carrie prom scene analysis

Carrie Part 2 | Shmoop Bad dream? Sue asks, before her face is transformed into that of Chris Hargensen. Not affiliated with Harvard College. In de Palmas version of the story, Sue is locked out of the gymnasium just before the bucket of blood drops and does not appear again on screen until after Carrie is dead. As Sue walks away, Carrie feels a hand clap her on the shoulder. In this scenario it does not matter whether Carrie is conventionally "pretty" or "not pretty." Whereas the cinematography and mise-en- scene create a fairy tale like dreamy effect to showcase Carries almost magical experience at prom. The clip Ive chosen to analyse begins with close up shot of Sue Snell (one of Carries tormentors, although she is a more sympathetic character and genuine towards Carrie), she looks up to the podium and sees the rope which is connected to the bucket holding the blood. Where Pierces film does diverge from de Palmas somewhat is in its restoration of Sue as a main character. De Palmas film also reduces the role Sue plays in the story and the depth of her characterization. Like any of you. NEXT: The 10 Best Brian De Palma Movies, Ranked (According To IMDB). Film Analysis Of Carrie - 622 Words | Bartleby Even when the film was released, everyone knew what was going to happen. When the pigs blood drops on Carrie, the non-diegetic score peaks and becomes distorted, a range of new instruments are introduced in a warped manner creating a climax of noise. In the final scene of Pierces theatrical cut, Sue is interviewed by an investigative committee, the only extant footage of the White Commission. Carrie White is, famously, a victim of bullying and abuse, but in Kings hands she isnt a perfect victim. By ending with this reference de Palma aligns Carrie with these psychopaths, recasts Carrie simply as a creature haunting Sues unconscious. Carrie Themes and Analysis | Book Analysis Sue gets her period in the final paragraph). The lighting changes to a dramatic red which connotes blood, which then is alluded to the idea of violence. Its a significant alteration. International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. Chris is the Something unutterably evil who stinks of parking lots and roadhouses and not only has the power to make Carrie feeble, but constantly tries to use that power. Sue decides to meet her as she hears the telepathic message. I. t happens almost entirely inside a teenage girls head, a place we know Hollywood is often reluctant to go. Being a gothic horror novel,Carriehas influenced American culture as it made people see the dark side of the mind of those who get bullied. With laughter and humiliation, Carrie goes on a rampage and locks everyone in the gym. Blood is a primary part of the tale of Carrie as her life circled it. Blood reinforces the horror part of the genre. Sue remains firm. In the penultimate scene in Carrie, De Palma opted to create an eerie visual effect by filming a shot in reverse. There is also diegetic sound present but it can barely be heard due to the score, ambient noises of people clapping and cheering for Carrie is contrasted to the slightly frantic score. The sonic flashbacks end and a new non-diegetic score is introduced, the tone is eerie and it plays only one melody the entire time. But when famed production designer Jack Fisk suggested his wife Sisssy Spacek audition, everything changed. Carrie had some kind of power. She doesnt stand up for herself. Guilt is a theme that coursed through the minds of some characters inCarrie.Sue felt guilty for what she did to Carrie while in the shower room, and her feeling of guilt caused the entire story of Carries demise. This is a good impulse, but the movie doesn't properly follow through on it. Its Carrie who inspires Sues first transgressions against the social order: Sue rebels against the cruel, popular Chris Hargensen by accepting her share of the punishment for abusing Carrie and flouts the expectations of her peers by sending Carrie to prom in her place. Still, there's a lot to like in this remake. It could make you Feeble. Chris Hargensen always seems to be there; always seems to have been there. The shot was achieved with the help of cinematographer Mario Tosi, who replaced original DP Isidore Mankofsky early in production over creative differences with De Palma. International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct,London, EC1A 2BN, United Kingdom, 2023 Book Analysis. 