- Examine all aspects of mise-en-scene (lighting, composition, set design, properties, etc.). This would include colors as well. Discuss the concept of "monster" through the mise-en-scene in each film. This exercise will help to prepare you for your Independent Study and your Oral Presentation. Examine CLOSELY and offer many details and examples. Think about what the director is trying to say IMPLICITLY. Tie both films in with each other. Discuss similarities and differences in the mise-en-scene in both films. Please do this in 4 well-developed paragraphs.
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- Choose a five-minute scene in both films and examine the role of women and how they are portrayed in your selected scenes and in the films as a whole. Be sure to discuss this topic CINEMATICALLY. How does the director show us? Do this in 4 well-developed paragraphs.
Alien was shot entirely in environments that were man made for the film. There was no outdoor shooting or shooting in real locations. Therefore every aspect was controllable by the film makers. Alien seems to create a very confusing and crowded mise-en-scene. The movie starts off with a long take of the exterior of the ship, followed by several long shots of the interior of the ship. The ship has almost no curves, and no smooth surfaces. Every wall, control panel, and ceiling is crowded with some kind of texturing. Even the doorways are oddly shaped. The exterior is similar. It is irregularly shaped and entirely covered in machinery. This mise-en-scene purposefully made the film feel surreal and frightening. The initial interior presentation of cleanliness dominates the interior of the Nostromo, while the threat posed by the Alien is explicitly presented as one of contamination. The dinner sequence is brightly lit, the table is white and the characters are wearing white uniforms. This sense of cleanliness and purity is violently disrupted by Kane's alien tearing thru him and the splatter of blood by the emerging Alien.The Nostromo is also very similar to the fully grown alien and it resembles the ship. The alien is a dark color, and irregularly shaped (its an alien). It had a great number of small teeth, just as most of the ship’s interior has small convexities and even the controls have a great number of small switches and lights. The alien also has many ridges in its skin, especially in the tail that are similar to the pipes on the Nostromo.This is shown in extreme closeup shot of the alien’s tail and the floor of the ship where the texture seems extremely close. These similarities play into a larger picture. I think that the reason for the design dark odd mysterious shape of the ship is to make the later parts of the film more dramatic by making the alien blend into the background of the ship, and making it harder to spot. For example when Ripley finally escapes in the escape pod and she thinks its all over as she is dressed in only her underwear but the Alien actually blends in and she did not even see it until it stuck its hand out dramatically.This “organic” and complex environment makes the movie feel more threatening by making it closer to what the alien looks like.
ReplyDeleteThe theme of “monster” is used in many horror films. Two such films that revolve around this theme are “The Shining”, a 1980 psychological horror film, and “Let the Right One In”, a 2008 Swedish horror film. Both horror films rely heavily on their mise-en-scene, more specifically lighting, composition, and set design, to show the directors, Stanley Kubrick and Tomas Alfredson, interpretation of what it means to be a monster. In “Let the Right One In”, this monster could be interpreted as either Eli or humanities tendency towards cruelty. In “The Shining”, the monster is Jack, who is overcome but the supernatural forces at play within the hotel resort.
ReplyDeleteIn “Let the Right One In”, the concept of monster are incorporated into the character of Eli, the young girl who moves to a small town in which she befriends a boy, Oskar, who is accepting of her natural instincts as vampire. In the pool scene at the end of the film, director Tomas Alfredson uses the previously mentions aspects of mise-en-scene to convey a deeper meaning about the film. The pool room is a square, made to make the viewer feel trapped as Oskar does by the bullies. This is further implied by the railing surrounding the pool in which Oskar refuses to leave. When Oskar is held underwater, the screen consists of only his face which portrays his struggle to stay alive as well as his struggle to accept himself and stand up to the kids who always bullied him. Suddenly, the viewer sees things being hurdled into the pool behind Oskar, and we recognize that Eli is back to save him. When the arm floats down in front of Oskar, it is representative that he no longer has to deal with the oppression he has suffered at the hand of the other boys, thanks to “monstrous” girlfriend who uses her vampire characteristics, perceived to be only horrendous, for good. The lighting on the pool room comes from the ceiling lights which makes the pool room feel like a stadium and the main event is the drowning of Oskar. It is set up in such a way that the subject in the foreground is lit, and everything else is in sort of a haze, if not total dark. This is also true in the apartments, gym, playground, and forest. It gives a focus to the film, and it gives it a distinct look. When Oskar finally comes out of the water, his face is pale and has no shadows. The shot cuts to one of Eli with blood spattered on her face, contrasting her pale and shadowless face. Even though she has the terrifying ability to kill with little to no effort, something only a “monster” can do, her heart is pure and her love for Oskar means more than the label, and instead defies it.
