Chapter 5
Language as Genre Convention
In this chapter I will analyse character dialogue as an evocative signifier of genre, an
approach which has received little attention in the discourses of genre theory. By
analysing a teen film that hybridises recognisable genres I will analyse the role of
language in drawing these multiple genres together. Before the detailed analysis of the
chapter’s case study film, Rian Johnson’s 2005 film Brick, I will look at the role of
language in the representation of teenagers in different genres and whether the
linguistic style of these characters is as notable outside the confines of the teen genre.
This chapter will also briefly examine two other films, rarely analysed as teen films,
and compare their use of stylised dialogue. The first is a science fiction film where the
dialogue is overtly stylised and the second is a war film which conveys a historic
event. Throughout this chapter I will examine the role of language as a genre
convention, with the ability to convey a film’s genre as effectively as its visual
components.
In analysing Brick and its use of linguistic style, I hope to demonstrate the position of
language amongst more long-standing genre conventions. As the film uses a
combination of genre conventions in its narrative, it plays on the expectations of both
genres and uses contrasting imagery throughout. Thomas Schatz discusses the use of
narrative components such as characters, plot etc. in genre films: ‘In a genre film…
these components have prior significance as elements of some generic formula, and
the viewer’s negotiation of a genre film thus involves weighing the film’s variations
against the genre’s preordained, value-laden narrative system’ (Schatz 1981, 10).
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When producing a genre film it will inevitably include elements that refer to other
films in that tradition, however by creating a new combination every time, each film
becomes a distinctive unit within the specific genre. Each component is significant to
the maintenance of genre and holds significance for the audience that recognises them.
The recurring iconography of genre films establishes the individual narrative for the
audience whilst evoking the history of the genre itself.
Rick Altman noted that ‘genre films make heavy use of intertextual references’
(Altman 1999, 25), a trait that reinforces the genre’s historic development by
reproducing iconography and repetitive uses of key creative talents. One genre film
will resemble another, demonstrating their membership of the same genre. Altman
extends this idea, explaining: ‘In spite of a strong tendency to close in on themselves,
genre films nevertheless maintain a strong connection to the culture that produced
them’ (Altman 1999, 26). A film that hybridises two genres requires the use of two
series of images, sounds and situations, in order to reference the contrasting genre
traditions. By referencing intertextuality in genre films, Altman’s argument leads to a
discussion of genre conventions and what elements are required for a text to be
considered a genre film. Beyond the narrative elements that are essential to any film –
characters, locations, plot, etc. – the film’s other conventions are equally noteworthy.
The linguistic style that operates in order to tie the characters to the specific time and
place of the narrative, as well as constantly referring to the film’s genre, is merely one.
These elements combined create an understanding of a specific genre, and every
individual film created rearranges these conventions around their own narrative. This,
of course, is an echo of Bakhtin’s theory of the individual’s utterance within the
national language – that there is no originality as every statement is a re-phrasing of
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an earlier statement – within the cinematic context, the genre film is an individual
utterance created from an understanding of genre conventions.
The use of genre conventions creates a sense of knowledge and a space to revisit
existing themes and iconography. The contemporary genre film moves between
faithful recreation and self-reflexivity within the same narrative in order to maintain
authenticity and originality. Dan Harries has discussed the issue of genre convention
in Hollywood’s contemporary cinematic parodies as they are, ‘simultaneously
critiquing established generic codes while also serving to sustain and reconstitute
these codes and, therefore, the genre itself – creating what might arguably be the most
condensed and crystallised instances of a given film genre today’ (Harries 2002, 281).
It is unsurprising that a parody would place greater emphasis on genre conventions;
however, the current Hollywood output features parodies diligently maintaining
conventions for comic effect whilst authentic genre films are far less dependant on
their own conventions. The parody pays strict adherence to genre conventions, using
the most familiar to emphasise and re-emphasise the subject being targeted. The genre
film is in a situation of broadening itself, drawing on multiple genres to create a wider
appeal for a possible audience, thereby diluting its genre credentials.
The iconography of genre as discussed by Bordwell and Thompson in the seminal
Film Art cite the use of props, landscapes and star performers as markers that ‘allow
the genre movie to communicate information quickly and economically’ (Bordwell;
Thompson 2001, 97). The use of certain phrases or syntax can be as effective as
costume or location in referencing a time and place, or an archetypal character. Be it
the use of the term ‘Pilgrim’ in a Western starring John Wayne, a creature from
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another world addressing the population of a planet as ‘Earthlings’, or a blushing
declaration of love in a romantic comedy uttered by a clumsy but well-spoken young
man, the utterance itself is as significant as the actor saying the words. The effect of
language in a film is to categorise the characters speaking, the context of their speech
and the significance of what is said, and each of these together provides protagonists,
location and narrative, making a film unique but building on the previous variations of
the same individual elements.
Spoken language is not only significant as a vocalising of the written word; the
expressing of information is crucial to the narrative – as well as to the audience’s
understanding of events – and combines with the clarification of different character
relationships. In terms of genre, the inflection given to a statement or a tone when
speaking can lead to an understanding of a scene’s mood, period and location, with
each providing additional dimension to the narrative as a whole. Be the location a
futuristic dystopia or a historic war-zone, the language used reaffirms the work of
costume, design and performance. The combination of a specific linguistic style with
iconography allows a multitude of signs to convey a film’s genre and generic
genealogy. Within this chapter the distinctive iconography of genre plays a part as
Brick is a hybrid of teen and noir conventions, which utilises a combination of
signifiers at all times. Brick features a meeting of conventions and an exchange of
dominance between the two depending on the narrative context. Linguistically, the
film favours the style of film noir, whilst the majority of the iconography maintains
the films position in the teen genre. The use of locations and especially the film’s
casting draw heavily on the iconography of teen films; several scenes takes place on
school grounds, and the actors are fresh-faced with the film’s star Joseph Gordon-
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Levitt is familiar as a former child actor who has appeared in earlier teen films.1 The
linguistic style of the film’s characters stands in marked contrast with the film’s other
genre markers. However the dialogue compliments the iconography through
references to teachers and schoolwork. In each genre language performs a function
and emphasises the genre’s other conventions by referring to them directly through
dialogue or signifying them via the linguistic style employed. Language sustains the
narrative, and adds credence to the story-world be it fantastical or realist.
The linguistic style associated with a specific genre is part of the film’s construction.
Bakhtin’s discussion of the utterance is appropriate in the analysis of genre, as each
new film echoes earlier examples of the same genre. The individual film, as an
utterance of the genre and its history, includes a rearranging of existing iconography
and conventions. No individual film is entirely original, building as it does on
previous utterances and explorations of the existing examples of the genre. Johnson
cannot help but build on what has gone before, from pulp detective novels and the
history of film noir, as well as the characters and conventions of the teen genre. The
linguistic style used in Brick echoes the language of previous noir films as it is an
integral part of expressing the film’s genre, it also adds to the levels of meaning
within the film as a complex utterance.
The role of intonation is also relevant here, ‘[t]he simultaneity of the said and the
unsaid is apparent in the effects of intonation (how a thing is said) on language (what
is said) (Clark and Holquist 1984, 207). A choice has been made to use the linguistic
style of one genre over that of another, the ‘intonation’ of the dialogue in Brick is
1
Gordon-Levitt has a small role in the teen horror film Halloween H20: 20 years later (Steve Miner,
1998) and a leading role in the high school Shakespeare adaptation 10 Things I Hate About You.
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significant to the way in which that dialogue is received and understood. Had the
dialogue in Brick been created in a similar style to other teen films, such as Clueless
or The Breakfast Club, the result would have been a very different film. That the
actual dialogue is closer to film noir such as The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
and The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks, 1946) creates a familiar connection between the
dialogue and the narrative. The noir intonation creates additional levels of meaning in
Brick, reinforcing the elements of noir in the narrative, despite the film’s use of teen
genre characters and iconography.
Hybridity has been a constant factor in the teen genre since its earliest days, with
films such as I was a Teenage Werewolf in the late 1950s a clear example of
combining contrasting generic conventions in order to attract teenage interest
(Doherty 2002, 131-137). Narratives are located in familiar teen film locations such as
schools and diners, the majority of characters are young and appeal to young
demographics, and the appropriation of familiar genre tropes such as monsters,
shadows and victims screaming in terror create associations with older cinematic
genres. As well as this trend within lower budget or exploitation films, numerous
other genres have focussed on young characters without being considered teen films.
However, the representation of teenagers is fairly consistent across all genres as some
forms of identification are retained such as costume and performance. The language
of teenagers may be at its height in the teen genre, but aspects of it are utilised in
representations from outside the genre’s most conventional examples. There are uses
of slang and syntax in most depictions of teenagers, but only a few examples outside
the teen genre present as clear an association between the language of teenagers and
the characters’ identities.