'Spoiler-Free' Summary of Carrie Tommy asks Carrie to prom, and though she initially tries to decline, she later agrees to his offer. The final scene of de Palmas film begins with Sues mother talking on the phone about Sues slow recovery from the trauma of prom night. With her flowing white gown and colourful bouquet, Sue appears more bridal than funereal, but any implication of an eternal connection between the two girls seems at odds with the way de Palma underplayed Sue throughout the rest of the film. With her arch-nemesis being Chris, Carrie wanted to exert the worst kind of vengeance on her. The Something was dangerous, ancient, unutterably evil. It's totally mean. The intention of the editing and sound is to set up tension in the build up to the pig's blood being poured on Carrie. Carries terror kills hundreds of people. The reader never learns if Sue Snell marries or joins a country club, but we do know that she wrote a book, a memoir of her account of what happened on prom night that both exonerates her from implication in Chris Hargensens horrific prank and humanizes Carrie. Its after this point that things take a turn for the nonsensical. Sue convinces Carrie to fake her own death and, as the audience learns via intercut interviews with the police, lies for her. Posted on February 7, 2016 by asenaoyzoyn. Carrie and Tommy get crowned prom king and queen. Peirce's version sometimes makes Chris seem a bit of a victim, too, by implying that she was spoiled rotten by her yuppie dadplayed by a perfectly cast Hart Bochner, a.k.a. had a famously troubled production and post-production. Sue, one of the girls who laughed at Carrie, tries to atone by telling her boyfriend Tommy to ask Carrie to prom. Margarets fanatism influenced Carries life as it cut her off from the real world. Carrie gets stabbed by her mother and heads to the road, where she meets Chris and her boyfriend, killing them. The shot was achieved by setting the two actors, Spacek and William Katt, on a platform that rotated in one direction, while the camera tracks in the opposition direction. All of Carrie's pent up emotions from the malevolent bullying she had faced throughout the film were finally released. Accessed 1 May 2023. When Norma falls to the floor writhing in pain, the reaction is 100% authentic. The primary genre ofCarrieis horror. Carrie gets dressed up nicely for prom, but it is done in a realistic way. Carrie: Directed by Kimberly Peirce. It's been referenced and indexed and parodied (and soon, remade) so exhaustively that it no longer seems like a part of the movie. However its worth noting that this fear is not of Carrie herself, but of giving birth to Carrie: of having a daughter that takes after (the tormented, suffering and eventually violent) Carrie. The film treats the school's gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer)who punishes Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday), leader of the girls who torture Carrieas Carrie's shadow "good" mother. write out a theme statement for The Supernatural and the power it wields. Carrie suffered because of her mothers fanatism and guilt. Sexton, Timothy. There is another interesting perspective, however. The first adaptation ended with stones raining on Carries house, killing her and her mother. Ironically while the rest of the cut footage was rumoured to me much more consistent with Kings novel, this ending borrows significantly from de Palmas film, with Pierce doing him one better on the shock front after all, whats more horrifying that someone haunting you from beyond the grave? Whatever the book. Made by Carrie out of crushed red velvet, her prom dress has a princess waistline, Juliette sleeves, and a simple skirt. This is tragedy. Interiority is not the provenance of the novel alone. The crossing cutting between Carrie on the stage, and the audience and Chris and her boyfriend, creates a frantic atmosphere as the audience are aware of Chris plan but feel happy for Carrie as she is being praised. She isnt pretty. Her body is perceived as possessed by an introject of an intrusive, domineering,. It is the hateful bullying of Chris which acts as the primary agency that brings Carries powers to the surface. All rights reserved. Carrie 's climactic scene (which runs a little over 20 minutes in its entirety) follows the title character, socially naive outcast Carrie (Sissy Spacek), as she goes to her first school. Carries rage extends to all of Chamberlain as she delivers a telepathic message to Chamberlains citizens and then rains hell on them by destroying buildings and killing people. After receiving her first period, she acquires telekinetic powers, which turns her world around; especially since she did not understand what the change meant for her