Rob Reiner's Misery (based on the Stephen King novel of the same name) is a psychological-thriller film made in 1990. The film features the two main characters - Paul Sheldon (James Caan), an intelligent and successful writer who is bored of writing his famous book series and Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), a former nurse who has a crazy obsession with Sheldon's work.
Using mise-en-scene, we soon discover that Wilkes is the antagonist in this movie, although, at first our views are distorted about her as we think she is there solely to help Sheldon recover from his car accident. However, when she discovers Sheldon, we do not see her face only her body which is completely dressed in black. Black has connotations of death, darkness and despair. The contrast between that and the snow is quite striking but is also subtle enough to fool the audience. It then becomes an enigma as to why this random stranger has decided to risk their own life and save this man.
The binary opposition of Wilkes, the protagonist, Sheldon, is dressed in white hospital patients clothing, this indicates his vulnerability throughout the movie and his different personality to Annie. Wilkes is generally dressed in dark coloured cardigans with neatly combed hair. This implies that she has everything under control; only when Sheldon begins to get better does she let her hair become messy. She knows he's going to leave and she can't handle it - Wilkes is no longer in control. Again, her hair becomes neater when she breaks Paul's feet. Also, Sheldon has cuts and scars on his face which is obviously from his car accident.
In flashbacks, Paul wears smart-casual clothing to show his status within the book industry. He's important but he's not actually part of the publishing company and this is reflected through his choice of clothing.
The film begins with Sheldon in a hotel, finishing his book; which has rather low-key lighting much like in Annie's house. It's only in the flashbacks when high-key lighting becomes present to show the contrast between present and past.
Wilkes takes Sheldon to a farm house in the middle of nowhere. At first, this seems safe as he's being cared for but then it becomes apparent that it is in complete isolation and he cannot escape. This also reflects Sheldon's isolation in the movie as he has no way of contacting the outside world.
There isn't many other places that involve the main characters but there is a police station looking for the missing Paul Sheldon.
There are many important props that are important to Sheldon's character which include champagne, cigarette and a match. He uses these to celebrate completing the first draft of the books he is writing. The match becomes important later on in the film because Wilkes makes him burn his draft of his most recent book. Then ultimately he burns the new book he writes for Wilkes instigating the final fight for survival.
The figure expression from both characters is rather interesting whether it be Sheldon's sarcastic nature or Wilkes' crazed facial expressions. At first, Annie is motherly, kind and caring but as the film progresses we see that she's just psychotically happy and fake. She's infatuated with Paul and his writing. Paul has a mixture of relief and fear which is stereotypical for those who have been abducted. Although he's frightened he's relieved that she has not killed him yet. We empathise with Sheldon because we have all been in a state of vulnerability and have had to trust others to help care for us.
In conclusion, Misery has a dark narrative in which the protagonist is subjected to horrible situations. The contrast between the characters are shown through lighting, clothing and figure expression.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a Steven Spielberg
movie made in 1977 starring Richard Dreyfuss.