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Both A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971) and Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986),
follow teenage characters, but their positions in film history, especially when
considered within a director’s body of work, as well as their critical success, has
obscured this element of their narratives. These two films also feature distinctive
linguistic patterns amongst their teenage characters despite being affiliated with the
science fiction and war genres respectively. At first glance the genres of science
fiction and war are very different, with one depicting a fantasy of the future and the
other representing a slice of history. However, the language used in these films (and
across these genres) has a joint function as it is both technical and emotional. The
dialogue needs to convince an audience of the location and context of the narrative
and the characters as well as convey the different characters’ individuality and the
development of their identities throughout the film.
The science fiction genre has a strong tradition of narratives addressing the fantastical;
and part of the genre is the language necessary to express and discuss the extremities
presented in these narratives. The narrative of A Clockwork Orange in both the novel
and the film has been much discussed and from a variety of perspectives. The highly
stylised language, Nadsat, which is used exclusively by the story’s teenage characters,
has drawn particular attention. Though set apart by many academics, the language of
the film can still be seen as an example of teen speak in action, and as a valid
representation of language indicating genre. In a critique of the attempt to create a
‘wondrous’ futuristic language in the science fiction genre, Vivian Sobchack praises A
Clockwork Orange and its use of the Nadsat language, ‘Stanley Kubrick has retained
and made sound of the visual rhythms of Burgess’ invented language, Nadsat. Spoken
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by protagonist Alex and his droogs (friends), the mixture of Anglicized Russian with
comprehensible English is onomatopoeic, rich and lush, coarse, Elizabethan, and
definitely wondrous’ (Sobchack 1997, 147). However the discussion of the dialogue
is linked to the construction of the film world and its futuristic setting rather than a
sophisticated expression of the group’s teenage identity. The creation of unfamiliarity
through the use of Nadsat allows an association with the unknown possible future, and
combined with the film’s imagery locates the text in the genre of science fiction.
Whereas the science fiction genre has the freedom to create unfamiliar though
relatable worlds, the war genre often needs to recreate a specific period of time, and if
not real then realistic contexts, in which to develop a narrative. By placing a group of
fictional characters in a historical context the war film uses technical language and
points of reference which are essential in creating the correct atmosphere. The status
of the Vietnam film requires a specificity of terminology, either the use of period
slang or slang specific to the soldiers, their situation, the weapons and kit specific to
the period being depicted. Doherty outlines the significance of language to this subgenre:
Nothing captures the Nam better than the Word. Any Vietnam film
with pretentions to verisimilitude has faithfully to record and
incorporate into its dialogue the unique speech of the Vietnam era
soldier. Just as the FNG (fucking new guy) is initiated into the
soldierly subculture where “book” is a verb and “dinks” is a noun,
so the audience is initially confused with Vietnam-variety
vernacular (Doherty 1988/89, 26).
The sense of period and propriety (in Doherty’s view) demands the inclusion of
language in the recreation of the war itself. The terminology and syntax of the
soldiers is reproduced as faithfully as their uniforms and surroundings, as though the
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soldiers’ manner is somehow incomplete without the appropriate style of speech. The
importance of ‘the Word’ in evoking a time and place is a significant part of language
in genre. The ability of a phrase or cadence to infer a generic context can retain a
verisimilitude for the situation or reinforce the period of the events being portrayed.
The phrase ‘Vietnam-variety vernacular’ also implies that films set in different wars
exhibit a distinctive vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, as each sub-genre represents
a different war so the vernacular of that war provides a verisimilitude to each film.
Doherty continues, by discussing the necessity and significance of obscenities in the
Vietnam film can have a variety of functions including: ‘military acronyms (AIT,
CIB, RPG), bastardized Vietnamese (“most rickey-tick”), Japanese (“skosh”), French
(the ubiquitous “beaucoup”), broken English, and black English vernacular remains
an exotic subcultural dialect, the knowledgeable use of which grants admission to the
brotherhood of Vietnam warriors’ (ibid).
The Vietnam film features the various languages of the national cultures that affected
the history of the Vietnamese, interacting with the dialects and accents of the
American soldiers. The different platoons featured in these films feature a socially,
economically and geographically diverse group of men from across America, and the
use of dialects and slang give an initial indication of individual characters which are
then re-enforced or dispelled through expositional dialogue. Platoon is an interesting
example of this as it features a contrast between the language described by Doherty
and the narration of the protagonist, Chris Taylor, conveying the letters he sends
home to his grandmother. Chris is a 19-year-old,2 from a far more comfortable
financial background than his fellow soldiers and his letters home demonstrate his
2
In the introduction to the published screenplay, Oliver Stone notes that the actor Charlie Sheen who
plays Chris is 19. In addition to this, the review in Time Out refers to the character as being 19 (Time
Out Film Guide 2000, 816).
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ability to write eloquently about his time in conflict. As the film continues, these
qualities in Chris’s writing gradually diminish as he is drawn into the pessimistic
attitude of the war, and of the men who are fighting it.
As I will discuss with Brick, the language used in A Clockwork Orange reinforces the
film’s mood and setting. The language also serves as a barrier, halting a full empathy
with the film’s characters, keeping the audience a step removed when watching the
film’s numerous violent sequences. As with any language, when one becomes more
familiar with the terms, their meaning becomes clearer. The distinctive linguistic style
in both films operates in contrasting ways, whilst establishing the genre and the
characters’ communities. The nature of Nadsat as a teenage language is little
discussed in the academic debate around A Clockwork Orange and though Sobchack’s
discussion of the film’s dialogue is enthusiastic, the focus is on the language in
regards to genre rather than as a representation of the teenage identity despite the clear
linguistic divide between the generations. They are a distinctive social group that is
feared by the rest of the society but they are also distinctive due their style of speech.3
The lack of familiarity in the language of these teenagers can in part be due to genre
and the futuristic location of the narrative, but the nature of the language itself
maintains the patterns of teenage speech communities as included in more
conventional representations of teenagers.
Despite the prominence of the teenage characters in the narrative and specifically the
film’s protagonist Alex DeLarge, the analysis of the film from the perspective of
3
The representation of teenagers in this film derives from the perceived threat of youth gangs and the
conversion of internal angst into public violence, and the film’s release was when the memory of youth
violence was still fresh; including the Mod and Rocker riots on beaches along England’s south coast in
1964, and the worldwide students riots of the late 1960s in protest against the war in Vietnam, nuclear
weaponry, as well as various human rights issues.
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genre, as seen in Sobchack’s analysis, positions it as an example of science fiction. A
Clockwork Orange is set in a dystopian future, and though the locations are familiar
as an urban British landscape, the use of costume and language locates the narrative in
a haunting and unfamiliar environment. Similarly, despite Brick drawing heavily on
film noir for its narrative it is considered a teen film due to its young cast and high
school location. Neither film is entirely comfortable as an example of a single genre;
however they are comparable in their use of distinctive linguistic styles. The Nadsat
language assembles a vocabulary from several sources – primarily a combination of
English and Russian – and provides a language which is used by the film’s
protagonists, a group of teenagers. Nadsat is used exclusively by the teenage
characters and their uses of this language diminish as the characters age and mature.
This is subtly addressed when Alex is reunited with his former friends after a time in
prison; he is still speaking Nadsat whilst his friends have moved on. Similar to the use
of teen speak in other films, Nadsat is the natural form of speech for the teenagers,
both credible and strange, and completely alien to the older generations.4 By
incorporating elements of Russian, the teenagers’ language is not only strange and
alien, but also contains a contemporary element of threat which is immediately
apparent, as a warning for the violent attacks that will occur in the narrative. Nadsat
combines the threat of youth with that of possible communist invasion, a moral and
political threat uniting in a fear of what the future may hold. The older generation are
afraid of how their society will change in an uncertain future.
4
The novel was first published in 1962, when Anthony Burgess was influenced by the youth slang and
group violence of the time as well as other cultural influences such as the Cold War, which is
represented in the characters’ slang combining English and Russian. (A Clockwork Orange. London:
Penguin, 1998).
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Sobchack’s argument emphasises that language, whether in fiction or not, exists
through its use, that ‘the significance and impact of Nadsat in the film arises from the
fact that it is not read, but spoken and heard as a truly wondrous, part-human, partalien tongue’ (Sobchack 1997, 148). In order for language to create the idea of a
world, of characters, and of genre, it is necessary for the vocabulary to be used. The
film creates a world and gives a view of people’s lives, and though the visual
depiction of this is necessary the use of language, specifically here in the character’s
dialogue, enhances this.5 In this sense it is reminiscent of teen speak in the teen genre,
where contemporary slang is used as a demonstration of the character’s youth. In
examples outside of the teen genre the use of a specific language or slang indicates
the overall mood of the genre rather than signifying a character’s age or generational
allegiance.
The opening sequence of A Clockwork Orange introduces Alex, at first visually,
framed in close-up at the centre of the screen, and secondly audibly as his voice
begins to narrate his story introducing himself directly to his audience. As the
narration continues, the camera pulls out to reveal not only Alex, but his friends
(droogs), and their location. The location of the narrative in an unspecific future is
indicated through Alex and his linguistic style, and as the camera reveals more, his
words elaborate on the world around him.
