Jacques Lacan Essay
Task 2) Apply Lacan's theory of 'want' (refer to a single film sequence (of your choice) and refer to his theory.)
- Use film terms (technical & visual) to state how the theory is composed in your chosen sequence.
- The Wolf of Wall Street
In this film by Martin Scorsese, he portrays the main character of world renowned icon Jordan Belfort known for his stairway to the top from being a stockbroker. We see a thirst for wealth right from the start, and we see throughout the film his mannerisms and his thought process changes to become more based around money and wealth, the scene i've chosen to focus on portrays jordan to be doing an inspirational last speech for his team, however ends it by saying 'i'm not leaving' as the thirst for wealth becomes too desirable to change.
- Use film terms (technical & visual) to state how the theory is composed in your chosen sequence.
- The Wolf of Wall Street
In this film by Martin Scorsese, he portrays the main character of world renowned icon Jordan Belfort known for his stairway to the top from being a stockbroker. We see a thirst for wealth right from the start, and we see throughout the film his mannerisms and his thought process changes to become more based around money and wealth, the scene i've chosen to focus on portrays jordan to be doing an inspirational last speech for his team, however ends it by saying 'i'm not leaving' as the thirst for wealth becomes too desirable to change.
Lacan's theory summarised
- Jacques Lacan created the idea of the 'lack' and that it causes desires to arise.
- "Desire is a relation to being to lack. The lack is the lack of being properly speaking. It is not the lack of this or that, but the lack of being whereby the being exists."
- This is similar to the Freudian approach of ID acting on the hedonistic lifestyle whereas the Super ego acts on moral principles and what "lack: relates to is the Ego which is in between.
- From a Freudian approach, the "lack" of hedonistic features strive us to act on moral principles and vice versa.
Trailer of the film
The scene
Notes from the scene
The shot starts off with Jordan hugging his financial advisor who has suggested him to step down due to the increasing laws he is breaking and suggests he will be getting off much easier with only a couple of years time in prison done, however will live the rest of his life lavish due to the millions he has made while at the company.medium close up, long duration shots, constantly changes shot types to long shots to show all the people depending on him.
He describes one of his fellow brokers 'Kimmy' as being one of the original 20, beautiful sophisticated, $3000 Armani suits, drives a brand new Mercedes Benz spends winters in bahamas summers in hamptons,
mouths thank you and cries to show her admiration for jordan
mouths thank you and cries to show her admiration for jordan
at 3:24 the camera switches to the audience and pans zooming in and out on people clapping and pointing to him to show their appreciation.
Refers to Stratton as his home.
Even though he's come so far and worked his way up, he isn't ready to stop working towards the top, become blinded by the fact he's the top he's become an inspiration to everyone.
The impression his desire and want gives fuels everyone within the workplace due to the kind and generous impression he gives off.
Even though he's come so far and worked his way up, he isn't ready to stop working towards the top, become blinded by the fact he's the top he's become an inspiration to everyone.
The impression his desire and want gives fuels everyone within the workplace due to the kind and generous impression he gives off.
You can see that his want ultimately grows too heavy because he retorts to the crowd, 'i'm not flipping leaving'
'the show goes on'
'this is my home'
'they're gonna ned a flipping wrecking ball to take me out of here'
'they're gonna need to send in the national guard of swat team cus i aint going no where'
'the show goes on'
'this is my home'
'they're gonna ned a flipping wrecking ball to take me out of here'
'they're gonna need to send in the national guard of swat team cus i aint going no where'
Essay
The scene I've decided to analyse is from The Wolf of wall street(Martin Scorsese, 2013) I believe this scene is iconic to analyse as the whole film is about how Jordan's greed and desire for more and more money became the ultimate death of his career as a stockbroker and him himself. I've decided to choose this scene as for me it's the turning point of the whole film where he realises his greed was too big too stop.
The shot starts with Jordan hugging his financial advisor whom in the scene before agreed with Jordan that he would leave the company due to the progressively worse laws he was breaking and suggests he will be getting off easier with only a couple of years in prison done, however he will live the rest of his life lavish due to the millions he had made at the company. He kisses him to establish to the audience the high admiration he has for him, the camera then pans to Donnie who we know as the audience is Jordan's business partner as they started together in the trade, you can see by Donnie's sorrowed long face he doesn't want to let Jordan leave the company as his best friend. Both of these shots are over the shoulder shots from Jordan to show their love and at the same time sorrow for Jordan leaving the company he made his and many others millions of dollars at.
You can see from the background the amount of Jordan's employee's who completely look up to him as a role model, I really like these two comparing shots as you can see how easily his presence can bring a crowd to cheers. How he is able to silence them all with a hand motion as if he is a teacher to a class of children. In this long shot you can see how may people really look up to Jordan as joint-owner of the company and how many people he has inspired with the same money mindset, this shot's also fairly long with no cuts to ensure the realism of jordan's forthcoming speech.
