Eight - Abi Black

The film Eight was produced in 1998 by Stephen Daldry. From watching the film "Eight" I thought it conveyed conventions of both a drama and a social realism piece. The use of the voice over throughout, gave it a sentimental value and the mature storyline was a sad one, of a young boy who goes through life without having a father. The setting of a working class lone parent family, struck me as that of a social realism, as it reflects on what is the reality for many young people. The use of dull colour is a typical convention of the social realism genre and is used throughout this film. The use of the house setting and props, are those which we see in everyday life and so allows us as an audience to connect and relate to this boy. The sound used at the beginning was just a violin, often connoting sadness and a sombre atmosphere. I think the issue that this film approached was one which is not absent today, of growing up without having a parent and the way this affects the children.

I think this film uses the genre of social realism uniquely as we are seeing life through the eyes of an 8 year old boy, whereas usually social realism films are focused on adults. I think the use of the voice over gives us a particular insight into his life and shows us his vulnerability, sympathising with him.

The film uses the the narrative structure of ending where it began, with the boy running around on the beach and doing all the things which we expect an 8 year old to do. However at the end there is a more serious tone, as he is sat alone on the beach and combined with the long shot this makes him look very small which I think makes the audience reflect on what that must be like. The naivety of Jonathon is displayed throughout the film, evidence of this being when he is talking us through what his father was like and which profession he had which I think helps to create a bond between his characters and the audience.

The use of sound in this film is interesting, as it is mainly diegetic apart from the violin at the beginning and the end. At the beginning we see him playing on his own when the violin first comes in and this is similar to the end where he is back where he started, helping to reinforce the lonliness he must be feeling. The sound of a violin is often used to connote sadness and so the audience can respond to it. Without using any other music its helped to keep the film fitting in with the social realist genre, and also helps it seem more serious as it is dealing with such a sinister subject.

Throughout this film there is a strong theme of social class, as we can evidently see that they are struggling as a lone parent working class family. As we are shown all this through the eyes of an 8 year old, we get to see it from a completely different prospective, although there are still obvious signs of it being a struggle to maintain a normal lifestyle.