Connotation - The visual image of the father and son wearing similar clothes and holding hands connotes this idea of a family bond, which is central to the main theme of the film itself. Tom Hanks holding the Gun and the shadow covering half of his face suggest something different and create mystery around the poster. This links into the Film Noir style that the poster is clearly trying to connote. The rain splattering across the poster also creates a powerful image. You can almost hear the rain, which connotes the idea of the family bond as aforementioned being broken, which is a major part of the film, due to the fact that the son witnesses what his father (Tom Hanks) does for a living. The film noir style of this poster is certainly shown through all the visual images presented to the audience. (shadowy image of Tom Hanks character and his son with the street lights in the background).
Anchorage - The Anchorage, despite being minimal in terms of actual text on the poster, it is certainly effective in that it almost gives reason to the picture of Tom Hank's character and his son. "Pray for Michael Sullivan" suggests that Tom Hank's character will experience many problems throughout the trailer and with the words placed above the 'Tommy Gun' again suggest that the problems he will face will be particularly dangerous. The Bold Gold text spelling out "Road To Perdition" also heightens the situation, which is clearly shown through the image in the background. It gives a sense of importance to the two characters on the poster and almost forces the audience to notice the bankable actors names just above the title of the film.
Tone and Register - The tone on this poster is certainly quite dark and mysterious as shown by the Film Noir style. The long coat and trilby hat working in collaboration with chiaroscuro effects undoubtedly create a mysterious tone and link with one of the major themes of the film itself, Betrayal. The Dark tone is accentuated by the shadow image of the Gun in the bottom left hand corner and the rain splattering across the poster. They work well to create a moody atmosphere and link in with the text as aforementioned.
Intertextual References - "from the director of American Beauty" - This informs the audience on the style of film they are looking at and might create a wider audience as fans of that particular director might want to see the film for this reason. The institutions are also placed on the poster to again attract the audience to see the film as they would recognise the companies producing and distributing the film.
Target Audience - The target audience for this film is certainly focused on the larger male audience. This is because Tom Hank's character is clearly a father figure, which would attract a male audience. Also, it is clearly a gangster style movie as clearly shown by the 'tommy gun', which again would be seen to please the male audience more. However, the theme of family values as shown by the two characters holding hands, could attract a female audience. Woman may also be attracted to watch the film by the names of some of the stars featuring in the film, such as Jude Law. However, the film is clearly aimed at a larger male audience.
Representation - The dangerous world of gangsters is clearly represented through the dark imagery of the father holding hands with his child whilst holding a 'tommy gun' in his other hand. This could represent the fact that once someone has become involved in that lifestyle, then everyone around you becomes affected, even your children. It's particularly powerful as the innocent image of the child, who appears to be dressed in a similar way to his father, has been caught up in the dangerous lifestyle of his father. The fact that you cannot see the boys face is also powerful as it represents this image of a loss of hope, which is counter-acted by the shining lights in the background of the image.
Effect and Effectiveness - This poster is undoubtedly effective as clearly shows the major themes f the film itself, which are Family Values and Betrayal (Shown by holding hands and Gun, coupled with film noir style and the rain). The anchorage is also effective as it enforces the themes of the movie, by implying that Tom Hank's character and his son are on their own in the movie and have little help from the people around them.
MT
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