Cinemablography@gmail.com
Cinemablography
  • Home
  • About
  • Journal
    • Existentialism in Film >
      • The Existential Philosophy of Melancholia
      • The Philosophy of Camus in The Dead Don't Die
      • The Existentialist Subtext of Dear Evan Hansen
      • An Existentialist Reading of "The Turin Horse"
    • A Woman's Perspective: Gender, and Identity in the Romanian New Wave
    • Film Theory Issue 1
    • Film Theory Issue 2
    • Science Fiction
    • Science Fiction Issue 2
    • Pan's Labyrinth
    • Kathryn Bigelow >
      • Opening Scene
      • Supermarket Scene
      • Round Table Discussion
  • Blog
  • Articles by Category
  • Contributors
  • Videographic Essays
  • Our Work
    • Links

Rebecca Review

12/11/2020

0 Comments

 
By Zoe Leininger
Picture

Rebecca, Netflix’s new release from director Ben Wheatley, captures the visual richness of gothic literature and translates it to the screen. Based on the 1938 novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which was also made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1940, this film gives new life to the familiar people and places of the original story. Actors Lily James, Arnie Hammer, and Kristen Scott Thomas give remarkable performances. The generous use of low-key lighting, stunning colors, and snippets of non-linear editing in key places give the film a timeless feel that embraces the mystery and thrill of the gothic genre. 
Lily James is the heroine of the film who, with no first name given to us, is referred to as simply Mrs. de Winter after she marries Maxim de Winter (Arnie Hammer). As she tries to get used to her new place as the mistress of Manderley, Maxim’s estate, she finds herself constantly battling to get out from the shadow of the former Mrs. de Winter (the title character Rebecca) who died not long before. She feels that she is constantly being compared to Rebecca and found wanting by both her husband and the staff of the house. Kristen Scott Thomas’ character, Mrs. Danvers the housekeeper, in particular is fond of Rebecca and seems from the start to be against the new Mrs. de Winter. 
The opening of the film uses a voiceover narration straight from the beginning of the novel. The dark, shadowy blues and ominous reds of the narrator’s dream of Manderley soon give way to yellows, greens and oranges in a scene which looks back in time to show our heroine on vacation with her wealthy employer, Mrs. Van Hopper, in a lovely, sunny and bright Monte Carlo. Here she meets Mr. de Winter who she falls in love with and marries by the end of the week. The colors in this scene are vibrant and bright showing the hope she has of getting out of her monotonous, meaningless life and being able to see the world. 
Picture
Mrs. de Winter (Lily James) and Mr. de Winter (Arnie Hammer) in Monte Carlo

When she enters the house at Manderley, a sudden downpour dampens the colors that accompanied the drive to the house. Our first introduction to Mrs. Danvers is in a front room lit only by the big windows on one wall, casting half of her face into shadow. This use of low-key lighting along with the dark clothing she has on and Kristen Scott Thomas’ austere acting connects her back to the ominous introductory narration and gives us the hint that she is what makes this idyllic life darken to the point that it haunts our main character’s dreams. 
While I really enjoyed the use of color throughout the whole film, one scene in particular struck me as well done in this regard. After talking with Maxim’s friend Frank (Tom Goodman-Hill) about Rebecca, the heroine goes into the mysterious wing of the house where the first Mrs. de Winter used to live. The whole suite is an icy blue that washes out our main character and matches her sweater to the point that it almost absorbs her into the walls. She is just another object in this house that still in so many ways belongs to Rebecca. This is a visualization of the kind of person the dead woman is later revealed to be. 
​
We already know at this point that the heroine feels as though she is being compared with Rebecca. She thinks that Maxim is still in love with his dead wife and tries to be what she believes he wants. She is sitting in front of the mirror in Rebecca’s room that is edged with sharp, twisted black metal and is listening to Mrs. Danvers muse “I wonder what she’d think about you?”. The visual presentation of the room gives a glimpse into the inner thoughts of the characters that draws on the intense interiority and emotion of the original novel’s style. 
Picture
Mrs. Danvers (Kristen Scott Thomas) and Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca's room
As mentioned above, the film starts out at the end of the story and then the narration backtracks to show us how we end up there. It eventually circles back around at the end of the film with a scene of Mr. and Mrs. deWinter after they have left Manderley and the color scheme changes from the fiery estate and the frigid sea to the same warm yellows of the scene in which they met. 
This style of playing with the timeline is shown in another way in two places in the film. In the beginning right after she has just had breakfast with Maxim for the first time the editing cuts back and forth between the same two shots of her standing and watching him walk up the stairs away from her and her going back to her room and collecting herself. Her mind keeps wandering back to what just happened and it is shown through these quick flashes of editing. The same thing happens near the end when the camera cuts between shots of her getting ready and her going to the courthouse for the trial. This time she is steeling herself for what will happen. She is ready to take control of her own life rather than the other instance of this where she keeps looking back. 
Overall this was a very enjoyable remake of the classic novel. The  sophisticated use of color and lighting, combined with the strong narration of a woman trying to find her place in a new world for her makes for a great film. I remember reading the book in my tenth grade English class and watching this now gave me just the same feeling. I highly recommend giving it a watch, even if you aren’t familiar with the earlier versions of the story. 

