lock,stock and two smoking barriels-

Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels was written and directed Guy Ritchie.

Narrative
 Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels is about four friends, Bacon, Soap, Tom and Eddie decide to put together money for a high-stakes card game in the hopes of winning easy money. Aided by Barry "the Baptist", Harry's personal bodyguard and counsellor, the game is fixed so that Eddie, the card shark representing the group, loses to Harry and is forced to pay a £500,000 debt within one week, citing the loss of fingers and Eddie's father's bar if he fails to pay. To Eddie's fortune, and the dismay of his friends, all four of the group are tasked with honouring this debt, as they were all responsible for fronting the stake money. Harrys loyal and violent debt collector, Big Chris - who often brings his son and apprentice, Little Chris, to his work - is assigned to collect the payment on the due date.

After several days and no ideas to come up with the money, Eddie returns home and overhears his neighbours, a gang of thieves known for robbing drug dealers, planning a heist on some marijuana growers supposedly loaded with cash and drugs. Eddie relays this information to the group, intending for all of them to rob the neighbours as they come back from their heist, therefore solving the debt. Tom uses his connection with an underground dealer, known as Nick "the Greek", to provide them with guns for the job, and to find someone to help them move the drugs. Nick then manages to acquire a pair of antique shotguns, and arrange a deal with Rory Breaker, a gangster and sociopath, to purchase the stolen weed.

Prior to the card game, a pair of lowlife criminals, Gary and Dean, were hired by Barry to rob a bankrupt millionaire for Harry, who wanted a specific pair of antique shotguns from the stolen pile for his personal collection. The two guns that Harry wanted, however, were the ones that Gary and Dean sold prematurely to Nick after the robbery. An enraged Barry then threatens the two into getting them back.

The neighbours' heist goes underway; Dog, the leader of the gang, learned of the weed chemists from one of the members, and uses his connections to the group to catch them off guard. Despite having a gang member killed by his own Bren Gun, and an incriminating encounter with a traffic warden, the job is otherwise a success. Unfortunately as they come back to the hideout, the four friends ambush the neighbours and take the loot, who later return that night to stash the goods next door, and then celebrate with a wild night of drinking.

The various characters finally collide when Rory discovers that the weed he was going to purchase was in fact his; the weed chemists that were robbed were under his employ. Rory interrogates Nick into revealing where the four friends live, and uses one of the chemists to identify the robbers. That same morning, Dog has become furious at having been cheated and, during a tirade, he launches one of his men into a wall, who discovers (through the hole he makes as a result) various sound recording equipment; Dog realizes that his neighbours were the ones who robbed him, and has the men prepare to ambush the friends in the flat as he takes the antique shotguns and counts the money. Gary and Dean call Nick, who (in frustration) directs them to the same address in their search for the antique shotguns, while Big Chris and his son depart to collect the debt, and the four friends drive home from the bar.

Rory and his gang assault the flat and enter a shootout with the neighbours, resulting in the deaths of all but Dog and the lone chemist to survive the slaughter, with the latter taking off with the marijuana. Dog is mugged by Big Chris of the shotguns and money during his escape, Gary and Dean stealthily follow Big Chris, and the four friends finally return to the flat, shocked by the carnage and the missing loot. Big Chris then gives the guns and cash to Harry, and as he returns to his car he encounters Dog threatening his son, who wants him to get the loot back from Harry. Desperate to get the guns, Gary and Dean attack Harry and Barry at their office, realizing who they were at the last minute before killing each other in another violent shootout. The four friends soon arrive to find another scene of carnage, and take the opportunity to re-steal the debt money, mystified by their strange fortune. Big Chris then crashes into their car to disable Dog, and after brutalizing him with his car door, he takes the debt money back from the unconscious friends, only to find his employer dead, and Tom just about to make off with the antique shotguns, which he'd briefly paused to examine.

The remaining friends were arrested, but were declared innocent after the traffic warden from earlier identified the neighbours bodies as the prime suspects. The four reunite at Eddies fathers bar, and decide to have Tom get rid of the only evidence linking them to all the bloodshed the shotguns. After Tom leaves, Big Chris arrives to bid them farewell, and gives them a catalogue on antique guns. Big Chris then leaves, having kept the debt money for himself and his son. A quick perusal of the book reveals that the shotguns the four had bought for the job were each worth a fortune, and so they desperately try to call Tom. The film ends in a cliff hanger when Toms cell phone, stuffed in his mouth, starts ringing as he hangs over the side of a bridge, preparing to drop the shotguns into the River Thames.


Narrative techniques used 
Lock, Stock and Two smoking barrels has multi-strand storyline but it also has a main she tory about the four friends who lose money on a fixed card game, but end up being indebted to Harry. the four friends are the protagonist of the movie and the rest of the people are part of the story but its mainly about the friends. all of the characters are tied together forming a full storyline. the fact that all of the characters end up getting involved with each other is interesting.

the film also has alternative narratives....the events that happen in the film all happen in order, in the beginning we see the four friends coming together and putting all the money they have together for the card game then we see the friends lose the game because the game is fixed and then the friends try to get their money back and the whole problem ends up being solved in unconventional way.  the reason why I say would the film has an alternative is because everything has order even the short stories In the film fit in order with the main story.

