Express Yourself
By: Dejah Harley and Tamatha Lancaster
Girl Interrupted, is the film adaptation to the book written by Susanna Kaysen. The book was based on her stay at a mental institution in Connecticut when she was a teenager. The movie has many dark parts to it although it can be humorous at times as well. The camera work, aspects of mise en scene, and some common motifs allow the movie to have both of those aspects while making the film truly stand out as a testament to expressing oneself and personal growth.
We are first introduced to Girl Interrupted’s unique use of camera work in the first scene in the dark, which we later find out is one of the last scenes. The camera pans down onto Susanna while she is comforting her sociopath friend, Lisa (seen above). It gives the audience a 360 degree view of the situation, really putting everything into perspective. You immediately wonder “why are these kids here” , “who are they”, and “what are their stories”. The concept of putting us into a situation yet we still don’t know anything about the characters led us to really lean into the film. The face is a very personal part of the body. It can show fear, excitement, content, disappointment, all at once. The camera is constantly zooming in on this part of the body in vulnerable situations such as the first time Susanna was speaking to her therapist, Dr. Phillip, in the movie. In this scene we see Susanna as a fragile and introverted person. She wasn’t saying much to her therapist; mainly giving him one word answers. Her focus is always everywhere else. She isn’t looking him straight in the eye.
Light and dark go hand in hand in this film for effect. They contribute to the attitude or mood around a particular actress. Throughout, Susana’s character wears darker colors such as black and brown while Lisa’s character wears white or beige. Susanna keeps her problems within her and Lisa puts all her problems out there. White is a shade that really stands out in darkness and Lisa is definitely that person. The lighting, similar to the clothing, allow the audience to form opinions towards a certain character. The underdog in a situation is normally seen to be in the dark. In the movie, Lisa is chasing Susanna in one of the ending scenes.The lighting, of course, still helps with the overall tone of the scene. The light is mainly on Lisa’s face while Susanna is continuously in the dark. In this scene, Susanna was the underdog and the one bottling things in and Lisa just shows everything. In the end of the film the lighting is a lot brighter on her character because she finally expressed her emotions. Another example of light playing a role is in the middle where Lisa and Susanna are in Daisy’s house and Lisa is emotionally attacking Daisy. She walks up the stairs, that have an abundance of light at the top (seen above). This sets up the next scene which is fairly dark where Susanna finds Daisy; hanging in the bathroom from the ceiling. Here, Susanna was a lot more expressive of her emotions. She was crying and all over the place. She didn’t do this in the beginning of the movie. It was after she was exposed to these characters that she truly opened up.
Normally repetition in films can get old very quickly, but in this one it works well. “Checks” are something done at the mental institution to make sure everyone is alive and there. Checks happen in the morning, evening, and night, but also in case of emergencies. Throughout the film you hear the same nurse saying “check” while walking in the main hallway past every room. Every time a “check” goes on she gets distracted by one of the patients or something big happens. The first time Susanna got into the mental ward and she was just adjusted. Another time it was when Susanna was inside her room with her boyfriend (seen above). Lisa tried distracting the nurse but Valerie, Whoopi Goldberg, busted into the room instead. This repetition also set the tone by foreshadowing when something interesting was going to happen.
Cigarettes were another motif in the film. They were used to transition between dark and humor scenes in the movie. Susanna was feeling more rebellious in the middle part of the film. She is sitting on the couch in the common room next to an old women. She inhales the cigarette and blows the smoke right into the woman’s face. The woman turned around and called her an “asshole” (seen above). Susanna immediately was taken back and apologized. The tone then became a lot more serious even though a few seconds before the mood was a lot lighter. In this scene, Susanna was trying to mimic Lisa’s character. Lisa is very expressive and doesn’t regret much. After Susanna tried to do that, she got nervous of the consequences and immediately took a step back to re-think herself.
Girl Interrupted was more than just a sad story with humorous bits to it. After watching, you can’t help but reflect on your own life and which characters you relate to. Lisa resembles something in a lot of us, our insanity. Susanna is the other side of us always bottling her emotions and keeping things in. After watching it makes you think about your own life and how you react to certain situations. While the characters are so unique, they are still relatable. The overall message from the film is that we all bottle up our feelings instead of just letting them out. The film evokes an element of self reflection which is very refreshing in films of this kind.
Works Cited:
Girl Interrupted. Dir James Mangold. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1999. Netflix. Web. 14 March 2014. <http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Girl_Interrupted/60000428?trkid=13462100&is=1>.
Girl Interrupted. Dir James Mangold. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1999. Megashare. Web. 14 March 2014. <http://megashare.info/watch-girl-interrupted-online-TmpZMU13PT0>.
Girl Interrupted was more than just a sad story with humorous bits to it. After watching, you can’t help but reflect on your own life and which characters you relate to. Lisa resembles something in a lot of us, our insanity. Susanna is the other side of us always bottling her emotions and keeping things in. After watching it makes you think about your own life and how you react to certain situations. While the characters are so unique, they are still relatable. The overall message from the film is that we all bottle up our feelings instead of just letting them out. The film evokes an element of self reflection which is very refreshing in films of this kind.
Works Cited:
Girl Interrupted. Dir James Mangold. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1999. Netflix. Web. 14 March 2014. <http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/Girl_Interrupted/60000428?trkid=13462100&is=1>.
Girl Interrupted. Dir James Mangold. Sony Pictures Entertainment, 1999. Megashare. Web. 14 March 2014. <http://megashare.info/watch-girl-interrupted-online-TmpZMU13PT0>.