​
0 Comments

Lovecraft Country, the Monsters of 1950’s America

12/4/2020

0 Comments

 
by Landen Kennedy
Picture
    Lovecraft Country is an HBO original show based on the book of the same name. With Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams serving as two of the show’s producers, I was pretty sure what the show would look like: lots of sci-fi and horror with a healthy dose of social commentary mixed in. The show is exactly how I imagined it would be, and proves once again that science fiction and horror are some of the greatest pathways for bringing social commentary to audiences.
    The show mainly follows Atticus “Tic” Freeman (Johnathan Majors), his love interest Letitia “Letti” Lewis (Jurnee Smollett), and his father Montrose Freeman (Michael K Williams). These three characters are surrounded by a world of side characters including Letti’s sister, Tic’s relatives, and many villains and monsters throughout the show’s ten episode runtime. Though Tic, Letti, and Montrose are the focus of the show overall, often smaller characters will get moments or even whole episodes to shine.
    Lovecraft Country is based on a popular book of the same name by Matt Ruff. The storyline of the show is not as linear and continuous as I had imagined it would. Instead, the episodes tend to follow a kind of “monster of the week” formula with overarching plot points connecting them. For example, one episode involves shape shifting as its main premise, then another involves Tic’s time in Korea during the war. The first couple of episodes set up a premise that was very interesting and when the episodes started to become more individual, I started to become less engaged with the show overall.
Picture
A lot of CGI was used to create the monsters, portals, and magic that make up the sci-fi component of the show. Sometimes these effects look natural and realistic. The portal used to time travel looked visually interesting, however, the monsters and blood effects could sometimes look unrealistic and jarring. For television, there is an understanding that a smaller budget is used per episode, so the effects sometimes have to sacrifice quality for budget, however, it does not change that sometimes the CGI takes the viewer out of the experience.
     The most surprising aspect of this show is its graphic portrayal of violence. When dealing with monsters and magic, violence is to be expected, however some of the ways in which characters are killed are brutal. Monsters with giant, toothy mouths devour victims,shapeshifting via magic is a bloody and grotesque process, and many people are just killed in normal ways like bullets or fire. It can be a little hard to watch at points.
    The show can also be hard to watch because of the real-world issues it discusses. The show is set in the 1950’s and follows a group of black protagonists who encounter racism at every turn. The first episode sees the group travelling to a little-known town to scope out how safe it is for black travelers to stop. They discover that it is not safe at all and encounter a group of police officers who tell them the town is a “sundown town.” This means that black people are not allowed to be within the town limits after sundown. A tense drive to the town limits with mere moments before sundown ends with the first monster attack of the show. It is scary and bloody, but throughout the show we understand that the real monsters are not the literal Lovecraftian horrors that stalk our heroes, but the racism they endure from real people.
    Lovecraft Country is a clear reference to H.P. Lovecraft, a famous sci-fi/horror author who is known for his racist ideas. The show, and the book it is based on, aim to reclaim the enjoyable science fiction monsters and ideas that Lovecraft wrote about, but in a way that promotes equality rather than division. It is an important reclamation of enjoyable content, especially in a day and age where division seems to be the norm. The show can delve into some pretty deep ideas while using the sci-fi imagery.
Picture
Letti’s sister, Ruby, deals with a magician who can allow her to shapeshift into a white woman. She is able to get a good job at a store and walk down the street without anyone looking at her twice. It is a dream come true until the other white store workers start talking about a black employee. She has to decide how to react when the store owner confronts her about the situation, which ends in some violent revenge on the part of Ruby. It also shows how uncomfortable she is in her black skin, that she would rather turn into a white woman only to have her white skin fall off in grotesque, bloody heaps every few hours, only to shapeshift again.
    Lovecraft Country  may have been lacking in the visual effects and plot, but what it says about society and American history are important. The show tackles issues that are evil, but also real. By reclaiming the Lovecraftian subgenre of sci-fi and horror, this series  is able to put an enjoyable twist on the works of a racist, even if influential, writer. I can recommend the show if you are able to stomach some brutal and grotesque violence, especially if the social commentary will make up for the otherwise horrific violence.​​​
0 Comments

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.