Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Literary Elements

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark Literary Elements

Director

Steven Spielberg

Leading Actors/Actresses

Harrison Ford and Karen Allen

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Paul Freeman, Denholm Elliott, Ronald Lacey, and John Rhys-Davies

Genre

Action/Adventure

Language

English

Awards

The film was nominated for a number of Academy Awards. It was nominated for the following awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score. It won the following: Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects

Date of Release

June 12th, 1981

Producer

Frank Marshall

Setting and Context

The film is set all around the world, but its primary settings are in the U.S., Egypt, and a remote island. It is set in 1936.

Narrator and Point of View

The film is told through the point of view of Indiana Jones.

Tone and Mood

Mysterious, Revelatory, Intriguing, Scary, Happy, Energetic, Brooding, Strange, and Claustraphobic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Indiana Jones versus Belloq and his Nazi friends

Major Conflict

The major conflict of the film is the conflict between Indy, Belloq, and the Nazis as they all race to find the Ark of the Covenant first.

Climax

The climax of the film occurs on the remote island when the Arks mystical powers are revealed and several of the Nazis faces are melted off.

Foreshadowing

The supernatural qualities of the Ark of the Covenant are foreshadowed early on the film.

Understatement

The power that the Ark holds is understated quite frequently in the film.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark is undoubtedly well-filmed (it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography after all), but it isn't innovative in filming or lighting or camera techniques.

Allusions

To the Bible (see: the Ark of the Covenant), mythology, astrology, science, technology (what Indy uses, particularly), geography (the various places Indy and company travel), religion, other films, novels (Indy is James Bond-like figure), and popular culture.

Paradox

Belloq purports himself to be a world-class architect, yet he loses the Ark -- and a number of other archaeological treasures -- very frequently.

Parallelism

The career arc of Indy and Belloq are oppositely parallel in the film (as Indy's career explodes similarly to Belloq's, Belloq's fades).

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