Textual Analysis; Taken [Need to be completed]

I have decided to analyse the film ‘Taken’ which was released in 2008 and directed by Pierre Morel. The film fits into the genre ‘thriller’ but also has elements of drama, action and crime. Our protagonist is Bryan Mills, the father of a 17 year old girl who has gone to Paris with her friend who gets kidnapped whilst on the phone to her father. The film and its action is based on Bryan Mills’ battle with people who know and were involved with the kidnapping of his daughter.

Our protagonist worked for the government as a spy and uses his skills to find his daughter such as recording the conversations he has with his daughter and her kidnapper. He eventually finds her being sold to a pimp. The story further continues as the kidnappers attempt to prevent him from finding his daughter.

The story creates an element of suspense extremely well as there are many clues that we, as the audience, are left to answer to help us enjoy and go along with the film. Brian is a character that can be related to in the modern world; he is divorced from the mother of his daughter and a lonely older man. His flat’s lighting is mostly dark showing negative signs; he spends most of his time looking at pictures of his daughter, the daughter he is not allowed to see on a regular basis.

As a character, many people would believe that he is one with no weaknesses, being a former spy for the US government, however many people may argue that the love for his daughter is what manages to keep him in danger throughout the film. This is productively shown towards the end of the movie when he suffers a lot of pain whilst trying to save his daughter.

From the beginning of the film there are a few enigmas created about our protagonist. He mentions early on while on the phone to the kidnapper that he has gained many intense and powerful skills from his previous career, but we do not actually the full on action of these until later on in the film when he cleverly fights to find and defend his daughter. Other enigmas about why he is not still working in his previous occupation or why he is not with his wife are created. We sense some sort of tension and bitterness in Bryan’s wife when they speak, which maybe shows us that he had done something wrong in their marriage. We soon find out that he had chosen his career over their marriage but missed his daughter so decided to give up his career.

Suspense is created quite effectively; this is done mostly through background music