The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont, is about an unnatural, mysterious mist descending upon a small, rural town in Maine. Within the mist hides or conceals terifying monsters, and those who wander into the mist become face-to-face to a gruesome end. A group of survivers such as David Drayton (Thomas Jane), Amanda Dunfrey (Laurie Holden), and Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones) are holed up in a grocery store, but soon become willing to take the risk to venture out into the mist and fight for their lives. One of the changes that occurs from book to film, as mentioned by Tasha Robinson- that I found interesting to learn and discover- was the portrayal of Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). In the novel, she is "much less a judgmental Christian wacko, and much more an all-purpose generalist wacko... She's basically a soothsaying witch". She is also not as heavily involved or mentioned a lot like the movie, but Stephen King makes sure that the readers don't forget her character, as she will eventually will create a frenzy and make people go after Billy Drayton (Nathan Gamble) in attempt for him to be sacrificed to the monsters. I think it was compelling for Darabont to give Mrs. Carmody that persona of being a delusional, religious woman in the film, which elevates and brings up the dilemma that people themselves, can be or become monsters. Mrs. Carmody is his way of bringing in the politics of how unnerving that serious decisions are made on convictions that all do not agree with or share. In simple terms, this type of character shows how crazy one will become and twist religion/faith to reason why events, such as the mist, is happening, and attempt to banish those who do not believe. As Darabont puts it, "you put people into a pressure-cooker of fear and terror, you shake 'em up and you see what they do. Do they start to work together, or do they start to descend into unreason and savagery and superstition?" The use of certain camera angles that Darabont chose to use did indeed elevate the element of scariness, hysteria, and ominosity throughout the entire film. Low angle shots and high angle shots were seen being used when a monster, threat, or disturbing thing was present or about to be shown in a scene/frame. For instance, when David, his son, and a few other people from the store are all in the car, driving within the mist, they look up through the windows/windshield in horror (and somewhat awe) as a humongous monster in front of them walks right past (clip from film below). As John Patterson puts it this monster is described as having "huge clawed tentacles that can reach in and tear away huge chunks of human flesh... (being) hundreds of feet high". This just goes to show how defenseless they are and are terrified as they are aware that creatures such as this one won't think twice to kill them. Overall, I thought this film hard to keep my eyes and attention away from. As I was watching the film, there was a sense of hope I had (that the characters seemed to lack having as stated by Darabont) that there would be a happy ending, which clearly did not happen. I was flustered to say the least, but I also appreciate the approach and change Darabont made for the ending. I am also a Stephen King fan, so I agree with Robinson when she says she likes when King starts off a book with characters doing mundane, normal things before crap hits the fan. While the craziness occurs a bit later in the book from the film, I still enjoyed it. nonetheless (p.s. if you have read "Cell" by King, then you are aware of how quickly crap hits the fan, and if you haven't, I recommend you read it!). All in all, this would be a movie I'd recommend to others. And this concludes another one of my FILM talks!
Where I gathered my information: Book vs Film- The Mist Darabont Interview Darabont on The Mist and Stephen King The Mist Commentary- Professor Brems
3 Comments
Chris Toth
4/7/2019 01:00:58 pm
Hello Victoria, I really enjoyed reading your blog on The Mist. I think you did a great job explaining the film and how the film was made. I was very intrigued when you were talking about the camera angles and camera shots throughout the film. Pointing out that there were a lot of low angel shots and high angle shots was very observant. The angles in a movie can really make a huge difference in a film. This movie did a great job making the angles in each shot very unique and perfect for each shot making the audience feel the mood. I think you did a great job in this blog.
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Adrian Fulgencio
4/7/2019 04:25:33 pm
Victoria,
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4/7/2019 06:05:51 pm
Hi Victoria. I really enjoyed your blog post and was very impressed with your word choice you used. I agree with you about how the films mood is throughout the picture. If you were in Davids position how would you of handled the scene where he decided his groups fate? Great post!
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