The Life of Death: Analysis
The life of death is an interesting spin on the idea of the grim reaper, as it begins with him dying, then shows flashbacks of his life. I thought this was a good film to analyse, as it is similar to ours in that it takes the idea of death and the afterlife and distorts it to create their own idea for a film.
The movie begins by showing several tranquil long shots of inner city New York, setting up the theme and location of the film. The first establishing shot is shown which starts in parallel to the non-diegetic soundtrack, which is both happy yet tranquil.This opening scene is filmed in the morning time, which could be the director trying to convey hope or new life. This is heavily ironic as it is juxtaposed to the theme of death that the audience assumes through the title. Living beings, humans and dogs alike, are shown in his opening scene, which further conveys the theme of life which juxtaposes the character of death.
As the scene progresses, we see death, itself, walking the streets of New York. The fact that death is living paired with the peaceful surroundings and soundtrack is heavily ironic and adds to the comedic aspect of the film. The music shifts slightly to become stronger when Death appears for the first time, subtly suggesting that he is the protagonist of the film. Other peoples reactions to him seem to be normal, conveying that he is part of society, adding more emotion to his death and evoking more sympathy from the viewer. Near the end of this scene, diegetic sound of the city such as cars driving and people talking starts to fade in, suggesting a start to the narrative of the film.
The theme of happiness and tranquility changes when death is suddenly hit by a car.The music stops, and is replaced by the loud sound of the car hitting death and the window smashing, which is jarring and fearful for the audience. It juxtaposes the previous mood, changing the tone of the film. The survival of death is left ambiguous at this point, enticing the viewer to keep watching.
The second scene begins with what seems to be death's birthday party, yet he is very young compared to the opening scene, suggesting this is a flashback showing his life before death. The music has reverted back to a cheerful and innocent tone, changing the tone again and giving the film more emotional depth to help the viewer relate to death. The diegetic sound of the kids cheering give this scene an air of innocence. Holidays such as Christmas and Halloween are shown which convey the passage of time and helps to move the plot along as well as his age. The innocence of death as a child juxtaposed with his scary appearance is ironic and further adds to the comedic aspect of the film.
As the film progresses, it is clear to see that death has 'grown up'. Firstly, several codes such as him working in an office or being at a laundromat convey he is a functioning adult. He then finds his job in life, taking people's lives. However, the tone soon changes to one of sadness and negativity, heard through the non-diegetic sombre music and the shots of him in bar drinking, which are telling of his sadness, as he is 'washing away his sorrows'. However, the time in then picked up again when he visits the library. The book he is reading 'how to live' is a small bit of visual comedy, suggesting a book would tell you this. Furthermore, the inspirational music mixed with the metaphorical light at his table suggests enlightenment.
What follows is a short montage showing death 'learning to live'. Even the idea of this is tinged with irony, causing to heighten the comedic effect of this short. There are several aspects that contrasts with the previous part of the film. Firstly, the chirpy, lighthearted music suggests adventure and being carefree, which is the opposite of what was being suggested previously. Furthermore, actions such as drinking and kissing are rebellious, and show that instead of living with restrictions, he has moved on and is now living without limits. There is also a love aspect with death, as he finds a girlfriend. This adds more positivity to this section of the film, as he is evidently happy.
This is then contrasted with the following scene, of death lying on the ground, ironically, dead himself. Although the film is branded as a comedy, this is quite sad for the audience, considering we just witnessed his rich and meaningful life. The colour of this scene becomes much duller than the montage, which lowers the mood to one of depression and grief. We are then brought to a shot of his wife, on the phone. Through the various codes used, such as her negative facial expressions, sad music and the lowering of the phone. Following this, is a scene of their children, playing outside. Although the idea that they are fatherless is depressing, the director does well to end the movie on a comedic note. The two kids are also wearing Grim Reaper clothes, which is a good implementation of visual comedy to keep the mood on a high. Furthermore, the sound is non-diegetic lighthearted music, which serves to be a microcosm for the genre of the film itself.
