Film Review ; IT (2017)

                                 Film Review; IT (2017)

IT (2017) is predominantly based around seven young outcasts who have to face and defeat an ancient, shape-shifting clown that emerges from the towns sewers every 27 years. Over the course of the summer holidays, the friends must unite and overcome the evil known as Pennywise the clown.

Any director would find it difficult to pull off a soul-shakingly scary film with elements of humour and teen drama. However, Andy Muschietti pulls it off to a T! Muschietti took Tim Curry's 1990 adaptation of the book, which everyone remembers as so over-the-top it was comical and transformed it into one of the best horror films at box-office to date. 

Muschietti , born in the late 70's set the narrative of "IT" in the early 1980's America so that the older target audience would relate and identify with the film ( Use's & Gratification) whilst also having preferred reading towards the film ( Stuart Hall).

Through out the film, Andy Muschietti uses a lot of iconography to symbolises when the antagonist is going to appear or to anchor the antagonist to an event. The infamous red balloon in "IT" symbolises a passing or a loss of a child. It also symbolises the heart of the child and their dreams. When the antagonist, Pennywise, bursts the balloon a loud diegetic sound connotes the child's heart and dreams disappearing. Similarly, in Muschietti's other film "Mama" (2013) the moths, which symbolises death, anchor the antagonist to the 2 children/victims in the film.

During the first 10 minutes of both films, Mama and IT, a dramatic ident appears with the title of the film which is another connotation of Andy Muschietti's work.

The film opens with a well controlled, directed and iconic scene. Automatically the audience recognise the infamous yellow coat of the victim, Georgie, ironically we recognise yellow as a colour of happiness which contrasts with the diegetic sound of the rain and the gloomy , dark lighting. We first see Georgie in a an aerial shot of him running after and playing with the a paper boat and we hear the diegetic sound of his laughter, which dramatically ends when he hits his head on a wooden barrier. The camera then pans over, using a long shot, to a drain which the lighting then becomes darker and the rain drops sound more prominent and faster. Muschietti's use of camera angles , lighting and diegetic and non-diegetic sound builds the tension in the scene and really grasps the audiences attention from the outset. As the famous scene comes to a dramatic end, the camera pans to a close-up of Georgie's concerned but intrigued face, which then cuts to a brief but dramatic close-up of the antagonists , Pennywise, eyes with a sudden and loud non-diegetic "boom" as the eyes open.