In “The Shining”, the final scene demonstrates Jack’s monstrous nature the most. With backlighting as he chases his son, he gives off an ominous and spooky aura, seeing as one can only see the outline/frame of Jack as he hobbles along. This takes away the aspects of his humanity and makes him appear as more of a monstrous creature. With the long dark passages within the maze, it feels as though the sons capture is inevitable, creating a heightened suspense. Dark shadows are cast on Jack’s face with light that is directed towards him at different angles to make him appear crazed with many shadows cast across his face. The cinematographer also uses a lot of lighting from underneath, “halloween lighting”, which gives Jack a scary appearance, making him look even more monstrous. The shot angle is similar to the lighting in that there are many different angles. However, with every shot, Jack is big in the frame as though he is constantly looming and inescapable. Meanwhile, his son, Danny, is always franticly moving in the screen and smaller, leaning away from the camera as supposed to towards it, as his father does to make him come off as aggressive.
ReplyDeleteIn both films, the concept of monster is shown through different aspects of character, whether it is physical or mental. The two films present Eli and Jack as supposed monsters through the presentation of lighting, composition, and set design by utilizing mise-en-scene. In the end, the viewer realizes that the human capacity for evil is not what one might have originally expected.
In “Let the Right One In” and “The Shining”, the directors use mise-en-scene not only to evoke strong emotional responses from the viewers, but also to explore the idea of “monster.” The films have cinematic similarities, but at the same time, they examine this concept in different ways.
ReplyDeleteLighting is crucial, in any film, for the director to highlight important explicit and implicit aspects. In “The Shining”, lighting is used by Kubrick to illuminate Jack’s growing insanity. Whether he has really turned insane or if he is possessed by the ghosts of the Overlook, Jack is always shown with soft shadows across his face. This is prominent especially in the scene where he follows Wendy up the steps. When the camera is on him, there is a dark glow around his entire figure, but as soon as the camera moves anywhere else, overall lighting turns very bright. There is a great contrast between light and dark (chiaroscuro) when comparing the hotel's exterior and interior. When looking outside, there is a blinding effect initially from the whiteness of the snow. This represents the effects that the Overlook has on Jack’s withering sanity and how he continues to be haunted throughout the film. It implicitly shows the evil and negative energy that exists in the hotel, compared to the purity of the outside world. The lighting in “Let the Right One In” does not portray the “monster” theme quite as explicitly. In this film, there really is not a strong use of unnatural dark shadows or dark tints upon Eli. In fact, she is represented in the same dull, natural, and naïve light Oskar is. This calls to mind the implicit questions of good versus evil. In this instance, we are shown a child, not a monster. Alfredson wants us to see that “monster” is too definitive of a term, and that Eli is not entirely good or evil.
The composition of shots in both films supports the motif of isolation. Arguably, it is this isolation that drives Jack to insanity. From the very first scene in the movie, we see how far away in the mountains the Overlook is. The opening shots of the winding roads and vast forest show us the characters are not only mentally trapped, but that they are physically isolated as well. The constant shots of the grand lobby and ballroom remind the viewer that the Overlook is much larger and more powerful than any person living inside of it. This aspect generally makes one think that it would create a very open frame, but rather, it traps the viewer and characters even more. In “Let the Right One In,” when Oskar is shown inside of his home, it is generally shot through a door frame or window, showing how trapped and lonely he is, while also giving the viewer these same feelings. The closed frames leave little reference as to how Oskar’s life is like outside of his small apartment. These shots strongly juxtapose with the outdoor playful scenes between him and Eli. Rather than it being a very tight shot, these have wide open frames which free the two young children.
