The
title of this movie is 8 mile. The movie was produced and directed by Curtis
Hanson. It was made in the United States of America.
List of important actors in the movie:
× Eminem
as Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith
× Brittany
Murphy as Alex Latorno
× Kim
Basinger as Stephanie
× Evan
Jones as “Cheddar Bob”
× Anthony
Mackie as “Papa Doc”
× Chloe
Greenfield as Lily
× Mekhi Thira Phifer as David “Future” Porter
× King Gordy as Big “O”
Genre:
Drama, self-biography and music.
Setting:
The movie is produced in the US and the
action takes place in the poor part of Detroit,Michigan. The poor part is
recognized by how the people live and act. For instance Rabbit live with his
mother in a truck, and they have problems paying the rent. The way people act
is characterized in a lot of fighting and conflicts as well as it is normal to
carry a gun. Most of the time the action takes place in the trailer park
where Jimmy lives, at his work on a stamp fabric and the “rap club” the
Shelter.
Plot
The movie is about a young man named Jimmy
“B-Rabbit” Smith. In the opening scene Rabbit chokes in a rap battle, which is
predominantly the basis of the movie. People in the town jokes around about the
incident and Rabbits friend Future signs Rabbit up for a new battle.
Later he meets Alex who turns out to be an
important person in his life. He realizes that he has to take control of his
life and decides to enter the rap battle even though he refused to do so at
first.
During the movie Jimmy and his friends meets
several conflicts and in the end Rabbit battles at the Shelter. He wins this
battle and walks away with new hope of a music carrier.
Structure
The story takes place in the present and is
chronologically structured. As far as I remember there are no flashbacks
in the movie. The narrator is third person, but the story is told thru Rabbits
eyes, the main character. We do not get to know what he is thinking at any
point during the movie unless he talks about it to another person.
In one way I would also say that there is a
parallel action. This is because there is a story about a struggling
rapper, but also about a young man who tries to take care of his family.
When Jimmy loses the battle and Future signed him
up for another one, it all adds up to a new battle later. This is an example of
a foreshadow in the movie. The suspense in the movie is about if he will
receive a record deal or not, will he enter a second rap battle and if he do,
will he choke or will he rap.
Theme
The theme of this movie is mainly the American
dream. However there are a couple of other themes as well such as poverty and
independence.
The theme could be independence because in the
movie, Jimmy does not want to be dependent to other. He shows us that it is
possible to achieve success without too much help from other human
beings. Achieving success is also a big part of finding the American
Dream. Jimmy symbolizes the American Dream because he managed to go from a life
in poverty to a life in wealth. The last theme I think it might be is
poverty. This is because you see poverty thru the whole movie, and it basically
symbolizes the movie.
Conflict:
I find it hard to find a conflict in this movie
and I do not think that there is a main conflict. I think that perhaps
Rabbit has a lot of smaller conflicts and issues about himself. These conflicts
include how he does not want to disappoint anyone, but still wants to do what’s
best for him. He has to solve these conflicts internal. In addition to this I
also think that Rabbit is affected by the environment that surrounds him.
Characterization
I do not think that the characters are just static
people who do not change during the movie. More the other way around. For
instance, in the end everyone understands that Rabbit has to do what’s best for
himself and that he have to develop his freestyle rap skill in his own way, and
they actually respects it.
This is a very serious movie and I believe that
both the characters and the action are believable.
Narrator and point of view:
The story is told thru Rabbits point of view,
although we do not get to hear his thoughts and feelings. I think that the
narrator perhaps is a third person limited narrator.
Imagery:
One of the instruments in the
movie is poverty. The colors are mostly dark and cold, such as grey, brown,
dark blue and so on.
Sources:
