The+Deal+-+Group+1D

__Jemima Labisch, Frances Malpass, Karl Hanks

Introduction__ “The deal” (Stephen Frears, 2003) stars Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and David Mossisey as Gordon Brown. The film is about the alleged “deal” made between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, that Brown would stand down from the running to be leader of the labour party and that if Blair became prime minister, Brown would have control over economic policy. Blair would stand down after one term so that Brown could then become leader of the party. We’re going to look at various aspects of the film could be identify it as a documentary-drama according to the theorist Derek Paget, and briefly John Corner. __Captions__ According to Paget, one use of captions in documentary-drama is to protect against legal action. (Paget, 1998:64) This is demonstrated at the beginning of the film by the caption “Although some scenes and diologue have been invented, this film is based on actual events and parlimentary records.” This might protect against any legal action that might otherwise occur when dealing with issues such as politics and the government. Another purpose outlined by Paget is the ability of captions to set the scene dramatically (Paget, 1998:64), the idea of the film being based on “real events” arrests the attention of the audience with the knowledge the film will contain an elemement of truth. The next caption is an even better example of setting the scene dramatically. It reads “Much of what follows is true - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid”. Again the use of this quote from the famous western has connotations of good drama, as the film is widely known as a adventure movie about the two friends Butch and Sundance. It could be said that Butch is like Gordon Brown, the one who has all the good ideas, and Sundance is like Tony Blair, the one who actually takes action. This would suggest that not only does the caption set the scene dramatically, it also introduces the character traits of the two main men. __Drama Conventions- Casting__

__Drama Conventions- Visual Style

Drama Conventions- Character, Story editing

Drama Conventions- Extra Textual__ What Paget means by “extra textual” is how things outside the film itself can effect how the film is viewed by audiences(Paget, 1998:80). We found that originally the film was going to be broadcast on ITV, however because ITV were going through a merger with another company at the time, they felt the controversial nature of the film might not be popular with the other company, and so they dropped it. The film was then picked up by Channel 4 which is known by audiences as having a long association with controversy, so they would watch the film with the anticipation of controvercy. __John Corner- Manipulation__ We now move on to some aspects of Corners theory on documentary-drama. Manipulation is the idea of the film maker manipulating viewers to the particular view point of the film maker(Corner,1996:42). This can be seen throughout the film with the ways Blair and Brown are presented to audiences. Blair is presented as the family man, when Blair and Brown are on the phone often Blair is in his own house, for example in the kitchen, with his wife Cherie and baby behind him, whilst in contrast Brown is usually in his office sat at a desk. In one scene when Blair finds out about John Smiths heart attack, the first thing he asks is how the family are. Blair is also presented as someone who cares a lot about presentation, always straightening his tie and smiling. Brown is presented as the man who works constantly, having little time or thought to presentation. This is shown in a scene where Brown is about to give an important speech in a dirty tie, it takes another to spot this and change it for him. Browns reaction to a comment about the colour of socks portraying a message about a person is simply that he wears whatever colour socks come out of the washer, and doesnt give it any more thought than that. __John Corner-Thematic__ The subject of manipulation leads on to the thematic idea, which is that each documenrary drama has a particular point of view(Corner,1996:158). We feel that the film is very much centered around the point of view of Gordon Brown, who by the end of the film wins over the sympathy of viewers as you see him do nothing but work his whole life for his childhood dream of being prime minister, only for young Tony Blair with no previous interest in being prime minister to seemingly walce in out of no where and win over voters with little but charm and Browns hard work. By the end Frears has created an almost “evil” tony, who changes all the rules when he realises he has a real shot at becoming prime minister, leaving Brown feeling betrayed by a friend.

__Final Thought__ “The Deal” uses the techniques discussed, outlined by Paget and Corner, to effectively dramatise the story behind two of the most well known men in the country. The “real” nature of the film leaves audiences to question their real life opinions of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, perhaps Gordon Brown doesn’t deserve all the bad press after all?  __Bibliography__ Corner, John (1996), //The art of record: a critical introduction to documentary//, Manchester:Manchester University Press Paget, Derek (1996), //No other way to tell it: dramadoc/docudrama on television//, Manchester:Manchester University Press

__Lecture notes__ Jones, J. (2009), “Dramatising real events (1), Lecture, Bangor University, unpublished. Jones, J. (2009), “Dramatising real events (2), Lecture, Bangor University, unpublished.

__Filmography__ The Deal, 2003. Film. Directed by Stephen FREARS. UK, Channel 4. The Queen, 2006. Film. Directed by Stephen FREARS. UK, Miramax. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Directed by George Roy HILL. USA, THX