Race In Touch Of Evil

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In “Touch of Evil” there is a big emphasis on race throughout the movie. Since the movie is set at the border between Mexico and the USA makes race a key piece in telling the story. Knowing that Welles changed the scenery from California to a border town is a big step in trying to show the division and racism between both races. Race is not the major theme in the movie but it's still not hidden. Race plays an important role in trying to show the difference between Vargas and Quinlan. With race being involve in the movie, the viewer can see how Orson Welles viewed each character by the camera angles he used. The most notable camera shot would be the tracking shot in the beginning of the movie to help set the meaning of the scene. …show more content…

This makes them appear bigger than they are, as well as gives them a feeling of being “off.” An example of this would be with the Mexican cartel men or the character “Grande”. In numerous scenes, they would be shot from a low angle to make them appear more menacing. By making them look more menacing, it helped emphasis the classic good vs. evil throughout the movie. Characters that are seen as trustworthy often are shot from a straight angle, and have more close ups of their faces. Janet Leigh’s character Susan, for example, was only shot from these angles. The gypsy, Marcia, is another example. Marcia’s purpose in the film is to provide a sort of wake up call for Hank, Orson Welles’ character. She has a good purpose, and is therefore shot from angles that we see more often in the real world. Close ups on her face also add to the audience’s feeling of trust for her. Orson Welles wants the audience to trust her so that by the end of the movie when Hank is killed we understand why she is given the last scene, Marcia is supposed to be the person who knew Hank all the way through his life. Marcia see the decline of Hank ever since his wife was strangled to …show more content…

Even the the audience sees Orson Welles character, Hank as a cop who breaks the law to get his job, doesn't mean that he wasn't a straight laced cop before that. In the movie we are told that Hanks wife was killed, tragically strangled and the killer was never found because there was no fingerprints. The audience only see Hank far past that event when he's still trying to cope will his wife's death which could make him change his view on how he does his job. Since the cops could never find evidence at his wife's murder scene it would make sense that Hank starts to plant evidence to at least have someone going to jail even though it's not the right person. In his mind it helps him with the lose of his wife, not letting someone else's life be ruined by not knowing who killed your loved ones. It could be seen as a reach that I'm trying to say that Hank is framing others to get justice for his wife's death. On the other hand the viewer is shown that Quinlan is the straight laced cop who wants to solve the crime. By the end of the movie we see Quinlan turn towards crime to get what he wants/deserves. You could compare Hank and Quinlan by the end seeing how both turn to breaking the law to getting what they want by the

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