men to war and training them to be racist in order that they can kill their ‘enemies’.  The idea of unification and the diversity of 80s Britain is emphasised through much of the reggae/ska soundtrack and is juxtaposed with the hijacking of skinhead culture by those raised to hate.  Thatcher is explicitly blamed by Combo for starting the war and much of Combo’s anger is directed at immigrants who he sees as the cause of Britain’s problems. 

United 93 is very manipulative of the audiences emotions using a recent real-life event and tear-jerking music to gain a response from viewers.  However there are some considered points in the film that are subtly put across to the audience.  For example, the film intercuts between the passengers of the plane praying for their lives and the terrorists also preying.  This subtle use of editing implies the similarities between the God-fearing, religious Muslims and Christians.  The titles on screen at the end of the film force home the message that this is a real-life event and that many real people lost their lives on September 11^th 2001 and that the official story of what happened to United 93 is true and that rumours it was shot down are untrue.  However originally the titles were to say ‘the war on terror had begun’ implying that the people on board were the first to fight against terror in the ongoing war between America and its enemies.  This message was changed to avoid controversy however.

The films listed here are not as mainstream as Hollywood blockbusters but were all very popular with critics and audiences.  Their tackling of a serious issue like racial conflict suggests that they are going to make some serious and considered points.  However as they are mainstream narrative films, they do this with interesting characters and dramatic plot elements to encourage audiences to have strong emotional responses.  The films try to engage viewers by creating anger, sadness and even disgust but also give the viewers things to think about and a chance to challenge their own views and preconceptions, as well as extremist ideology.

Recent Publications: Gangnam Style and Prison Movies

I've just got copies of two of my articles through today and thought I would share some pictures. First is my article on the phenomenon that is the Gangnam Style music video. This went viral (in case you hadn't heard) and is now the most watched video on YouTube ever. Not bad for a South Korean pop star who isn't really even singing in English.

The issue of Media Magazine that this article is in was called the 'Reading the Media' issue. The brief said to analyse any piece of media we felt could be of interest and I thought Gangnam Style would make an interesting article. You can subscribe to Media Magazine here but unfortunately I don't think you can buy individual copies.

I'm also writing a couple of articles for the next issue which is 'The Gothic Issue'. I'm writing an article on Universal's classic monster movies and their remakes and also hoping to get another written comparing the two big trends in modern horror: torture porn and found footage. Here is a look at the first page of the Gangnam Style article:

The other article I just had published is in the 'Prison Issue' of Splice Cinema Journal. This article and publication is a bit more on the academic side and my article is called Prison and Punishment, Race and Redemption: Comparing Prison Life in The Shawshank Redemption and American History X... phew even the title is a bit of a mouthful. Splice is published by Auteur who are the publishing house that I am currently writing by Blair Witch Project book for. At least with a title that long I think it sums up exactly what the article is about. You can pick up copies of Splice here.

I also just found out that the previous article I had in Splice on Will Ferrell's sports movies got a nice review over at the Media Education Association. The reviewer Steve Murray very kindly wrote:

'Peter Turner’s essay Mockery, Masculinity and Misogyny: The Sports Movies of Will Ferrell offers a rare opportunity to read a considered academic piece about an iconic American comedy actor who is more than likely to engage the interest of the average teenager sitting in our classrooms. The essay looks in detail at representations in Ferrell’s sports films and would be useful both as a teaching resource and as a starting point for a research project for A2 Film Studies coursework; indeed, this essay would provide invaluable help to students choosing to look at Will Ferrell as a star for WJEC’s annotated catalogue and presentation script.'

 All in all, it has been a happy day. I love seeing what designers are going to do when they publish my writing and it never disappoints.

Writing for Static Mass Emporium

In my continuing quest to make a portfolio of all my online scribblings, I am now moving from the interviews and news stories I have written for Filmoria to my writing for another fantastic film website Static Mass Emporium.

This site takes a slightly more academic but also personal approach to film criticism and analysis.  There are many different sections on the site including those on cult cinema, new releases, directors, and deconstructing cinema one scene at a time.  It is a great honour to be published alongside the other works on there.