Alex: We sat in the Korova milk bar trying to make up our
rassoodocks what to do with the evening. The Korova milk bar sold
milk plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom which is
what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you
ready for a bit of the old ultra-violence. Our pockets were full of
Unlike Burgess’s novel, Nadsat is a less constant voice in Kubrick’s film and is used at key moments
to emphasise the futuristic location of the story, or Alex’s state of mind.
5
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money so there was no need on that score, but, as they say, money
isn’t everything.
The group hide behind masks when performing violent attacks, but they make no real
attempt to alter their voices or distinctive vocabulary.6 The confidence in their ability
to control each situation is demonstrated in the continuous use of their customary
speech patterns. The gang’s attempt to disguise their identities during robberies is
undermined by the clear and recognisable dialect which inhabits each of their
conversations. There is a discussion of Nadsat within the novel, as Alex explains that
this is the language used by teenagers when conversing. Nadsat is also introduced as
the language of a specific period (of time and of life), seen as an inappropriate dialect
for adulthood by Alex’s former friends.
The role of Nadsat as a generational dialect is reinforced as Alex limits his use when
he wishes to be fully understood when speaking to older characters and to appear
more mature. Alex’s language use causes his downfall on two occasions; firstly,
causing him to be caught by the police, and secondly when he is recognised by a
former victim. On both occasions he is overly confident, and casually repeats himself
under the assumption that he is in control of the situation. When Alex is released from
prison, having been ‘cured’, his use of Nadsat is reduced as his conversations are with
a series of adults rather than his peers. Nadsat arises again when Alex is in hospital
having survived a series of attacks and an attempted suicide, the use of Nadsat
increases as his health improves and his identity and natural impulses return. The
indication here is that Alex’s language is a significant part of his identity and as his
original personality and free will return, his use of Nadsat is also revived. More
Nadsat is used to describe the events of the teenagers’ daily activities, from describing a headache (‘a
pain in the gulliver’), to their weaponry in a fight with another gang (britva/ razor, nosh/ knife).
6
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specifically, Alex repeats a series of sentences featured in the film’s early scenes; with
the repetition of these distinctive phrases signifying that his former attitude and
personality have returned. The film uses Nadsat consistently throughout to emphasise
its location in the future, to demonstrate the differences between the generations, and
to inhibit a full empathy between the audience and Alex. However, it is also a fully
functioning form of teen speak which notes a character’s age and groups membership,
and at the film’s climax, the return of Alex’s true identity.
Context is of great significance in the war film due to the period and location, the
specificities of the branch of the armed forces represented and the level of conflict
within different scenes. There are variations of mood in Chris’s language throughout
Platoon, the two most prominent being: contemplation in his letters home, and
aggression in scene of conflict. As the situations in Platoon become more extreme and
more emotional Chris’s language use changes. Initially we learn about Chris through
his letters home to his grandmother, with each one demonstrating an eloquence that
reflects his educated and wealthy background. In his first letter Chris writes:
Chris: Somebody once wrote Hell is the impossibility of Reason.
That’s what this place feels like. I hate it already and it’s only been
a week. Some goddamn week, grandma...the hardest thing I think
I’ve ever done is go on point, 3 times a week – I don’t even know
what I’m doing (Stone 1987, 26).
As he becomes more immersed in the war his language begins to resemble that
described by Doherty as the key linguistic style of the Vietnam film. In one scene the
platoon are searching a village and questioning the inhabitants for information, and
the tension is increased by the inability of the soldiers to communicate effectively
with the villagers. The extreme nature of these scenes is reflected in the extreme
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nature of the language used, additionally, the raised voices (due to the volume of the
action or intensity of the situation) and the frustration at the limited clarity of the
events are expressed through a lack of clear thought, expression and vocabulary:
Chris: Get up out of there! ... You see I didn’t want to hurt you.
Why didn’t you come out, when I said so hunh! Why? WHY!
WHY? DON’T YOU LISTEN ... WHAT ARE YOU SMILING
AT HUNH! FUCKING ASSHOLES! (Stone 1987, 63).
In his work on Oliver Stone, Frank Beaver notes the significance of Platoon as ‘the
first Vietnam film written and directed by a Vietnam veteran … an “insider” drawing
on personal experience’ (Beaver 1994, 85). This provides a sense of verisimilitude
not only in the film’s content, but also the language used throughout. The belief in the
characters and the events of the narrative is expected to increase with the knowledge
of Stone’s experience which was sold to a potential audience as part of the film’s
publicity.7 By attracting an audience to the film by making Stone’s life a prominent
element of publicity, the producers of Platoon emphasise the verisimilitude of the
film to the reality of the war. The writing on Stone’s experience in Vietnam (Roberts
and Welky 2000) describes events that were recreated in the film, including an event
similar to the village scene described above. The positioning of Platoon as the first
film about the war by one of its survivors adds to the film’s qualifications, especially
when comparing it to the Vietnam films that preceded it. Beaver uses the term
‘insider’ to describe Stone, positioning him as someone who, unlike other filmmakers,
knows the ‘truth’ of the subject-matter.
The film’s trailer begins with an image of Stone with his own platoon in Vietnam, before images
from the film itself. The voice-over also outlines Stone’s military experience: ‘In 1967, Oliver Stone
was a combat infantryman in Vietnam. He was wounded twice and received a medal for gallantry in
action. Ten years later he was a Hollywood screenwriter, and the winner of an Oscar. But even after
many successes, Stone still had another story to tell. A movie that grew out of his own experience.
Stone has come a long way from Vietnam, but he has not left it behind. The first real casualty of war is
innocence. The first real movie about the war in Vietnam is Platoon’.
7
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The work of Sobchack and Doherty on the use of the technical language that is
specific to genre is relevant to these two films and many others. In as much as the
uses of teen speak is a convention of teen films, these forms of language are specific
to their respective genres. It is necessary to have a balance between the images shown
and the language appropriate to compliment these images; and within the dialogue
there is a need for balance between establishing location, period and context, and the
dialogue which drives the narrative. In A Clockwork Orange, these two elements are
aided by the use of Nadsat, in Alex’s narration and in the remainder of the dialogue.
The alien nature of Nadsat signposts that the film is set in a familiar context, but the
constant use of it leads to a level of understanding of the terminology as the film
continues. In Platoon, the language use adapts according to the protagonists’ situation.
Chris is understandable at all times, but his language is shaped by his experiences
throughout the film. The character of Chris is outlined through the voice-over of his
letters home, but the content of the letters changes as the narrative develops. The
literacy and eloquence of the letters is constant, but his use of military terminology
and his understanding of his situation become more apparent. In addition to this, his
language use within the narrative adapts as he loses his innocence he also loses the
individuality of his expression when speaking to the other members of his platoon.
Within the context of the battle his vocabulary does not rise above random profanities
directed at the enemy. Despite these surface differences between these two films the
connection between language and genre becomes clearer as an aspect of genre studies
that has been somewhat overlooked.
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The incorporation of language to a genre’s conventions is a valid step, as the dialogue
and means of expression featured can be identified with certain films, as a certain
actor, writer or director might. The dystopian future of A Clockwork Orange is
heightened by a desolate urban landscape (prominent in science fiction) and populated
by characters that lack a recognisable sense of contemporary morality. By giving
these characters a distinctive form of speech they are at once familiar and alien. A
sense of authenticity is provided by the original novel, and the film is replicating the
voice of a literary character, in a significant work of twentieth century art. Platoon
uses the familiar narrative of the innocent young infantryman made cynical by war, as
countless war films before and since have done, and the character’s transformation is
conveyed through the changes in his appearance and self-expression. The apparent
verisimilitude of Platoon as supported by a mythology that’s built up around Stone’s
own time in Vietnam gives an additional, though not necessarily authentic, sense of
importance to the film’s narrative. Teenage characters in the teen genre are associated
with a certain style of speech (as analysed in chapter 2), but in Brick the language is
distinctive as that of a contrasting genre. The language of noir evokes a certain style
of films and certain conventions (as with science fiction and war films), and by
providing these in a teen film context, Brick provides what is expected of both genres.
Case Study – Brick
The language of Brick draws on the stylised dialogue of a cinematic genre, and uses
conventions of multiple genres to unfold the narrative. However it is the dominance of
one genre that initially draws attention, as the language used is so utterly connected
with a single genre of films, and is such a part of that genre’s construction that it
seems to operate almost independently from the genre’s other conventions. Brick is an
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example of film noir that maintains a number of the genre’s conventions, using
familiar scenes and characters to drive the protagonist towards solving the narrative’s
central mystery.8 Traditionally film noir depicts the protagonist solving a mystery set
around a theft or a murder and Mark Bould notes numerous films where innocent men
are ‘framed, imprisoned for crimes they did not commit or caught up unwittingly in
conspiracies and plots’ (Bould 2005, 51). As a cinematic tradition, noir has a
tumultuous history, either over the question of its status as a genre (or not) or due to
the use of noir as a term in regard to any film with a darker narrative. In his study of
the noir tradition and its representation of masculine identities, genre and language,
Frank Krutnik discusses the argument around noir, ‘the problematic identity of film
noir serves to intensify its highly bankable and ‘seductive’ mystique: when a new film
is labelled ‘noir’ this serves as a promise of quality’ (Krutnik 1991, 16).
