Friday, March 25, 2011

Dennis Frantic

Harrison Ford plays a successful American doctor named Richard Walker, he and his wife travel to Paris for a medical conference and she get a mysterious phone call and get kidnapped. This all comes about after the couple realizes that they have picked up the wrong suitcase by mistake. This a psychological thriller that contains several noir elements, including moral ambiguity, fear, anxiety, paranoia, violence, sexual tension, entrapment, isolation and helplessness. The young lady Michelle is the source of the moral ambiguity and sexual tension. She is a sort of femme fatal figure and tags along on this journey after Dr. Walker, realizes that she is the one who has his wife's suitcase. Michelle refuses to be unaccompanied Dr. Walker for her fear of being killed and also he needs her just as much as she needs him. Even at the end of the movie, Michelle whispers, "Please don't leave me alone." She does not want to die alone.  Dr. Walker feels helpless because the police are not doing everything they can do to help him find his wife, they think his wife may have ran off with another man, Paris being the city love and all. He tells the security officer at the embassy, "You must have my wife mistake for yours."  He is let down by everyone and forced to self investigate. This feeling of having no one to turn to for help certainly contributes to the feeling of psychological entrapment. The noir elements of fear and anxiety are seen when he wonders through the city of Paris at night and does not speak the language, doesn't know anything about the places he's going and thing of that sort. Danger could lurk around any and every corner, but he wants his wife back.  
This is a scene of entrapment between Michelle and Dr. Walker in the sense that they need each other to survive during this entire ordeal. The lighting in this scene is brightly lit, except around Michelle's face, bit you can clearly see Dr. Walker's face of concern for her if something happens. This is a loose frame, the characters have room to move. The camera proxemics for this scene is personal and social. It is personal in the sense that the two are holding hands and social because of the distance between the two of them.

1 comment:

  1. Michelle's hair is in her face, but her fase is lit as much as the rest of the scene. The framing is interesting: loose on the left but tight on the right. What does that tell you?

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