In this Feature Post, I'll be taking a look and discuss these four films: The Searchers directed by John Ford, Hardcore directed by Paul Schrader, The Pledge directed by Sean Penn, and last, but not least, Gone Girl directed by David Fincher. While I did have the chance to compare, contrast, and talk about the films stated above, this post would be a great opportunity to talk about new discoveries made looking at these first films. Let's begin with the how each of these films begin and end. While I did get the chance to compare this between The Searchers and The Pledge, I feel it is no accident that the other films hold that same similarity. First off, is how Hardcore starts and ends with the same song playing. In the beginning of the film, watchers see the setting of Jerry's hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan, while "Precious Memories" by Susan Raye is playing in the background. At the end of this film, this same song is played when Jake finds his daughter and get in a police car to go back home. What is also interesting about this end scene was the fact that this song does not start playing until after detective Andy tells Jake "Go home. There's nothing you can do. You don't belong here." when Jake asks if there is anything he can do to help out Niki, meaning Andy was reinstating the fact that Jake's beliefs, morals, and way of life could never be okay with the crazy filled pornographic world/presence in California. So, when the song begins playing, Jake gets in the cop car, it represents the setting and hometown that Jake and his daughter will soon come back to.
Aside from Hardcore, there is another similarity that I caught between Gone Girl and The Searchers. As I stated in my blog in The Searchers, the beginning and ending of the movie has the same song as well, but there are different verses presented from "Main Title/ The Searchers" and "End Title/ The Searchers" by Max Steiner feat. The Sons of the Pioneers. Here are the lyrics to see the comparisons to save the trip on going back to my blog for this movie and help make viewers ponder if Ethan is ever going to accept the new society that everyone is so accepting of, since he still struggles with his viewpoint and hatred of Indians, or will he still be driven by madness and stay all alone?:
Now in Gone Girl, the film starts and ends with the same scene, yet there is a slight difference. Take a look at the video down below and see if you can catch it! In case you couldn't, here is what Nick says in the beginning: "I always think of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull. Unspooling her brains. Trying to get answers. The primal questions of any primal marriage. What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?" And this is what he says at the end: "What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other? What will we do?" Now at the start of the film, it would be highly unlikely for one to think that Nick is sane for caressing his wife while stating that he has thought of cracking her skull open and unspooling her brains. This intentional dialogue gives viewers the first impression on what team they would be on as the plot of the film is discovered in the beginning of the film: Team Nick or Team Amy. Joshua Rothman states "To be in a couple, in short, is to be in a power relationship. And in power relationships, there are always winners and losers." Who is the winner: Nick or Amy? Who is the loser: Nick or Amy? Or could it be said that both are winners? Losers? As certain scenes unfold, and lies are exposed, who is truly the victim? Moving onward, let's dive into the roles or the characteristics that the females/girls play within the films. Typically, women and girls play the damsel in distress role. This is not uncommon in the world of film. When analyzing roles of women in film, Jocelyn Nichole Murphy states in her scholar article that "Women are portrayed as dependent on other characters (and) over-emotional" or that women watchers see and can only connect to "female figures on screen who were powerless or victimized, or…with active male heroes". In the first three films we see this type of portrayal of a female's role. In The Searchers, it's Debbie, who needs rescuing from her uncle Ethan (and her rescue is what makes this film's plot) as well as Laurie who becomes way too emotional when she sees Martin to when Martin leaves her again to continue the search for Debbie. In Hardcore, while Kristen does say she voluntarily joined the pornography world because of her father not truly being a loving, appreciative paternal figure, she ends up agreeing to go back home with Jake (father), thus making providing the idea that Jake is indeed a hero for searching all over California to get his daughter back and take her back home. Aside from Kristen, Niki unfortunately becomes too close to Jake, believing that he, a male, would be able to take care of her (showing that she wants to be dependent of him), but is deemed un-useful to Jake the moment he finds his daughter. Now in The Pledge, Jerry can be seen as a hero for opening up his house and welcoming Lori and her daughter Chrissy when the viewers see a beaten-up Lori banging at his door at night from a violent encounter she had with her ex. It becomes somewhat tricky to see where Amy lies within the spectrum of what a stereotypical female role is in film. To start off, all of the female characters mentioned above weren't technically the main character in the film, it was the males. Also, those films clearly show that the females are a victim or something or actively choose to become dependent on the male, whether paternally or intimately. But, for Amy, she is one of the two obvious main character in Gone Girl and she not a victim, but is one at the same time. She's a victim of being in a relationship where her husband, Nick, cheats on her, but she wickedly potrays herself a victim of murder done by the hands of her husband, although she is very much alive. What makes her even more crazy is how she pulls the victim card once again when she kills her ex-boyfriend, falsely accusing him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting her. As FBI vet Candice Delong (video down below) analyzes Amy Dunne, right of the bat, states that Amy was a "cold, calculating psychopath. She is one of the most disturbing female villains in movie history. She went to extreme lengths to make herself look victimized by men..." Once again, this shows just how different she is compared to the other females in the other films, and how drastic that change is. One last thing I would like to talk about was the intense, yet resolved tension/confusion that Jake and his daughter had with one another. Right before he gets Kristen to say yes to coming back home, they have a heart-to-heart conversation. That would not be able to be executed well without the proper camera angles and dialogue that Schrader presented the audience with. Martin Montgomery says that a dialogue scene needs "mid-shots, medium close-ups and close-ups." A mid-shot is what allows the characters to figure to create a line of action, progressive focusing on the individuals speaking for close-up's, and at the end conclude with a mid-shot or two-shot to help close a scene off. Also, counter shots- or 'reaction shots' are incorporated as well. With these shots, viewers see how Kristen tell her dad how she didn't fit in his world, that she was not good enough for him, how her friends were never approved by him, and that the people she got involved with loved her, unlike her father. After that last statement, Jake breaks down and says that he does indeed love her, but he didn't know how to show that he did and is aware that his pride gets in the way of saying so. Here are photos from the scene where Jake and his daughter, Kristen talk to each other below And with that, comes the end to my first Feature Post! Thanks for reading.
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