In this picture you can see Jordan talking, the scene cuts back to this mid/close up shot of Jordan talking to emphasise the importance of his speech, his desire has not yet overridden him as he does not know until after the executed speech that he will in turn, not leave due to the family he has created at Stratton.
He describes one of his fellow brokers 'Kimmy' as being one of the original 20, beautiful sophisticated, wearing $3000 Armani suits, driving a brand new Mercedes Benz, spends winters in Bahamas summers in the Hamptons. He describes her life as this to everyone as it being everyone else in the room's goal in life to also achieve this. Using materialistic items and holidays as being everyone's dreams and hopes shows them as being extremely materialistic, stuck up and shows their desires to be extremely money orientated.
Even though he's come so far and worked his way up, he isn't ready to stop working towards the top, he's become blinded by the fact he's at the top because he's become an inspiration to everyone. The impression his desire and want fuels everyone within the workplace due to the kind and generous impression he gives off.
After Jordan has delivered the whole speech the camera then pans to his fellow colleagues who are considered as close to him they're shown to create the image of Jordan as the idealistic man and their goals are of Jordan's to one day own Stratton. They're pictured pointing, cheering and mouthing how much they love him to show their complete admiration to their boss.
This last part from when he shows them that he is not actually leaving the whole crowd goes wild, colleagues jumping and cheering showing their love and support for him as their boss as he's shown care and generosity throughout all their time at Stratton as a fellow stockbroker.
The long shot shows the reaction of the whole room and how their desires have been made possible from the man standing in front of them, the whole crowd clap to show their complete appreciation for him. The ending scene where they turn into wild animals completed my analysis to show how they've turned inhumane in order to con people out of money and how all their dreams rely on money and working as a stockbroker.
The shot starts with Jordan hugging his financial advisor whom in the scene before agreed with Jordan that he would leave the company due to the progressively worse laws he was breaking and suggests he will be getting off easier with only a couple of years in prison done, however he will live the rest of his life lavish due to the millions he had made at the company. He kisses him to establish to the audience the high admiration he has for him, the camera then pans to Donnie who we know as the audience is Jordan's business partner as they started together in the trade, you can see by Donnie's sorrowed long face he doesn't want to let Jordan leave the company as his best friend. Both of these shots are over the shoulder shots from Jordan to show their love and at the same time sorrow for Jordan leaving the company he made his and many others millions of dollars at.
You can see from the background the amount of Jordan's employee's who completely look up to him as a role model, I really like these two comparing shots as you can see how easily his presence can bring a crowd to cheers. How he is able to silence them all with a hand motion as if he is a teacher to a class of children. In this long shot you can see how may people really look up to Jordan as joint-owner of the company and how many people he has inspired with the same money mindset, this shot's also fairly long with no cuts to ensure the realism of jordan's forthcoming speech.
In this picture you can see Jordan talking, the scene cuts back to this mid/close up shot of Jordan talking to emphasise the importance of his speech, his desire has not yet overridden him as he does not know until after the executed speech that he will in turn, not leave due to the family he has created at Stratton.
He describes one of his fellow brokers 'Kimmy' as being one of the original 20, beautiful sophisticated, wearing $3000 Armani suits, driving a brand new Mercedes Benz, spends winters in Bahamas summers in the Hamptons. He describes her life as this to everyone as it being everyone else in the room's goal in life to also achieve this. Using materialistic items and holidays as being everyone's dreams and hopes shows them as being extremely materialistic, stuck up and shows their desires to be extremely money orientated.
Even though he's come so far and worked his way up, he isn't ready to stop working towards the top, he's become blinded by the fact he's at the top because he's become an inspiration to everyone. The impression his desire and want fuels everyone within the workplace due to the kind and generous impression he gives off. 
After Jordan has delivered the whole speech the camera then pans to his fellow colleagues who are considered as close to him they're shown to create the image of Jordan as the idealistic man and their goals are of Jordan's to one day own Stratton. They're pictured pointing, cheering and mouthing how much they love him to show their complete admiration to their boss.
This last part from when he shows them that he is not actually leaving the whole crowd goes wild, colleagues jumping and cheering showing their love and support for him as their boss as he's shown care and generosity throughout all their time at Stratton as a fellow stockbroker. 
The long shot shows the reaction of the whole room and how their desires have been made possible from the man standing in front of them, the whole crowd clap to show their complete appreciation for him. The ending scene where they turn into wild animals completed my analysis to show how they've turned inhumane in order to con people out of money and how all their dreams rely on money and working as a stockbroker.
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