The first ever article I had published was on the work of director Michael Moore and had already appeared in Media Magazine. This is the only article I have had published for the Director's Chair part of the site but I am very keen to contribute something on Danny Boyle in the future.

The article on Michael Moore is here.

I have contributed three articles for the Deconstructing Cinema section so far. The first was on the monster attack scene in Cloverfield where the statue of liberty is beheaded.  The next were on the open ending of La Haine and the dinner table scenein American History X.

Cloverfield

La Haine

American History X 

I have written some reviews for the Cult Cinema section mainly leading up to Halloween and focusing on some horror classics:

Night of the Living Dead

28 Days Later

Saw

For the New Releases section, I have contributed the following:

Grabbers

Safety Not Guaranteed
 

Life of Pi

End of Watch

Sightseers

The Hunt

And my first article for The Emporium section is a review of Dangerous Minds.

I will update this post as I have more articles published over at Static Mass Emporium.  For now head over and check out some of the other brilliant articles there.

Must See Movie - American History X

Racist wackos don’t come any scarier than Edward Norton’s blistering performance as Derek Vineyard in Tony Kaye’s 1998 drama American History X.  Forget Russell Crowe in Romper Stomper or Stephen Graham in This is England, movie skinhead neo-Nazi thugs all bow to the superiority of Norton’s bulked up, wild-eyed, tattooed and terrifying Derek Vinyard.

The film is a beautiful but harrowing mix of style and substance with some of Kaye’s visuals coming across a tad over-stylised. Black and white is used for grim flashbacks while the slow motion and choral and orchestral soundtrack are perhaps slightly over used but never detract from the central performance from Norton. The visuals can be awe-inspiring, Norton’s unrecognisable physique all brawn and swastika-covered bulk. When director Tony Kaye hits the slow-mo, it’s impossible to take your eyes off the brutal thug even as he commits the most heinous of racially motivated violence.

The narrative is non-linear with regular flashbacks to Derek’s racist past being cut into the present day story of Derek’s return to his ruined family after a stint in prison for his inexcusable actions.  Derek’s little brother Danny (Edward Furlong in a rare but brilliant post-Terminator 2 role) narrates the story as he struggles to write a paper on his brother after being forced to re-write the assignment because his first draft was on Hitler’s Mein Kampf. 

We see Derek as a brutal but articulate and charismatic thug, rallying his troops, committing unspeakable brutality and slowly but surely corrupting the minds of his foolish followers and more worryingly, the impressionable young Danny. The film even dares to show the joy of being in a gang; the triumph of a team of white basketball players against their black rivals is filmed, scored and edited to show the lure of the racist culture to a young, scared white kid.

But in the later scenes, the audience gets to see why Derek has had a change of heart whilst in prison.  His desire to set Danny on the right path is fully justified by what he has experienced. And if you think that nothing could make you sympathise with such a vicious, heartless thug, think again.  Despite Derek’s disgusting behaviour that leads to his incarceration, you will feel for this guy by the time his old school principal (Avery Brooks) pays him a visit in the prison infirmary.

It is interesting to note that director Tony Kaye (mad as a bag of spanners by the way) tried to have his name removed from the project after Norton is said to have re-edited the film giving himself more screen time. Kaye wanted his credit to be Humpty Dumpty, but broke a Director’s Guild of America rule that would allow him to use the pseudonym. Despite these disputes, the film is a brutal, thought-provoking near-masterpiece. Norton gained 30 pounds of muscle to play Derek and his transformation from skinhead psycho to sensitive family man is handled with dexterity. If I was him, I’d have given myself more screen time too with a performance this visceral.

It is a film about hate and about the roots and causes of hate. It is about redemption and reversing wrongs. Like so many other films about hate and revenge, there is a cyclical theme to the violence and the hate. Danny notes near the end of the film that ‘hate is baggage’ and the film carries this baggage through to the tragic and painfully inevitable end. It is a bold conclusion, sure to be mis-read by a minority of the audience of this type of film. But to those with half a brain, it is a bitter lesson in the never-ending cycle of violence that spirals out of endless hatred.

