Due: Monday, January 23
Blood Simple is
from the genre of neo-noir. You have
now watched 2 films from the noir category (one American, one French) and one
from the category of neo-noir (American). Think about Blood Simple and one of the other films we have watched and discuss
one of the following:
- the role of the female and her relationship with the “bad guy” (who can also be a female) and how this relationship is represented cinematically by the filmmakers
- the “bad guy” and his/her violence and how he/she and the violence is represented cinematically by the filmmakers
For a high grade, you must:
- provide examples from the film to back up your argument
- speak cinematically and use your cinematic vocabulary
- show what you know about the genre of film noir
- include quotes from any film essays you’ve read on the subjects (women, noir, etc.)
In 'blood simple', Abby is an important character because she drives the narrative forward by being the cause for Marty to hire Visser to kill her and Ray. Her relationship with Marty is not a good one, because she is cheating on him with Ray, and this is supported cinematically. The majority of the time Marty and Abby are not in the same shot, and any reference to their past married life is through past photos. The photo that Ray sees of Abby and Marty has a black background with Marty in a black suit and Abby in a blue dress. They both have partial shadows on their face. This makes it quite obvious that it is neo-noir, because there is much use of shadows to create meaning. For this case the shadows and black represent the unhappiness and deadness of their marriage. The shadows on their faces represent their deadness to each other, this implies that they probably have a routine marriage and eventually got sick of each other (well, Abby did at least). Abby's blue dress stands out from all the black and seems to have more life and this may represent the way that Abby feels, she wants to feel energetic and happy, while the black represents Marty's seriousness. Abby is sick of him and wants something new. It is evident that Abby loved Marty at one point when Ray looks at the next photo which is black and white and shows the couple very happy. Both Marty and Abby are in black and white unlike the previous photo, this represents that they both had the same feelings for each other. It is obvious that Abby is bored of Marty, but he is not bored of her. When the both of them are in the same shot it is a shot of Marty trying to kidnap Abby. It is shot with a handheld and this represents their unstable relationship. Also, another noir element is used in this scene; through the use of sunlight coming through the blinds it shines horizontal lines across the characters, and this seems to imply entrapment. Marty is trapped by his rage and love for Abby. Abby is trapped by Marty. She wants to move on, he does not. Marty is shot with a darkly lit face and this is very noir, but Abby is wearing a bright blue dress. This represents that Marty is still living in the time when they both loved each other, while Abby has moved on. Marty is noir, while Abby is neo-noir so to say.
ReplyDeleteIn 'Mildred Pierce' it is different. Mildred is the main actress and character and she drives the narrative forward, because it focuses around her. The villain in this film is Mildred's daughter, Vita. This is not a typical mother-daughter relationship. Vita never seems to approve of her mother or show her much love, unless she is given n expensive gift. As a result, Mildred spends the majority of the narrative trying to please Vita with expensive things, but Vita still does not approve of her mother. This is evident when Mildred works as a waitress to be able to afford nice things for Vita. This is supported cinematically. When Mildred goes to speak with Vita, she is in the foreground while Mildred is in the background. This represents the power she has over her mother. The mise-en-scène is very helpful for implying meaning. Mildred is wearing a black suit while Vita is wearing a white dress. The difference between these outfits represents the difference between the characters. The black suit represents tiredness, working hard, and independence while the white dress represents pampering, being spoiled, and dependence. Vita's face is darkly lit (very noir to use lighting for implied meaning) as Mildred tries to get her approval for being a waitress. This represents Vita's disapproval. Mildred goes into the foreground after she slaps Vita, because this is Mildred asserting her dominance. She is the parent, she is in charge, not the daughter. She has put Vita momentarily in her place. There is a power struggle between these two. Mildred lets Vita walk all over her, because she wants her to be happy, but Vita seems to be a lost cause. She only cares about herself, she does no care for Mildred. Mildred keeps her power when she walks away from Vita, because it put her further in the background. Vita gets her power back when Mildred reveals her regret and tells Vita she is still trying to provide for her. When she hears that they might bece rich she comes from the background to the middle ground and seems apologetic (but she is not). Vita has Mildred right where she wants her.