as a new woman. One overlooked theme in Carrieis mental health. In the final scene of Carries story, Sue finds a wounded, dying Carrie on the road after Carrie has killed her own mother and her tormentors, Chris and Billy. Carrie does not seem dangerous. This interpretation is supported by de Palmas comments that the final scene of his film was inspired by the 1972 thriller. The story of Carrie, has been enshrined in pop culture as a fairly straightforward horror story, a quite literal bloodbath. The scene flashes to one of her in the delivery room, still screaming, and asking again and again Is this normal? as objects begin to fly around the room. Her kindness is a heartening alternative to Margaret's paranoia, unthinking cruelty, and emotional dislocation. Chris and Billy escape as Carrie ignites the schools fuel tanks, killing everyone inside the building. Carries mother is also there, of course, always whispering into her ear (or shouting into her terrified face) with the reminder that the powers which lay mostly dormant and mostly untapped are the work of her father: "You spawn of the devil. It becomes a motif, a recurring refrain Carries hears throughout her life: it's you devilspawn witch imp of the devil it's you doing it. And after enough time of hearing the same thing over and over, who wouldnt start to believe it. Prom was great. The intention of the editing and sound is to set up tension in the build up to the pigs blood being poured on Carrie. Carrie movie review & film summary (1976) | Roger Ebert the protagonist is jolted awake by a nightmare of the sadistic cannibal strangers who hunted him throughout the film. Carrie Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary Blaming themselves for the incident, Desjardin resigns. No,Carrieends with blood, pain, shame, and regrets. Carrie Plot Summary | Book Analysis Its not an entirely faithful adaptation of the original end of Carrie, but for the most part it is consistent with the spirit of Kings ending. was released on Blu-Ray, it came with an alternate ending, one of the few pieces of cut footage released to the public. While Carrie Fisher, Glenn Close, Linda Blair, and others auditioned for the title role in Carrie, director Brian De Palma was set on casting Amy Irving in the role. It comes at night. Later, Miss Desjardin punishes the girls who bullied Carrie. What would have become of Superman had he been a girl raised by an insane single parent? Howdo you solve a problem like Carrie? Frankly, though, it reads less like a thoughtful addition to the rest of the film and more like a half-hearted capitulation to the genre dictate to end on a scare. Pino Donagios quietly unsettling score teases the audiences as they await the prank, but after the climax of the scene the score turns manic as Carrie exerts her powers. There is a rich use of figurative language inCarrie.From describing her mother to describing her power and those she hated, there is a rich use of Simile and Metaphors in the novel. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . It establishes a connection between the two girls and gives Sue a voice to tell their stories. that what she witnessed was a natural act? She was so cut off from the real world that she thought she was dying after getting her period for the first time. Stories change in the telling, though, and as they do, so do endings. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. In a sense this suggests that now the reality of the situation kicks in, as the hazy cinematography and almost fairy tale mise-en-scene elements give the scene a make-believe mood. Carrie gets a measure of peace, dying knowing that at least someone didnt mean to hurt her. She stabs her in the shoulder with a knife. Prom Dresses Market 2023 Research report presents an in-depth analysis of the Prom Dresses market size, growth, share, segments, manufacturers, and technologies, key trends, market drivers . Her story is just beginning. Short of a Carrie adapters roundtable, wecan never really be sure. She is complicit in bullying Carrie in the infamous shower scene and continues to think about Carrie in sometimes uncharitable terms (she could take better care of herself she does look just like a GODDAMN TOAD). Even after the blood comes in the locker room, Carrie remains innocent. In the final scene of Pierces theatrical cut, Sue is interviewed by an investigative committee, the only extant footage of the White Commission. Margaret was born into an average family. This version strands the supporting characters between realism and archetype, an awkward spot. That question is asked more