Narritive and Scene analysis

            The film is constructed around the story of a newly intergrated highschool football team that is experiencing intense racial divides within the team.  Coach Boone played by Denzel Washington is keen on bringing the team together, and force them to break racial divides.  The plot sequence is organized in home (virginia), summer camp (Pensylvania), and back home to virginia.  Virginia symbolizes the intense racial segregation the boys face.  Summer camp is their high where they are all able to reconcile and become friends.  When the players get back to Virginia they are tested, because there is no longer a stable environment around them that coach Boone is able to regulate.  Our engagement of the characters is feeling jubilance and sorrow.  Gerry Bertier's car accident, which causes him to become paralyzed from the waste down is a heartbreaker, for the cliche happy ending is somewhat crushed by one of the maincharacters being paralyzed.

              The characters are represented as epitomes of the social era.  They are all given cliche traits, the whites are portrayed as racist, and the blacks are portrayed as having soul and spirit.  The acting of Bertier and Julias allow us to feel for the characters as they start their friendship with "Strong side, left side".  The cinematography is not outstanding, but it is not bad.  There are some creative shots of tilting when the players are running to Gettyburg cemetary.  A nice shot is when the players can be outlined in the shadows of the schoool bus headlights when they players are forced to play in the dark.  The slight overexposed shots allow the audience to be somewhat taken back into 1971.  Locations were key, such as Gettysburg cemetary.  This is where Coach Boone tells the players that they will end up like the men in the cemetary if they dont get along.  The players start to realize that they must work together if they have any hopes of success.  Music is also a key aspect of the movie, for it is mainly used to portray the music that blacks like listening to.  The soul and gossipal music is stereotypical black music that portrays the black society.  This music is used to incorporate happiness and emotion.  The movie allows the audience to see that racial and social barriers can be broken as long as people are willing to break those barriers.