Like most thrillers, ‘Taking Lives’ begins with a scene that sets a vague overview of the content for the rest of the film, which helps the audience establish a brief understanding of characters, setting etc. During the opening of ‘Taking Lives’, a main character is brought into focus, alongside a supporting role. As the audience you get the feeling that the two characters introduced would be the main story for the film, in some way. The scene that follows is aimed to shock the audience, and it indeed delivers, as you begin to understand the characters. Yet the director [D.J. Caruso] brings it back to the intended thriller genre, with an accident suddenly occurring after a line of speech, designed to make the viewers speculate about what is meant. The predictability of the event is quite subtle, as the viewer is almost drawn into the storyline, forgetting what the genre is, even thought you know in the back of your mind something is going to happen, it does so in an unlikely way. Most thrillers conform to a cliché of suspended shock, be it from an event build up or character act, ‘Taking Lives’ builds anticipation until the audience is sat on the edge of their seat, yet instead of shock, the thrill subsides and re-appears when it is least expected.'Taking Lives’ could be considered as a classic thriller, in the sense that there is a protagonist, who appears to have a pretty mundane background, yet as the story unravels in a series of unnerving events, it becomes apparent the lead character is far from the ordinary. The director builds up a storyline with many factors to build up the tension of the plot including the typical dark rooms without a working light, leading a FBI agent into a room alone with only the company of a single torchlight. One of the main conventions of the thriller genre involved the use of psychology, be it mentally unstable or otherwise. This forms the main focal point for a classic thriller, as the mind patterns of the main character almost entice the viewers, giving them the ability to allow their own minds to wonder where or what they are going to do next.
The film lives up to the predictability of the thriller genre by the means of the typical instrumental music, it never fails to create a dramatic suspense, drawing the audience even deeper into the plot. However, what the director does using this well know technique is to play the music when one character is alone, the music is played, creating the tension for the audience, yet when the instrumentals build up to a climax nothing happens, creating a false illusion of where the plot is going.
When relating ‘Taking Lives’ to the typical convention of the thriller, there are aspects which subvert the genre, setting it aside from the rest. Violence is frequently associated with thriller films, be it for audience shock, or storytelling; the opening credits of this particular film involve a young man being thrown in front of a moving vehicle, and suffering a blow to the face with a rock, by the mysterious main character. Although this sets the scene and creates that instant and vital impact for audience capture, there is barely any violence until the pinnacle of the film is reached. If watched through again, you can see Caruso has primarily used sound effects to shock the audience, and that what is interpreted is purely down to audio illusion and human imagination.
Conforming to the shock value of a typical thriller, the suspense in ‘Taking Lives’ is done so through sequences of characters being alone in darkened rooms, for example the scene where the main female character is in the suspects bedroom. The mise- en- scene in this particular scene is characteristic for a psychotic individual; a bleak setting with dirty, shambolic surroundings. The shadows cast upon the walls by the female give the illusion she is not alone and with the suspense heightened by the instrumental music, the audience is lead to believe an event is about to take place. Caruso subverts the film from the cliché of the thriller genre when the woman lies on the bed of the murderer, adding an element of relaxation. The fact the female is un phased by the situation she is in, the scene plays with human emotion by questioning if she is too, mentally unbalanced on some level. The sequence provokes thought amongst the audience, until shock value is restored when hands suddenly emerge from the bed, where the detective is lying. The constant ‘on-edge’ aspect to the film conforms to the typical features of a thriller, yet Caruso pushes this boundary by capturing the audience with mental confusion.
In conclusion, ‘Taking Lives’ conforms to the typical elements of a thriller, yet the plot and use of audience expectancy subvert the norm, and with judgement enticing the audience, the film can be praised in a whole new context.
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