Introduction to the show
Television shows encompass various elements that do not only make it important but also expound on the message that the movie intends to relay on a targeted population. These elements range from sound, visual caption as well as the language that are evident in a particular scene in a series. Intensive use of these elements has for a long period made television shows to constitute some of the major forms of entertainment that attract the attention of not only children but also the aged. From the change of the scenes as well as the characters in a movie, they tend to explain various true stories that happened in life or elucidate a situation that is either fecund or liked by most people in the society (Vuoskoski, & Eerola, 2011). Television shows have remained more significant in the recent community with many huge populations of people signing it to various sites online to satisfy their want for entertainment. This study will examine the cinematic analysis of the “Homeland” TV series directed by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa.
The series is about a prisoner of war, which a CIA agent believes was transformed during the captivity. Nicholas Brody who is the main protagonist in the movie spent eight years in captivity where he faced torture and all manner of the worse thing that abducted soldiers face in captivity. Carri Mathison, who is a CIA officer, believes that Brody is not the same American soldier who was abducted 8 years ago. The officer feels that Brody has transformed as he shows signs of playing a trick with the CIA yet he has ill intentions to cause terror in the country. The doubts of Carrie compels her to stalk Brody by mounting cameras in his house as well as watching all his moves to find out the connecting that he has with the terrorist in Iraq. Abu Nazir who is the leader of terrorists in Iraq wanted to revenge the death of his son who was killed by an American airstrike in the US. The pain of losing a son triggers his team to capture American soldiers who he believed would help him revenge.
In the first episode, Brody comes home from captivity where he meets the wife and children whom he had not seen for eight years. All political leaders and Americans are happy for his return because of the heroism he showed to all soldiers. The first address to the military officers meant to address the bad things he faced in captivity. Everyone feels touched with the story where the vice president of the US acknowledges him as one of the heroes counted in American history. The standard protocol for the CIA was always to vet all soldiers who return home because they had already received information of a transformed solder but they did not have the name of the soldier. Carrie believes that Brody is a transformed soldier. However, despite her attempts to have a close watch on Brody, she did not see anything suspicious that would prove that Brody was the transformed soldier they have been looking for in the department.
The second episode starts with the main actor trying to reconnect with family. The wife, who had thought that the husband died in the war, was trying to come to an agreement that his husband was home and she had to turn down the proposal of his other lover who was to move in the week before Brody arrives from captivity. Things are seemingly off as the wife feels that the husband has changed because he could not even make love to the wife. Meanwhile, the CIA team believes that Brody is the changed soldier as they try to unveil various events that could show any sign that Brody was not a veteran but a terrorist working under the umbrella of the Abu Nazir. Conversely, Nicholas feels a connection between her wife and Mike Faber. Brody had served with Mike before going for a mission in Iraq. Carrie, who is the main case officer on Brody, admits that she had been suffering from bipolar. The effect of the disease sometimes affects her judgment compelling her to remain on drugs to control her condition. She has a family that understands her condition. On the other hand, Brody could not have sleep because he was ever seeing the images of the dark hole he has been for the last eight years.
Episode 3 starts with the CIA trying to flush out one of the Abu Nazir men who were in the city. The officer recruits a girl as the inside source to the Abu Nazir confidant at the hotel. The CIA recruit was to gather information from the cellphone as well as report anything that the person was doing in the US. Brody still has the fighting to connect with his family with much of his attention going to the daughter who she loved so much. Carrie believes that the death of the inside source person was connected to the series of terrorist attacks that were coming on the US soil. Carrie was determined to stop any attack as well as any further loss of life by tracing the people who killed the CIA recruit.
