Genre
Crime, Morality and Justice
The crime genre deals with themes of justice and morality. It usually features a criminal who breaks the law and a law enforcer who tries to stop them. It is based on the idea that all individuals are equal within society. Laws and morality are therefore necessary to protect this equality and ensure the proper functioning of the social system.
We respect rules not only out of ethics, but also because they guarantee that others will respect them too. This is the principle of the social contract.
Conflict arises when an individual seeks to achieve their goal without following the rules, by breaking them.
This genre is close to the thriller and detective film, which are also centered on the pursuit of truth. In these narratives, judgment only comes at the end, when the truth is revealed and the culprit is caught. Crime as a genre, however, is more concerned with the conflict between the criminal and the law enforcer, raising the question of morality.
Can morality exist outside of justice?
For example, Robin Hood steals from the rich to give to the poor. Legally, he is a criminal. But morally, his actions are justified by his concern for fairness. He therefore challenges justice in the name of morality.
Beats
The «classic beats» of the crime genre
Here is a typical narrative structure:
- A criminal believes they are above the law and commits a crime that brings them power and money.
- A police officer, seemingly ordinary but intelligent, quickly understands what is happening and tries to stop them.
- A confrontation begins between the two.
- Each tests the limits of the other, until the final showdown.
Story world
The «story world» in the crime genre
The first element to analyze is the world in which the story takes place.
Often, the appearance of this world is deceptive. On the surface, everything seems to function normally, but when you scratch a little deeper, you discover a corrupt or dysfunctional system.
Two types of worlds stand in opposition:
- Total chaos where criminals make the law (anarchy).
- The police state where law enforcers exploit the system for their own gain.
In The Usual Suspects, we are clearly in a police state, and the film questions how we got there… and whether it is possible to escape from it.
Quest
The quest: Who is Keyser Söze?
The film sets up an investigation around the identity of Keyser Söze: who is he? What does he want? What are his values?
Here is an analysis based on time markers and key elements of the narrative.
Struct. & chrono. analysis
Structure & chronological analysis
00:05 – Verbal is interrogated. He claims he fears nothing, because nothing can be held against him. He suggests that he may be the one behind the whole story.
09:22 – Verbal says it’s the police’s fault they were put together.
11:54 – The police accuse Keaton of faking his death.
12:09 – Fenster mentions an injustice: even after serving his sentence, he is still persecuted.
15:56 – Keaton rejects any illegal proposal: «You can all go to hell.»
16:42 – Verbal talks about the gangsters’ code of honor: they never betray.
18:47 – Verbal is «protected by the prince of darkness».
21:19 – The survivor of the fire speaks Hungarian: «The devil is Keyser Söze.»
22:40 – Verbal asks for a coffee: he is buying time and testing Kujan.
31:60 – Verbal promises Keaton a «clean» and moral job, without violence.
42:15 – Verbal hides his injured hand from Kujan, who is too angry to notice.
47:50 – Moral dilemma: to kill or not. Verbal kills in Keaton’s place.
59:25 – «The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.»
1:00:13 – Visual clues reinforce the idea that Söze’s origin is an invention.
1:01:57 – Verbal says that Keaton doesn’t believe in God, but fears him.
1:07:00 – Kujan thinks he knows, so he ends up believing what he wants.
1:16:00 – Keaton wants Verbal to stay and warn Edie, not out of love, but so that she will avenge him.
1:34:00 – «The kind of man capable of corrupting the will of others.»
Main characters
Keaton (protagonist)
- Need: To abandon his criminal past and become respectable.
- Desire: To pull off one last job to redeem himself.
- False belief: He will never be able to escape his role as a criminal.
Verbal / Keyser Söze (antagonist)
- Desire: To kill the man who can incriminate him, keep his anonymity, and continue to corrupt the world.
- False belief: He doesn’t need to change, because he is already «untouchable».
- Moral argument: A single word can be enough to manipulate.
Agent Kujan
- Need: To accept reality, even if it doesn’t match his expectations.
- Desire: To get a confession that Keaton is Söze.
- False belief: No matter the means, only the result matters.
Narrative arc
The 7 structural points of Keaton (narrative arc)
- Need: To settle down.
- Desire: To pull off one last job to «redeem» himself.
- Antagonist: Keyser Söze, who reminds him of an old debt.
- Conflict: He tries to pay off his debt but discovers that Verbal is actually Söze.
- Revelation: He realizes too late that he never truly changed.
- Climax: Keaton loses to Söze.
- New balance: Söze triumphs and remains free, Keaton is dead.