There has been a tendency to avoid discussing noir as a genre in itself, as it combines
elements from numerous other genres with obvious similarities to the crime thriller
genre, with narratives revolving around a central crime and the criminals involved;
but additionally, there are elements of romance, mystery, and gritty urban drama. The
term noir also holds a positive critical significance, as it implies that the individual
film is something special, something more impressive than the average crime film,
regardless of its use of the generic conventions that noir suggests. The history of noir
as either a tradition or a cycle of production has been a constant part of the debate but
as noir films have continued to be a staple of production its status has grown. In 1999,
Rick Altman stated that noir had completed ‘the full adjective-to-noun trajectory’
(Altman 1999, 61), positioning it as a genre, at least in the terminology of film
8
The protagonist, Brendan Frye, becomes involved with a local drug baron and his accomplices when
investigating the death of his ex-girlfriend, Emily.
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journalism. The debates around noir, as noted by Steve Neale, may be unable to
define noir as a term, but does feature an agreement what films feature in the noir
canon:
It is in essence a critical category. This means its corpus can only
be established by means of critical observation and analysis, its
constituents and contours cannot be verified by reference to
contemporary studio documents, discussions or reviews, or to any
other contemporary intertextual source (Neale 2000, 153).
The conventions used to categorise a film as noir remains constant through various
analyses, but there is still a debate over its status as a genre. As well as the original
films produce in the 1940s, countless noir films have been produced since, the most
striking examples made by unique directors, or as literary adaptations.9 Each of these
films takes a different approach to noir, but is reliant on the same series of
conventions originated in early noir films.10 The only difference between Brick and
other noir films is that the majority of these characters are still at school. The director
Rian Johnson has noted that his decision to locate the story in the teen genre was
based on the popularity of that genre at the time of writing the screenplay, and an
attempt to recreate the traditional visual codes of the noir detective story.11
The various articles and reviews published about Brick upon its release (in Britain12),
describe the film in the terms of noir going to high school, with several comparing the
Including: Roman Polanski’s Chinatown in 1974, and in the 1990s The Grifters (Stephen Frears,
1990), Miller’s Crossing (Joel Coen, 1990), and LA Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997).
10
In my analysis of Brick I will refer to noir as a genre in comparison with examples of the teen genre
and others. In order to avoid confusion therefore, I am categorising noir as a genre, due to the
consistency of conventions throughout its history.
11
Q&A featured in the film press pack from Optimum Releasing 2006 which was acquired via e-mail
from Optimum Releasing, 31/05/2006.
12
Including: Hughes, Sarah, ‘Humphrey Bogart’s back – but this time round he’s at high school’, The
Observer 26/03/06, http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1739600,00.html (website visited
31/03/2006). Wise, Damon, ‘Move Over Darko’, Empire, Issue 204, June 2006, 88-90.
9
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character of Brendan with those played by Humphrey Bogart in various films.
However, these pieces focus on the film’s noir elements while overlooking the teen
genre components. The attention is easily drawn to the film’s noir elements through
its narrative structure and content, as well as the specific style of the dialogue, but the
use of teen genre (specifically the sub-genre of the school film) conventions is also
significant.13 Brick uses the same series of characters that would feature in any high
school film, including: the popular students such as the sports jock (Brad Bramish),
the popular rich girl/cheerleader (Laura), the school rebel (Brendan), the nerd (The
Brain), and the troubled Goth (Dode). What separates Brick from other school films is
that it also contains the traditional characters associated with noir: the local kingpin
and his muscular sidekick (The Pin and Tug), the good girl and the femme fatale
(Emily and Laura), and Brendan as the detective. The popular high school kids work
for the local drug baron, and are therefore a doubly dangerous influence on the
students who wish to join their ranks. The detective runs into trouble with a figure of
authority and has to cut a deal, but authority here is represented by the school’s
assistant deputy principle rather than the police.
The language of noir and teen speak
The maturity of the characters is expressed in the style of the film’s dialogue, a
linguistic style which is far more noir than teen. There are no murmurs of valleyspeak here, but the influence of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler is present
13
A comparison could be drawn here to the high school adaptations of canonical literary texts, in that
these films make connections to familiar cultural texts whilst maintaining the conventions of the teen
genre. Brick might be compared to the 1996 film William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, which
transplants the original play to a contemporary setting without altering the dialogue. This could count
against WS’s R+J as an example of the teen genre, however I would argue that the film maintains its
place in the teen genre due to several elements: the strategic casting of recognisable teen stars as the
doomed lovers and supporting players, the film’s performances, aesthetic and soundtrack, as well as the
way in which the film was marketed to a young demographic.
235
throughout the film.14 Brendan expresses himself well, and as with Hammett’s Sam
Spade, he relies on his fast mouth to get himself out of trouble (despite the fact that it
is usually his mouth that gets him into trouble in the first place). The familiarity of
these character traits again add to the conveyance of noir conventions. Additionally,
Brendan’s dialogue echoes that of the earlier noir films which, depending on the
audience’s knowledge of the noir genre, creates a bridge to the genre’s history to
operate alongside the iconography of the teen genre which is initially more apparent.
Brendan is verbally quick with a knowledge and dexterity reminiscent of classic noir.
Krutnik described the importance of verbal dexterity in noir, as it originated from
crime novels:
The ‘hard-boiled’ idiom is ‘tough’, cynical, epigrammatic,
controlled – a sign of the hero’s potency. Its defining incarnation is
perhaps the ‘tough wisecrack’. In many of the private-eye stories,
language is wielded as a weapon, and is often more a measure of
the hero’s prowess than the use of guns and other more tangible
aids to violence (Krutnik 1991, 43).
The toughness of the films and their characters is reflected in the language used.
Conversations have a purpose and rarely divert from this focus. The verbal sparring
between the hero and the villains have the thrust and parry of more physical combat,
‘as each seeks to assert his masculine competence’ (ibid). These are often the key
moments of action in a noir film despite only minimal amounts of actual movement.
The language of Brick is hard and reflects the specific style of noir’s literary origins
as described by Krutnik, and in a low-budget film a strong screenplay is far cheaper
than an action sequence. That the characters are most inclined to hold a conversation
than resort to violence is also an indicator of the genre. The conversation provides
The film’s press pack features an interview Rian Johnson the writer-director, who refers to Hammett,
Chandler and James Cain as being influential on the making of the film, as well as other modern noir
films such as the Coen Brothers films Miller’s Crossing and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001).
14
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information and develops the narrative, adding to the mystery, which marks out noir
from an action film, where dialogue is minimal and consists of name-calling and
quips before acts of physicality. The demonstration of ‘masculine competence’ in
these conversations leans more towards intelligence than strength.
The press release for Brick included a glossary of terms – which was reproduced in
various articles and reviews to ease the potential audience into following the film’s
stylistic dialogue. The conversations are peppered with slang and references to groups
and activities that, though an interpretation is guessable, still hold an element of
mystery:
The Brain: What first, tip the bulls?
Brendan: No, bulls would gum it. They’d flash their dusty
standards at the wide-eyes and probably find some yegg to pin,
probably even the right one. But they’d trample the real tracks and
scare the real players back into their holes, and if we’re doing this I
want the whole story. No cops, not for a bit (Johnson 2005).15
The use of stylised slang is as valid a critique of noir as it is the teen genre, with
dialogue in Miller’s Crossing as perplexing on occasion as the teen speak of
Clueless.16 The linguistic style of these films is consistent and used by, or understood
by, the majority of characters, thereby indicating its everyday nature within the
context of the story-world. This is how these characters communicate, and it is
necessary for the audience to acclimatise in order to fully immerse themselves in the
film. As with A Clockwork Orange, the terminology becomes more familiar over time,
but the inclusion of a glossary for the prospective audience’s benefit makes a marked
difference in how the filmmakers intend their audience to experience the world of the
15
Every quote from the Brick screenplay by Rian Johnson, taken verbatim from the DVD.
The comparison of Brick and Miller’s Crossing in terms of language is a valid one as both films have
the linguistic style of Dashiell Hammett as a basis for their dialogue.
16
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narrative.17 The language here is not a means with which to alienate the viewer from
the protagonist, it is a means with which the viewer can deepen the connection with
the film’s characters and their world. The language is also constant throughout the
film, rather than being inspired by the action. The noir style is present in the
flashbacks of Brendan and Emily and of the events leading to Emily’s murder; the
verbal interactions amongst these characters are always in this stylised form, rather
than being caused by the events of the narrative.