ReplyDeleteSound is always an essential aspect of mise-en-scene. Undoubtedly, there are many cinematic tools directors can use to create suspense, but sound is definitely a critical part of both of these films. In “The Shining”, the diegetic sounds are just as, if not more, important than the non-diegetic sounds. The non-diegetic music is implemented by Kubrick to heighten the suspense and thrill from the very first shot of the film. This makes the viewer recognize that something bad is going to happen, either with the Overlook itself or the people inside. The diegetic sounds (such as the tennis ball Jack throws against the wall), slowly reveal the characters' changing mindsets. The diegetic sounds are very real and invite the viewer in the world of the story, and in the case of Jack's hallucinatory conversations with ghosts, serves to solidify the reality he perceives. In “Let the Right One In,” sound is use more subtly. The diegetic sounds used are to show the darker sides of Eli, most notably when she’s attacking or killing. These sounds, similarly to “The Shining,” create an eerie atmosphere, but also allow for a gruesome portrayal of Eli's meals without graphic visual depiction.
Sound is not part of mise-en-scene, but you did a nice job analyzing it.
DeleteIn the movie Alien the treatment of women is very complex and can be argued to have many different portrayals. In the final scenes of the movie the last standing character is a woman which on some level speaks for itself. Having a female be the last survivor in film is relatively rare indicating strength, intelligence and resourcefulness. While Ripley is settling down in the escape pod there is a moment of her changing out of her clothes which some people may argue to be a sexual representation of her. In my opinion this scene adds only to her strength and signifies more the fact that she is merely human, used as a comparison to the alien, rather than to degrade her as a character and make us think less of her. Ripley demonstrates her intelligence by getting into the space suit and drawing up a plan to get rid of it. The lighting in this part is very demonstrative of positive character traits as a female as it flashes rapidly almost creating a strobe light effect. This represents the tension and emergency state everything is in including her life. It serves as a build up to her heroic actions and freedom from the alien. Once the alien is outside of the ship, Ripley gazes upon it as bright white light strikes her face. This symbolizes her victory and prevailing nature of her character. This film and its treatment of women is interestingly very reflective of the time period in which it was made since the 70's focused heavily on women's rights and equality.
ReplyDeleteAnother film in which women are depicted in many arguably different ways is The Shining. With this film I could not quite pick one definitive scene since there are many places where my point can be illustrated. Wendy to me in this film is portrayed in maybe not a degrading manner but certainly in a common way that women were generally depicted in the 1980's. She is the common housewife who has a big heart and puts up with a lot from a occasionally violent abusive husband. One moment that especially stood out to me was when the camera was following her as she ran up stairs and hallways. The way in which she ran was displayed as slow and weak. Her floppy arm movements did not help either. Another scene which is very famous and I believe is very reflective of my argument is when she discovers Jack's papers with the same sentence written on them over and over. When she first looks at them the camera angle is very low making her appear very large in the frame. This is used to highlight the shock and then growing fear within her as she looks at the hundreds of identical pages. When Jack finally discovers her she starts walking backwards up the stairs and away from him. In the frame she is put above him again as she wishes to escape the danger. During her retreat she wails loudly and weakly swings her bat around as an attempt to protect herself. Even though it can be argued that she is a strong female character because she survives, in my eyes the only reason she does is because of luck and not extreme intelligence and courage that Ripley demonstrated.
The mise-en-scene of Alien was created to make the audience feel claustrophobic because of the situations the characters get into. The only light comes from unnatural fluorescent lights that can be undependable. The ship is often dark allowing the suspense to build around every corner. The set is built of metallic parts that allow the alien to camouflage itself because of the similarity in texture and color. Most of the set is colored metallic black to give the feeling of depth into the ship and to create fear. The spacesuits are bright white symbolizing the good and light. The alien is always in darkness symbolizing the pure evil in it.
