Hurricane Carter Film Techniques

Describe an important idea in the film. Explain how visual and verbal features helped you to understand this idea. “Writing is a weapon more powerful than fists could ever be.” Norman Jewison highlights the power of the written word and education over physical strength throughout The Hurricane. He allows the audience to realise the full extent of this power by employing camera techniques, voiceovers, dialogue and lighting effectively. Through these visual and verbal techniques he teaches the audience that in the end it is the written word that frees Rubin Carter from wrongful imprisonment, not his “fists”. ‘The Sixteenth Round’, Rubin Hurricane Carter’s autobiography,is a symbol of his innocence and search for freedom. Rubin recognises that “that book” is his only chance to convey the truth to the rest of the world. Jewison highlights thefact that the book is “the only thing [Rubin’s] got left” in prison through the use of
The audience is able to see how the ‘written word’ is able to inspire Lesra and give him the confidence to change his own life for the better. Jewison shows how significant ‘The Sixteenth Round’ is in Lesra’s lifethrough the use of Rubin Carter’s voiceover while Lesra is reading. He also uses a fade in to transition from Lesra reading to an event in the book. These techniques allow the audience to link the two characters together through the ‘written word’. The voiceover and fade in also show the audience that Lesra is absorbed in Rubin’s story and will do anything to help him. This book encourages Lesra to make contact with Rubin, which he does through writing letters. We see a close up of Lesra’s shaky handwriting to show how he progressed from not being able to read and write at all, to writing a whole letter. Through the power of the written word (i.e. handwritten correspondence) a strong relationship develops between Rubin and