Krutnik notes that, ‘with such a clear masculinisation of language, there tends to be
established a closed circuit of male-male communication. There may be occasionally
be ‘wisecracking dames’, but this often signifies a dangerous competitive streak’
(Krutnik 1991, 43). When female characters use noir’s ‘masculine’ language it is a
sign that she is a threat or unreliable. However, equally this is a sign that a female
character is capable of contributing as an equal alongside the male characters that
dominate the genre. Though there is a tradition in noir of femme fatales having a
sizeable amount of important dialogue this would suggest a pattern as proposed by
Krutnik, but in Brick the stylistic nature of the dialogue is such that if one character
spoke in a more conventional manner this would act to undermine the language,
drawing attention to its extreme nature. In addition to this, the conventions of noir
tends to punish characters that show weakness regardless of gender, and therefore if
the language use, as noted by Krutnik, is a means of displaying power, every strong
character needs to demonstrate this strength consistently. Noir tends to show the
world as a cruel and unfair place, and therefore men and women needs to be strong –
physically, mentally and linguistically – in order to survive.
17
The publication of a glossary draws comparison with Clueless, another film that provided this service
so as to allow the audience to immerse itself more fully in the story.
238
By using such an overt linguistic style, Johnson is drawing comparisons with classic
noir texts, and by doing this is encouraging an expectation of how the narrative will
progress. The film’s linguistic style indicates a self-awareness on the part of the
filmmakers which is extended through the addition of archetypal characters and
scenes. By locating the narrative in a high school within a society of teenagers
Johnson is adapting an older genre to a new form, testing a familiar narrative by
draping another genre’s conventions over those of noir. The dialogue creates a bridge
between old and new, by retaining the mood of classic noir in a familiar but
incongruous setting. Whatever the situation, and to whomever they are speaking the
characters’ linguistic style is consistent. The preservation of this style reinforces this
as the natural speech for these characters, and as the narrative events comply with the
conventions of the noir genre, this is the appropriate form of expression.
The element of period is significant when analysing language in films, the period that
the film was produced, as well as the period in which the narrative is set. When
looking at the films I have outlined in this chapter, A Clockwork Orange is set in an
unspecified future time, whilst Platoon is set in 1967 (roughly twenty years before the
film was produced). In both cases we have an expectation of how the characters will
communicate with each other. The noir genre is interesting in this regard as the
original films were produced irrespective of each other over the course of
approximately a decade from 1941, however as more films in the same style were
produced, they began to replicate the conventions set out in the first few films.18
18
The term film noir was first used in the 1940s when these films were discussed by Nico Frank in the
French film magazine L’écran français who united them as a tradition or genre of American
filmmaking. Frank was describing a collection of American crime films that opened in quick
succession in Paris after the Second World War (Krutnik 1991, 15). The article ‘Un nouveau genre
239
Numerous modern examples also set their narratives between 1930 and the early
1950s in order to maintain the style and aesthetic of the original films.19 This
adherence to period allows the production to maintain the style of the time in regard
to the cars, costumes and language. In the case of Brick – and other films such as The
Grifters – the use of noir speech is important for maintaining the feel of the genre in a
more contemporary setting. The language use is not connected to a period of history,
but is a means of creating or recreating the correct atmosphere for the characters and
the events of the narrative.
As with the other films in this study, the teenagers in this film keep to a consistent
linguistic form – and use the same pattern of linguistic adaptations dependant on
situation – but what is different here is that the language of the adult characters is as
consistent. Returning to the idea of archetypes being used to represent the two genres,
in Brick we can see characters from both genres and through specific characters it is
possible to analyse how the conventions of both genres are brought together in this
example. By analysing the characters of a traditional noir film and those of a
traditional teen film, I will analyse a group of characters from Brick to see how the
film re-uses or recreates the attitude, imagery, and linguistic style of both genres.
These characters will be representative of key characters in both genres: Brendan, the
detective and school rebel; Laura, the femme fatale and popular girl; The Pin, Kingpin
and influential older youth; and Trueman, the representative of law and teacher.
Noir teenagers – Brendan and Laura
‘policier’: L’aventure criminelle,’ (‘A new police genre: the criminal adventure’) was published in
August 1946.
19
Chinatown released in 1974 was set in 1937, LA Confidential released in 1997 set in the 1950s, The
Black Dahlia (Brian De Palma, 2006) set in 1946.
240
By examining a film where every character uses the same linguistic style, it is
difficult to specify the dividing line between the generational representations. The
teenager characters far outnumber the adults and it is predominantly the teenagers that
drive the narrative with the few adult figures standing as representatives of moral
choices, the good and the bad, the legal and the illegal. Brendan and Laura, due to
their prominent roles in the narrative and the archetypes they represent, are the
dominant teenagers, and it is possible to draw comparisons between them and another
couple of noir characters, Sam Spade and Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese
Falcon. As the detective and the femme fatale, they are not only the characters
leading the story, but also represent the two contrasting sides of the story, with
Brendan trying to solve the mystery, and Laura who has the most to hide. Their
scenes together reflect these conflicting positions not only in their actions but also in
the dialogue they share. By comparing these characters with Spade and
O’Shaughnessy, as well as with teen genre archetypes, I will analyse how their
attitudes and actions address the requirements of both genres, and the iconic
characters within them.
The similarities between Brendan and Sam Spade arise from various sources,
primarily the role they play in the narrative as the detective who solves the case. As
well as this, both follow their feelings of duty in order to seek justice; in Brendan’s
case to find those responsible for Emily’s death, and for Spade to find those who
killed his business partner Miles Archer. Their narrative purposes coincide, and their
use of language is led by the same motivation. They talk themselves into certain
situations, gaining the trust of their adversaries and their allies, as well as talking
themselves out of trouble at the close of the action. Finally, Brendan’s dialogue
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contains direct references to Spade and other iconic noir characters, showing
Johnson’s attempt to create a noir story as well as his own fandom of the genre and its
history.
The Maltese Falcon:
Spade: I’ll be back as soon as I can with the best news I can
manage. I’ll ring four times – long-short-long-short – so you’ll
know it’s me (Huston 1941).20
Brick:
Brendan: If you see anyone but the Pin or Tugger or their crew go
down into the ravine, honk four times, long-short-long-short. But
don’t be seen.
The feeling of homage in these moments is clear with direct quotations adding to the
overall sense of intertextuality in the sequence. The character of Brendan is close to
being an homage to the iconic characters of the noir genre, and his means of selfexpression reflects this, even if the hard and direct dialogue is being delivered by a
schoolboy as opposed to a middle-aged man. Brendan’s attitude and aggression are in
line with the hard-boiled heroes of noir, but his appearance is contradictory. He is
youthful, wears glasses, and a soft fabric jacket over a t-shirt and jeans, an image
reminiscent of Jim Stark in Rebel without a Cause. His image may be softened but his
words are hard and direct, with none wasted; the only contrast is seen in flashback as
he tries to reason with Emily. He refuses to show emotion in his words when at work,
with his image being broken only when he’s mute.
20
The Maltese Falcon dialogue taken from the screenplay by John Huston.
242
Brick sustains several elements of Krutnik’s definition in the character of Brendan but
as the film is a hybrid, the influence of the teen film affects his masculine image.
Brendan’s strength derives from his verbal dexterity, and his various disputes are won
through his intellect and use of words (though he does also throw a few effective
punches). The association of eloquent, effective speech and masculinity is consistent
in noir as it demonstrates the character’s intelligence; it also shows a character’s
humour, quickness and imagination which are all necessary traits at different points in
the narrative. By returning to Krutnik’s definition of verbal battles, Brick again
creates a convincing noir atmosphere in the conversations between Brendan and his
adversaries by echoing scenes from classic noir films:
The Maltese Falcon:
Spade: Another thing. Keep that gunsel away from me while
you’re making up your mind. I’ll kill him.
Brick:
Brendan: Yeah well, your muscle seemed plenty cool putting his
fist in my head. I want him out.
The detective gives the impression of being without emotion, and can hide his true
feelings when in company. Though Brendan’s actions throughout the film are a
response to losing Emily, there is no sense of grief in his words and deeds as he tries
to find her killers. As with the character of the school rebel in the teen genre, there is a
need to remove emotion when in the company of his peers. The character of Bender in
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The Breakfast Club enjoys upsetting people with his words and actions – either by
asking inappropriate questions of strangers or figures of authority, or keeping illegal
substances in his school locker – and though he shares details of his abusive home life
with his fellow students, he keeps his emotions in check focussing on anger as
opposed to emotions that might show him as weak. The primary motivation for the
rebel is to appear strong and independent, his dialogue is aggressive but demonstrates
character; his words may be amusing, but show a lack of feeling for the target of his
attack. As Brendan is a teenager, there is an emotional crack in his façade – which
often occurs in the rebel character – which is not present in the noir detective.
The school rebel is a character who stands in opposition to the authority of school or
parents rather than conforming to expectations.21 The aggressive attitude towards
teachers and various other adults, demonstrates strength of self-expression and free
will which surface in the teen years. There is a tendency in the teen genre to separate
teenagers depending on their interests and backgrounds, divisions that could also be
caused by social class. The rebel draws attention to these divisions by attacking the
popular students – who wield as much power as the school staff – with the same
attitude as he uses when attacking the teachers. By combining several familiar
characters, or characters that conform to archetypes, there is an expectation of how
characters will react to each other, therefore the narrative works around a series of
expectations. Though Brendan’s language use is different to that of Bender, his targets
hold similar position in the student hierarchy:
21
The relevance of the rebel can easily be traced back to the earliest teen films, but especially Rebel
without a Cause.
244
Brendan: I can’t trust you. Brad was a sap, you weren’t, you were
with him and so you were playing him, so you’re a player. With
you behind me I’d have to tie one eye up watching both your hands,
and I can’t spare it.
Here, Brendan is in dialogue with Laura, one of the most popular and wealthiest girls
in the school – comparable with Claire in The Breakfast Club or Cher in Clueless –
and though Laura is far more dangerous than the usual popular girl, Brendan’s words
reflect the sense of social tension that often exists in the school film. Brad is a popular
student due to his position as a sports jock, and Laura is popular due to her beauty and
wealth, and together they form a power-couple amongst the teenage society of the
school. Within the teen genre, these characters traditionally inspire envy amongst
their fellow students and wield social power due to their popularity. This convention
is maintained, but works alongside the additional element of these characters being
linked to local criminals. Whilst Bender’s aggression towards Claire arises from the
social hierarchy of the school’s students, Brendan’s aggression towards Laura has a
far darker motivation and is expressed clearly in a noir style, echoing the dialogue of
Sam Spade in similar contexts:
Sam Spade: I’ve no earthly reason to think I can trust you and if I
did this and got away with it, you’d have something on me you
could use whenever you wanted to. Next: since I’ve got something
on you, I couldn’t be sure you wouldn’t decide to put a hole in me
someday.
The cynicism and the emphasis on ‘trust’ arises more easily in noir, as the genre is
more concerned with more serious themes than the usual teen film. In Brick the
themes are mixed, but the means of discussing them is far more in the tradition of noir.
The theme of trust is more common in noir, as there tends to be very little of it around,
with every character expecting to be double-crossed at any time, regardless of long-
245
standing friendships or new relationships. As one would expect in noir, if a character
discusses their emotions it is a sign of weakness, and it is difficult to know whether
these emotions are genuine or an additional part of their deception.
There are two iconic characters at work in Brendan, the noir detective and the teen
rebel, but only one is given a voice. The voice and language of the detective is
constant in Brendan’s dialogue, when facing the local criminals or organising a plan
with his allies. The teen genre rebel is part of Brendan’s character, seen in his position
at the school, his stance when confronted by authority and his antagonism of other
students, but this part of character has no voice. When Brendan speaks he speaks with
the noir style of the detective, however when he exhibits the emotion of teenage
masculinity he is mute. His moments of weakness are never verbal or public – never
diminishing his strength as the detective – therefore he does demonstrate elements of
this teen genre character but his language never strays from the linguistic style of noir.
The characters represented by Laura are a constant in both genres, the rich girl in the
popular clique and the femme fatale. These characters are both associated with
selfishness, whose actions are motivated by self-interest, and who are happy to
destroy anyone who gets in their way. The feelings that these two characters inspire
amongst other members of their communities are conflicted including: desire,
aggression, distrust and envy. It can be difficult to read their motives for any action,
but there is a strong sense of self-interest in both cases.
Though noir films will tend to focus on relationships amongst men as described by
Krutnik, it is the woman that creates the connections and also the tensions between
246
them. Despite the fact that the femme fatale is usually caught in her lies, she is more
likely to outlive the male characters and survive beyond the end of the narrative. The
femme fatale is also the most demonised character in noir, an independent and
intelligent woman who is an equal to the men and therefore a threat. On the theme of
women in noir, Janey Place discusses the genre’s primary female archetypes and the
contrast between the ‘dark lady’ and ‘the virgin’, the former tempting man in order to
destroy him, and the latter offering redemption (Place 1998, 47). The dangers of
women and temptation are constant in noir, as they distract the male protagonist from
achieving his goal. A woman can draw focus from the detective’s quest and lead him
into danger; therefore their charms or wiles must be overlooked or distrusted to ensure
the detective’s ultimate victory and survival. The presence of a woman also causes
disharmony in a company of men. In The Maltese Falcon, the revelation that Sam
Spade is having an affair with Miles Archer’s wife implies a lack of fidelity between
the business partners which undermines the determination with which Spade seeks out
Archer’s killers. In addition, the lack of trust amongst the criminal gang is based on
the numerous seeds of doubt planted by Brigid O’Shaughnessy.
Place describes the image of the dangerous woman in noir with long hair and clearly
wearing make-up and jewellery to emphasise their attractiveness to men. The
iconography of the character also focuses on mystery and violence, ‘[c]igarettes with
their wispy trails of smoke can become cues of dark and immoral sensuality, and the
iconography of violence (primarily guns) is a specific symbol (as is perhaps the
cigarette) of her ‘unnatural’ phallic power’ (Place 1998, 54). Despite Place’s focus on
the cliché of the femme fatale, it is interesting that every symbol of power and
immoral attitude is connected directly to her image (she looks bad; therefore her
247
dishonest actions are not a surprise). Place does not refer to language as an indicator
of character – by focussing on the representation of femininity in a masculine genre –
though language is at the forefront of the female character’s power. For example, in
The Maltese Falcon, it is a woman’s words that drive the narrative as it is Brigid
O’Shaughnessy and her story that draws Spade into the mystery in the first place.
Though Spade does not believe much of what O’Shaughnessy says, her performance
sparks his interest. The femme fatale uses her words as much as her body to get her
way, as everybody wants to believe a woman who claims to be in danger. Even when
one story is found to be untrue, the femme fatale still tries to talk her way out of
trouble; when one story fails she will try another.
Though Laura complies to a few of the iconographic elements of the character – the
traditional cigarette is a key prop in the development of the story – Laura’s use of
language is more significant, as a combination of charm and deception, and though at
the times she discusses serious issues there is no sense that her interest in them is
genuine. Laura is the school’s popular rich girl and demonstrates this at social events,
such as a party in her parents mansion home – the parents are of course absent – to
which only the privileged students are invited. She also demonstrates her cultured
upbringing at this event by performing a song from The Mikado by Gilbert and
Sullivan (‘The sun whose rays are all ablaze’), which indicates the presence of high
culture in her home, setting her apart from the other students at the party, and is one
of the only examples of popular music in the film.
248
As with many femme fatales, Laura’s language use is as strong and intelligent as
Brendan’s. In their first meeting, Laura shows herself to be Brendan’s equal
linguistically:
Laura: Listen, you’re scratching at the wrong door. I wasn’t with
Emily enough to know details of what she was in, I just got wind of
the downfall, and I didn’t get any details of that, except that it was
bad. So now that we’re showing some cards...
Brendan: If you haven’t got a finger in Em’s troubles, why’d her
name get me into your rather exclusive party?
Laura: Keep up with me now. I don’t know, but it sounded like
you did, and a body’s got a right to be curious. Now I’m not so
sure.
Brendan: Well I’ll put that body to bed. I don’t know a damn thing
about whatever troubles, and that works for me. I just want to find
her.
As a number of their conversations are significant to the development of the narrative,
there is as much verbal sparring between them as there is between Brendan and any of
the male characters. Krutnik has discussed the position of women in the classical
Hollywood era, ‘In male-oriented genres such as the Western or the gangster film, the
role of the woman is often marginalised, the drama being concerned principally with
relations between men in a context of ‘masculine testing’’ (Krutnik 1991, 4). The noir
genre is dominated by male characters and therefore the presence of any woman
inspires interest and then suspicion. By considering this, the ability of female
characters to compete linguistically in a film filled with men demonstrates their
strength, and creates characters of equal power that are able to communicate
efficiently despite the complexity of the events surrounding them. There is no direct
reference to a woman’s apparent flaws in a specific female character as in many films
the good girls are as skilled linguistically as the bad girls.22 The teen genre is the
22
Including: Effie Perine in The Maltese Falcon, and ‘Acme Bookstore Proprietress’ in The Big Sleep.
249
opposite of this as the gender balance tends to tilt more towards the female characters,
though this is usually dependant on the specific sub-genre of the film.23
Noir films feature a constancy of language with the majority of speaking characters
using the same hard-boiled idioms, the teen genre offers a similar linguistic solidarity
with male and female characters demonstrating a linguistic allegiance as part of a
Halliday-esque speech community (as discussed in previous case studies). A linguistic
division according to gender would demonstrate the association of language with
power, and in a traditionally masculine genre this would indicate male dominance.