than once in "Carrie," and it cuts to the heart of this new adaptation. Mentioning Stephen Kings classic 1974 horror novel likely calls to mind one of two iconic scenes: Carrie getting her period for the first time in the school shower and being pelted with tampons as her classmates scream Plug it up! or Carrie wreaking fatal havoc on a gym full of students after being drenched in pigs blood just as she was crowned prom queen. Three adaptations. . Expand Your Bookshelf With These 8 Interstellar Books Like The Expanse, The Best Sci-Fi Spaceships from Across the Galaxies, When Children's Book Authors Don't Like Children's Books, Love & Other Epic Adventures: Science Fiction Romance Books, 10 Bedtime Stories for Adults to Help You Get Some Shut Eye. However, Chris sets her plan into motion. After killing her classmates, Carrie heads home and confronts her mother, who believes she got possessed by Satan. Carrie unleashes her powers, hurting everyone at the prom. When Carrie dies, the tone employed by the novel is one of melancholy, sadness, and the feeling of completion of Carries life. The prom is a masterpiece of mixed-media slaughter, "Hellraiser" by way of Columbine. The role marked the first time Laurie acted in a film since The Hustler in 1961. A Senior List Writer covering a wide array of topics who has been with Screen Rant since September of 2019, Jake Dee has written movie news and reviews since 2008, working primarily with OMG Horror (IGN), JoBlo.com, and Arrow in the Head as a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. Its about the horror of being alone in the dark. Even after her powerful father tries to use his influence to undo the damage Chris has done and get back into the prom, Chris believes she is Carries victim. After discovering she had the power of telekinesis, Carrie felt overjoyed as she knew she had powers that could protect her from the dangers of her peers. Sue isalternately hostile and generous, and conformist and defiant but always acutely self-aware. Margaret was a woman who seemed to believe in only her twisted form of religion, a form of religion that did not exist. The use of a spilt scene juxtaposes the characters reactions to the prank; Carrie is clearly distressed and has turned vengeful whereas her classmates find it amusing. It led to issues with religious groups who felt he pushed the limits on religion and took it too far. The final paragraph reinforces the connection between Carrie and Sue by mirroring the novels opening trauma, only this time it is Sue who feels blood run down her legs. Carrie finds Chris and Billy on the road and drives their car through a wall, killing them. The Question and Answer section for Carrie is a great Sneaking into the prom hall, Chris and her boyfriend set the buckets of blood above the stage. It is a scenecomprised of telepathic communication. It establishes a connection between the two girls and gives Sue a voice to tell their stories. And the shock ending of Kings novel is that just for a moment and far too late she isnt. Momma tells her how she almost killed herself, and how she's tried to kill Carrie multiple times. King crafts a lean, chilling, and insightful story that has at its heart a pair of complicated teenage girls who resist easy characterization. She stabs Carrie in the shoulder. But films have represented and adapted wordless communication in a variety of interesting, effective ways. And while Carrie doesnt read Sues mind in this adaptation, she does look into her body: Carrie gets one final, genuine smile when she tells Sue that she is pregnant with a girl (thispregnancy is another restoration, of sorts, from the novel: after Carrie has agrees to be Tommys date, Sue realizes her period is late and worries she might be pregnant. Although Carrie can be seen as a horror film, it is dominantly a "Coming of Age" story due to the conflicts that are presented against Carrie. The novel ends with a cliffhanger suggesting that Carries powers still existed and that a young girl inherited them. They should really put a sign up: "Don't flush tampons down the toilet, or throw them at each other ." Importantly, though, Sue is the only one who seems to feel bad about it. Chris is so beyond redemption that she actually believes she is the victim. The story of Carrie, has been enshrined in pop culture as a fairly straightforward horror story, a quite literal bloodbath. After getting disgraced by Chris, everyone laughs at Carrie, forcing her to use her powers to burn down the school. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Required fields are marked *. 