Analysis of 'The Usual Suspects' Poster

Analysis of "The Usual Suspects" Poster

The title itself suggests many things, it could suggest that the men we see in the picture are criminals and have been arrested many times. The first thing I noticed when evaluating the poster was the body stance and positions. This is very important as it can tell us many things about a character and the storyline. The man in the centre is curved forward with his hands curled up against his body. This could show that he is very good at keeping secrets and that he may have knowledge about lots of illegal things. We can also see this by his facial expression, every other man at the line up is looking directly at the camera, however the man at the centre is looking down avoiding making eye contact near the camera, this shows that he is secretive. The idea that he is in the centre and is the tallest, with the highest shadow could imply that he is the one with the power who is used to intimidate and threaten others. The colours of his outfit also shows this, the red shirt could symbolise violence or danger to others. The man second on the left looks like the muscle. His body language is very open and intimidating, his hands are in his pockets, implying that he is very relaxed, maybe because he is used to being arrested. His hands are also clenched around the pocket, inferring that he is ready for a fight at anytime. He is wearing all black showing that he may be all evil. He is looking straight into the camera, whereas the others are either not looking at the camera or have their head tilted. Because he looks straight into the camera he does not look afraid. The man on the end on the left side is tilting his head, this implies that he is trying to act tough but is perhaps mocked by the others. Because of the Porsche sign on his jacket we can ,assume that he is used for driving the others around or fixing their cars but is not actually considered to be one of them. To fit in with the others he probably brags about his success with the ladies as we can tell by his jumper, zipped down to show his chest hair, that he probably thinks a lot of himself. The man on the second to the right is the only one wearing light colours implying that he may be more innocent than the rest of them and may be less involved in the crime. He looks dishevelled, whereas the rest all look relatively normal, like it is a regular occurrence. He looks like he could be the brains behind the operation. The man on the furthest right looks very nervous, his arms are nervously clutching at each other. He also looks like a socially awkward character. His shadow is separated from the others shadows, which are all joined, showing how he may not be connected to the other guys. The shadows above them could be a representation of a guilty conscience with the most to feel guilty about having the biggest shadows.