Three Kings Essay

A film theory approach that considers formalist and/or realist characteristics can be taken in any film genre. The war genre is no exception. The 1999 film, Three Kings directed by, David Russell used both approaches to film theory and conventions typically found in war films to convey the events of the time as well the heroic journeys of soldiers on both sides. The war film genre is a type of film that is concerned with warfare. Warfare that includes all types: air, ground, naval, etc. Regardless of the type of war or war that is being depicted the genre generally focuses on heavy combat scenes that are central to the dramatics of the film. The general themes that are explored include combat, survival, escape, sacrifice, effects of the

Although some of the story may be based on truth, majority of the film is told through the perspective of the filmmaker. And as our lecture points out, the films manipulate film form to communicate that interpretation to the viewer.
Although Three Kings is a typical war genre film, it does not follow all of the conventions such as horrific combat death scenes it does contain many of the convictions that are pointed out by Belton. The opening scene of the film, for example, where we see suspension of civilian morality take place as Walberg’s character shoots an Iraqi soldier waving a white flag. And as the story progresses you continue to see the four soldiers along their journey of moral superiority and heroism. Three Kings implores a more realism approach to story telling than that of many films in this genre. The techniques used by the filmmaker are what make this the most evident. For instance, Russell often used a hand-held camera for many shots in the film. This allowed a journalistic or documentary style to be portrayed in telling the story. They were often very deep focused and long shots, allowing the viewer to take in the whole scene. This is evident in many scenes in the movie with violence happening in the shot, not involving or caused by the characters, but is just there to drive home the political wartime climate of where this film is taking place. I believe that the realism