300 (2006)

I find this shot to be particularly special because of all the symbolism packed into one short instance. We see here the young Spartan soldier, thrown out into the wild to fend for himself and return alive or not at all. He has encountered a wolf (whose shadow we see on the rock face), easily as big as he is. He fights with his brain first, by luring the wolf into a rocky crevasse. The wolf gets stuck and wounded by the spear in its attempt to lunge toward the Spartan boy, who deals a deathblow with one swift strike. This demonstrates the Spartan king’s overall strategy on how he will fight the Persian army: lead them to a narrow space, then strike. Talk about foreshadowing.



I like this shot because it efficiently sums up the main points of this character and all the hell he’s been through. The piercing gaze speaks of an unyielding spirit, and the battered helmet tells of the long hard battle he has fought.



Here’s a shot with some good imagery. The “God-king” Xerxes rides on a huge white polished throne carried on the backs of slaves. There’s no more obvious way to say that he is the absolute ruler of these subjects. The subjects themselves are dehumanized by their lack of faces. Rather, they wear masks or head cloths or other such related apparel. This lets them seem less than human, worthy of scorn and fit only to die at the hands of the noble Spartans.