ReplyDeleteThese two films are quite similar and quite different. They are similar, because they use lighting and shadows to imply meaning. Both films use of lighting gave a "..mood of cynicism, pessimism, and darkness.." and both of these villains were "..more corrupt.." Marty deserves more sympathy (lost his wife to his employee) than Vita (spoiled brat) though. Marty is shot more dominantly, with close-ups and low angles. Vita is shot in h foreground and bigger than Mildred, which implies she is powerful because she puts Mildred down and tries to seem more powerful than her, but she has no power. She is only powerful, because Mildred is desperate and loves Vita too much, similar with how Marty seems to love Abby.
In one of the final scenes of Mildred Pierce, the shooting scene, Mildred descends the stairs and is silhouetted through a screen that casts her in a shade of gray. Then in a medium close-up her body is completely darkened until she walks into the light. This seems to comment on her status as a morally ambiguous character, neither completely good nor bad, as she almost attempts to shoot her daughter and husband. Her husband’s face and body are completely covered in shadow and his wardrobe is a thin, black suit-denoting his status as the film’s antagonist. Similarly, Veda’s face is cast in shadow, immersed in Monte’s wickedness, but she wears a diaphanous white dress, allowing her ambiguity in character role. Monte and Veda are displayed in slight low angles and Mildred in a slight high angle, showing how the film’s antagonists stand powerfully and patronizingly over Mildred. The influence male characters enjoy over female characters is displayed by the way Monte remains lingering, gazing, in the background or foreground of shots with Veda and Mildred. The low-key lighting, chiaroscuro and moral ambiguity of characters are all staples of noir film.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, the female character in Blood Simple is empowered with equality with, then even dominance over, the male antagonist. As he comes into the scene, Abby is shown in a high angle which turns into a low angle as she stands; from here, she is continually shown in low angle shots. Also, in contrast to the hints of evil in Mildred’s character, Abby wears a cream-white sweater and has light blond hair that reflects the radiance of her setting (the almost completely white bathroom) all of which is cast in high key lighting. Visser also wears white, however, and is displayed in similar lighting which I guess is a wry comment on his true role as a completely amoral character. He is shown in a low angle until he walks into the bathroom wherein he is cast in almost an aerial view high angle, portending the setting of the room as the scene of his demise. As Abby stabs his hand he stains the whiteness of his glove and the windowsill (and later the bathroom) with his blood-symbolically, as he brought violence to the story. Abby walks backwards through the darkness of the parallel room, commenting on the turpitude of the acts she has no choice in committing. The low-key lighting and play with shadows and light here is reminiscent of earlier noir.
So in Mildred Pierce the male character/villain has power over the protagonist while in Blood Simple it’s just the opposite. However, both female characters/protagonists are displayed in shades of moral ambiguity.
In Mildred Pierce the "bad guy" (or at least one of them - Mildred is continually double-crossed and betrayed by a multitude of characters) is Mildred's own daughter, Vida. After Vida divorces her husband and takes a large sum of money from him, falsely claiming that she is pregnant, Mildred confronts her. The fight scene is rife with symbolism and cinematic representation.
ReplyDeleteWhen Vida tells Mildred how she loathes her, the shot changes from a wide shot of the two to a high-angle shot of Vida talking to her mother, followed by a low-angle shot of Mildred reacting in a hurt fashion. Though conventional cinematic language would imply that the character insulting the other would be depicted in a low angle shot and vice versa, Mildred Pierce uses the angle of the shots to accentuate the disparity in maturity between the two characters. Vida is clearly a malicious, immature young woman and Mildred a wise, mature woman, and the angles are used to symbolize this.
When Mildred rips up Vida's check, Vida viciously slaps her, dropping Mildred to her knees. For an instant Vida stands tall over Mildred, with Mildred in low lighting. This symbolizes the brief moment where Vida has power over her mother. Once Mildred gets back up, however, she once again has the power, standing tall and fierce over Vida.
In Blood Simple. there is less intimacy in the relationship between the female and the "bad guy", but that is because instead of her daughter the "bad guy" is a disturbed bounty hunter. The reversals-of-power present in the Mildred Pierce scene are also present in Blood Simple. however.
When the bounty hunter starts shooting through the window, Abby is taken off guard, and presented as such - in a high-angle shot of her crawling. She hides herself in a dark closet with very little lighting, symbolizing how she is alone in a fight against a madman (her boyfriend having just been killed). By the time the bounty hunter enters, however, the dynamic shifts. Since he does not know where she is, she now has the power, and he is seen in very high-angle shots while she is seen in low angle shots. The lighting becomes very bright, almost sterile-ly so, depicting Abby's knowledge of the apartment (she is no longer kept in the dark).