2023-2030, Prom Dresses Market Size : Understanding the Scope of Your Sue tells Carrie to go somewhere no one knows her and offers to drive her as far as Florida. Carries powers rise to the surface precisely because Chris is so monstrous, and yes those powers are wrought for evil purposes. William Katt on "Carrie" bloody prom scene The slow motion returns as the pace of the editing slows down, this creates a crescendo in the scene as the scene started off with slow motion, then the editing became so fast it was reminiscent of subliminal images, and now the editing has returned to its original pace. On getting home, Carrie tells her mother about the school prom. Its also not Pierces original ending. Prom Dress. The Cast Of Carrie (1976): Where Are They Now? Still, Peirce's movie does have a nod to this dress in Sue's unworn prom . Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. When De Palma gave Spacek the role, he cast Amy Irving as Sue Snell instead. Sue tries to atone for what she did to Carrie and asks her boyfriend, Tommy, to take Carrie to the school prom. Using epistolary writing, Stephen King designed Carrie to show different angles of characters who mattered to the story. "Thanks, Mom. Spacek also examined the body language ofthose stoned to death for their sins. Carrie Film Analysis - 1019 Words | Internet Public Library The ashtray on the principals desk and the kid on the bike are manifested as objects of that power, but it was not menstruation which made brought it to the surface. GradeSaver, 24 September 2019 Web. And totally memorable. The camera stays on the gravestone as Sues black-booted feet walk away and an electric guitar riff starts up. 'Carrie' is a novel that brings themes of vengeance, pain, and suffering into the life of a young girl who should have never experienced the torment she received from everyone. She acknowledges that yes, her boyfriend and all of her friends died that night, but she knows what she saw. Carries mother forces her into the closet. However, the rocks can still be seen in the final shots of the film, aligning the White house in the place of charred ashes. Five different endings. Andthe end Sue is a much more straightforward friend to Carrie, with their mad dash across state lines evoking shades of Thelma and Louise. The words Carrie White burns in hell appear again here, this time scrawled in red paint across Carries actual gravestone. But even as she does this, Sue acknowledges her sacrifice is also a means of assuaging her guilt and exercising her power over Tommy. Following her performance, Spacek was nominated for Best Leading Actress at the 1977 Academy Awards. As Sissy Spacek's unlikely prom queen takes the stage to be crowned, De Palma toys with us to the point of cruelty. Its also not Pierces original ending. One thing Carrie wanted was to have revenge on the people who tormented her. Because of her mothers religious fanatism, Carrie grows up with her mother teaching her nothing about how her body works; this makes Carrie ignorant. And when Carrie unleashes the full brunt of her powers, it's a magnificent and appalling spectaclethe teenage sci-fi rampage that the "X-Men" films never dared show us. In this dream Sue dressed in a white flowing gown and holding a colourful bouquet of flowers, walks toward the site of the former White house, where Carrie White burns in hell is scrawled in red paint across a For Sale sign. Killed a bunch of people. Carrie discovers she has telekinetic powers. is gore, the horror of mass murders and pigs blood. Instead she very deliberately and maliciously destroys her towns water supplies before dousing as much of it as possible it in gasoline and setting it on fire. This is achieved by an eye line match, as her awareness grows; the camera follows her line of vision. Its after this point that things take a turn for the nonsensical. When the Stephen King book was first optioned, it was set up with producer Paul Monash at 20th Century Fox, and Monash hired writer Lawrence D. Cohen to pen a first . Her haunting you from inside your own body. As Sue walks away, Carrie feels a hand clap her on the shoulder. The fact that there is non-diegetic and diegetic sound but no dialogue may suggest that the impending violence cant be justified by verbal means, instead what happens is based on the heat of the moment. It's sincerely interested in exploring the pain that its characters suffer and inflict. However, she showed signs of a mental issue, and those issues got channeled into the form of religious fanatism. Or unutterably evil. Carrie leaves her house and makes her way to the road where she