'Dawn Of The Dead' (1979) Film Still Analysis 2

This screenshot shows a high angle view of the mall’s ground floor and the invasion of the building. The central focus of the shot is the large clock tower. The clock face itself has the red background and the white hands which could be symbols for hammers; a combination possibly demonstrating George Romero’s social comment on communism. Here, the zombies are mindlessly similar, linking communism to consumerism. The tower itself is a phallic symbol of power, looming over the rest of the scene.  It could also be seen to have another message – religion; a symbol of Mecca in a mall form with the zombies walking in its direction.

Throughout the film, trying to keep the zombies out has been the main priority for the group. The zombies are classic slow-moving monsters who aren’t particularly scary on their own but, in large groups, they become aggressive and intimidating. In regards to the historical context of the time, shopping malls were becoming big business in the 1970s and this entire film is a way of dealing with the subject of consumerism and indulgence. As Stephen says, the zombies come back to the mall through ‘instinct, memory’ because it was ‘an important place in their lives’. And Peter backs this up by saying, “They’re us. That’s all.” These comments show that Romero was suggesting that this was what consumerism does to people and that, eventually, we will all become ‘zombies’.

This links to the other films in Romero’s cannon of work at the time and proves that, through films such as ‘Night of the Living Dead’, ‘Land Of The Dead’, ‘Day of the Living Dead’ etc., his auteur style continues to criticise the historical context of the time.