Best films of the 1990s

Is this the greatest decade in cinema ever?  In my opinion, absolutely YES!  After giving some love to the 70s and 80s, it's time to turn to the final decade of the first century of cinema.  Now up until this point, I've been content to share the love for my top 10 films of the decades but for the 90s, it's a very different story. 

Perhaps as this was the decade of my teenage years, this is where I started to get serious about film.  Perhaps I've seen more 90s films than films produced in any other decade.  Or perhaps this is just the most exciting time for cinema that I can imagine.  The point is a top 10 would not do this decade justice.  So I've taken the easy way out.  Here's my top 30 of the 90s:

30. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez, 1999) Redefined horror for the new century.  Forget killers in masks, pretty teens, and lashings of gore.  This went back to a low-budget, slow-build suspense and less-is-more approach to horror.  Built a brilliant backstory and did some convincing myth-making to complement the on-screen horror.

29. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy Ritchie, 1998) Renewed the British obsession with cockney crime capers, inspired Tom Cruise to stand up and shout at the screen 'this film rocks' and became an effortlessly cool, consistently quotable, fun, funny and stylish comedy gangster classic.  Guy Ritchie has never topped it but came close with the similar but lesser Snatch.

28. Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994)  The best of the 'Die Hard on a...' action films that flooded into cinemas in the 90s.  Keanu Reeves vs Dennis Hopper in a lift then a bus then a train.  Introduced Sandra Bullock as one to watch in a film so high concept, it sounded ridiculous on paper.  A bus that can't drop below 50mph and the opening set-piece involving people trapped in a lift make this an edge-of-your-seat action classic.  Just don't mention the jumping bus bit.

27. Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995)  The film that gave us Woody and Buzz, not to mention Sid the psycho kid next door and his bedroom full of monstrous creations.  Smart, funny and with incredible, groundbreaking  visuals, this should be the pinnacle of Pixar if they didn't just keep dazzling audiences with new films.  Full of memorable supporting characters, the toy soldiers and claw worshipping aliens deserve special mention.

26. The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)  Proving Jim Carrey was more than just an OTT, gurning comedy star, this satire on the future of reality TV is remarkably prescient.  Ed Harris plays God to Carrey's boy in a bubble as the film takes humorous pot shots at product placement, big brother and fame and celebrity.  Carrey is brilliant at the comedy and the drama, Laura Linney great as his hysterical wife and the ending is heartbreaking and uplifting all in one.

25. The Crow (Alex Proyas, 1994) A film production that will be remembered at least for the accidental death of star Brandon Lee, this is a tragic tale of revenge with an excellent grungey soundtrack and a beautiful gothic creation of a city plagued by heinous criminals.  Violent but heartfelt and featuring a great performace from Michael Wincott as despicable villain Top Dollar, it's also got some fantastic action as Lee's indestructible Eric Draven takes on a room full of bad guys with guns.

24. Human Traffic (Justin Kerrigan, 1999)  Capturing the spirit and sounds of the 90s clubbing scene, this is a film full of creative visuals, quotable dialogue and a great cast of up and coming British stars.  Danny Dyer is cool as drug-dealing Moff, John Simm and Lorraine Pilkington have a touching relationship that includes one of my favourite screen kisses and the whole film totally rejects the 'drugs are bad' dogma of so many other films.  These characters get off their heads at the weekend to escape the monotony of their lives and in the words of Bill Hicks 'have a real good time'.

 23. Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990) The pinnacle of Burton's career and the best Depp/Burton collaboration that exists.  Lonely Edward gets brought down from his isolated castle to stay in suburbia.  Burton paints the ordinary people of the town as an odd, colourful bunch with no excitement in their lives.  The women in the film are crass stereotypes, but Depp's performance and the theme of getting below the surface of people to see their true colours elevates this to classic fairytale status.

22. Mallrats (Kevin Smith, 1995)  Forget Clerks, the critics, the box office, the film festivals, this is the film that got me into the work of director Kevin Smith.  Featuring one of the coolest and funniest characters and a career best performance from Jason Lee as slacker 'mallrat' Brodie, the film is filled with memorable characters and quotable dialogue.  Jay and Silent Bob steal scenes, as do Michael Rooker and Ben Affleck as the villains.  This is a pre-Judd Apatow romantic comedy that will make the guys in the audience laugh harder than the girls.

21. Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991) With this, Speed and The Matrix, Keanu looked like the king of action cinema in the 90s.  But this film belongs to the late Swayze.  His Bodhi is a surfing Yoda, a prototype Tyler Durden that robs banks to finance an endless summer of waves and freedom.  Bigelow directs some thrilling action scenes featuring skydiving, foot chases through suburbia and two men rolling around in the waves.  It's gayer than Top Gun and all the better for it.

20. American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999) Mendes' first film is beautiful, emotional and original.  Looking closer at the pain, repressed desires and sadness lurking beneath the surface of so many suburbanites, Alan Ball's script creates interesting, rounded characters that are understandable and often relatable.  Like so many other films in the 90s it shows that all is not well with the middle classes.

19. The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999) The last entry for Keanu on this list is a mind-bending action sci-fi extravaganza.  Comic book and manga inspired visuals, astonishing action set pieces and bullet-time photography made this a visual feast but the ideas behind the narrative posed interesting and intriguing philosophical questions that left audiences just as gobsmacked.  Shame the whole trilogy didn't live up to the promise of this first film but this is still a classic piece of science fiction cinema.

18. Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) Along with The Blair Witch Project, Scream redefined the horror movie in the 90s.  With a brilliant postmodern slasher film opening and a pretty shocking Drew Barrymore gutting, the film spills the blood of characters that know horror movie conventions and still can't outsmart/outrun a masked psycho with a knife.  The references come thick and fast in a knowing, winking at the audience horror slasher satire that succeeds at making the audience laugh and... yes, scream.

17. American History X (Tony Kaye, 1998) Heavy handed direction, editing and scoring make this film a perhaps overly stylised race drama, but the performances and killer ending are unforgettable.  Yes the black and white, excessive slow motion and OTT music can be a distraction, but the films best scenes tone it down and focus on tightly scripted dialogue and a brilliant, terrifying performace from an almost unrecognisable Norton.  Giving this much of a platform to a scarily articulate racist thug is a controversial and risky approach but the narrative makes it very clear that its message is one of love, not hate.

16. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993) I'm ashamed to say that before this film, the Holocaust was an obscure piece of history to me.  Yes I knew 6 million people had been killed but that figure did not sink in until I saw Spielberg's masterpiece.  Beautiful black and white punctuated by devastating moments of colour, this film has some of the most shocking scenes in the history of cinema.  Ralph Fiennes is absolutely terrifying, Neeson and Kingsley superb but it's scenes like the liquidation of the ghettos, the burning of piles of bodies that still make me shake years after seeing the film.

15. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994) Surely the best prison drama ever made.  Spawning countless Morgan Freeman voiceovers and another fantastic Darabont-directed prison movie in The Green Mile, Shawshank is an emotional and unexpectedly feel-good piece of traditional storytelling and filmmaking.  The central relationship between Tim Robbins and Freeman is a joy to watch unfold and the ending is a classic twist; unforgettable and incredible but completely in tune with the rest of the films theme of hope in the face of adversity.

14. Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990) Along with Unforgiven, Costner's film redefined/killed the Western genre for good.  Perhaps it is over long and self-indulgent but so is Braveheart and at least this isn't directed by a loony.  Like Avatar, a white man goes to live with the natives/savages, this time on the frontier of the new America and finds their culture to be beautiful, inspiring and worth trying to save and fight for.  The final words that scroll onto the screen are devastating, reminding viewers of the truth of the story that has unfolded.

13. Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)  A film that transports the viewer through recent American history from the 50s to the present, taking in the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war and AIDS as signs that the times are a-changing even as our hero stays his same simple self.  Some have criticised the percieved conservatism of the story; Gump does what he's told, fights for his country, doesn't question authority or experiment with the excesses of the drugs and sex of the 60s and 70s.  The love of his life Jenny does question, does rebel and does experiment and she pays for it.  But deep down this is a charming film with a sweet love story, great music, great performances and a real sense of America as a vibrant and dynamic country.

