Director/Screenplay: Jacob Tierney
Cast: Jay Baruchel, Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire
Based on a novel by: Chrystine Brouillet
About the film: In Notre-Dame-de-Grâce , a residential neighbourhood of Montreal, a serial-killer has raped and murdered three victims. The film develops around 2 neighbours, Louise and Spencer, who have increasingly - and suspiciously- bonded over their fascination over the recent crimes terrorising the community; when a new tenant, Victor, moves into the building who eagerly befriends them. But the more time these three spend together in their apartment building the clearer it becomes that what they once thought of as a safe haven is as dangerous as any outside terrors they could imagine.
One of the generic features of a thriller film that is featured in 'Good Neighbours' is the character types and danger of their situation. There is victor- who is quite similar to the 'stalker type' character as he is obsessed with Louise, whom which he develops an imaginary love life with; Spencer- the secretive type who is possibly hiding a dark past or part of his life; and Louise- the fairly ambiguous character we don't really know all too much about.
The 3 main characters all have a very twisted and obscure relationship with each other, which is a common feature of characters in thrillers- as is the 'innocent' victims of the murders occurring in the neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. Another generic feature of thrillers in this text is the urban setting. It is set in the neighbourhood of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, centred around the apartment block where the 3 neighbours live- which means there is also a focus on the stairs in the building, which is another generic location feature of thrillers. The choice of location is very effective in this text as to create a tense and slightly claustrophobic atmosphere due to the majority of the film being shot in the apartment block, as the story localises the murders to just that neighbourhood. This is because - as the 'action' has been localised to a single are- we know that the characters must have some link to the crimes that are occurring, which helps to increase the tension as - due to the 'apartment setting'- the characters are close in proximity, and yet don't really know anything about each other- or who they can trust.
The claustrophobic atmosphere is also an effect of the majority of the film being shot in the apartment block; as there is so much going on with each of the characters - which we soon find out are not quite what they seem- when they all interact with each other, within the apartment setting, it helps to create this claustrophobic and quite awkward atmosphere - which also helps to increase tension.
This tension could be reflective of the tension in Canada during the 1995 Quebec referendum - which was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state- of which is the setting of this film. At one point in the film, the 3 main characters - all English speaking- debate the results of the vote. Victor is the character primarily interested in the referendum results. He suggests that the three friends have a party, watching the plebiscite play out on television. The character's name, Victor (referendum winner), is one of the film's puns in reference to this.
You have competently identified and explained generic aspects of mise-en-scene, particularly with regard to the setting. the critic in the link your provided describes this as a noir thriller. You could add to this post by explaining exactly why "Good Neighbours" is categorised as a noir thriller. This will lead you to consider the purpose of specific non ambient lighting effects.
ReplyDeleteYou have used three very unusual and interesting films for your case study; "Good Neighbours" reminds me of the marvellous thriller "Shallow Grave" which is set in Edinburgh and about young people sharing a flat and a grisly finding..... It would be worth watching so that you could compare aspects of it with "Good Neighbours".
As I said in an earlier post, you need to consider creative ways of presenting your work.