The film Purple Rose of Cairo (dir. Woody Allen, 1985) is based around the dynamic relationship between Cecilia (Mia Farrow), Tom Baxter (Jeff Daniels), and Gil Shepherd (Jeff Daniels). Cecilia is torn between 2 men that look almost identical if it was not for their attire, but whom of which differ in personalities. In a historical context, the film takes place in the midst of the Great Depression era which adds to the complexity of Cecilia’s love triangle. Through a combination of deep focus displayed in shot 20 and 31, as well as the use of figure movement in shot 5, Purple Rose of Cairo presents Cecilia as a paradigm of us spectators to be critically self-reflective in our relationship to movies. The mise-en-scene and cinematography devices
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By using this cinematic device the shot incorporates all the characters both in the fantasy world on screen and the reality in the theater. By keeping everyone in focus the shot exemplifies the spectator’s viewpoint in the theater and the interaction that many have with movies. Everyone then, is important to Cecilia’s decision because all of them share their opinion on what she should do, but it is ultimately Cecilia who will make the final choice. Cecilia’s situation is quite peculiar because she has to decide between Tom who came out of a movie but shows her devoted love, or Gil who is a Hollywood actor that can show her something “real.” I place quotations on the word real because it is Tom who ultimately displays true and sincere emotion towards Cecilia, while Gil only tells Cecilia a fantasy of what their love can be in order to get his career back on track. The final shot in the scene where Tom stares into the deep abyss after having his heart ripped out of his heart by Cecilia is also significant to the notion of reality versus fantasy. The shot features the empty theater and screen in focus in order to show Tom seemingly staring at the audience before ultimately leaving the screen. It is interesting because Gil and Cecilia had left the theater in the previous shot, so Tom is essentially looking at an empty theater and reflecting on whether what he just went through was real. In contrast the
By using this cinematic device the shot incorporates all the characters both in the fantasy world on screen and the reality in the theater. By keeping everyone in focus the shot exemplifies the spectator’s viewpoint in the theater and the interaction that many have with movies. Everyone then, is important to Cecilia’s decision because all of them share their opinion on what she should do, but it is ultimately Cecilia who will make the final choice. Cecilia’s situation is quite peculiar because she has to decide between Tom who came out of a movie but shows her devoted love, or Gil who is a Hollywood actor that can show her something “real.” I place quotations on the word real because it is Tom who ultimately displays true and sincere emotion towards Cecilia, while Gil only tells Cecilia a fantasy of what their love can be in order to get his career back on track. The final shot in the scene where Tom stares into the deep abyss after having his heart ripped out of his heart by Cecilia is also significant to the notion of reality versus fantasy. The shot features the empty theater and screen in focus in order to show Tom seemingly staring at the audience before ultimately leaving the screen. It is interesting because Gil and Cecilia had left the theater in the previous shot, so Tom is essentially looking at an empty theater and reflecting on whether what he just went through was real. In contrast the