In The Turn of the Screw, James uses the supernatural to explore a number of issues. This is nothing new--or old, since the supernatural remains in solid artistic shape. Identify another work of art that features the supernatural and explain how its creator uses the supernatural to explore his or her chosen issues.
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The 1968 film, Rosemary’s Baby, directed by Roman Polanski, features the supernatural prominently; a coven of witches living in New York City and the pregnant woman who fears they plan to steal her baby says much more than - beware of geriatric, baby thieving pagans.
ReplyDeleteMia Farrow plays Rosemary Woodhouse, a lapsed Catholic from the Midwest, now living in a gothic apartment building overlooking Central Park with her husband Guy, a struggling actor with a few small roles to his credit, including Martin Luther, significantly mentioned later during a discussion among Rosemary and her intrusive, elderly neighbors, the Castevets, about the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church.
Roman Castevet tells Rosemary, “No Pope ever visits a city where the newspapers are on strike” when dinner party discussion turns to the topic of the Pope’s visit to NYC, which is based on the actual event of Pope Paul VI’s visit in 1966, which, we later see Guy watching in the Woodlouse’s apartment before Rosemary passes out and has her surreal "dream".
Polanski uses a variety of cinematic techniques to endow the film with a claustrophobic visual style and tension. Most of the shots are filmed in an extreme close-up; some shots use a fish eye lense, creating a distorted warped representation of the subject.
Paranoia and conspiracy are undercurrents of the story. Rosemary grows more and more convinced that her neighbors and her own husband are involved in the plot to steal her baby. In this film, the threat of evil is everywhere and in a crowded city like New York; it’s magnified, with so many people coming at you. This is great example of urban tension in the late 60s in America, riots occurred in Watts, Newark, and Detroit between the summers of 1965 and 1967.
Guy’s acting career is also a major plot point in the story. Quite literally, he “sells his soul to the devil” for a bigger part and a chance to go to Hollywood with Rosemary and their “baby”. The corruption of Guy’s soul leads to Rosemary’s corruption, of both her mind and body. There is both literally and figuratively a seduction of the innocent in this film. The Castevets disdain for the Catholic Church is revealed to Rosemary at the conclusion of the film and although I’m not about to post any spoilerz or spoilerz alertz on the internetz, I will say there’s no happy ending or redemption at the conclusion of the film, in fact the ending is considered by many to be, “grotesque” (forgive me).
I was careful not to reveal any of the more shocking details of the film in case you haven’t seen it, which, in that case, you should run out immediately and rent it, or put it in your Netflix queue. It’s a great film, with great cinematography, the external shots of the Bramford are actually the Dakota, a building that has its own ghoulish history and Ruth Gordon gives one of the best performances of her life.
diana d.
The word ‘supernatural’ is usually associated with ideas focused on the paranormal or the occult. Visual artists of the Surrealist movement such as Salvador Dali are able to convey the supernatural without the introduction of apparitions or witches. Instead they focus entirely on an existence that is beyond our scientifically perceptible world while including surprising elements. I feel that Dali’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony bridges this gap between our perception of the universe and one that might be considered supernatural.
ReplyDeleteThe subject of the painting is one that has been represented realistically (in comparison to Dali’s) on numerous occasions. The background is clearly a desert but Dali creates an unusual lighting that seems to set a more mysterious tone for the painting. Dali’s design focuses primarily on the large horse with stilt-like legs representing strength being followed by similarly designed elephants that highlight St. Anthony’s temptations. The first elephant is carrying a naked woman balancing on a golden cup emphasizing a strong sense of eroticism within the painting. The other elephants carry buildings with yet another naked woman in the second building. St. Anthony is in the bottom left of the foreground, dramatically attempting to dissuade the horse as well as temptation from coming closer.
Dali’s blatant emphasis on exaggeration and eroticism creates a sense of humor towards the subject. Instead of depicting the religious figure and his experiences realistically, Dali allows viewers who may not have been religiously inclined to take interest in a subject that might not have been appealing to them.
Here’s a link to the painting:
http://www.fotos.org/galeria/data/520/3Salvador-Dali-The-Temptation-Of-Saint-Anthony.jpg
-Alex N.
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