Weekly Theme

Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

I really love this theme. You have all seen these scenes from time to time in various films. Sometimes it's silly and comical such as the angry mob chasing Homer and family in The Simpsons Movie. Other times it is used to argue deeper philisophical positions like in The Ox-Bow Incident. (Henry Fonda and William Wellman got together again to make the similarly themed and much more popular 12 Angry Men)

German director, Fritz Lang was familiar with this theme as well. The last 15 minutes or so of his silent film, Metropolis is almost completly an angry mob chase scene. Later, he would make M, (one of my all time favorites) in which the angry mob and their vigilante justice makes up the complete theme of the film. Then there was Fury, his first American film, a clear indictment of lynch mob mentality.

So, there you have it. What do you think? What are some of your favorite scenes? What about the political and philisophical positions portrayed by this theme? Have fun.

Emery

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

If you're talking angry mobs we've got to add the mob that traps Frankenstein's monster in the castle and burns it down with him inside. They had actual torches and pitchforks.

And the best take off of that is, of course, Young Frankenstein when the mob uses Kenneth Mars as their battering ram. "A riot is an ungly thing... undt, I tink, that it is chust about time ve had vun."

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

I just finished watching The Mist, a movie which I think would qualify as having an angry mob. I don't want to put in any spoilers, but there is one particular scene that puts that "pissed-off masses screaming for blood" feeling right out there. If you've seen the film, you'll know what I'm talking about. Let me just say that I don't think I've yelled at characters onscreen so much in any other movie I've ever seen. The Mist is a movie that begs for knee-jerk reaction in just about every single frame. I wanted to throttle Marcia Gay Harden by the end of that thing.

Then, of course, we've got the lovely musical sequence in Disney's Beauty and the Beast (I've never seen a more melodic mob) and movies like Frankenstein and the odious Van Helsing (which it inspired)

These are examples (though, albeit, not all good ones--it's late, throw me a bone!) of the panicked mob acting ridiculously out of fear, some rational, some irrational.

But there's the second kind of angry mob movie, too, the Braveheart-style mobs, the ones that rise up and rebel, and usually end up getting slaughtered and climbing down from their barricades with their tails between their legs. This might be kind of a stretch, but I'm going to go ahead and put Les Miserables in this category, too.

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

Hey there,

So, Abby stole my Beauty and the Beast idea, that's my favorite mob sequence ("Kill the beast! Kill the beast!"). The other one that came to mind was from my recent viewing of Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst, the mob is pretty convincingly starving and wants to kill the royal family. 

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

i would add Edward Scissorhands!

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

Do the Right Thing has a very prominent angry mob scene--it's pretty much an all-out, breaking windows, burning buildings, police brutality riot.

Full Metal Jacket has a smaller-scale angry mob, set on destroying just one single person.  That's probably the most disturbing mob-mentality scene I can think of.

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

Aside from some of my favorites that were already mentioned (M, Edward Scissorhands) I have to say one of the best angry mobs is in Xala. A group of disenfranchised disfigured and destitute storm the home of a wealthy politician, strip him down and proceed to take turns spitting their disease ridden mucus all over him. Fun times.

Without straying too far from the topic (the rebellions of films like Battleship Potempkin, Mutiny on the Bounty, Cutthroat Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) some of the mob scenes that stick out in my mind are:

Citizen Ruth - Loaded with mobs of crazy anti-abortionists.

The Dreamers - At the end of the film when the mob of students storm through the streets.

The Night of the Hunter

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark - Hilariously bad movie with a great mob of prudish townsfolk.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Brief but essential.

Dogville - I know this is bending what exactly constitutes an "angry mob" but the conspiratorial townspeople are just completely fucked up and mob-like in this movie so I had to add it.

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

mercurial:

Aside from some of my favorites that were already mentioned (M, Edward Scissorhands) I have to say one of the best angry mobs is in Xala. A group of disenfranchised disfigured and destitute storm the home of a wealthy politician, strip him down and proceed to take turns spitting their disease ridden mucus all over him. Fun times.

 

 

 

Allright Xala just made it to my must see list. I have NO idea what the hell it is, but I just keep hearing about it from you spout ppl.

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

csprague:

Hey there,

So, Abby stole my Beauty and the Beast idea, that's my favorite mob sequence ("Kill the beast! Kill the beast!"). The other one that came to mind was from my recent viewing of Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst, the mob is pretty convincingly starving and wants to kill the royal family. 

For some reason, the B$B "Kill the beast" chant reminds me a lot of the Jesus Christ Superstar "Cru-si-fy Him, Cru-si-fy Him!!!!" part.

Re:Weekly Theme for July 14: The Angry Mob

Just before I slipped off to sleep last night I suddenly remembered the scene from the Seven Samurai where the samurai are trying to keep the villagers away from the one bandit they have caputured. They hold everyone back except for the old grandmother whose entire family has been killed by bandits.