A photograph is a reflection, it makes us confront a part of someone's reality and when done successfully, it makes us confront our reality as an audience. In Douglas Sirk’s All That Heaven Allows and Todd Haynes’s Far From Heaven, this idea of framing a certain reality is also expressed with their use of mirrors and other reflective surfaces to display a specific point of view.
During the cocktail party scene at the Whitaker’s house, Frank Whitaker, in referring to how lucky he is to have such a beautiful wife, says, “It's all smoke and mirrors, fellas. That's all it is.” This statement sums up the plot of the movie, as well as, much of the ideals surrounding the 1950s, which is the present factor that things may seem fine from the outside, but there is conflict and betrayal all happening within the home between each the character. In the article by Laura Mulvey, she mentions, “[Sirk’s] trademark use of mirrors to break up the surface of the screen”, on top of which Sirk and Haynes both use reflections to express the emotional distance between characters and the avoidance of confrontation. In All That Heaven Allows, Cari’s children are constantly projecting their selfish wants onto their mother, as well as, Cari’s “friends” creating drama to encourage excitement in the mundane suburbs but never once is Cari’s feelings put into consideration. Near the end of the film, Cari’s children present …show more content…
The use of mirrors plays a lot with gender roles, which is a major theme throughout both movies. There is this idea of vanity specifically dealing with the female characters that women must look presentable, again going along with this idea of things do not always seem like what they are from the
During the cocktail party scene at the Whitaker’s house, Frank Whitaker, in referring to how lucky he is to have such a beautiful wife, says, “It's all smoke and mirrors, fellas. That's all it is.” This statement sums up the plot of the movie, as well as, much of the ideals surrounding the 1950s, which is the present factor that things may seem fine from the outside, but there is conflict and betrayal all happening within the home between each the character. In the article by Laura Mulvey, she mentions, “[Sirk’s] trademark use of mirrors to break up the surface of the screen”, on top of which Sirk and Haynes both use reflections to express the emotional distance between characters and the avoidance of confrontation. In All That Heaven Allows, Cari’s children are constantly projecting their selfish wants onto their mother, as well as, Cari’s “friends” creating drama to encourage excitement in the mundane suburbs but never once is Cari’s feelings put into consideration. Near the end of the film, Cari’s children present …show more content…
The use of mirrors plays a lot with gender roles, which is a major theme throughout both movies. There is this idea of vanity specifically dealing with the female characters that women must look presentable, again going along with this idea of things do not always seem like what they are from the