ReplyDeleteThe mise-en-scene of The Shining was created to make the viewer feel uncomfortable in an identifiable location, a hotel. Natural and unnatural light are used often in the Shining. The natural being used for scenes between the family and without the supernatural physically present. The unnatural lighting often is used to depict scenes with Jack’s interactions with the supernatural elements of the film. The set was designed like a maze as can be seen in Danny’s biking scene. There are many twists and turns to the hallways never letting the viewer settle on what will happen next. The maze design also creates suspense around every corner. Jack often wears red to symbolize his rage as well as the blood shown throughout the movie.
Both Alien and the Shining brought fear to their audiences. Both used maze like sets to create suspense by not allowing the viewer to see what was coming next. The sense of terror caused by the monster (Jack or the Xenomorph) is similar because they move to different places without the viewer knowing where they are going. They both chase the protagonists through a trapped space where escape is difficult. The use of unnatural lighting is similar in that it is used to indicate that something supernatural is present whether it is spirits or an alien.
The implicit meaning behind Alien is women are just as capable as men surviving in tough situations. This could be meant to argue against the inequality of men and women in America when the film was made. There are many implicit meanings behind the Shining but the one that sticks out the most is the dangers of an abusive relationship. Jack had a history of violence before the hotel just to show Wendy’s entrapment to the relationship. The film is saying if she and Danny don’t get out it will eventually kill them.
As small children, the first definition of, “monster,” we learned was one riddled with descriptions of red eyes, long claws, sharp teeth, or some other animalistic quality that rattled our bones. “Could you check in my bed?” or “Can you leave the hall light on?” were all too common requests provoked by the fear of coming face to face with a ferocious beast-something that was a product of the collaboration of our hyperactive imaginations and our unkempt naivete when listening to ghost stories and Grimm fairy tales. The rains of time slowly washed over every last one of us, and as we tore the weeds of our youth out from around our feet it became clearer and clearer that some of our own kind that we walk the same streets with are far more monstrous than any witch, or ghost, or boogeyman. Stanley Kubric’s 1980 horror, “The Shining,” and Tomas Alfredson’s, “Let the Right One In,” blur the lines of human and monster by showcasing the monster that festers within a human, and the human that dwells within a monster, respectively. Each director uses the conventions of film to his advantage, allowing elements of cinema to flawlessly execute important themes about discrepancies between what a monster, and what a human is.
ReplyDelete“The Shining,” directed by Stanley Kubric, is undoubtedly a cinematic masterpiece in the horror genre. Released in 1980, it was originally gawked at by critics, even going so far as to nominate Kubric for the Golden Rasperry Award which would recognize him as worst director of the year. Of course with much hindsight, it as absolutely apparent that the critics that so quickly tore, “The Shining,” to pieces look foolish with all that has been discovered not only about Kubric’s ability to flawlessly execute camere maneuvers to convey implicit meanings, but do such with methods that were nothing short of innovative. In the scene of the Shining directly following Wendy knocking Jack out on the stairs, she is dragging him into the pantry where she is able to lock him away in hopes of removing Danny without hazard from the clutches of Jack’s evil ora. We never see Wendy in anything but a high angle, or eye level shot. By this, we understand that she can never be viewed in a low angle shot because that would depict her as dominant, when, implicitly, Jack will still hold himself over her in terms of power. Conversely, the only shot of Jack we see when he comes to, is an extreme low angle shot, allowing for the assertion of his dominance to remain in tact, even in the instance that he is locked in a pantry, with a steel door separating him from Wendy. Where Wendy becomes smaller in the frame as time progresses, Jack remains extremely large in the flame, he is boxed in completely, alluding to the impact of the isolation of the hotel on his mindset. Wendy’s diminishing size is in coalescence with her gradual realization of her powerlessness against Jack. Where Wendy is in the center of the frame for the majority of the scene, the mood shifts completely when Jack utters the chilling line, “Go check it out!...Check it out..” and she begins to..
