Steal Away - Charles McDougall

Steal Away begins in a way that would make the audience think it was a film about a heist and gangsters. This is shown through the music, money and expensive jewellery the character at the beginning appears to be wearing. The fact that the word 'steal' is in the title adds to the idea.

There is a point of view shot that shows the audience a part of London, including them in the story to make them feel like they are there and that they are a part of it. The first male character, at the beginning, seems like a bit of a gangster. Although he is acting normal and not out of the ordinary. He is wearing glasses and looking at the mirror in his car.

The story begins here, as the window of his car is broken, creating a disequilibrium, in accordance with Todorov's theory of narrative (which states that a plot should begin with an equilibrium, which gets disrupted to cause a disequilibrium, and then gets resolved into a new equilibrium).

Before his window is broken, he is distracted by two mysterious characters who pour water over his car, before smashing the window and running off with his briefcase. This shows that the characters are looking out for each other, which means they are in this together. The woman has a lower back tattoo, which shows her rebellion, adding to the idea it could be a film about criminals breaking the law.

There is an gunshot after the woman runs away, and a reaction shot that shows her emotions to what has just happened. She is worrying about her partner as he didn't run off with her. The audience learn that her partner's name is Michael as she says it, with worry in her voice, after the gunshot.

The film is already seemingly misleading the audience, as the audience should think by now that the woman's partner got shot, but he comes back. The audience see, from the woman's point of view, how happy she is that he is alive. They hear loud sirens approaching so Michael leads the woman into a tube station. There is a sign near them that says 'exit', which could lead the audience to believe that the tube station will be an exit for the two characters.

As they walk into the tube station, the lighting gets darker and the mise-en-scene seems 'grimier' than before, fitting in with the idea of crime. It makes it look like the two characters are somewhere they shouldn't be, as the place they stop in is also empty.

The music is cheery until the girl slams the briefcase on a surface, loudly, bringing them back to reality. It doesn't seem like there was a reason that they stole the mans briefcase, its as though they were just doing it for the thrill of it. As they open the briefcase the audience form suspicions of the man from the beginning of the film, in the car. This is because there is a lot of money in the briefcase that is red. In this case, the audience could think of blood money, as a connotation of the red money in the briefcase.

Both characters seem very excited by the risk and thrill of what they've just done, and the woman seems to become very touchy feely, and not shy at all. Saying this, the man is still very much in control, after the fact that the woman was very worried of losing him earlier.

Suddenly, a train comes into the station, quietly, eerily. The scene is shot in a way that doesn't show anybody on the train. the man and woman characters both get on the train, and the audience see that there are actually people on the train. It's ironic, as there is a man talking about sinning on the train, and the two characters have just sinned. There is also a man washing peoples feet on the train. The two characters, Michael and the woman, seem uncomfortable and awkward following the last event.

The man washing feet was offered money from a woman, but he didn't take it. This symbolises that people think that money can buy everything.

Everybody is acting strange, like this is a totally normal thing, until a few drunk men come on the train.

The music changes to a man singing gospel music, and Michael and the woman sit down. In non-diegetic music there is a song playing, which says the words 'Steal Away', like the title of the film.

The man who is washing feet on the train goes to wash Michael's feet, but Michael refuses to let him, and instead he changes places with him. He lets the man sit down next to his partner, and Michael begins to wash the man's feet. This could be to wash away his sins. The audience should now see that the film has turned very religious.

The woman seems disgusted that Michael is washing somebody's feet, changing the audiences opinion that she is trying to make him happy by letting him be in control of her. It seems slightly rebellious of her.

When the word 'Jesus' is sung, there are flickering lights in the train that only Michael and the man seem to be able to see, which shows that it was a test for him to repent his sins. The other man symbolises Jesus, ridding Michael of his sins. This is proven when the audience see that the red dye (from the 'blood money'), the evidence of the crime/sin, is now gone and they have been given a second chance. Very shortly after this, police are brought onto the train and some commuters tell the police that people are begging, and the police make Michael and the woman get off of the train.

At the station, it seems as though its judgement day. They both have tickets to get them through the barriers, that seem to have appeared in the woman's pocket when Michael was washing the mans feet. Michael's ticket gets him through the gate, but the womanise ticket doesn't. The audience see that the people are being 'judged' like on judgement day, because when the woman goes to get her ticket seen to, another man in front says, "You mean, I've got to go all the way back down there, just because I slept with my best mates wife?"

The audience then see what really happened back at the beginning, when that gunshot was heard. The man in the car is shown pointing and shooting the gun, and straight after he shoots, there is a shot of Michael standing behind the barriers with his hand over his heart. He died, he was shot. She didn't die.

Michael is seen going up an escalator into a bright white light. It seems like he is in heaven, and he sees his mother. His partner isn't with him though. The film shows real life again, and we see Michael's body being carried off in a body bag. He died for her. He cleansed her life and gave her another chance.

When I was watching this film I didn't know what was going to happen. I didn't understand most of it, because each time I thought I understood something, it changed. It was a very confusing film but in the end I think it is about choices, and whether to do the right thing or the wrong thing. I think this was portrayed effectively because it shows that things can change so quickly, like peoples minds and decisions.