Analysing Full Films- Saw II

Full analysis of Saw II

Saw II is an American slasher/mystery horror film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman in 2005. It is a sequel to 2004's Saw and the second film in the seven-part Saw film series. It stars Donnie Wahlberg, Glenn Plummer, Shawnee Smith and Tobin Bell. Smith, Bell and Meyer are the only actors who also starred in the first one.

Todorov’s theory of narrative structure suggests that the story begins with equilibrium where everything is in balance. This is then disrupted by an event, causing disequilibrium. Problems are then resolved into a new equilibrium by the end of a story. It could be argued that Saw II follows this narrative structure. Although it didn’t start with equilibrium, it didn’t necessarily have to establish equilibrium, as it had already been established in the first film. The producers could go straight into the action because the audience already knew the characters. However, there is an establishment of the main characters, in the form of the police officer father and the victim son. There is a realisation of the situation (waking up in the house), and an attempt to resolve the situation (trying to get out of the house). It could also be argued that there is a new equilibrium towards the end of a film, with the son being rescued, and Jigsaw being left for dead.

There are many expectations that the audience will have of this film, due to this film being a sequel. They will expect the same gore and grisly deaths as the first one, with the same plot and turmoil between characters and character types. If this is not present within the film, the audience will feel disappointed, as the reason they would’ve gone to see the sequel is because they would’ve enjoyed the prequel. Audiences expect many things from the film in terms of genre. They will expect to see blood and gore, as they know that it is a slasher movie. They will also expect a confusing storyline which they have to try and work out, as they know it is a mysterious movie. Hollywood tends to use the same genre template, being a male killer, killing a woman in distress. Anybody who has sex or does drugs in the film will be killed, and the ‘final girl’, who has more masculine traits, will survive. In Saw II, this is partly present, as there is a male killer (Jigsaw), and the typically ‘slutty’ girl (Emmanuelle Vaugier) dies a gruesome death. However, the ‘final girl’ (who could be argued is Amanda) used to be a drug addict, and is carrying on Jigsaw’s legacy, and so knows how to get out of the house. It could be argued that there is no ‘final girl’ in this film, although the audience believes that Amanda is her, until the end when all becomes clear.

At the time where this film was made (00’s), the popular sub-genre within horror was Psychological horror and ‘Torture-Porn’. It could be argued that Saw II is both of this, with definite elements of both types of sub-genre, especially the ‘Torture-Porn’ element, with graphic killings of the characters, and lots of blood being shed. There is many types of binary opposition within this film, the most obvious being good vs. evil (Jigsaw vs. the Police). There are others however, in the form of the strong vs. the weak (Xavier vs. Daniel Matthews)

Propp’s theory of character types suggests that there are 8 character roles within films. He looked at 100s of old folk tales to establish this. He argues that in a film there is always: The villain(s)(usually female), the hero (usually male), the donor (person who provides an object with magic property), the helper (who aids the hero), the princess (reward of the hero), her father (who rewards the hero), the dispatcher (who sends the hero on their task), and finally the false hero. Saw II does not have many of these character types, and so challenges the idea of Propp’s theory. However, it does have a hero (Eric Matthews), although it could be argued that he is actually the false hero, as he is a corrupt police officer who frames the criminals into getting jailed. There is a clear villain (Jigsaw), with a helper (Amanda). However, unlike Propp argued, the helper helps the villain and not the hero. There are also many victims, the main victim being the son (Daniel Matthews), although he doesn’t die. This is probably because he is a good character rather than an evil one.

In conclusion, Saw II pretty much follows the narrative structure of Todorov and has the character types established by Propp, although it doesn’t completely follow these and has changes to make the film more unique. The audience would probably be satisfied with this film, if they enjoyed the first, due to the fact that it is very similar in narrative structure and character types.