As I stated in class, High Noon is an allegory for what was going on in the United States at the time regarding the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). You might want to read through this short article on HUAC (and anything else you find as well)...
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3048900288&v=2.1&u=nysl_we_bcsd&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
Discuss in 2 paragraphs how Fred Zinneman portrays this allegory cinematically through the story of Will Kane and his quest to enlist help to crush Miller and his gang.
Also, in one paragraph, discuss the use of time and how Zinneman portrays time passage cinematically in his film.
Due: January 3
High Noon as an allegory for America during the time of HUAC is evident through many aspects of the film. To begin with, Will cannot get anyone to go up against Frank Miller and his gang of thugs. This represents how people in America were too afraid of Communism and other fascist regimes to question the actions of HUAC. Will is alone much of the time in his shots, symbolizing how alone he feels inside. No one will join him. This is evident with the shot of Will looking around at the empty town as the camera moves further away from him. Not even the camera wants to be near him. The scene when he is in the church supports this claim also. One man suggests that things would be best if Will left town and everyone else lets Frank lead the town. This is like how the people of America were not trying to stop communism in their own power, but taking an ‘easier’ way and letting the HUAC do it for them.
ReplyDeleteThe ending, when Will throws his badge on the ground, is symbolism for this time period as well, because many people, especially in Hollywood, were blacklisted during this time. Once a person was blacklisted it was almost impossible to restore their name back to former glory and to get a job, so they would leave the country. Many would never return to America, much how Will will never return back to that town again. He put his life on the line and risked everything, but they would not help him. Only once the danger was gone did the town repent, but by then, it was too late. This was symbolized by the HA of the badge thrown to the ground. His connection and duty with the town is completely over.
The use of time is very important in this film. The clock is referred to a multitude of times. This film is shot in real time, so time obviously matters, also the big event – the arrival of Frank Miller- is at noon. The film builds up to this moment. Time is used for suspense. The viewer will constantly be thinking ‘will he do it in enough time?’ ‘Oh no! He’s running out of time!’ and ‘What’ll he do now? Frank just got into town!’. This drives the story forward and keeps the viewer interested. Also, in the few moments before Frank shows up, the clock is very large on-screen. This shows its power. The whole movie has been building up to this one moment, what’ll happen now? He portrays the passage of time by having Will try to recruit people, show his failed attempt, then there is a cut to a clock. This film is in real time, so the time passed is how much time passed in the movie itself. The clock shows the viewer how much time is left till the big showdown. Time is important and shows how a man’s true colors are revealed when under pressure and time constraint. To make this statement more clear, don’t you think things would have gone a lot smoother and people would have been more cooperative if they were given more warning?
Will is a metaphor for the blacklisted Communist during the HUAC witch hunts. He is alone throughout the film, refused help by everyone in town just as victims of the blacklist were alienated by their peers. Every time he steps out into the empty streets after another disappointment, his theme “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling” plays and Zinneman makes frequent use of long open shots to portray Will’s utter aloneness. In a memorable crane shot towards the end of the film, the camera pulls away from Will’s solitary figure to reveal the empty town; Will alone stands in the streets where he will have a shootout with Frank Miller and his gang, as the citizens of the town sit safely huddled in the church or pub.
ReplyDeleteAfter Will shoots down the final outlaw, the townspeople flood out of where they’ve been hiding and crowd around him. A long bird’s eye view shot recalls the previous crane shot, this time showing streets crowded with seemingly every inhabitant of the town. They do not congratulate Will or show recognition of the error of their ways. It is too late anyhow, and Will throws down his badge with disgust at their cowardice. Like the people who remained silent amidst anti-red hysteria, they were unwilling to stand up for someone who had done so much for them and Will suffered for it. With blood on his arm from a bullet wound, Will and his wife get on a carriage and leave the town forever.
Through recurring shots of a clock, Zinneman reminds the viewer that the film is elapsing in real-time. Because of this, each time the camera cuts to a different event with a different character the event cannot be occurring at the same time as another event previously seen-the “intercutting” does not show different events occurring simultaneously. Instead, every scene in the film moves in a linear progression that culminates in Frank’s arrival. This culmination is the montage at the end of the film that reveals different townspeople in different places, in close ups staring silently, expectantly, and guiltily at a clock, the ground, or each other. Zinneman has woven the pub, the church, the wife, the prostitute, etc. in the story and they are all united as they fearfully listen after the ticking of a clock.
The characters in High Noon are clear allegories for different groups during the Red Scare that were involved with the HUAC. Will represents people who were persecuted, whether they really had communist leanings or not. The townspeople, including Will's wife, represent the people who were not directly affected by this persecution, and didn't take any stand as a result. The evil gang in the film represents the HUAC.
ReplyDeleteThis is represented cinematically in different ways. For example, Will's presence in each shot symbolizes his struggle. In many shots of the film, Will is shown as being alone and small. This is exemplified in a shot before the climactic battle where Will is shown standing in the middle of an empty street, and the camera tracks out far above him to show how alone he is.
The film is shot in real time in order to create a heightened sense of tension. This feeling of tension is reinforced visually and aurally. In many shots, a clock is seen somewhere to show that time is passing quickly and that the gang is getting closer to being in the town. As well, the sound of a clock ticking is hear frequently to represent the same thing.
High Noon is a film whose very genesis is steeped in the Red Scare of the 1950s; High Noon screenwriter Carl Foreman was blacklisted for being an uncooperative witness in communist prosecution trials during production. Carl Foreman's battle as a screenwriter and former communist abandoned by the filmmaking community when McCarthy and co. come to end his career is eerily similar to High Noon protagonist Will Kane's battle as a former town marshal abandoned by the town he protected when Frank Miller and co. come to end his life. Throughout the film, the townspeople are portrayed as weak and passive, and unwilling to help the marshal who so willingly protected them for years beforehand.
ReplyDeleteKane's loneliness is depicted cinematically by subverting many of the western genre's visual standbys - where many westerns depict their protagonists walking alone in long shots to portray their dangerous, "lone wolf" attitude, Kane is a reluctant lone wolf, instead looking desperately for someone to stand with him. This subversion marks High Noon as dramatically different in tone than other westerns of the time; where many westerns were lighthearted and jovial, High Noon is solemn and marked by bitterness towards the ineffectual people screenwriter Carl Foreman felt betrayed him.
High Noon is also legendary for being one of the first films ever to depict its story in real time. The 85 minute movie portrays exact time as Kane waits for Frank Miller and his gang to arrive in town. Time is portrayed through the recurring motif of the train coming closer and closer, and eventually pulling into the station; the clocks lingering in the background of many scenes (and audibly ticking whenever a clock is in the background); and, in one particularly inventive scene, a sequence of shots depicting where each character has ended up at noon as the clock slowly strikes high noon.