Title: The Grudge
Date of release: 5th November 2004
Director: Takashi Shimizu
The genre: Supernatural horror
Story summary: An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.
Izetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist linguist publishing influential work on narrative from the 1960s onwards) Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction. Todorov suggested that conventional narratives are structured in five stages: A state of equilibrium at the outset. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action. Recognition that there has been a disruption. An attempt to repair the disruption. A reinstatement of the equilibrium. This type of narrative structure is very familiar to us and can be applied to many ‘mainstream’ film narratives.
The Grudge shows the equilibrium, disruption and new equilibrium in a short time period. The equilibrium starts off with a doctor in his flat with his wife, the doctor then flings himself off the flat balcony and falls to his death, this is the disruption of the film and the new equilibrium is when the protagonist is introduced at her house in the comfort of her bed. Claude Levi-Strauss Social Anthropologist. Examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. These are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. His research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts.
Binary Oppositions Are conflicts between two qualities or terms e.g. for example The Grudge: Human beings, supernatural beings. Light, darkness. Good, evil. The Grudge is a chronological film, however there are certain scenes where the film transports the audience to the past and then back to the present, this is shown through flashbacks. The narrative is an open narrative as it doesn’t have a clear conclusion at the end. Is the main character successful or not? These are the questions the audience members would ask. The narrative is omniscient and isn’t restricted for the audience, this means the audience is given information and don’t have to contemplate weather their right or wrong.
The main character is typical for the genre as all supernatural movies have a women as the leading role, who is a good college girl. The costume for the main character is casual clothes which make the film that more realistic than having a long dress. Hair and make-up of the main character is under done. This means there isn’t a lot to it its just casual hairstyle with a little speck of blush across her face. However, the ghost in the film wears a lot of makeup to make her face look pale. The hairstyle of her as well is jet black long hair which represents death. The ghost is introduced to break the suspense and the main protagonist just plays a chronological role. This means she only plays up to events that are coming up, she doesn’t visit the past or goes into the future. The representation of gender is highlighted through the movie, the main ghost is a women as well as the main protagonist which is played by a women too. Facial expressions are evident to be scared at all times after the protagonist encounters with the ghost for the first time, her body language changes from being adventurous to paranoid. This shows the mannerisms of a woman. However having paranoid body language doesn’t mean she isn’t brave. The audience tends to see a change in the protagonist behavior and in doing so she moves a lot braver towards the end of the film than the beginning. The representation of gender is exaggerated in ways such as; not every women would take it upon themselves to seek out a ghost and confront it. In The Grudge the main character plays a sort of superwoman roll and tries to seek out this ghost whilst her companions are consumed by the ghost’s rage.
The storyline is typical because all super-natural horror films start off with a victim with a identity that isn’t clear and is murdered by this being e.g. The Ring starts off with someone playing the tape and being killed before the main character even encounters with the ghost. In The Grudge the maid in the house is murdered before the main protagonist. This shows that the main protagonist is never a victim first. Other horror films with a different sub genre such as scream which is a slasher horror. The first victim to be attacked is not the main protagonist. These events occur in the opening sequence of the horror films.
The diegectic sounds in the movie were the dialogue and small moments such as phone calls. The non-diegectic sounds were the music played in the background to create suspense and tension. The shot sizes in the film ranged from long shots, medium shots to close shots. A lot of panning was used to show the point of view of the main characters head looking both ways. Also tracking was used to show the main character running away from the ghost. As the movie is a horror, once into the action the movies editing pace speeds up to create tension and suspense. Graphic matches are used in the movie it highlight what a character is doing at the time. Also match on action is used to give a clear evident view of weather the characters are pushing a door, opening a door, carrying a knife or gun, on the phone. Also mise-en-scene is used to an extent in the film. The setting is typical as it is set in a dark gloomy house which shows the conventions of a horror film. Props such as lost photos and old books are also part of conventions in a horror which makes it typical for the genre. The lighting is low key, high contrast at most times which makes it significant to determine what is the source of light in the location e.g. (in the haunted home the mirrors and windows are the only source of light, as well as standard lamps). The movement is fast paced after the main character and ghost confront. This is used to build suspense.
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