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... rk he has done with them in sign language, it shows that they are in fact very smart and even witty. His example of a play on signs shows everyone in the court how smart these people are. They base high-society solely on language and eventually find that it isnt everything.
The acts of compassion and the human spirit above are what stick out in this movie as holding the culture together. Theyre all people in the end, regardless of status. Queen Margot gets to these ideas through the background world, the structure of experience and the scene of action as well. This film opens with an extravagant church scene. The church is adorned and all of the characters have on incredible dress. The wedding being held represents togetherness; in this case it is symbolic of the Catholics and Protestants being together.
This theme plays out through the entire movie. As Margot exits the church, the doors are opened. Bright light fills the screen and covers her face which seems to glow. This reoccurs several times in the movie, visually showing Margot as some type of savior or godly being.
As the wedding festivities begin, the background is filled with commotion and violence. It is very strange that this occurs on a wedding day, none the less one of royalty and for peace. Most of the scenery and action takes place in the city. The camera focuses on action in tight spaces, and the background is usually stone walls or corridors on the streets. The colors are at times dull and very contrasting to the brightness of the country side in Ridicule.
There are, however, a few open country shots in the movie. These are big panoramic views of skyline, mountains and foreground. In the film these shots are mostly dedicated to la Mole. His character represents freedom in the movie and these shots capture that idea contrary to the feeling of being trapped in by the walls of the city.
It is interesting that la Moles enemy Hannibal, who eventually becomes his ally, is shown once in the wide shot. The background of the massacre scene is also very well done in its portrayal of the feelings and meanings aroused. Everything is tinted black or red. Either covered by shadows of the night or light from the flame or blood, these colors show the feelings of passion and violence that are created in the city that night.
Finally the last scene of the movie sets the ending perfectly. The camera shows the open cobblestone road leaving the city walls and heading to the country. Margot is in the carriage and again the light shines on her face, illuminating feelings of hope and sorrow as well as a sense of freedom from leaving. In this movie, again, we see incredible costumes worn by the royalty. We see fear and violence lead the characters in their actions in much of this film. Many of them use religion as a defense for violent action.
In actuality it seems as an attempt to simply secure power whereas wit was used in Ridicule. The physical struggle that is at hand in the movie between the Catholics and Protestants is played out through violence in the massacre. These portrayals also simplify down to personal levels of characters. Navarre is faced with a similar internal anguish and massacre when his people are being slaughtered and he is threatened with converting and sacrificing his own beliefs. A similar struggle is shown with la Mole and his passion for Margot.
He must sacrifice his life and beliefs to be with her, even for a moment. As these different elements of the story come about we see compassion arise once again. The true heroes of the story let their true human spirits lead them. Margot and Henri do not have true love, but merely a wedding. However, there is a mutual and deserved respect that they exemplify towards one another. Henri refuses to leave Margot despite the fact that she is in love with another man.
He gives aid to Charles when he needs it most, although his brothers and mother have been trying to kill him. Margot never lets her husband down as promising to be his ally. At times it is unclear what her true motives are but by the end she really has tried to protect Her no matter what. Her devotion to la Mole shows true compassion as well.
She puts her life on the line to save him and goes against both religious and social beliefs to be with him. The last hero of compassion in this film is la Mole the peasant. He dies for his love and enables freedom for Henri and Margot. It is interesting that so much is done for love in this movie. Love itself takes on different forms.
There is the physical sense of lust, the sense of devotion and commitment, and finally the two in the form of actual love. The wedding merely represents a relationship of husband and wife. It doesnt mean anything else. Margot even tells Henri not to come to her room on the wedding night.
Love is lustful. Both Henri and Margot look elsewhere for sex. Margot wears a mask to find a complete stranger whom she has no feelings for. We also see some examples of incest, which is purely a physical act. The relationship between Margot and the stranger, la Mole, is love. Their story parallels the one of Ponceludon and Mathilde.
They break class and social structures to follow their desires and in the end love wins. Although la Mole is killed he dies for what he believes and who he believes in. Ponceludon faced death in Ridicule as he was challenged to duel and miraculously won. The forces that pull the couples together are love or god or human instinct or all three.
In the end Margot, although committed to Henri knows that she could never love him. Her hearts instinct is toward la Mole, and in both movies we see that the human spirit overcomes. Although the cultures represented in both movies were very strict and rigid, focusing heavily on family and social status, the individuals were not set to a particular place. In both movies the characters change and break the rules and norms of society to fulfill love and desire.
Desires for power and status capture everyone in these cultures whether it is to develop wit in order to gain acceptance or use religion to gain control, or to make choices to follow love. Those who are true in human nature show compassion for others in the films as well. These qualities are timeless human characteristics. Both the 16 th century and 18 th century French are faced with choices that are made with human values in mind. All people are faced with choices that reflect these values. In the end of these movies, everyone has their place in society and time.
The soul of wit is to know ones place. This is destiny and it isnt changed in life but accepted. The different characters do what they can for love but in the end have to accept it for what it is. In Ridicule Ponceludon learns that he really doesnt need to belong in the court for him to be with Mathilde.
And with la Mole and Margot; she was a Catholic of royalty and him, a Protestant hero from the country. It was for her to accept his death and to live on with a lost love. These inherent human qualities arent changed through history but adapt. They come about in different ways through different time periods and cultures. These qualities draw the two films together in the fact that they are about the depiction of lives, choices and relationships in different times but through the same human principles.
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Research essay sample on Film Analysis Of Ridicule And Queen Margot
