The Big Boss Screen-cap Analysis

            The image is a close-up to medium shot of a man with silk dark hair and light goatee. The man is wearing a traditional eastern blue top and glasses. The man is centered on screen with a slight low angle shot. The shot also shows that the man is holding a wooden birdcage with two small green, yellow, and blue parakeets inside on his left hand. His right arm is at his side going downwards out of the shot. The man and the birdcage is in focus while the background is out of focus. However, a red curtain making up the lower half of the background is visible while the top half shows what appears to be white ceiling tiles. The lighting of the shot is directly on the man, going so far as to put a glare on his glasses. We can see that the man has a dismissive look on his face with a slight frown.

            The man in the shot is Hsiao Mi, who is the main antagonist of the film, The Big Boss. The scene this screenshot was taken from was during the climatic final confrontation that the main character has with Hsiao Mi. Thus, the slight low angle shot could be meant to imply an intimidating feeling from Hsiao Mi. Right before this scene the main character discovers that Hsiao Mi is responsible for the kidnapping of Chiao Mei and his friends’ deaths. The dismissive look on Hsiao Mi’s face could be due to the many guards he has to defeat the main character, who are just off-screen. The purpose of him holding a birdcage could be to represent how Hsiao Mi has captured Chiao Mei literally. In addition to this, Hsiao Mi has also effectively trapped the main character by outnumbering him with his guards. This parallel is enforced by the main character destroying the birdcage and setting the birds free right before he defeats all the guards and saves Chiao Mei.