Genre portrayal: Hot Fuzz (2007)

Genre Portrayal In 'Hot Fuzz' (2007) 

Director: Edgar Wright

In the trailer for Hot Fuzz, the genre is communicated in a variety of different ways. Hot Fuzz, does not clearly fit into one genre- meaning it is a Hybrid genre, combining: action, comedy, horror and thriller. The genre of action is reflected almost immediately in the trailer. The stern, serious, voiceover states that ‘Sergeant Nicholas Angel’ is an expert in: hand-to-hand combat, armed response and high-speed pursuit. All of these qualities are important aspects of an action film- therefore we know that there is going to be an aspect of activity and violence in the film. For this first twenty seconds, the audience would genuinely believe that Hot Fuzz is a complete action filled movie- not only from the use of booming and tense background music but also the visual images of guns, cars and explosions- which are genre signifiers for an action movie. Up to this point, the audience could assume that Hot Fuzz is a ‘Classic’- although this idea is quickly dismissed at the next voiceover line of: “He was so good, they reassigned him”.

This is where the film is shown to break out of its typical expectation and pushes the boundaries of genre by incorporating another category of film. This stark contrast is followed by the background music cutting out- reflecting the audience’s confusion at their generalisation of what genre this film is. The comedy aspect is highlighted Nicholas stating “There is one thing you haven’t taken into account, and that’s what the team are going to make of this…” the camera then shows the entire police force as being pleased and delighted to see him go, with a ‘Good Luck’ banner above them. Again, at this point the background music becomes silence again to enhance the humour of the scene. Later in the trailer there are also many other aspects of the comedy genre, most of which the backing music pauses for the main part of the gag. There are many subtle jokes and funny lines that reflect the main purpose of the film being to entertain and make the audience laugh. Another example of this is when Danny asks “Is it true that there is a place in a man’s head that if you shoot it, it will blow up?” This idiotically childish question is so unexpected to come from a trained police officer that it makes the scene very humourous. Also, the recurring image about the swan on the loose further reflects its comedic category.

The trailer also evokes some aspects of a horror film. The light heartening comedy aspect is then broken with the serious voiceover “A whole lot is about to go down” which is followed by a piercing female scream and a slightly gory image of an axe being used as a weapon in an attempt to kill a couple by an unknown hooded person. The horror aspect is not reflected as much in the trailer as the previous two genres discussed, however the trailer may not give an accurate view of how much horror is incorporated into the movie. Furthermore we later see: a man collapsing to his knees with a huge rock on top of him and blood splattering everywhere and the same hooded person attack Nicholas by throwing him against a wall. These frightening and slightly gory images imply that the film could potentially have an opposite side to the comedy aspect.

The idea that Hot Fuzz is a thriller is not necessarily reflected in specific parts of the trailer- but through the message. From the trailer we learn that the town is suffering with a low crime rate but a high accident rate, making the audience feel suspicious and curious. With many unexplained deaths, the thriller aspect is wanting to know who is the murderer and why. Thriller is a genre typically involving crime or espionage. In this case, the film features crime.

Steve Neale’s theory that genre goes through a cycle and changes throughout it’s lifespan, is reflected in this film. Neale’s theory also stated that genre changes its signs, orientation or expectations in order to move to the next stage of the cycle. However, I believe that this film is a combination of a few of these stages. Hot Fuzz can be seen as homage to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s previous film ‘Shaun of the Dead’. A homage is to pay respect or honour another media type by re-creating part of it. In the clip, Nicholas wants to chase a shoplifter by jumping over garden fences; but, Danny is reluctant to do so. Nicholas says: "What's the matter, Danny? Have you never taken a shortcut before?" Then, smiling arrogantly jumps over four garden fences. However, when Danny attempts this, he trips and falls through the fence. This scene is very similar to a clip from ‘Shaun of the Dead’, where this crashing through the fence happens to Shaun’s character.Also, the film could be argued that it fits into the 'Parody' category of Neale's theory too. This is because of its humour element. It could be argued that the thriller, action and horror element is just 'taking the mick' of typical films in that genre by combining them in a comedy based film.