CIN240H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Heist Film, Plans, The Gangster
Document Summary
Cycles have come and gone with different variations throughout the decades. Some say it is a weak genre, others say it is just a subgenre of the gangster film. Rick altman applies linguistic - semantic, syntactic terms to genre traits. Semantic elements locations, character types, key scenes, recognizable shots, costumes, familiar props (that define a genre) Syntactic elements arrangement of the semantic elements. The semantic approach stresses the genres building blocks, while the syntactic view privileges the structures to which they are arranged . For the heist, altman sees it as a genre but not a strong one is not convinced that it has a reinforcement and syntax (lacks the functions of a stronger genre like the western . Deals with a series of robberies or the real-time difficulties of a single holdup that extends the entire film. Darrell lee argues for two principal functions: to provide a critique of the socioeconomic order (see reading pg.