meets Chris and her boyfriend. Then the string running along it. This infantilizing is made clear when her mother fails to tell her about menstruation, her first period being her rite of passage, as it were, into womanhood. Swearing revenge on Carrie, Chris brings her father to school but gets banned from the school prom. The frantic score is interwoven with sounds of screaming which increase the horror elements of the scene. This is a form of exposition which shows the bullies plans for Carrie. This guilt eats away at her for the whole novel. Carrie faced the torture of adapting to an overzealously religious mother and terrible classmates. Director Brian De Palma's mastery here isn't in satisfying our expectation for teenage-psychic carnage. Not knowing anything about menstruation, Carrie freaks out. A weekly newsletter focusing on literature by and about people of color! Stephen King also pushes the storys narrative with the gruesome explanation of terrible events; this employs Hyperbole. Carrie is one of the most iconic horror movies ever made, and here are 10 interesting behind the scenes facts about the film. And as the tale nears its inevitable climax, the tone becomes more despairing. And ghost-Carrie does seem like the most obvious interpretation if we take this moment literally and as integral to the film. She is good and her goodness is made all the more striking by virtue of the portrait of Carrie which is painted by her mother in her hysterical prayers: "help this sinning woman beside me here see the sin of her days and ways. Sue is still pregnant and clutches her belly, still screaming, as her mother holds her hand. In screenwriter Bryan Fuller and director David Carsons adaptation, no one gets haunted by Carrie, either literally or figuratively, because Carrie doesnt die. But Kings novel is more than just a pair of bloody bookends. After getting pigs blood poured on her, Carrie realized that her life would never change no matter how hard she tried to be happy. In the story, Carrie longed for revenge. For example, where the girls in the 1976 "Carrie" tormented the menstruating heroine in the shower in a wolf-pack manner, as teenaged boys might attack another teenage boy, the shower attack in this film is a joke that originates in embarrassment and nausea, then snowballs. Stephen King, on publication, admitted thatCarriewas a feminist novel. Considering the millions of words devoted to analyzing Stephen Kings novel Carrie in light of the abundance of religious imagery and the seemingly unlikely coincidental naming of a major character, it is actually surprising how rarely one comes across an interpretation that almost begs to be examined. The camera is static when showing Carrie, in contrast to her victims, this shows that she is now in control. However, she discovers herself, and her life completely changes. The script has Chris be exaggeratedly "evil" when it serves the plot, but life-sized elsewhere. Because Carrie is an abused child, she feels ugly; because she feels ugly, she radiates a sense of worthlessness. Carrie Symbols, Allegory and Motifs | GradeSaver Cohen: To keep the prom action continuous, I agreed with Brian to excise an interlude [Stephen King] had created after the blood fell in which Carrie fled the gym, ran across the school's front . She would hole up in her trailer, which was adorned with a slew of religious regalia including Gustave Dore's illustrated Bible. "Carrie Study Guide: Analysis". The disaster climax of the original 1976 Carrie is like any top-tier, truly unforgettable scene in cinema so well-known that you don't even have to see it to know it. She may have been listening to rock n roll music on the radio. Even when Carrie tried her best to fit in, she still got rejected; this only added to her torture. Sue screams and then briefly sees an image of a blood-soaked Carrie cradling her infant. Brian de Palmas 1976 film is is the first, most famous, and most widely-praised adaptation of Carrie. Its a striking ending that is consistent with both genre tropes and de Palmas specific vision for Carrie, but not the character of Sue Snell or her relationship with Carrie. When. Though Carrie wanted to experience life like an average girl, she could not because her mother destroyed her social life; this led to her getting ostracized by her peers. Carrie White is a teenage girl approaching adulthood set in the 1970's. Facing many conflicts with her schoolmates and mother, Carrie discovers her supernatural power and puts it to use to seek revenge.

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carrie prom scene analysis