Alcatraz American Dream

530 Words2 Pages

Walker, a ruthless crook is left for dead on Alcatraz island after his partner Mal Reese betrays him. Reese then runs off with Walker’s wife and the money they stole together. However, Walker survives the attack and manages to recover. With the help of a mysterious man named Yost, Walker returns to have his revenge. He sets out to find Reese and recover the 93,000$. Walker soon discovers that Reese is now part of a criminal organization and is dating Lynne’s sister Chris. After confronting Chris, Walker finds out that in reality Chris loathes Reese and she is willing to help him take down Reese. On a superficial level, the film can be viewed as a straightforward violent tale of greed, betrayal, and revenge. However, when watching it closely, the …show more content…

In class, we discussed how the film can be viewed as a fantasy taking place in Walker’s head and after rewatching the film I believe that it can be interpreted as a dream of a dying man. In the first few minutes of the film, we see the protagonist getting shot and left behind to die. As he lays there dying, we hear Walker’s voice saying “ Did it happen? a dream… a dream” and then it cuts to Walker getting up and escaping from Alcatraz.Spicer notes that the unusual angles applied within the stills make Walker’s body look grotesque and primeval (51). The shots almost make him look like a specter, to me, he resembles the slender man, tall, with long slender arms, and legs ready to take his victims down. Boorman states that “seeing the film, one should be able to imagine that this whole story of vengeance is taking place inside his head at the moment of his death”(Spicer, 51). Furthermore, Spicer states that Walker’s action does not seem normal and logical, instead his ability to

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