However, the strength of female characters in noir is in their ability to combine
masculine strength such as language with the temptation of femininity, a feat that the
male characters cannot match. Male strength is often demonstrated by the male
character’s ability to resist women. This is achieved by only interacting through
verbal interactions, which indicates an equality of gender in dialogue.
Krutnik’s association of women using ‘masculine’ language and their deceptive
characters leads one to assume that the language of ‘good’ women is somehow
different, less masculine therefore women in noir divide into the categories set out by
Place. The division of female characters in Brick is less simplistic as they are divided
by action rather than speech. Emily is ambitious as she tries to join the school’s
popular clique, and is not as innocent as one might expect from the ‘good girl’ role
usually found in noir. She is part of a community notable for its drug use; she has
been in sexual relationships with a number of boys and has fallen pregnant. One of the
main differences between Emily and Laura is that Emily is portrayed as the victim of
23
For example, teen films that draw on the narratives of romantic comedy are more likely to be led by
female characters, those that feature violent crime are usually led by male characters, whilst comedies
about sex can be divided fairly equally into male and female driven narratives.
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the story. Her character has far less dialogue as she is found murdered early on in the
film with much of her character development revealed in flashbacks; she is the
character with most to reveal. However, her dialogue uses the same linguistic style as
the film’s other characters. Her status as the film’s victim is expressed through the
fate of her character and the element of fear depicted in the actor’s performance and
dialogue. The film’s overall linguistic style is not abstained from as a demonstration
of character difference, and is equally present in the language of every teen character.
Laura’s position as a character in both genres – as the popular girl and the femme
fatale – is striking because of the way these two archetypes use language. These
characters, in their respective genres, are confident and skilful linguistically, believing
that they can talk their way out of any situation, and benefit regularly from this ability.
In The Breakfast Club, Claire’s earliest moments involve her trying to talk her way
out of her situation. Firstly she asks her father to arrange her liberation from detention,
and then tries to suggest to her teacher that she has been detained in error. She sees
herself as different to the other students and worthy of special treatment despite her
being guilty of the actions that brought on her punishment. Claire, like Laura, also
demonstrates an exposure that is out of place to a wider variety of cultures by eating a
lunch of sushi as opposed to the variety of sandwiches that make up the lunches of her
peers.
These two girls are shown in positions of privilege, with Laura in her parent’s
mansion and Claire in the passenger seat of her father’s BMW; but also in more lowly
locations where they are one of the mass, Laura in The Pin’s basement headquarters
where she is only one of his lieutenants, and Claire in the school library amongst her
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fellow detainees. In one position they are special, whilst in the other they are not; in
the former they are indulged and in the latter they are forced to follow another’s will.
The femme fatale and the popular girl stand out in their respective genres as figures
that are considered above other members of their sex. The femme fatale is often the
only woman in a group of men, and the popular girl is framed as the pinnacle of
adolescent femininity. However, often their success, either in manipulation or of
popularity, is followed by their downfall, which brings them down to the level of their
peers. The femme fatale is seen as just another criminal and taken away for
punishment, and the popular girl is found to be no more deserving of special treatment
than any other student. When the power of seductress as outlined by Place is no
longer effective, these females are left with only their linguistic skill, which places
them in the context of verbal sparring as outlined by Krutnik. The female characters
of both genres share the same language as the males; it is the language of the narrative
world or the teenage speech community, which are shared languages. The characters
of film noir and the teen genre are united rather than divided by the specific language
they use, which positions these languages as genred rather than gendered forms of
expression.
The adults – The Pin and Trueman
There are three adults with speaking roles in the film, and only two with a significant
amount of dialogue, but their linguistic style matches that of the teenagers. These
characters interact with the teenagers day to day, and hold positions of authority in
their lives. These positions work in opposition to each other, as The Pin is the local
drug baron, whilst Trueman is the assistant deputy principle of the high school, whilst
the third is The Pin’s mother. The Pin and Trueman never meet in the film, but they
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do stand as representatives of the two powers in Brendan’s life, and possibly as the
two sides of his personality. Though Trueman works at the school, Brendan is the
only student seen in his company; The Pin however, surrounds himself with an army
of teenagers, takes advice from high-school students, and is never seen speaking to
another adult apart from his own mother.
Noir uses the contrast of good and bad by depicting the detective trying to avoid being
caught by either the police or the criminals. The idea of the detective’s past and future
are also divided between these two organisations. Traditionally, the private detective
has started his career in the police force but has left due to a clash of personalities
with his superiors. This aspect of the character’s history is seen in contrast with a
sense of understanding with the criminal kingpin or the femme fatale. In the teen
genre there is a character, usually the rebel, who clashes with figures of authority. The
character that balances out these scenes of conflict is an adult who is still part of the
teenagers’ social scene. A young person who has left school but still has influence and
more importantly an understanding of the teenagers’ thoughts and actions.
A significant character in noir is the leader of the criminal gang; as important a role as
the detective, and a challenge to the detective across their various encounters. Their
intelligence is comparable and their conversations demonstrate their suspicions of
each other but also a sense of grudging respect, representing two sides of the same
coin. They are often charged with delivering expositional dialogue on the crime that
will be central to the narrative, but also establish the relationship between the
detective and the criminals in their earliest appearance.
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The Pin’s first speech in Brick:
The Pin: Helled if you’re gonna go breaking my best clients’ noses
and expect me to play sandbag. Anyway you’ve been sniffing me
out before then, sniffing for me like a vampire bat for a horse with
a nick on its ear he can suck on. They do that. So now you got
Tugger to bring you here, which he never does, and you got me
listening, so I’m curious what you’ve got to say that better be really,
really good.
The first scene between Sam Spade and Gutman in The Maltese Falcon:
Gutman: Better and better. I distrust a close-mouthed man. He
generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things.
Talking’s something you can’t do judiciously unless you keep in
practice. Now, sir, we’ll talk if you like, and I’ll tell you right out
that I’m a man who likes talking to a man that likes to talk.
These two examples represent men who have a way with words that reflects their
character. These speeches demonstrate the character’s intelligence and their eloquence
when compared to the average criminal. These characters are on the same level as the
detective intellectually, and the scenes of conflict between them are as much – if not
more – a battle of words as a physical confrontation. The scenes of verbal sparring, as
noted by Krutnik, show the importance of language in noir. Towards the end of The
Maltese Falcon, Spade, Gutman and Joel Cairo discuss their situation:
Spade: Ten thousand... We were talking about more money than
this.
Gutman: Yes, sir, we were... But this is genuine coin of the realm,
sir. With a dollar of this you can buy ten dollars of talk. There are
more of us to be taken care of now.
Spade: That may be but I’ve got the Falcon!
Cairo: I should think it would be necessary to remind you, Mr.
Spade... you may have the Falcon, yet we certainly have you.
Spade: I’m trying not to let that worry me.
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Noir’s sophistication, and difference from other crime films, depends on scenes of
eloquent conflict as the dialogue is doing more than giving story information; it
demonstrates the character’s power and control of the situation, with the linguistic
flourishes adding to Gutman’s image as the kingpin. In the conversation between
Spade and Gutman, Spade’s words are pushing the story whilst Gutman’s theatrical
style indicates his level of comfort and control. Cairo attempts to show strength
through speech, but due to his position as a member of the gang, as opposed to the
leader, he fails to convey the required confidence and ease.
Within the teen genre, there is often an older youth – no longer a teenager but much
younger than the parents and teachers – who advises the teenage protagonist outside
of school. This character can be an older sibling, or a former student who lives or
works in the community, such as Josh in Clueless. Brick alters the image of the
kingpin to fit in with this requirement of the teen genre. Rather than an older man
with a commanding physical presence, The Pin is a young, thin man who lives at
home with his mother; however, his use of language is as significant as his
predecessors in the noir genre. That The Pin lives at home with his mother diminishes
his perceived threat, and that he surrounds himself with teenage henchmen diminishes
his position as an authoritative adult. There is less than a decade in age difference
between The Pin and his associates – The Pin ‘supposed to be old, like 26’, and the
teenagers are nearing graduation from high school – and his position amongst them
makes their linguistic similarities understandable.
The relationship between Brendan and The Pin is interesting as it includes these
contrasting elements; beginning with them doubting each other, but also including
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moments that are almost alien to the noir genre. Despite this their relationship ends in
traditional noir style, with Brendan abandoning The Pin shortly before he is shot dead
by a former ally. The physical resemblances between them could see them mistaken
for brothers, and The Pin treats Brendan differently to the other teenagers he employs.
There is a sense of understanding between them, and their conversations move from
the very serious to more innocent subjects:
The Pin: Things can get, you know, it’s tough sometimes. Twisted,
complicated, watching all the, I don’t know. Everyone’s got their
thing. You read Tolkien? ... Tolkien. The Hobbit books? ... His
descriptions of things are really good... He makes you want to be
there.