Although we do not want our film to be a comedy, I believe this is an interesting, original idea revolving around death, and the comedic aspect to it is something that our group can take inspiration from if we intend to put comedic scenes into our film.
The movie begins by showing several tranquil long shots of inner city New York, setting up the theme and location of the film. The first establishing shot is shown which starts in parallel to the non-diegetic soundtrack, which is both happy yet tranquil.This opening scene is filmed in the morning time, which could be the director trying to convey hope or new life. This is heavily ironic as it is juxtaposed to the theme of death that the audience assumes through the title. Living beings, humans and dogs alike, are shown in his opening scene, which further conveys the theme of life which juxtaposes the character of death. 
As the scene progresses, we see death, itself, walking the streets of New York. The fact that death is living paired with the peaceful surroundings and soundtrack is heavily ironic and adds to the comedic aspect of the film. The music shifts slightly to become stronger when Death appears for the first time, subtly suggesting that he is the protagonist of the film. Other peoples reactions to him seem to be normal, conveying that he is part of society, adding more emotion to his death and evoking more sympathy from the viewer. Near the end of this scene, diegetic sound of the city such as cars driving and people talking starts to fade in, suggesting a start to the narrative of the film.
The theme of happiness and tranquility changes when death is suddenly hit by a car.The music stops, and is replaced by the loud sound of the car hitting death and the window smashing, which is jarring and fearful for the audience. It juxtaposes the previous mood, changing the tone of the film. The survival of death is left ambiguous at this point, enticing the viewer to keep watching.
The second scene begins with what seems to be death's birthday party, yet he is very young compared to the opening scene, suggesting this is a flashback showing his life before death. The music has reverted back to a cheerful and innocent tone, changing the tone again and giving the film more emotional depth to help the viewer relate to death. The diegetic sound of the kids cheering give this scene an air of innocence. Holidays such as Christmas and Halloween are shown which convey the passage of time and helps to move the plot along as well as his age. The innocence of death as a child juxtaposed with his scary appearance is ironic and further adds to the comedic aspect of the film.
As the film progresses, it is clear to see that death has 'grown up'. Firstly, several codes such as him working in an office or being at a laundromat convey he is a functioning adult. He then finds his job in life, taking people's lives. However, the tone soon changes to one of sadness and negativity, heard through the non-diegetic sombre music and the shots of him in bar drinking, which are telling of his sadness, as he is 'washing away his sorrows'. However, the time in then picked up again when he visits the library. The book he is reading 'how to live' is a small bit of visual comedy, suggesting a book would tell you this. Furthermore, the inspirational music mixed with the metaphorical light at his table suggests enlightenment.
What follows is a short montage showing death 'learning to live'. Even the idea of this is tinged with irony, causing to heighten the comedic effect of this short. There are several aspects that contrasts with the previous part of the film. Firstly, the chirpy, lighthearted music suggests adventure and being carefree, which is the opposite of what was being suggested previously. Furthermore, actions such as drinking and kissing are rebellious, and show that instead of living with restrictions, he has moved on and is now living without limits. There is also a love aspect with death, as he finds a girlfriend. This adds more positivity to this section of the film, as he is evidently happy.
This is then contrasted with the following scene, of death lying on the ground, ironically, dead himself. Although the film is branded as a comedy, this is quite sad for the audience, considering we just witnessed his rich and meaningful life. The colour of this scene becomes much duller than the montage, which lowers the mood to one of depression and grief. We are then brought to a shot of his wife, on the phone. Through the various codes used, such as her negative facial expressions, sad music and the lowering of the phone. Following this, is a scene of their children, playing outside. Although the idea that they are fatherless is depressing, the director does well to end the movie on a comedic note. The two kids are also wearing Grim Reaper clothes, which is a good implementation of visual comedy to keep the mood on a high. Furthermore, the sound is non-diegetic lighthearted music, which serves to be a microcosm for the genre of the film itself. Although we do not want our film to be a comedy, I believe this is an interesting, original idea revolving around death, and the comedic aspect to it is something that our group can take inspiration from if we intend to put comedic scenes into our film.
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