Dé Jà Vu christmas holiday analysis

Dé Jà Vu  

The film I have chosen to blog about is Dé Jà Vu. It is an action thriller about a detective that tries to recover evidence of an explosion on a New Orleans ferry. Agent Doug Carlin is a quick thinker, when it comes to problem solving. His partner died in the ferry explosion Larry Minuti. At first other detectives don’t know how to respond to him because they are surprised how quick he is able to put up his assumption. Doug Carlin has joined a team where they use surveillance videos to establish evidence. The surveillance camera  called 'snow white' connects with 7 satellites to produce footage that happened 4 days ago. A woman named Claire who was with suspect because he came to buy her car, however she died 2 hours ago after the explosion, well that is in the present time. They use Claire’s 4 days life experience to figure out the murderer. In spite of this the surveillance cameras was made by accident because it can fold space and manipulate the past. To try and catch the murderer before he commits the crime in the past so the team including Agent Doug Carlin who sends a letter to himself in the past so he can get the killer 4 days before the explosion but his partner picks up the letter from his desk wanting to reap all the glory for catching the criminal but sadly the plan backfires and he dies. By manipulating the past they change the course of how he died. When they have a chance to follow the car in the past, they have to use a “ring goggle” that allows them to see where the car is going in the past, but he needs to remember that he is driving in the present time, where it is busy. They finally trace his whereabouts and capture him. The reason why the bomber blew up the ferry because the US government turned him away from joining the army or the navy because the bomber has psychological problems that they can’t deal with but also because he is a Patron Saint.. After capturing the killer in the present, Detective Doug Carlin himself decides to go back in the past to when the day of the explosion, to try and save Claire. It is a race against time to save Claire and passengers on the ferry. He manages to save the people and Claire but by doing this he killed himself, however he comes back the same way he enters the film by investigating the crime scene but this time the Patron Saint has died, Claire is alive and the passengers are safe. No explosions had taken place and the ending of the film ends in the past. The film is hard to explain but is easy to get into. The film has used the trick of film noir. It is full of action and high anxiety.

In the opening credits there was a slow motion flash bulb blur to say that from the beginning the murder investigation has already happened because the pictures for the evidence has been taken. The use of editing from perspective has been used because of the different camera shots and movements, as if it is from the characters eyes.  The character seems anxious because they are looking at different aspects of the scene. This use of this allows us to comprehend what the film is about. The editing is fast paced because different camera angles have been used. The sound is from a piano but each key is being played separately and harsh creating a mourning atmosphere. There is a wavy “whoo” in the background to create a ghostly atmosphere. The music then turns intense music because the use of violins and drums, which is imitating a heartbeat, is playing in the background, foreshadowing that life is danger. In addition to make a tense atmosphere.

The shot that inspires me the most is when the little girl drops her doll in the water. The shot is a low angle as we watch the girl trying to catch her doll. The action of the doll has been slowed down to capture the importance of the event that is going to take place. This is because the doll has human like features and is the symbol of innocents. The doll then has a close up of it solely sinking into the the water, implying that innocent people on the boat are going to die. To highlight the significance they use a shot reverse shot of the young girl looking sad and the doll in the water. A cross cut has been used to show the contrast of the people celebrating on the boat and exploration of the bomb in the boat. This all happens at the first five minutes of the film of anticipation and high intense energy, creating instant arousal.

Another scene that I like was when the people are injured put they have chosen to use non digetic sound than muted the digetic sound creating a tense, dramatic atmosphere. In the film we then establish the doll again next to line up of dead bodies in black bag. The doll foreshadowed the events.