The Usual Suspects - Researching Genre

Genre
The film is a neo noir crime thriller mystery, neo noir is a sub genre of film noir, where it is has the same themes of a typical film noir movie but set in a modern time and updated settings. The usual conventions is the protagonist being some kind of detective in a crime drama or mystery, often with the same stylistic dark lighting and visual elements. The characters tend to be anti heroes, mysterious women (or femme fatales) and the cynical detective. They are also generally independent films. The Usual Suspects is clearly displays the neo noir genre because the narrative based on criminals and the police interrogating them to find out what happened. It's also neo noir because it has all the conventions of a film noir but as an updated version.

Narrative
The film shows Roger "Verbal" Kint getting interrogated, who is a con man and one of only two survivors of a massacre and fire on a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles. He gives a long and complicated story about the events that led him and his partners to the crime at the boat. Which he links back to the mysterious mob boss known as Keyser Söze, and using flashbacks and narration the story gets more and more complex. The end of the film is left open to interpretation about if Keyser Söze really exists and is Verbal, or he made him up to lead them off the case.

Representation
Key Characters-

Todd Hockney - played by Kevin Pollack and is a hijacker, who is laid back, casual, and doesn't seem to bothered about the situation they are in.

Micheal McManus - played by Stephen Baldwin, he wears a black leather jacket, black clothes, which look intimidating and threatening, he seems quite rebellious and reckless.

Fred Fenster- played by Benicio Del Toro, speaks in broken english, he is quite careless and casual.

Dean Keaton - played by Gabriel Bryne, he seems to be the leader of the group and is suspected to be Keyser Soze.

Roger "Verbal" Kint- played by Kevin Spacey, he is the actual Keyser Soze (or is he?), he pretends to have cerebral palsy so people assume he is just a "cripple" and not an infamous mob boss.

All the main characters are straight, white males so there isn't a very good representation of other groups of people. 

Audience
The film is mainly aimed at men, aged 25-50, as they are stereotypical the most interested in the crime and thriller genre of film.

Rick Altman Theory Semantic elements - the majority of the film is set in a police station looking back at flashbacks, there are also lots of guns, violence and large amounts of money and drugs, which are all associated with crime. The soundtrack is also quite mysterious and mainly classical music, which is often heard in original film noir.
Syntactic elements - the plot is all about a massacre linked to drugs and money which is commonly seen in crime films. The film is also full of suspense and mystery, making you question who is Keyser Soze? and what actually happened between them? So all the suspense fits with the thriller element of the film because all the action and tension puts you on the edge of your seat. Also the non linear narrative goes with the mystery theme because it hides some information and only shows the audience certain things, leaving them wondering what's going on, which makes the film feel mysterious.