Nick Angel, looks upon himself as a very skilled policeman of a high ability, and the directors of the film show this in many ways. First of all, during the opening scene, the doors automatically open for him, this is unique because the doors open way before Angel arrives at them, this is used to show that Angel has power and that you know Angel is coming your way from even from a distance far away. Also as he walks closer to the door his footsteps get louder and louder, this could be looked at in a way that he always stamps his authorities wherever he goes and never somebody off lightly. Also as he walk up to the door his body is like a shadow but is also an imposing figure because nobody knows who he is. This is reference to when he is out on duty and he springs up out of nowhere like an imposing figure would and he arrests people.
In many ways he could be seen to be represented as stereotypical man, he's good at sport, he has advanced driving skills as well, but this is also where he proves himself to be a very snobbish man, because he always has to prove himself to be better than the rest at whatever he does, first of all he has to go one step further and take an advanced cycling lessons, just so he say that he has more qualifications than most others. This could also make Angel out to be a sad man in some ways because no offence to advanced cycling lessons but they're not a have accessory for your image. So on the outside he may feel like a winner but on the the inside he is a bit of a loser.
Altough to ordinary citizens he can be seen as over powering because he has the highest arrest rate in the metropolitan police and has had nine special commendations in the last twelve months, he can still be bought down a level by his bosses in the force, which reallys bothers him when push comes to shove as he shows when he transferred to Gloucester.
Both his name and the music played are very symbolic to film because his name is 'Nick Angel' which so 'Nick' is a reference to him always arresting people and 'Angel' because by the victims of crime he can be seen a hero for saving them. The music played is 'goody two shoes' by Adam and the Ants which is symbolic because angel can be seen as a 'goody two shoes' by the way he grovels up to the higher members of the police force and goes around arresting people for fun, maybe as a way in which he could be seen as trying to impress authoritve figures too much and also for a sense of personal pride.
Altogether throughout the opening to 'Hot Fuzz' Angel can be seen as Snobbish character who immediately sets up a bad status with the audience which is purposely meant by the directors.
Excellent stuff Max. You have a clear and concise writing style. What would elevate this work would be if you could include screen grabs from the sequence like Dan and Jacob have.
ReplyDeleteA really impressive first effort though Max.