Lacanian - Uses and examples within film

Films that use Lacan:

The Life of David Gale (Kevin Spacey) - he teaches Lacan. 

Within the first 10 seconds of the clip the audience is shown a quick montage sequence edited where four inspirational words are shown. Power, life, lust and fantasy. combined in with these words are establishing shots of a university and students. Everyone experiences these words almost on a daily basis, younger people even more so. As it cuts from the end of this scene to the next (David Gales' class we hear him speaking to the class asking them to think and to "reach back into those minds" to be able to prepare them for what he is about to discuss. The mise-en-scene is set in a large classroom and the camer is positioned at the front of the class slightly tilted up as Mr. Gale is walking down to the front. As the camera is them shifted so that the audience can clearly see David I feel as though I am a student in one of the seats as he teaches the room. A shot reverse shot then takes place as he discusses what the students fantasise about. "Fantasies have to be unrealistic as the second that you get what you seek, you don't, you can't want it anymore".
The setting of the classroom is very simple, on the board behind him it says 'mental casualty'. Personally, I believe that to experiment lack is a subconscious mental casualty as money is hard to earn and easy to spend on things that don't really matter. Money should be spent on a car to help you travel or food so you don't starve yourself rather than a new pair of shoes when you already have ten other pairs. "It's not the 'it' that you want, it's the fantasy of 'it'". As soon as the fantasy becomes a reality then that's when you won't be interested anymore. Perfectly displaying the Lacan theory as to why it's so important as through the mid shots and the tracking from either in front or behind of Mr. Gale that "the only way that we can measure the significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others".

By the end of the clip, with his student saying she'll do anything to get a good grade, it nods to the audience an expectation which is then subverted and shows how things like sex, drugs and money are a lack, the feeling of wanting more and what you already have is never enough.

The Greatest Showman

The first shot is placed as though the camera is in the audience of the theatre, as the curtain rises it cuts to a low angle set behind her on the stage. With the spotlight on her, she creates a silhouette behind her. The camera tilted up signifies her dominance yet as a woman, in this setting it's unusual. As the music begins a mid shot of Mr. Barnum is shown as he stands in the wing looking nervous. As a poor boy who has made his way to the top of the show business tree, he looks very comfortable in a tuxedo. Almost appearing as this is his normal and doesn't appreciate being rich. He takes having money and power for granted as it is no longer his fantasy, it is now his reality, and now is no longer special.
The diegetic sound of the orchestra playing swells the room yet her vocals are still louder. The miseducating-en-scene isn't as on-the-nose compared to the lyrics of the song, which I find to be derivative of Lacan. Emphasising that even the world in your hands is never enough.
As the chorus reiterates over and over, having a materialistic nature towards things are never enough.
"All the stars we steal from the night-sky
Will never be enough...
These hands could hold the world but it'll
Never be enough..."

Red Dead Redemption 2

Even a Lacanian message is being implemented into games.

A game that revolves around robbery, deceit and treachery in 1899.
This is a picture from my personal gameplay as I was robbing a house. The game mechanic is that when you search a dresser you start from the bottom draw to the top. When I saw this message proving that I was acting greedy through my characters eyes, I appreciate how the game developers decided to include this as a healthy reminder that sometimes you need to step back and think about what you already have and how more than often, "you want more than you have".