"Thesis" is the first feature film directed by Amenawar. Not only that, he is also the screenwriter and composer of the film. The structure of "Thesis" is ingenious and novel. The director uses his familiar college life in the Department of Media and Film as the background of the story, and uses the heroine Angela to write an essay on audio-visual violence as a prelude to unfold the story layer by layer. He transplanted violent video crimes that have occurred in certain countries into "Thesis" and created a film that thrilled the audience.
Angela, a female student majoring in film and television in the Department of Media, is preparing to write a thesis on audiovisual violence. She begged the counseling professor Figueroa to help her find some relevant audiovisual materials. Professor Figueroa reluctantly went to the department He found a video tape in his video library, but when he watched the tape in the projection room, he was frightened and died suddenly from an asthma attack. Angela secretly took the video tape that killed the old professor and watched the contents of the tape with her classmate Chema. The video tape truly records the whole process of the torture, torture, and death of Vanessa, a female student in the media department. Angela looked terrified, but at the same time she wanted to find the murderer of Vanessa. So, using the TX500 camera as a clue, she found out that Bosco, a boy in the media department, and Castro, a professor, were related to this. Angela felt that Bosco, Castro, and even Chema, a classmate who worked with him, could be the murderers. In the cellar where a videotape called "Snuff" was secretly kept, Angela was almost killed by Castro. Angela was inadvertently involved in the whirlpool of conspiracy, she couldn't stop, she fell into panic and fear all day long. The choreographer asked the audience to follow Angela's gaze and circle Angela's thinking, suspecting Bosco for a while, and Chema for a while, guiding the audience into the plot he had planned.
From the perspective of the type of film, "Thesis" is a thriller, with the suspense of Hitchcock and a thrilling and tense plot. Finding out who was the murderer of Vanessa and the other girls has become the general suspense that promotes the development of the plot. The death of Professor Figueroa, the death of Castro, and the death of Bosco have all become factors that promote the development of suspense and uncover it. When the audience had confirmed that Bosco was the murderer, Angela accidentally found a camera with the same model as the murderer in Chema’s house, with a tape inside, and secretly photographed Angela’s activities at home. This surprised Angela, and also made the audience have new doubts about who the murderer was. Under these interlocking suspense, the audience has been unable to predict the development of the plot, and it is also difficult to guess who the murderer is before the end of the film. This mystery was not revealed until the last moment when the film ended. The director successfully mastered the creative mode of thriller films.
In addition to the elements of thriller films, "Thesis" also contains elements of horror films. The horror atmosphere created by "Thesis" is completely different from traditional horror movies. He does not rely on images of monsters and ghosts to create horror, but creates extremely terrifying violent horrors that people can feel in reality, such as: violent murder, perverted murder Crazy waiting. The victims in the film are pure and innocent female college students who were tortured to death. The heroine Angela is a beautiful and compassionate college student. She is very dissatisfied with the increasing violent images in society, so she wants to write a paper on this aspect to express her point of view. At the critical moment, she was bold and cautious and shot and killed Bosco. This way of describing the victim as a weak young woman and the young woman who punishes the murderer is not unfamiliar, because this method is mostly adopted in some Hollywood horror films. It's just that the packaging of "Thesis" is more clever, because it puts violence on the university campus that cultivates talents, and the justice advocates replaced the police by college students majoring in film and television. It should be said that "Thesis" is a European film with a Hollywood model, mixed with two types of elements, thriller and horror.
In the character design, "Thesis" shows the anti-stylized method of choreographer, namely the "frontal" facial makeup of negative characters and the "negative" facial makeup of positive characters. The villain in "Thesis" does not have the traditional ugly, hideous and terrifying monster image, nor does it have a sick, neurotic appearance. Bosco was handsome and polite, but he brutally killed six girls, including his girlfriend. Moreover, he broke their stomachs, unloaded them, and recorded the killing process in detail with a video camera. He is an out-and-out perverted murderer. Professor Castro is handsome, but when he feels that his crime is about to be exposed, he shows his ferocious appearance and wants to shoot Angela. Chema, the positive character in "Thesis", is also a student of film and television major in the media department. He collected all kinds of video tapes, which made people feel like he was unreliable. However, it was Chema who helped Angela many times and got her out of the predicament. The director once explained the character Chema as follows: "The character Chema speaks straightforwardly. His rebelliousness and bluntness add a unique comedic element to the tone of the film." Amenawar's anti-stylization of character design The technique creates a false appearance to the audience and increases suspense.
Most of the "Thesis" is an interior scene, and it was shot on the spot in the media department where the choreographer was studying. The visual impact created by Amenawal adds to the film. Such as: the tunnel of the videotape library is full of mystery, and the tunnel illuminated by matches presents a terrifying light and shadow; Angela rushes in an empty corridor to avoid Bosco's tracking; Angela Memories that look like dreams but not dreams; the screams made by Vanessa when she was tortured in the video; Angela's horrified eyes and the wheezing sounds of fear, etc. Video, music, light, shadow, etc. have rendered the atmosphere and produced a certain impact.
The theme presented in "Thesis" involves relatively rare audiovisual violence. According to the director, the film recording the killing of real people (the "Snuff" in the film) has not been produced in Spain, but it has been produced in some other European countries, and some media have made special reports on this. In today's increasingly fierce film competition, some people use the shooting of bloody, violent, and pornographic audiovisual works as a means of profit. This cannot but be worrying. From this point of view alone, the theme of "Thesis" is more thought-provoking than the general thrilling horror film.
Director Alejandro Amenavar (1972 ~) is a representative of the new generation of Spain in the 1990s. He was still studying film and television at the University of Compludense in Madrid when he filmed "Thesis". Since the film won seven "Goya" awards including the best film in Spain, and was well received by the audience, it laid the foundation for his future creative path. At the same time, it also opened the door for other young Spanish directors to make their debut. Amenawar’s second film "Open Your Eyes" (1997) caused a sensation after its release. This thrilling and sci-fi film is still written and directed by Amenawar, and it is a favorite of the audience. , And made him famous for his works at home and abroad. The famous American actor Tom Cruise bought the rights to the remake of "Open My Eyes" and filmed "Vanilla Sky". Tom Cruise played the leading role and served as the producer in the film. From the above two films, we can see the influence of Hitchcock and other Hollywood directors on Amenawal. "Small Island" (2000) directed by Amenawal is a horror film starring Nico Kidman, the film has been released in many countries around the world. The content of "Deep Sea Sleep" that he shot in 2004 is completely different from his previous works. The film is adapted from real events and depicts a man named Ramon who was completely paralyzed in bed for 30 years because of a cervical spine injury. In order to relieve the pain of himself and others, and to make life meaningful, Ramon sought euthanasia. But Spanish law does not allow this, for which he has been working tirelessly. This film tells about this process. "Sleep in the Deep", although it shows the process of seeking death, it is full of love, hope and humanity, and it is touching. The film won the best film and best actor awards from the jury of the Venice Film Festival, and the highest domestic film award in Spain-seven "Goya" awards. Not only that, "Deep Sleep" also won the American Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. His latest work "City Square" (2009) is a large-scale, high-cost historical drama involving Egypt under Roman rule. Amenaval is versatile and he also serves as a screenwriter, composer or producer in his own works. He has become one of the most famous directors in Spain today.
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