12. Dazed and Confused (Richard Linklater, 1993) I've got a soft spot for films set over a short space of time.  See also La Haine, Human Traffic and Mallrats on this list for other films set over 24 hours.  Like Mallrats, D&C contains Ben Affleck as another bullying bastard, but also delves into the lives of very ordinary teenagers out to have fun, chase the opposite sex and get high/drunk together.  The characters are well observed, the music gives a real sense of the time and place and the up and coming cast includes many now famous faces.  It's also a great coming-of-age story for the younger characters.

11. Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann, 1996) It looks like it's been directed by a hyperactive child with quick-cut editing, whip pans, crash zooms, and more colour than a box of crayons, but the MTV style is just what the classic tale needed to make it fresh and relevant to a modern audience.  I know Shakespeare purists will shake their head and tut but the guns, the sex and the tightly edited script, as well as the incredible soundtrack all add up to R+J being a supremely stunning assault on the senses.  DiCaprio and Danes also make a great screen couple with excellent performances and another of film's greatest kisses (in the elevator at the party).

10. Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) It's impossible to forget the first time you see the opening D-Day battle on the big screen with surround sound.  Forget Spielberg's other 90s classic Jurassic Park, it's his darker self that dominated the 90s with this and Schindler's List.  The action is incredible and though the based on a true story narrative meanders after the opening assault, it finds it's way again in time for another final battle that is incredibly emotional.  The visual style of the film is amazing and hugely influential; never has a war film felt so real.  Hanks gives possibly the finest performance of his career.

9. Goodfellas (Martin Scorcese, 1990)  I'll be honest I probably don't appreciate Scorcese as much as most.  But this film is near-perfect.  Liotta gives a career best performace and is surrounded with the brilliance of Pesci, De Niro and Sorvino.  It's a flashy film with a stunning tracking shot, cool freeze frames and a great soundtrack but it's the wonderful voiceover that guides the audience through this crime epic.  When Henry Hill (Liotta) gets too nose-deep into the cocaine, the film's style reflects the protagonist's state of mind and paranoia with wit and flair.  If there had to be just one, this is Scorcese's masterpiece.

8. Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994) Reservoir Dogs was just a starter for this main dish.  Opening with hip dialogue, another great freeze frame and great music over the credits, this is the film that brought non-linear narratives back into the mainstream for years to come.  Resurrecting the careers of many a Hollywood veteran (Travolta, Keitel, Willis) as well as giving Samuel L.Jackson the role that would cement him as the baddest motherf*cker in cinema, this is Tarantino at his coolest, funniest and most brilliant.

7. Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton, 1991)  With an incredibly low budget, director Singleton made this ghetto classic at the age of 23.  Superb performances from Cuba Gooding Jr and Ice Cube and a realism that comes from Singleton's own experiences poured into the script and filming on location in South Central make this an urgent and powerful film.  The message is hammered home in scenes with Laurence Fishburne as the only father and role model that the young characters have to look up to but the different paths taken by the young men in the story highlights the plight of young African Americans without resorting to negative stereotypes.

6. Seven (David Fincher, 1995)  Featuring Kevin Spacey as the deluded but genius killer, Brad Pitt as a cocky young cop and Morgan Freeman as the wise old detective, Seven is breathtaking.  This trio, along with director Fincher and scriptwriter Andrew Kevin Walker are responsible for one of the most unrelentingly dark and disturbing serial killer thrillers of all time.  Forget The Silence of the Lambs, Spacey is ten times the psycho Lecter/Hopkins is.  The cinematography, the mise-en-scene and the brooding soundtrack kicked off by Nine Inch Nails over the opening credits blends together to create an unsettling film that may brighten visually at the end but darkens thematically as it draws to its grim, bleak, pessimistic conclusion.

5. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996) Another great soundtrack, another director (like Tarantino) inspired by the French New Wave directors and another film about drugs.  Boyle showed early promise with Shallow Grave, but blew minds with this mixture of surreal visuals (toilet diving, overdose burials), pumping sounds and creative cinematography and editing.  Yes the cast look a bit too cool (starting a panic about heroin chic) but the performances are faultless.  Renton, Spud and Begbie are unforgettable characters and the film takes an unflinching look at the ups and downs of heroin addiction in an honest, fun and incredibly stylish way.

