Rush Analysis

Rush is a sports biopic about the rivalry between Nickie Lauder and James Hunt and the opening scene is very clever - it sets up the wider narrative for the viewer and creates a foreboding sense of tension.

The opening shot is a really thoughtful one - it is a long shot of a stormy sky which connotes uncertainty, danger and conflict. Storms create this kind of feeling as we do not know what they will bring, its a feeling of the unknown.

We cut to a close up of a man's eye as he survey's the sky - this is interesting because it suggests mystery and it makes us question what is he feeling and thinking. As we wonder why he looks up to the sky it cuts to a shot where we can see him looking up at the sky in a formula one car. This explains in more depth as to why he was looking up at the sky. He could have been seeing what the whether was going to be like and planning how he is going to strategically win this race. You can see the passion in his eye as it cuts to the close up.  This intensity also is conventional for drama.

A dramatic monologue begins. Some questions are asked by Lauder such as 'who would do this,' and we find out that two circuit racers are likely to die, statistically speaking, in the season. This creates more tension as you now have that thought in your head that this is as really dangerous sport and question whether they should be taking part in it or not. You can hear in his voice that this is a very important sport to him and how much time and dedication he puts into this sport.

We are shown a long shot of preparation for a formula one race in the late seventies.  We pan up from the road and this is to lend emphasis to the track because it represents how important the road is to the sport and represents danger as you see all the men checking the car is safe and getting them ready for the race.

There is long shot of Lauder and Hunt and it emphasises the difference between the two men. We see Lauder being focused and spending some time on his own to make sure he will perform at his best but then we Hunt just standing around with a bunch of girls having photos taken with not a care in the world about the race. Its almost like Hunt is just brushing it to one side because he is loving the attention he is getting from the women. This shows a clear contrast between the two main characters. We can tell from this shot that Hunt and Lauder are rivals but we only see one of the main characters, Lauder, preparing for this race properly and actually making us think that he wants to win this race more than anyone else.