Cinematography
As with any film, what is captured by the eye of the camera in this film is done with skill, expertise, and a high level of perfection in direction. The locations are captured by the camera in a way that supports and adds to the film's satire. For instance, in the gypsy camp, where Turkish and Tommy have gone to purchase a caravan to serve as an office for Turkish to work out for the fight he has to fix, the pair must walk around what appears to be large pile of excrement - and it doesn't appear to be animal in nature. Gross, yes, but it works with the conveyance of the stereotypical image that the director is attempting to convey.
Much the same holds true when Brick Top is giving Turkish and Tommy a tour of the pig pens. It is a harsh looking environment that successfully conveys the sense of why Brick Top keeps pet pigs. There is narrating in this scene that helps connect the viewer's olfactory senses to the scene. While the narration supports the scene, the camera captured the elements of the location that involved the viewer's senses.
There is a lot of action to be captured in the film, and the expert camera control and work is demonstrated time and again. The fight scenes have the rhythm of the sparring fighters, captures the long, slow motion shot of the right to the head that sends a line of sputum flying from Mickey's mouth, sending him down only to rise again.
There are scenes, too, where there is gunplay, for instance in a bar following a car...
The facial expressions of the three thugs as they react to Tony's dialogue is captured and conveys the character's Three Stooges expressions, and, without a word, the three turn and leave Tony to his pint.
There are a lot of tight and difficult camera shots in the film, where the cameraman has to work fast. In other scenes, the wider and expansive pans of open scenery, like at the gypsy camp, creates the sense of place that the director is attempting to convey to the audience in order to support the satirical elements of the film. The close shots are reserved for the emphasis of innocence, in Tommy and Turkish, and the deadliness of Boris, Tony, and Brick Top. Brick Top's yellowed teeth stand out whenever the character is involved in one of his many fast paced diatribes of dialogue.
The transition from scene to scene is smooth in this film, no clumsy cuts, but smooth fade in, fade out transitions that do not cause a disjoint in viewing and the storyline. It is well directed, shot, and acted film of the highest level of satire delivered in the spirit of old English literature where innocence and honesty prevail and Turkish and Tommy get the diamond without having fired a shot.
Reference List
Ritchie, G. (dir), 2000, Snatch, Columbia Pictures and SKA Films, UK.
