Barthes 5 Codes (DYM Homework)

Hardboiled Teahouse Shootout Scene
Enigma Code - Who is good and bad? What will make the gansters rich? Why are they hiding guns? Who is this 'hardboiled' cop? Who are these gangsters working for and why are they so violent?

Action Code - The men in blue shirts who we guess to be cops are watching a deal go down amongst a gang of gun runners as the gangsters start to pay for the guns the police spring their trap and attack them, this creates a large scale shootout in the teahous where many civilians and innocents are killed. As more police arrive they too are shot and killed by these terrorist-esque gangsters. The Main characters partner is then killed, by the final villain left alive, causing him to hunt him down and eventually kill him.  

Semiotic Code - The scene opens with money in an envolope being past between two men this infers that something dodgy is happening and that it could be a drug deal/gun dealing etc. A close-up of Tequila (The main character) smoking a cigerette and watching this deal infers that he is a police officer with a twist, the cigerette gives an image of a rebellious care-free attitude showing us that he is a hero with a darker side.

Cultural Code - Chinese setting (Teahouse) and Chinese actors speaking chinese, Im guessing that this film is set in china... Within the first few seconds guns are drawn and people have started shooting, this suggests that it is in a large gang area of Hong Kong and that the culture in the area reflects e.g. Ruthless cops who have seen a their fair share of action, criminals who wont go down without a fight etc. etc.

Symbolic Code - We are left to guess who is good and who is bad as they are all shooting at each other showing that everyone is looking to take a life. This tells us that both criminals and police are very similar, neither willing to back down in order to survive.