The Selfish Ginat Analysis

Robyn Matthews the Selfish Giant analysis The Selfish Giant (2013) directed by Clio Barnard, written by Clio Barnard and Oscar Wilde. From the opening scenes I established that the narrative of this film is about two working class thirteen year old friends currently living with crime. In the opening scene the mis en scene is clearly thought out. The lighting is dimly lit to represent the emotions portrayed in the scene: anger and frustration. Furthermore this signifies that Conner Chapman, Arbor, is currently in a dark place justified by his aggressive actions as he bangs on the runs of the bed. His friend Swifty, played by Shaun Thomas, forcefully tries to calm Arbor down and contain his violent outburst. This appeared hard to do which shows that Arbor has a determined personality as he will not give up, however eventually Swifty tightly holds his hand and the director purposefully got a close up of this particular shot. This shot is very significant as we are alerted of the love and unity between the two boys and the power a simple hold of the hand has over some beings. This is a display of comfort as universally holding hands in a symbol of you not being alone…you are safe. The next scene is the two young boy riding on a hoarse by the train tracks over a bridge. Immediately this gives us some back ground information on where they come from and how they are brought up. The fact they are on top of this horse shows where their mindset is and perhaps they are a bit ahead of their time. In the past horses were ridden by nights defending the castle so suggestively they feel a need to present their authority. I have come to the conclusion that this is because they are in a dangerous place as not many 13 year old boys will be allowed out in the dead of night by themselves, so to accumulate a protective illusion they have sat on this hoarse to reassure themselves that this is an okay thing to do. The light is dimly lit in the scene also showing that the danger is not over. We have a clear view of two working middle aged men cutting a large piece of cable. The lighting tells us a lot about the danger. As it is dark we don’t have a clear view on the cast, therefore, their safety is blurred and what happens next cannot be foreshadowed. Arbor is then edged by Swifty to check out what is happening as this abnormal occurrence intrigued the boys. This resulted in Arbor stealing the cable and riding away with Swifty to his aid. This scene is very significant as we are exposed to what the boys feel is acceptable to do. The theme living with crime is clearly demonstrated to the audience. Next the boys bring the cables to a scrap yard where we discover they got the hoarse from. Immediately they are approached by a man with an axe and threatened but they barter with him showing the cables and later receive money for the merchandise. Here we see that people priorities money over safety and people are willing to risk their lives for a little bit of cash. In the next scene the boys return to Arbors home where we understand his living situation deeper. We see a basic kitchen which alerts us that this family is not very wealthy. The reduced in price cereal boxes and lack of equipment on the counter tell us this. We are made aware that Arbors mum is single and his brother and he are quite clearly the male dominants in the family. Their mother feels its acceptable to be spoken down to by her son as she is incapable of controlling him this may be because she hasn’t sorted her own life out. We are then made aware that Arbors anger issues are clearly because of a mental disorder called ADHD. This is made clear by the reference to his pills which justifies this assumption. We then as viewers, feel quite sympathetic for |Arbor and our once outraged emotions caused by his actions are softened as there is a logical reason to why this young man is so angry and disrespectful towards his family.