Independent Thriller Research: Changeling

Changeling was directed by Clint Eastwood. In Changeling, Christine played by Angelina Jolie, has her son kidnapped when she goes to work one morning. Months later the police claim to have found her son, but she is convinced that the boy isn't him.

I think Changeling is a thriller film because it is filled with intelligent twists and turns, and is based on a true story. For a while you're not sure as the audience if Christine is purely mad and the boy is her son, until it turns out she was right all along. The period thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat as you follow her journey and later on her sons. You see him escape from his kidnappers but never find out if he made it out alive or not. The film ends with the conclusion that Christine never found her son again, and this leaves you wondering what happened to him and caught up in the film.

The opening scene:

The film begins with slow jazz music, which sets the scene as the movie is set in 1928. The credits are plain, white writing on a black background which fades on slowly to the music. The music and pace makes the audience feel quite melancholy, and the fact that 'A true story' appears after the title of the movie sets you up for the rest of the film. This also introduces a thriller aspect straight away, as thrillers tend to have more naturalistic subject matters in them than horror films do.

Piano music begins as a black and white picture fades onto the screen of Los Angeles. The black and white reminds us of the time period and also continues with the grainy, dark and melancholy feeling the film has so far created. You can hear birds singing and see an old fashioned milk truck drive past, once again reinforcing the historical matter. This also suggests that it is morning time, and the next image on Christine asleep in bed confirms this. The music is less melancholy, the piano now sounds relaxing and classy. Christine has her hair in a traditional 1920's haircut and is sleeping alone, suggesting she is a single. Her alarm goes off and she goes into the next room and wakes up a young boy, calling him 'Honey' affectionately which suggests the relationship of mother and son between them immediately. It also suggests that Christine is a single mother in the 1920s, which is unusual.