Brendan’s character is divided between the two genres, and though his language and
attitude belong to noir, his emotions – when they appear – are very much of the teen
genre. The Pin’s confession of liking Tolkien arises from a conversation where he
admits to being tired of his lifestyle, though he is only in his mid-20s, and the lack of
trust in his community. His feelings for Tolkien signify that he is still a character to
whom we can relate, and the difference in subject notes a change of tone in the scene
as the narrative is halted momentarily to remind one of the characters’ youth and the
possibilities ahead of him away from crime.
Gary Trueman is the film’s only representative of legal authority, and his actions are
motivated only by doing what is best for the school that employs him. The school and
its students are representative of a city and its populace – the conventional urban
setting of noir – and Trueman keeps order amongst them thus representing the police,
and is the community’s authority figure. As with the school film, the school is the
film’s world, and though scenes occur outside of the school gates, the school and its
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students are the society being observed. Trueman is aided by individuals within the
school such as Brendan, in order to discover who is to blame for various crimes and
anti-social behaviour. The relationship between Trueman and Brendan reflects the
traditional relationship between the police and the detective in noir, they may help
each other grudgingly, and not enjoy a cordial friendship, but they are working on the
same side and to the same ends. Their conversations convey this accord, but there is a
marked contrast in their approaches to the same work due to their difference in status:
Brendan: If I get caught like that it’s curtains anyway – I couldn’t
have brass cutting me favours in public. I’m just saying now so you
don’t come kicking in my homeroom door once trouble starts.
Trueman: Okay, here’s what I can do. I won’t pin you for
anything you aren’t caught at. I’ll ride it a little while, as long as it
doesn’t get too rough. But if anything comes up with your
fingerprints on it, I can’t help you. Also, if I get to the end of
whatever this is and it gets hot and you don’t deliver, The Veep
will need someone to hand over, police-wise. And I’ll have you.
There better be some meat at the end of this like you say, or at least
a fall guy, or you’re it.
The tension between the detective and the authorities again mirrors The Maltese
Falcon. Like Brendan, Sam Spade becomes involved with the criminal gang whilst
also assisting the authorities. The mutual desire for justice allows for cooperation
even if both parties are not aware of it:
Sam Spade: Don’t be too sure I’m as crooked as I’m supposed to
be. That kind of reputation might be good business bringing in
high-priced jobs and making it easier to deal with the enemy.
The relationship between the comparable characters in the teen genre is rather
different. The school rebel rarely works alongside a teacher, but there are examples of
the teenager finding empathy from a figure of authority, as in the relationship of Jim
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Stark and Officer Ray Fremick in Rebel without a Cause. Within the school film, the
hostility between student and teacher continues in a combination of backchat and
simmering aggression, though in some examples there is a sense of understanding or
even the possibility of a grudging respect.24
Brick concludes with the criminals being punished, and though the police are finally
called, they do not appear at the school. The climax of the crime narrative occurs at
the home of The Pin in the early hours of the morning, but the final scene when
Brendan confronts Laura, who is ultimately responsible for Emily’s death, though she
didn’t pull the trigger herself, occurs at the school. Laura is not handed over to the
police; she is taken away by Trueman. As the authority of the school, Trueman is the
final authority in the film, and it is the crime amongst the teenagers within the society
of the school that counts the most in the end. Though much of the narrative is based
around the criminality surrounding the school’s drug culture, it is the death of Emily
which is most significant to Brendan as it was the motivation for his involvement in
the case. Therefore the final confrontation between Brendan and Laura revolves
around her role in Emily’s murder, rather than her role in The Pin’s gang.
Conclusion
Language is an important part of any film whether it appears onscreen as a letter, as
subtitles, or as dialogue, but rarely is it discussed as a convention of genre. The
linguistic style used can be treated as an essential part of creating a genre film, and is
recognisable enough to inspire discussion. Within this chapter I have discussed
several genres and how they use language to create mood and a credible atmosphere,
24
As seen between Spicoli and Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
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whether the context is historic, alien or literary. The examples I have used convey the
significance of language in creating a genre film. By focusing on the language used,
and analysing a scene as one would through a more traditional theme – the use of a
star persona or a specific director – this can be added to the components and
conventions of what makes a genre film.
The analysis of Brick as a Bakhtinian utterance, an individual film drawing on the
history and conventions of the wider genres of the teen film and film noir, sees the
significance of the dialogue’s linguistic style as intonation. The characters of the
detective, the femme fatale and the kingpin are reinforced by the dialogue they share.
The iconography of the film conveys its position as part of the teen genre, with the
youth of the characters, the social events in their parents’ houses, numerous scenes
(including discussions with teachers) being located on the high school campus. The
events that propel the narrative and Brendan’s journey to find Emily’s killer, are
supported by the film’s dialogue and the linguistic style in which it has been written.
Johnson has discussed how he wanted to create a noir film and chose to locate it in the
teen genre as a means of getting the film funded, but it is the intonation in the
dialogue that secures the film as noir.25
A Clockwork Orange and Platoon are very different films, but their uses of language
are equally noteworthy, not only for their use of dialogue but also as representations
of their respective genres. The language of A Clockwork Orange is one of the most
memorable elements of the film, as its style is so striking. The use of Nadsat
demonstrates the differences between young and old, locates the story in the future,
25
Interview with Johnson featured in the film’s press pack from Optimum Releasing.
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and highlights the various cultural influences upon the characters. Alex’s use of
Nadsat also guides the audience through the futuristic world via his narration, and
allows the audience to comprehend the teen language as the film continues. It is also
significant to the development of the story as Alex’s use of language not only leads
him to prison, but also signifies the return of his free will at the end of the film.
In Platoon, Chris’s language demonstrates the effect of war on his personality and his
emotions. By counter-balancing Chris’s language in scenes of combat with his letters
home the film shows the two sides of his life, before he arrived in Vietnam and his
life within the war. It is also possible to note the differences between Chris and the
rest of his platoon, he has been to college – though he dropped out to enlist for the
army – and is literary and eloquent in his use of words. As his life in the war
continues his language use deteriorates to basics, and in stressful situations his words
harden and barely rise above shouting obscenities. In both films the protagonist’s use
of language – onscreen or in a voice-over – reflects the journey they have taken as
they attempt to rediscover their identities.
Though there is very little discussion in film studies of the importance of language in
the creation of a genre film, the examples I have used in this chapter demonstrate that
there is room for the debate around language as a genre convention. As with sciencefiction and the war film, film noir and the teen genre use language to establish the
location of the narrative. The use of slang and technical terminology ties the films’
narrative events to a certain period be it in the past or in the future, and to the public’s
understanding or expectations of this period. In the examples of noir discussed above,
the dialogue creates a connection between them, uniting the original period of
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production to more recent films like Brick set in the contemporary world but keeping
to the themes and conventions of the original films. Though Brick uses a noir
narrative from the beginning, its use of language in the characters’ dialogue sustains
the extreme nature of this narrative located as it is amongst familiar teen genre
locations and archetypes. The use of teen film conventions are demonstrated in the
establishment of the characters’ positions in the school setting, and their age, but
through the use of a noir narrative and linguistic style, the teen elements are to some
degree pushed aside. The dialogue reinforces the characters as noir archetypes, whilst
the use of contemporary slang would have reinforced the teen genre setting,
undermining the narrative.
In the films I have analysed in this chapter, linguistic style has proved to be a key
element of creating the necessary atmosphere across several different genres. Though
not every genre is notable for a striking style of language, this does not detract from
the importance of language within several specific genres. In the case of noir, the use
of language heard in Brick is notable and familiar, encouraging comparisons with
other noir films from the classic period, and of the resurgences of the genre that
followed. The language is as important as the narrative in locating Brick away from
more traditional crime films, and within the genre of noir, but does not reject the
conventions of the teen genre. The location of the high school is prominent
throughout the film, with several important scenes taking place on campus. The
dialogue also make several reference to the characters’ lives within the school, with
discussions of classes, homework and social hierarchies and cliques, many of which
are supported in the inclusion of high school iconography (such as team uniforms,
student lockers, playing fields and the school library).
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Brick combines the conventions of the teen film and film noir, to create a different
view of the teenage experience. The two genres are pulled together by the actions of
Brendan as the school rebel and the noir detective. The teen genre and noir can be
compared due to their use of language not only to create a consistency in the
characters’ dialogue but also to indicate the story’s mood, location and period. There
is an expectation for the characters to express themselves in a specific way, and this
means of self-expression leads to a linguistic style that is notable across the genre. In
the other three case studies, the use of language has highlighted the differences
between the teenage characters and the older generation; these linguistic differences
have arisen from the specific dialect of the teenage generation, or from characters
using their bilingualism to separate themselves from the influence of their community.
In this case study, language does not separate the young from the old, but serves the
narrative by creating an atmosphere and specific mood for the characters in which the
narrative can convince. By using the linguistic style of noir, Brick separates itself
from the expectations of the teen film whilst maintaining the genre’s conventions.
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