Lupin - language Flashcards
What does Paris stereotypically represent? How is it presented in Lupin?
Romance and glamour
While we see this in Lupin through use of Louvre glass pyramids, red carpets, glamorous jewellery auction and getaway sports car, this is juxtaposed with paradigm conveying poverty, including high rise tower blocks alongside an overcast day creating pathetic fallacy, grafitti and fighting
What are the costumes like in Lupin?
During the jewellery auction, characters are in black and sparkly suits and dresses to portray sophistication and wealth.
On the other hand, the cleaners are in black jumpsuits and have black hats on, making it seem like they may be capable of robbery, but foreshadowing prison with connotations of orange jumpsuits, making the audience hooked because they are scared the main character could go to prison
When he goes to the shop to get the fake necklace, he has a flat cap on and a long blazer, showing connotations of a gentleman thief
How do lexical codes create meaning?
In the advert and promotion, the word Lupin is written in bright orange, further presenting connotations of orange jumpsuits and prison
How does the book of Lupin that Assane gives to his son create meaning?
The book has golden edges, highlighting it’s a treasure, even priceless. This indicates the lessons and knowledge it may contain making it parallel to a bible to the son as its assumed that it will help to navigate him through life. The golden man on the front could convey detail and intricacy or age and wisdom
How are the people in the flats portrayed as threatening or outsiders?
We are shown the block of flats from behind railings making it feel as if they are already prisoners and we are separated from them. This could connote how society treat them as outsiders and expose our assumption of poverty and therefore crime, or could genuinely portray crime, making us feel like Assane is going to a dangerous place.
Given we feel an element of separation to the people in the flats, it positions the audience to feel a lack of sympathy towards them, allowing us to see them as villains and ignoring there own journey to poverty and crime
When is mise en scene used to expose racism in society?
We are shown an over the shoulder shot in the car when Mrs Pelligrini is trying to quickly get the car to work and lock the doors because she believes the black man is threatening and dangerous. This is looking out the window through the rain out to the black men who are getting soaked in the rain. This exposes the white eye in society as we feel an element of separation to Babakar and feel like we are forced to see him through her perspective
How is wealth portrayed in Lupin?
Through a syntagm of signs including the Mona Lisa, the necklace and the prestigious Paris landmarks. In the analepses, this is shown through the stately home that the Pellegrini’s live in to reinforce how Assane is constantly surrounded by wealth despite being poor
What about the weather portrays crime?
Pathetic fallacy when he approaches the flat as it’s an overcast, cloudy day and most of the episode is set at night which is conventional to crime or a heist drama
How are we positioned to like Lupin?
He is portrayed as a handsome gentleman, yet as cunning ‘always one step ahead’ and someone who is trying to get justice for the things that have happened to him in the past, including the loss of his dad. Through the use of breaking the fourth wall and direct address in speech we understand at the end of the episode what led him to try to steal the necklace and so feel sympathy for him and want him to get what is rightfully his
Similarly the constant cross cutting between the auction and past scenes of discrimination help to remind the audience he’s taking back what he deserves.
What is the lighting like throughout the episode?
Large levels of low key lighting including:
- when he is explaining his real identity signifying his want to stay undercover
- when as a cleaner showing he has to work anti-social hours and making it feel like they are based underground to show they are forgotten about
- when he looks at the necklace in the museum further portraying ideas that the cleaners aren’t treated as people and this is what could help them get away with stealing the necklace
- in the gangs flat to reinforce poverty
How are binary oppositions used in Lupin?
Juxtaposition of rich and poor throughout:
- Black and white race - Babakar v Pellegrini - Gilroy would argue
- wealth v poor
- anti-social behaviour of gang v sophisticated gentlemen thief - this subverts our expectations compared to at the start when they try to throw him off balcony
What convention happens at the start of Lupin that is conventional of a heist drama?
Getting the team together as he explains the plan to the gang - this always happens in the first 25% of the programme
What kind of narratives does Lupin conform to?
-Non-linear - lots of analepsis back to his childhood and prolepsis when explaining the plan to the gang. This has a major plot twist at the end where his identity is explained: ‘I am Lupin’. This is known as a climatic revelation or denouement
-cyclical narrative - both at the start and end, we are placed a few weeks before the heist but only at the end is it discovered how the heist was carried out
-Fragmented narrative - the plan isn’t talked about completely in the same time and place and lots of flashforwards and backs
-Dual narrative/multi-stranded as we see Assane as a child visiting his father in prison while the audience has concerns that he could go to prison. One storyline largely helps to explain the other although this is only clear at the end
What codes are used throughout to push the narrative?
Enigma codes, which are then answered at the end. E.g.
- Assane saying he is going to change; what has he done?
- When the gang starts to bang the lockers; what are they doing? Can we trust them?
- When Assane makes the bid at the auction, it shows unexpected confidence; we wonder as to why he suddenly acts like this
What are some of the themes in Lupin?
- poverty
- crime (social realism) - looks to expose failings within society
- race
- justice and revenge
- gender
- immigration
- family dynamics
- place portrayal