Discussion of the wants, needs, and dreams of Main characters
Brody, who is one of the main characters in the show, has a hard time connecting with the family as well as ensuring he accomplished the wish of Abu Nazir. He looks at his two children and wishes to redeem himself by being the father that the children had lost for eight years. However, he cannot achieve all these because of the great mission he was having ahead. He changed his religious affiliation while at captivity such as the time he was coming home he was a Muslim. Jessica, Brody’s wife dreams of reconnecting to his husband a move that led her to decline the proposal of Mike. The unveiling events of his captivity seem to have caused great harm to Brody, as he could not have control of his family. The children feel detached from their father. The joy that they dreamed of having with their father around was taking another shape to an episode of sadness with the mother and father quarreling each day.
Carrie Mathison feels that she will get enough evidence to justify her claims on Brody. Carrie dreamed of finding the truth about Brody and proving to the world that he was not the person they were thinking of in the Military. The need to find information Brody was coming to a standstill where all the baits he placed to catch Brody and his mission in the US was not yielding any fruit. Her want to keep America safe forces her to fall in love with Brody to get information. She describes the types of CIA officers who are in love with their job and would do anything to ensure that they make their country safe. The author of the series allows carries to suffer from bipolar with a reason because many people blame her condition when she tried to prove that Brody was a terrorist.
Types of tensions applied
The mixed reaction evident at the airport when Brody landed creates the mood of the episode. Dina and the brother do not know their father as it was the first time they were trying to capture the real picture of their father. They are sad seeing their father a prisoner of war who had just returned home after many years. From this scene, it evident that the series transforms into a drama to some sense of reality that anyone in the situation could feel. Therefore, the music playing in this scene is very relevant to the mood (Buhler, Neumeyer & Deemer, 2010). Besides the fear seen from children is another indication of the problem that they were about to face at that time. They had used to Mike as their father but they have to change because of the changed situation.
The portrayal of Carrie and her worry to find the truth employs the effect of realistic and believable. It was evident that the increasing number of cameras at Brody’s house could cause uncertainties and raise an alarm. People at the CIA could not believe that Carrie was saying the truth about a soldier transformed into a terrorist. Despite, her claims being realistic, the CIA director did not have any proof of the claims. The calls as well as the connections of Brody in the initial episodes did not show him as a traitor but a soldier who was looking for better ways of reconnecting with his family.
The author of the movie creates suspense in the series by increasing the condition of Bipolar on Carrie while she was saying the truth about Brody. The initial series of the movie shows the urge that Broody has to revenge for Abu Nazir. However, in his plan, he uses his influence to get close to the vice president. This allows him to run and win a congress seat. As Carrie was viewing Brody as a terrorist, many of the Americans including the vice president was sure that Brody would be in the best place to present his state at the congress because of the torture he faced in captivity. Therefore, the suspense in the episodes comes from the positive view that many people had on Broody while he was the terrorist that Carrie was looking for in the country (Vuoskoski, & Eerola, 2011).
In the entire TV series, the employment of different lighting techniques shown when Brody was in the hole in Iraq expounds on the dramatic effect of the series. For instance, the three-point lighting technique used in the scene where Brody was lying on the floor and a bright light bursts on his face to signify his ultimate freedom. The scene relay more information on the theme of freedom that appears in most parts of the drama (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). Besides, the scene encompasses much illumination from the sun giving the part a more natural look. Therefore, by the use of different lighting techniques within the movie, it gives a more theatrical though to the movie as well as relaying the mood.
Themes of the show
Revenge is the main theme running through the movie show. Abu Nazir was ready to use all his resources in ensuring that the vice president who ordered an airstrike that killed his son dies. Besides, Brody also feels that the US government did not bother to look for him for the last eight years he was in torture. He felt that the government should pay for their actions of less concern on their soldiers who suffer in captivity.
The theme of love appears in most episodes in the movie. Jessica loves Brody. She wishes to revert to their old school love where they were free with each other. Mike loves Jessica. He has been with Jessica when Brody was in captivity. Carrie fell in love with Brody where she spent many nights with Brody away from his wife. All these characters portray the theme of love in the Homeland series.