under my bed*
Delete...veer to the left of the frame. No longer balanced, we are aware that her once confident mindset is now thrown askew by the constant obstacles Jack throws her way, especially when she thinks she has triumphed over his ominous behavior. Further still, the lighting of this scene is significant in that it familiarizes us with Jack as someone we know, and we thus expect the horrendous actions of him even in the instance that his morals are completely opposite our own. The warmth of the lighting underneath him creates that feeling that he is unchanging. The light on Jack in collaboration with the fact that the camera remains static for the shots of him being conscious, but is continually moving for Wendy, furthers the implications that Jack’s state has now progressed to the point of no return, and he will therefore remain drowning in his own insanity. The harsh lighting on Wendy from the fluorescent lights of the kitchen furthers the feminist film theory outlined by Laura Mulvey, that the woman is merely spectacle, and exists only to further the presence of the male. We see her so harshly lit to view the effects of Jack’s actions, and by this we are able to dismiss her dominance throughout this scene. There are huge color symbols in this film, most particularly with white and red. Red seems to be representative of Jack, and his eternal presence about the hotel, and about Wendy and Danny. Where before we have scene red in the bathroom where he first encounters the embodiment of the murdered before himself, and we will see it in the infamous, “REDRUM,” scene, the color shirt Jack wears is red, the many items in the pantry are red, as well. As Wendy runs out of the kitchen and through the systems of hallways to check to see what Jack is referring to about the Snow Cat, there are splashes of red artwork in every shot. When Wendy runs outside, we see a vast white nothingness caused by the snow until she enters the garage to examine the tampered Snow Cat, which, you guessed it, is also red. The red exists around every corner to encapsulate the premise of Jack’s ubiquitous nature. The notion that even though he is not physically present, he is mentally, is even more unnerving than to be chased by him down a hallway, axe in his hand. Arguably, the highest form of terror comes from the fear of the unknown, the apprehension of an impending doom combined with the absence of knowledge for when it would occur. The vast whiteness of the kitchen, as well as the outside that Wendy runs too, is reminiscent of the smothering sense of isolation that is both the restricting factor for Wendy and Danny, and the cause for Jack’s horrifying discourse. By the aforementioned methods a vital understanding that a human is capable of such monstrosities as murder, and attempted murder on their own family, is reached within the spectator. Although a grossly hyperbolic situation with its realities manipulated for the sake of a chilling plot, the heart of the movie contains the blunt reality that someone appearing to be human retains within themself the capacity for things we would attribute to something or someone inhumane, a monster.
ReplyDeleteAlredson’s 2008 breakthrough, “Let The Right One In,” was not an original box office hit. Furthermore, it’s sort of a cinematic hidden gem with its gorgeous technique to portray an otherwise flesh eating monster as more human than the mortals that walk the earth beside her. In the final sequence, a group of 3 antagonists, with a 4th, their ringleader, gather as the ringleader holds Oskar’s head under water, lest he be stabbed. In this scene, every angle of Oskar is a high angle shot; when he is underwater it is an eye level shot. For those that are antagonizing him, they are either scene in a low angle, or an eye level shot. Like Jack in, “The Shining,” the bullies seem to constantly assert their dominance over Oskar by means of their portrayal through camera angles. We never see a close up of Oskar, but we see several close ups of the mean boys. This parallels with the inescapable impending doom of three of the four boys messing with Oskar. One boy is excused on the grounds that he is not malicious like the other three, we often see him very small in the frame-the empty space, paralleling with his opportunity to continue on with his life. Like, “The Shining,” the color red plays a key role in this film, and particularly in this scene. The ringleader for the bullies wears a red jacket. It is almost as if to already say that his blood had been spilled from the moment he walked into the natatorium. But the color red also forces us to realize that blood in this film is not inherently associated with terror. After Eli attacks the boys, beheading one, and tearing apart the other two, we only see her eyes in an extreme close up as she looks at Jack. The red splashes of blood in between her captivating gaze are subtle symbols of the end of corruption in Jack’s life. Where red had also symbolized extreme love in the form of his father’s coat, we can now associate Eli with that same color.
