The Hurricane Movie Essay

Villains can be described in many ways; from a vigilante to a robber or a murderer, even corrupt officials. Archetypes which are defined only by their actions and brought together by the definition: a character whose evil actions or motives are important to the plot. “The Hurricane”, a biographical film directed by Norman Jewison tries to bring this to light, by detailing the life of late middleweight boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. Imprisoned for a triple homicide in 1966, Norman Jewison uses location, lighting, costuming and screenplay to create a sense of hostility between a redeeming hero, a duplicitous villain and an unjust system.

Using the true story of Carter’s mistreatment and the eventual triumph over adversity, the film demonstrates …show more content…
The screenplay draws the audience to the obvious racist remarks presented in the form of the corrupt police officer, who states: “We’re looking for two Negroes in a car.” This hostility is returned by Carter as he replies “Any two will do?” This hostility between races is again seen by the audience in form of both Della Pesca and a news reporter during another flashback. After becoming successful in boxing, Rubin is interviewed by a reporter. Being quoted on his racist remarks, Carter loses his next boxing match. Although the Sergeant plays a small part in the scene, Della Pesca is used to show his contempt and discriminatory attitude towards the successful boxer, with the words: “Fighter of the year my ass, he”s just a low-life criminal.”

In a subsequent scene of the night of the murder, we witness the exact movements of Carter, which helps the audience deduce that Rubin is innocent. We also watch as the Sergeant is able to intimidate key witnesses into claiming that Carter was at the murder scene. This provocation is shown in the screenplay of the scene, where the Sergeant asks; “Is there any scenario in which you could imagine that the man you saw that night was Rubin