Thursday 5 November 2009

The Night of the Hunter

ok, this post is a tad late, but better late late than never! and i just wanted to get the project itself started so i knew sort of where im going. so, anyway.. The Night of the Hunter...


I particularly enjoyed this film mostly due to the fact that the plot itself was so simple, but you were kept on the edge of your seat throughout. It was the urgency for the children to escape from Harry Powell's wickedness; trying to force the truth out of where they hid their dead father's money. There were many scenes that remain vivid in my mind. The first being when Powell refused to make loved to his newly wedded wife, telling her to look at herself in the mirror in disgust- it was her plea to God that affected me most- 'Help me to be clean...so I can be who Harry wants me to be.'


The second memorable image is when we see Willa Harper drowned in the lake- it is quite a beautiful image even though it protrays the death of a mother.
(this particular pic isnt so great compared to the film itself so i will try to find a video clip of this scene to upload! )

I like the way that the adults are made to be percieved negatively compared to the children and that the only good-willed adult, who could be compared to a fairy godmother is Mrs Cooper. The part that made us all laugh was when she realised that Powell was an evil man and ran out of her house with a shot gun!!!
Finally, the scene which i found particularly memorable was the antithetical parallel- when the police came to take away Powell, John (the little boy) pleaded 'no' in the same way as he did for his father- even though Powell murdered their mother and hunted him and Pearl down to try and find the money their father left.

4 comments:

  1. Evening Jade - ooh, get you 'antithetical parallel' ! Absolutely right though, and it sort of makes explicit that John is utterly traumatised regarding his father's demise; also, the bit that I find utterly moving, is when he touches Mrs Cooper's hand - he's the man of the family, and has to be reserved and strong, but he just weakens a little bit, because, after all, he is just a little boy... Night of the Hunter is a movie that lives on inside your head; it has a curious poetry about it and a dream-logic: and, of course, they all live happily ever after.

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  2. just my GCSE English coming through! - maybe i did learn something in those days! It was definitely a touching film and a brilliant choice to watch!

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  3. Your Anatomy essay was one of the strongest in the class - obviously, analysis and writing is one of your strengths - you maybe new to Photoshop, but writing is a skill too, so refine it, get stuck in to your assignments early. I'm expecting great things from you in this department! (no pressure!) :-)

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