In the Menil Collection, Rene Magritte’s ‘The Invisible World’ has many similarities in terms of placement, technique and composition, to Carol White from the 1995 movie, ‘[SAFE]’. It can be used to symbolize many aspects of Carol’s White’s life and character, and their transitions through the movie.
The way ‘The Invisible World’ is placed in the room it is contained in mirrors many aspects of Carol White’s life and character in ‘[SAFE]’. ‘The Invisible World’ is hung on a wall in a fairly large room that also contains a sculpture and four other similar pieces of art done by Rene Magritte. This piece is the largest of them all, and occupies the center of the wall closest to the entrance. It is the only piece that has two spotlights on it. In fact, none of the other works have lights focused on them. Comparatively, it is …show more content…
The strokes are incredibly clean and there are no blobs or smudges on the piece of art. The painting is seemingly perfect. In the movie ‘[SAFE]’, Carol White initially seems to have a perfect life as well because of where she comes from and also because of how her life is presented in the beginning of the movie. When the painting itself is observed however, one can see that that’s not exactly the case. In the painting, there is a rock by a window in a room looking out to the sea. The rock seems out of place, like it belongs elsewhere. Here, the rock is a good representation of Carol White. In fact, in the movie, Carol didn’t seem to have a voice or any real relationships till she fell ill and went to Wrenwood. That’s where she seemed like she belonged the most. The rock itself symbolizes an aspect of Carol’s character – her emotionless and stoic behavior. The events happening around the rock wouldn’t affect it. Similarly, Carol just seemed to be passively floating through her life, not very rooted or affected by the people around
The way ‘The Invisible World’ is placed in the room it is contained in mirrors many aspects of Carol White’s life and character in ‘[SAFE]’. ‘The Invisible World’ is hung on a wall in a fairly large room that also contains a sculpture and four other similar pieces of art done by Rene Magritte. This piece is the largest of them all, and occupies the center of the wall closest to the entrance. It is the only piece that has two spotlights on it. In fact, none of the other works have lights focused on them. Comparatively, it is …show more content…
The strokes are incredibly clean and there are no blobs or smudges on the piece of art. The painting is seemingly perfect. In the movie ‘[SAFE]’, Carol White initially seems to have a perfect life as well because of where she comes from and also because of how her life is presented in the beginning of the movie. When the painting itself is observed however, one can see that that’s not exactly the case. In the painting, there is a rock by a window in a room looking out to the sea. The rock seems out of place, like it belongs elsewhere. Here, the rock is a good representation of Carol White. In fact, in the movie, Carol didn’t seem to have a voice or any real relationships till she fell ill and went to Wrenwood. That’s where she seemed like she belonged the most. The rock itself symbolizes an aspect of Carol’s character – her emotionless and stoic behavior. The events happening around the rock wouldn’t affect it. Similarly, Carol just seemed to be passively floating through her life, not very rooted or affected by the people around