The Flag at the Graveyard
What seems, perhaps, like a strangely composed shot at the very beginning of the film is actually a statement of political irony that only becomes apparent in retrospect. The shot places a U.S. flag quite obviously—notably obvious, in fact—in the foreground of the shot, waving in the breeze to full extension. What is notable about this composition is that this shot is just the second to show the actual graveyard in which the opening scenes occur and the flag can actually be seen from a greater distance in the first shot to show the cemetery. In other words, this is an “establishing shot” mean to convey no other information to the audience than where the characters are yet it is not the graves that dominate the frame, but the flag. By the film’s end, the irony of this unusual composition becomes clear: America is a graveyard.
Ironic Subversion
Throughout the film, Romero uses irony to subvert audience expectations and cinematic conventions. The first twenty minutes of the movie are used to establish Barbara as its protagonist. She is literally the only character on screen for more than half those twenty minutes and according to all known Hollywood narrative techniques she is thus set up to become the film’s hero. Ironically, not only does she not turn out to be the hero, she actually spends the bulk of the rest of the film in a near-catatonic state of inaction. And when she does act, she tends to be more a distraction and obstruction to the hero than anything else.
“They’re coming for you, Barbara.”
Though this famous quote is merely an attempt by a brother to scare his sister, ironically it turns out that they really are “coming to get you, Barbara.”
Wrong Time, Wrong Place
Talk about irony! The brother and sister are only at graveyard at this single worst moment to be there so far away from home in the first place to please their mother’s request to make the annual pilgrimage to their father’s grave to pay respect. The son can’t even remember what his dad looks like! They don't want to be there and yet they are.
Most Ironic Ending Ever?
If not actually the single most ironic ending, ever, the movie concludes with one of the top five examples of an ironic climax in film history, surely. After doing everything humanly possible to save not just himself, but everyone else in the film from the clutches of the living dead, the hero gets shot…mistaken for the very evil he was trying to protect the others from.
