Thelma & Louise (1991) was
a wonderful movie that struck a chord with women everywhere. It was filmed with
an amazing sense of mise en scene and strikingly, powerful camera shots. The
opening scene changing from black and white to color, predicting the
metamorphosis the women would go through. As Thelma (Geena Davis) said later in
the movie as they drove through the desert, “Everything looks different…Like
you’ve got something to look forward to.” The change to color represented the
women coming alive in their own ways. Louise (Susan Sarandon) learned to trust
again and Thelma learned to live for herself. To show who they would become,
the director, Ridley Scott, needed to show who they used to be.
The parallel shot in the
beginning as the women packed emphasized their demeanors, as well as their
differences. Louise was meticulous and careful while Thelma was haphazard and
scattered. Both women were tidy dressers, but Louise was tailored and neat.
Thelma was frilly yet polished. Both had carefully curled or pinned hair,
conforming to what was expected of them. Thelma dressed to please her husband while
Louise dressed to hide a past she was ashamed of, maybe a time when she lost
control. Thelma & Louise showed
us two women who were forced to change due to an act of violence and to run
because they thought no one would believe them, reflecting a real world issue. They
showed us how strong women could be. By the end of the movie, the women were
secure in their newfound confidence. Their dress reflected their attitudes. They
wore jeans and their hair was loose. Thelma seemed to embrace her newfound
sexuality. They way they walked even changed. They were strong now and looked
it.
The mise en scene in Thelma & Louise complimented the
plot perfectly. There was a scene in the car where Thelma was staring into the
side mirror. Filmed from her point of view, the mirror reflected what they were
leaving behind (the past) and the mountains that loomed in front of them (the
future). At that moment, anything was possible. It was a beautiful shot. This
movie was filled with beautiful shots though, especially when they filmed the
car driving down the highway. The sleek lines of the car were shown speeding
along, surrounded by the beauty of the mountains. To fully appreciate the
beauty of the world, you have to go out and see it. Thelma and Louise were
running for their lives, but they were running together, like the outlaw buddy
movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
(1969).
I have not seen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but
from the clips on D2L, I noticed some similarities. Both movies had a pair of
buddies on the run, where the odds were stacked up against them. Both movies
had scenes where the lead characters went over a cliff, whether on foot or in a
car. Full shots and extreme full shots were used to showcase the vast open
scenery. When the car went over the cliff, with the sky open around them, the
audience was left with the image of Thelma and Louise flying away. In the final
scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kid, the audience was left with hope that they survived. Both pairs stuck
together until the end.
Though screenwriter Callie
Khouri was not influenced by the book, The
Awakening, by Kate Chopin, it was one of the first things I thought of. Thelma told Louise that something “crossed
over” inside of her and she couldn’t go back to the way she lived before. In The Awakening, a woman who finally experienced
a vibrant, true love chose to end her life rather than live her old, sedate one.
Using a typical male theme for movies, Khouri directed much needed attention to
the roles forced upon women by society. The movie’s tagline was “Somebody said
get a life…so they did.” Thelma and Louise had lives before, but weren’t truly
living.
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