ReplyDeleteWhat can we personally gain from all of this? Nothing is at it seems. Hopefully, as a collective human race, we can work to understand that looks deceive, the mind is a complex and terrifying place, and furthermore, receive a chilling and suspenseful reminder from films such as, “The Shining,” and, “Let the Right One In,” that, like my pal Benjamin Franklin so nicely put it, “nothing is for certain but death and taxes.”
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DeleteAlien, as a film, relies heavily on It’s mise-en-scene and general atmosphere to scare us. The ship itself, strictly through it’s design, almost becomes just as much of an enemy as the alien. The narrow hallways and tight chambers create a real sense of claustrophobia, and the ship itself seems to contort as we watch. Not to mention the fact that the alien and the Nostromo resemble each other in terms of physical structure, allowing the alien to blend in and creating a feeling that it could strike at anytime, further enhancing the scariness of the movie. Inn fact, there are moments within the film wherein the ship feels like a living, breathing thing – it’s design is certainly responsible, as the ship is a far cry from the bright, shiny, clean ships from other science fiction films. The ship resembles, to some extent, an organic creature, and this allows the alien to slip and move around without really being seen. The lighting also furthers the claustrophobic, disorienting atmosphere – shadows abound, and the juxtaposition of the pitch-darkness and the flashing, spinning lights we see in the last part of the film further disorients us as viewers, helping us to identify with Ripley and feel the fear she feels. The colors – all flashing reds and yellows – indicate the danger of her situation.
ReplyDeleteLet The Right One In is another film that relies heavily on mise-en-scene. The film is almost a polar opposite of Alien in terms of atmosphere and design. Alien is all dark shadows, tight spaces, flashing lights, and general disorientation, whereas Let The Right One In is clean, maybe even pure – until the blood starts to flow that is. Let The Right One In revels in open spaces, stark white snow, and very neutral colors, creating through these things the sense of isolation, abandonment, and helplessness that Oskar feels as he struggles through adolescence. As such, let the Right One In isn’t really your typical horror movie. Eli is certainly not your typical horror movie monster. Whereas Oskar wears very neutral colors throughout the film, Eli is more associated with bright colors, most particularly red. The red is representative not only of her vampiric, bloody side, but also the love – if you can call it that – Oskar and Eli have for each other. It also shows us the amount of control Eli has over Oskar – notice how most of the character that have power over Oskar (Conny, his dad, Eli) wear red or are associated with red at some point during the film. The film is also very different from Alien in that it makes use of much more open spaces in it’s shots – there’s never a shot that feels tight or crowded, and we see a lot of shots of Oskar by himself, surrounded by nothing but snow and trees. This helps communicate to us the isolation and loneliness Oskar feels. In fact, as soon as Eli enters the movie and begins as a major part of Oskar’s life, we see much less of Oskar all alone, and much more of them together – indicative of the two outcasts finding someone right for them.
Alien’s mise-en-scene was extremely effective in creating a certain mood for it’s viewers to experience throughout the film. All of the set for Alien was mad-made, which means that the director had full control of how he wanted to manipulate his audience throughout the film. The setting of the film is mostly in the ship Nostromo(right?), with very little time being set outside of the ship, on the planet where they first encounter the Alien and on the ship pod where the film ends. The ship is mostly dark colors and a lot of shadows, the only extremely bright area on the ship was the medical bay, where light was needed to examine Kane, who had the alien attached to his face. The fact that the ship was so dark allowed for the Alien to easily hide from the crew members amongst the dark pipes and shadows of the ship. On the planet where the alien egg was found, there was hardly any good lighting, mostly just from the ship’s emergency lighting and the crew’s suits’ lights as they traveled farther and farther away from the ship.
ReplyDeleteIn Alien, the concept of “monster” is shown as a fear that one can’t really do anything to get rid of, although Ripley ends up being the one who saves herself in the end. This is shown in the movie through the Alien’s ability to blend in with the ship’s piping and coloring. The crew can’t really find it most of the time unless it wanted to be found until the end, so they all lived in fear of where it would pop up next. The props themselves, ie. the Alien costume helped with the concept of “monster”. The Alien had human-like qualities to it, although they were kind of… I don’t know, made alien-like? It had five fingers, two hands, two feet, and that’s kind of where the similarities stopped, at least physically. It kind of seemed like a monstrous, superhuman in a way, like the ultimate predator of humans, who are used to being at the top of the food chain.
