School Ties
Explain two of the main ideas/themes revealed in the film you have studied and show how these have been conveyed.
When people feel that they do not belong, they tend to try their hardest to befriend their peers surrounding them. They also do not want others to have negative views of them due to prejudice. In the film School Ties, directed by Robert Mandel, David Greene himself shows the theme of alienation to the audience. The reactions of others towards David show the theme of prejudice. Robert Mandel has delivered these two themes through various characters, using a variety of visual and verbal techniques.
At the beginning of the film, when David first arrives at St Matthews, he is amazed at the elegance of the school. We know that the school is luxurious as we are given an extreme long shot of the school to emphasise the grandness of the school. The ambient sound of the church bells ringing also adds to this effect. We also know that David is amazed as he says, “This is a high school?” with confusion and amazement in the tone of his voice. He also looks at the school, in awe. We can recognise the awe in his face as we are presented with a reaction shot of David, clearly being able to understand his emotions. Immediately, we can see that he is out of place as he is used to schools that tend to be more small and crowded in the poor coalmining town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We know that David is from a low socio-economic class, judging by the appearance of his house very close to the start of the film. We are given a high angle shot of their apartment, which suggests that his family was quite poor. Centred in the extreme long shot of the school, is the church. Mandel has done this on purpose to provide the audience with another reason why David does not belong. This reason, is that the school that David is about to attend, is strongly Christian; and David is a Jew. Prior to and during the first assembly, we are shown how David is different. Before the
When people feel that they do not belong, they tend to try their hardest to befriend their peers surrounding them. They also do not want others to have negative views of them due to prejudice. In the film School Ties, directed by Robert Mandel, David Greene himself shows the theme of alienation to the audience. The reactions of others towards David show the theme of prejudice. Robert Mandel has delivered these two themes through various characters, using a variety of visual and verbal techniques.
At the beginning of the film, when David first arrives at St Matthews, he is amazed at the elegance of the school. We know that the school is luxurious as we are given an extreme long shot of the school to emphasise the grandness of the school. The ambient sound of the church bells ringing also adds to this effect. We also know that David is amazed as he says, “This is a high school?” with confusion and amazement in the tone of his voice. He also looks at the school, in awe. We can recognise the awe in his face as we are presented with a reaction shot of David, clearly being able to understand his emotions. Immediately, we can see that he is out of place as he is used to schools that tend to be more small and crowded in the poor coalmining town of Scranton, Pennsylvania. We know that David is from a low socio-economic class, judging by the appearance of his house very close to the start of the film. We are given a high angle shot of their apartment, which suggests that his family was quite poor. Centred in the extreme long shot of the school, is the church. Mandel has done this on purpose to provide the audience with another reason why David does not belong. This reason, is that the school that David is about to attend, is strongly Christian; and David is a Jew. Prior to and during the first assembly, we are shown how David is different. Before the