Would I say this film is enigma?
the biggest ever because of the way the film ended. thought out the whole film, the friends were trying to win the money back and that didn't work because Big Chris took the money but he brought back something even better and show them how much the guns their have cost but it was already two late as they told tom but get rid off it and as they realised what mistake they were about to make, they called Tom to tell him but he was in an awkward position as he was leaning over a bridge trying to pushing the guns into the river then the phone rings and he is stuck on weather he should answer the phone or if he should push the guns over, without showing us what he is going to do the film ends. the film ends in cliff-hanger leaving us asking ourselves what he is going to do.
will he answer the phones?
will he throw the guns away?
will  he end up falling in themselves?

the film has a lot of equilibrium that gets in the way of the protagonist from meeting their goals. after the friends rob the neighbours and they have the money, the money ends up being stolen from them and again as they find the money Big Chris hits the car and he takes the money and at the end of the film just when they found out how much the guns were worth but they already told Tom to get rid of them. this is example of equilibrium. those 4 friends who want nothing more then to gain back the money their lost in a fixed card of games but so many things get in the way that it is hard for them to meet their goal.

Climax is used in every film and Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels had one of the best
 climax. even though the film has a lot of climax used to build suspense, the one that I thought was amazing is when the four friends found out that Tom still had the guns, the guns being the last evidence that could be used against them and the boys make him feel stupid and silly for keeping them in his car so they tell him to get rid of it.
Tom drives his car and when he comes across a bridge, stops to throw it away and but the guns fall in the side of the bridge.
As the three reminding friends are at the pub having drinks Big Chris comes in and tells them that he is keeping the money for himself and his child (Little Chris) and gives them antique guns catalogue, inside the catalogue is the two Barrels that they told Tom to get rid off and as they read they found out the guns are worth a fortune.
Tom’s mobile phone starts ringing as he hangs over the side of a bridge, preparing to drop the shotguns into the River and he has to decide whether to answer the phone or drop the guns into the river. The films ends in cliff-hanger  ending on a climax as we don't see what he does. this makes the audience, myself include feeling lot of annoyance because the whole film was building up to the four friends getting the money back and now is in their hands we wont know what happened.


Genre
The codes and conventions used in the film tell us and the audience what genre the film is. what we expect to see in a gangster film is a lot of gun violence or just violence and Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels doesn't disappoint because they are a lot of violence used in  this film for example.

Plank arrives at Winston's and weasels his way in, but the metal gate is locked. He draws his shotgun on Charles, who promptly faints. Dog and the others hear the commotion, and run inside - one of them is carrying a huge gun! They manage to get the keys off the floor, but can't get the gate open. Winston, Willie, and J shoot the robbers with an air gun from the staircase, and the man with the Bren gun returns fire. Dog is angry and tells him not to fire the gun again, then he blows Charles' toes off and threatens to kill him if the gate isn't unlocked. Winston tells Willie to hide upstairs, and he and J let the robbers in.

Willie slices the man's arm up, but doesn't kill him.

 The driver of the getaway van is getting a ticket from a traffic warden, so he knocks him out and throws him in the back of the van.

Dog orders his cronies to gather the cash and weed, and makes plans to dispose of the growers. Unfortunately for them, Gloria, who's been asleep on the couch the whole time, hops up, grabs the Bren gun, and opens fire. She manages to kill the injured crook, but Dog and Plank survive. Dog knocks her out

there are a lot of great violence scenes involved to show that the film is a gangster but violence isn't the only thing involved in a gangster film. there are a lot conventions used in gangster films such as  Drugs, Money, Love Interest, law enforcement ......etc..
Drugs were involved in the film, there are even guys who look after it and grow it.
Money seemed to be the main convention of this film since it seem it was all about finding money and losing.
Law enforcement are always used in gangster films as a way to create a balance because you cant go around doing illegal things such as crimes, murders and drugs and get away with it. I think it is a way to say that no matter how good life is you will always get caught.


Representation: How are men/women portrayed?
men and women are represented differential in the film. men are seen as the protagonist in the film, some seem to be in a suit and some are dressed in casual clothing but most men have jobs weather is illegal or not. there are a lot of men involved in the film and not a lot of women.
Men seems to be the theme of the film . almost the entire film revolves around the male characters and there is a definitely a masculine primacy within the film. an example of this is in the strip bar where topless females are dancing in the background as they are provided a service to the males. the camera focus is also burred as they dance in the background. this makes the females even more inferior within this male dominated society.
 
there was one women who seem to have the respect of the males and that was slight older women who was dealing the cards and the males around the table seem to listen and respect her.
but there was also Gloria, who was the love interest of one off character, Gloria just seem to be a lifeless person, she seems to be high on something and she seems to need help with just standing up as her boyfriend kept his arm around her to keep her steady.
 
women seem to be just there in the film for the sake of being there, I don't think there was a need for them, the film would have seem been great without them.

  Target Audience: Who are they? What will they find appealing?
  As the certificate of the film is 18, I would say that the target audience for the film is 18+ considering the genre of the film and storyline and the actors involved it has a specific adult audience and the film includes drugs and gang related issues. the strong language and the strong violence used in the film make it inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18.
Gender: the gender for this film is aimed at young males, the reason why I think that this is because I think it is the kind of films that would attract young adults, I think young males might be able to relate to the people in the films not the storyline but the people init.
The ethnicity of the film is British people because I don't think that American people or many other people understand or get the jokes that the characters are making.
I think it would appeal to both black people and white people because the film has both strong white and black male lead.
the location is England, the location targets the audiences because the film has a lot of strong English actors.

 Violence: Your opinion on the use of violence in specific scenes 
 I found the film enjoyable due to the amount of comedy involved and also the violence involved.
thought out the film I was mostly laughing how the four were meant to be friends but always made of each other, I found this funny because it is exactly how it happens in real life...the scene I enjoyed the most was the Gloria scene because women seem to be useless object in this film that when Gloria woke up and started shooting, I loved it maybe because am a women or maybe because I love seeing a women kicking ass but I loved the scene until it last which wasn't long since she got kicked out .
 
I also liked the way the camera was used in an effective way in this film. a wide range of angles are used. from long shots to detailed close up shots.