Boondock Saints Courtroom Scene

I have chosen to examine a scene from one of my favorite movies which is the Boondock Saints.  The movie itself came out in 1999 and the premise of the film was two Irish brothers taking justice into their own hands.  They do this by plotting and killing the organized crime of boston, within the movie the brothers face against the Italian Mafia along with the Russian Mafia.  Here is the scene from the final part of the movie where the brothers and their father have broken into the courtroom to finally execute the Italian Mafia crime leader in front of all of the media and all of his Mafia Family.

At the very beginning of this scene the Saints bust into the door and the camera jumps from each group of people, it goes from the saints, to the media, to the mafia up top.  The jump cuts from each of these groups creates a type of chaos that sets the tone for the scene because of their hit and run tactics that the saints have been known for.  You can also note the the Saints and their father are dressed in all black, this sets the tone for them being somewhat of an undertaker or executioner.

After the entrance has been established the camera shoots up to a couple with a tilted shot.  The shot looks like it is crooked but it is done intentionally this way so that the audience will get the feeling that the sequence is taking place at a fast pace and out of order.  The father then begins to speak to the crowd in the courtroom.  I think that it is interesting that they have decided not to wear masks to perform the execution and tell everyone to look up front, including the unsuspecting girl.  For me it means that they want everyone to see what they are doing for the greater good of people, and because of the lack of punishment handed out by law enforcement they will take it into their own hands.

The two brothers then jump and together give a speech to the crowd, in which the speech sounds like a reading of a prayer.  The camera is pointing upward towards them uses a swinging motion while each is giving their part of the encounter.  The camera then points to the crowd and uses the columns of the courtroom beams to protect them from the boondock saints which gives the audience a sense of fright that is occurring.

At the last part the three get together to end their statement with a prayer before the execution.  The camera then goes to the view of the two brothers hands which both have a tattoo one being "Aequitas" and the other being "Veritas" meaning "Truth & Justice".  Almost as if they are servants of god taking out a punishment that should be given.  The last part of the prayer goes from each character to say their final part of the speech, it then gives the final cap onto the punishment given out by the saints.

References

Boondock Saints Courtroom Speech- YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.    . Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKzM8xsQ5-U

The Boondock Saints (1999) - IMDb. (n.d.). The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Retrieved December 5, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144117/