Thriller Genre

Thriller Genre

"The concept of a protagonist who is not in control thus seems virtually universal to the [suspense thriller] genre." - Charles Derry

• The protagonist is usually the victim in typical thrillers.

Considering conventions:

• The narrative centres around a crime for example, a theft or a murder.
• The protagonist is fallible and has an 'Achilles heel' that is exploited by the antagonist. The title of the thriller may relate to this weakness eg. Vertigo and Insomnia. 
• The protagonist will be seen 'in peril' in one or more scenes before the resolution.
• The antagonist ensnares the protagonist in an increasingly complex web, until the protagonist feels isolated and helpless. 
• The narrative presents ordinary situations in which extraordinary things happen.
• Micro elements combine in a build up of suspense. 
• Themes of identity are common: Mistaken identity, doubling/doppelgangers, amnesia.
• Themes of seeing, reflection and mirroring. Manipulation of perspectives and optical illusions are common. 
• The audience of a thriller is placed in the ambiguous position of voyeur. 
• Voyeurism can also be a theme and the objectification of female characters is common especially in earlier thrillers.
• A series of or one important enigma(s) are set up in the opening sequence of the film. It is further complicated during the first part of the film and only resolved at the very end. 

Genre Theory:

A "regulated variety" (Neale, 1980)

Genre theory is to do with a circulation of expectations between industries, media texts and audiences. This leads to a "regulated variety".

Hartley, 1999:

"A contract between producer and audience which 'disciplines' choices and reduces desires."

Genre is ideological

"The genre films offers a lesson in how to act within society and how to deal with current problems and anxieties. But it does not offer neutral ways of dealing with social problems; instead, it prescribes a preferred set of values."

An example of preferred sets of values in todays films are those of capitalist ideology with its emphasis on the individual.

All theorists agree about the 'slippery' and 'fluid' nature of labelling texts in this way. But the exception to the rule is the pure genre text and of course the Auteur film.