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Dark Horse Themes

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“The main purpose of a text is to give an insight into the complexity of human nature”

The film The Dark Horse directed by James Napier Robertson is a film based off the life experiences of speed chess champion Genesis Potini. Throughout the film the director uses multiple film techniques to develop an insight into the complexity of human nature. Robertson highlights the complexity of human nature by expressing faults humans hold such as discrimination, self deprecation and our need for support. Robertson explores the unconscious nature we experience as humans and the effects of being surrounded by toxic people. Robertson does this to educate the audience helping us become more aware of the common flaws we experience as well as entertaining …show more content…

During the film we see Mana suffer from self deprecation as he constantly puts himself down because he believes the gang life is “where I belong”. Mana was raised surrounded by the members of Ariki’s gang who treat Mana with no respect and act violently towards him. The director shows how this rough upbring affects Mana’s life through the low key lighting that is always present in his home. This helps give the impression that Mana’s life is dull and sinister. We see the deeper effects the gang has on Mana when he says “no one ever thought I would do that” after winning a game of chess. This quote shows that Mana had no encouragement throughout his life causing him to doubt himself and be stuck in a negative mindset. Because of this Mana never thought he would accomplish anything. The purpose of this is to show how easy it is to believe we’re worthless when we’re constantly told so. Robertson wants to show the audience how easily human nature can be influenced by those surrounding us and how important it is to try to avoid these toxic relationships. We see the negative impact of being gang affiliated through Mana’s attitude and behaviour. We see how quick to anger Mana is when Gen tries to stand up for him against the gang, as he snaps at Gen then jumps up from his seat and storms out of the room. Later when expressing his anger towards the gang to Gen Mana says, “I want to kill them”, showing how he has developed a violent nature. Robertson explores the depth of human nature by showing the audience how our childhood and the people we surround ourselves with mould us as people. He shows that kids growing up without love and support affects an individual's self worth as they don’t feel worth of love, ultimately affecting their future as they find it harder to form relationships and connections with others. The purpose of this is to show the

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