Let the Right One In uses it’s mise-en-scene to an expert level to create the concept of “monster” without exactly explicitly talking about a “monster”. The set of Let the Right One In is kind of a remote village winter wasteland that doesn’t really have a lot going for it. Throughout the entire film there was snow everywhere, it never left, giving the town a very remote feeling. The whiteness of the snow contrasts a lot with the red color that seems to surround Oskar throughout the film.
When he visits his father’s home there is snow, of course, but his father’s house is a blood red, a reoccurring color that follows Oskar around. Once they get inside the house, Oskar finds solace in his father’s large red jacket, even sniffing it, like it makes him think of home or a happier time. Oskar is also surrounded by red from Eli, because she’s a vampire and three different times her mouth is shown covered in her meal’s blood. However, after she kills Oskar’s tormentors, the camera is level with her eyes instead of her mouth, which the audience knows is covered in blood. This signifies that even though Eli isn’t exactly human, Oskar doesn’t see her as a “monster” any longer.
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ReplyDeleteStanley Kubrick's The Shining and Hideo Nakata's Ringu are horror films that depict women in stressful, supernatural situations. Throughout most of their respective films, Wendy and Reiko are depicted quite differently. The difference is that while Reiko is depicted as independent, ambitious, and confident, Wendy is depicted as weak, submissive, and mostly powerless against her mentally deteriorating husband Jack. Reiko, early on in the film, boldly decides to risk her life and view the cursed videotape that has been claiming the lives of those who view it. She is seen in a close-up throughout the scene at a normal angle. This shows that, though she is dealing with forces outside of her control, she is willing to face them "head-on" and deal with the possible repercussions. She is strong and willing to risk her life to solve the mystery. Her costuming also contributes to her independent look; dressed purely in bland colors, she is depicted as a professional, appearing mature and ready for the workforce. This contrasts with other women depicted in the film in bright colors, accentuating the dichotomy between Reiko and other women.
ReplyDeleteWendy, however, is seen as much less brave and independent. At the beginning of the film, when discussing problems at home with a child psychologist, Wendy accidentally touches on the subject of Jack's alcoholism. The psychologist asks how Danny dislocated his shoulder, and Wendy immediately gets nervous and defensive. "Just one of those things, you know... purely an accident," Wendy says. She is clearly afraid of Jack, but instead decides to lay blame upon her son Danny. Several aspects of the scene touch upon her inherent weaknesses - her outfit, composed of bright, simple colors, make her appear to be a child; the cigarette she smokes in the scene is clearly a symbol of her alternate ways of dealing with discomfort and unrest in the home (instead of standing up to Jack, she merely calms her nerves through nicotine); and the set design of the kitchen, bright and retro (more indicative of the '50's than the '80's), implies an evil lurking underneath the too-clean sheen of her surroundings. Wendy is depicted as powerless to a sinister world and husband.
However, by the end of the films both Reiko and Wendy become strong, independent, and free to save their children without their dead lovers. The end of Ringu finds Reiko unlocking the secret of the videotape after finding her ex-husband Ryuji dead in his apartment. When she realizes she can save her son from the curse, Reiko is depicted in powerful low-angle shots, having overcome the death of her companion in her quest to save her son. She is shown as being truly independent at this point. Similarly, when Wendy takes Dick Halloran's truck to escort her and Danny off the Overlook grounds, she is seen running in a wide shot. This symbolizes that Jack can no longer touch her - he is trapped in the maze and she has Danny. Notably, in her final scene she is wearing much more blandly colored clothing; by the end, Wendy has overcome her powerlessness at the hands of Jack, and she is depicted as having matured through it. In the Shining and Ringu, the female protagonists come into their independence through death and protection of their children.