4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (James Cameron, 1991) Sorry to bang on about it again but this is the best sequel ever.  Taking the template of the first film with a killer and a protector sent from the future, this sequel ups the stakes by having both killer and protector being robot terminators, throwing in a young boy that needs protecting and making the T-1000 a worthy antagonist to Schwarzenegger's born-again hero.  The truck vs bike chase is a classic action scene but with so many set-pieces to choose from, this film has it's pedal to the metal virtually from the start and rarely lets off.  The story is genius and the special effects are still brilliant.

3. Titanic (James Cameron, 1997)  I admit it's got faults; the script has moments of weakness and as a result DiCaprio isn't at his best consistently.  But Kate Winslet plays Rose as a sympathetic but strong victim of circumstances seemingly beyond her control and Zane is a great (almost sympathetic) villain.  Never mind that though.  The huge set, the use of minatures and CGI all blend seamlessly together to re-create a wonder of human invention, the luxury liner herself.  Cameron's real footage of the ship at the bottom of the ocean is haunting and sobering compared with the hysterical, unbearably tense and brilliantly crafted last hour of the ships maiden voyage (and the film) as Titanic sank.  It's the details that I love.  Yes Cameron shoehorned in a pair of fictional star crossed lovers for the audience to care about but so much of this film is actually filled with  historically accurate detail that needs to be relished on repeat viewings such as the inclusion of Molly Brown's attempts to get the lifeboats to return, Guggenheim getting dressed in his best for the sinking, the baker being the last one into the water.  The scale of the tragedy is ably highlighted by the scale of the production that re-creates it.

2. La Haine (Mathieu Kassovitz, 1995) So relevant and insightful, the French cabinet had a special screening, this is a masterful first film made on a meagre budget, shot in black and white and filled with creativity and righteous anger.  It's been called anti-police, but it's more pro-youth.  The central trio of characters, Said, Hubert and Vinz wander the streets of their estate aimlessly.  But on this day Vinz has found a gun in the preceding night's riots.  Wanting to get revenge for the police brutality that is a part of their daily existence, Vinz insists he's going to kill a cop.  Following the youths over 24 hours, the film stylishly shows the boredom of their lives with long flowing tracking shots, explosive editing and incredibly realistic performances from the leads.  Yes it's subtitled, slow-paced and yes it's in black and white.  But this film will grab you and leave you shaken with its brilliant open ending that suggests the troubles it addresses are far from over.

1. Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999) No surprise here as I've already stated my undying love for this film before.  So good I had to see it three times in the cinema, this film is too perfect to sum up here.  Rarely can a film change your life but this is a film that I can honestly say did.  Introducing me at age 18 to completely different ways of thinking than I had ever contemplated, Tyler Durden made quite an impression.  With his Marxist, anarchist, fascist, anti-society, anti-capitalist speeches, Pitt's performance and Jim Uhls' script (from Chuck Palahniuk's book) shook me to my core.  I didn't go out and start a fight club, I didn't blow up any credit card companies and I didn't give away all my savings and go and live in a deteriorating house on an industrial estate but I did start to think a little differently.  And I did let go of the steering wheel on the way home from the cinema (though evidently not for long enough).  However it's not just the script and the ideas that make this the best film of the 90s.  It's the pre-millenial angst, the foreshadowing of 9/11 and the contemporary relevance in the wake of the Columbine killings.  It's the style with Fincher showing his true genius at handling the technology of cinema.  It's the black as ink comedy.  And it's Helenha Bonham Carter as Marla.  It's all these things that make Fight Club absoultely impossible to not talk about.

Honourable mentions must go to a couple of films that I love but didn't quite make it.  Toy Soldiers (Die Hard in a boarding school!) and Robin Hood: Prince of Theives (Costner's mullet and accent won't stop me loving this).

If you haven't seen any of these, I insist you must!  What are you waiting for?  What's your favourite movies of the 90s?  Any I've missed on this list?  Am I wrong or is this the greatest decade in cinema history?