Abstract
The index to the 2018 VideoHound Guide to Films suggests that under the broad heading of “revenge” there have been something in excess of 1000 films. This appears to be the largest category in this comprehensive guide and suggests that this is, indeed, a theme which permeates the most influential sector of popular culture. These films range from influential and lauded films with major directors and stars like John Ford (The Searchers (1956) and Alejandro González Iñárritu (The Revenant (2015)) to “straight to video” gorefests with little artistic merit and a specific target audience (The Hills Have Eyes (1977)). There is, as the Film Guide numbers suggest much in between like Straw Dogs (1972) and Outrage (1993). The making and re-making of “revenge” films continues with contributions in 2018 from such major stars as Denzel Washington in The Equalizer 2 and Brue Willis in Death Wish. Within this body of film is a roster of films which allow us to speculate on the nature of the legal system and what individual and to a lesser extent community responses are likely where there appears to be a deficit of justice. One of the sub-groups within the revenge roster is a set of films which focus on revenge by the victim for rape which are discussed for their rather different approach to the issue of justice. Most unusually, the award winning film Elle (2016) has been described as a “rape revenge comedy”. Given the thriving nature of the overall sub-genre this causes pause for thought and justifies a closer look at what seems unlikely in an era of enhanced awareness of the trauma and damage of this kind of brutal criminality. This essay seeks to examine this film and locate it within the wider world of revenge films, notions of justice and assess it in context.
Highlights
The principal interest, here is on those films which cast some light on the relationship between the seeking of justice and the act/s of vengeance—the interface between the legal process and justice
In order to comply with the prohibition of showing revenge under the Production Code,[8] was perforce at the core of many westerns from High Plains Drifter[9] to Django Unchained.[10]
The vigilante focus tends to have more time devoted to moral conundrums and ambiguities than we find in the run-of the-mill trial movie
Summary
The Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA), which later became the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), adopted a code on 31st March 1930, began enforcing it in 1934, and abandoned it in 1968, in favour of the subsequent MPAA film rating system.[22]. Harry Brown we are left to cheer the moral actions of the vigilante Have they had their revenge on the perpetrator but they have been allowed to return to their normal proper law-abiding lives. Advertising strap line on the DVD cover This roster covers An Eye for an Eye (1981); Eye for an Eye (1995); The Limey (1999); The Fourth Angel (2002); Dead Man’s Shoes (2004); Red (2004); Death Sentence (2006); The Brave One (2007); Outlaw (2007); Gran Torino (2009); Law Abiding Citizen (2009); Harry Brown (2009); Seeking Justice (2012); Vendetta (2013); John Doe: Vigilante (2014); John Wick (2014) A Walk among the Tombstones (2014), The Equalizer (2014) The Equalizer 2 (2018) and Death Wish (2018). It poses questions such as: What’s your idea of justice? Will you steer clear of killing and only target hardened criminals? Or are you a psychotic killer, waxing j-walkers and spending drivers? This marks a recognition by those producing this films that such films have an impact on audiences beyond the time spent watching the action
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