Signs & Symbols in Cinema & Films
Signs & Symbols in Cinema & Films
This is a reference to filmmakers to enhancing the scene, to be richer in context. Deeper in meaning and
create imaginative Mise-en-scene. It does not mean that I am wrong or
right, its just my personal view of symbolism in films.
The purpose for this was for personal intend, as I see art being expressed on film I wanted to share
my views; hopefully I get some feedbacks and advices.
POWER
The phallic symbol is a
representation of power. Male power, patriarchal power, ambition, dominance,
conquest, imperialism, and a 'taker', not a 'receiver' kind-of-person,
or society. It is mostly a negative symbol but invokes emotional connotations
of patriotism and nationalism—pride and love for country—in fundamental
society, usually the un-educated, the ignorant, highly-emotional, nationalistic,
and imperialistic: the masses, or plebeians, or commoners.
We will start off with
phallic symbolism as it relates with an object with masculinity, power
and dominance, throughout history phallic symbols has become so rooted
in the film culture that cinematic spoofs exploit the tritest ones to
advantage.
Guns
James Bond and gangster
films are filled with Bullets, guns, torpedoes, bombs and the like are
typical icons of masculinity and power.
Rockets
The explosion of fireworks
at the culmination of a romantic scene is significant no one can miss.
Missiles and rockets blasting off into space are phallic symbols with
powerful purpose.
“Bombs
and the rockets and the bullets are all shaped like dicks..."
George Carlin
Spears
Trains
Train rushing full speed
ahead into a tunnel has truly become one of the most phallic symbols
in cinema.
In the end of North
by Northwest, when
Cary Grant and Eva Marie ´ Saint are finally united, Hitchcock introduced
the now infamous metaphor for consummated sex - the train through the
tunnel!.
Cigars
Fountains
Fountains, gushing oil
wells, shower
heads, and spewing
water hoses all represent male domination. The shower scene in “Psycho”
is a classic example.
Monoliths
In “King Kong” the Empire State Building was associated with strength and permanence.
The same example with large imposing structure you can see in“2001:
A Space Odyssey”. The Washington Monument, smokestacks,
towers, steeples, chimneys, columns, siloes, and pillars have all found
their way into films as phallic symbols. Serpents
Throughout history snakes
have symbolized masculinity at its darkest. It is no coincidence that
evil aliens are characteristically phallus shaped. Darth Vader
and the storm troopers in the “Star Wars” films and the chartbuster
in “Alien,” are blatant examples.
AUTHORITY & RULER SHIP
Low camera angles: technique is sometimes used in scenes
of confrontation to illustrate which character holds the higher position
of power.
The dragon: symbols of great power
Staffs
Kings, popes, and emperors
all carry scepters as unmistakable symbols of their power, authority
and ruler ship. Wands, canes, clubs, bobby sticks, whips and poles
all fall into the same category and serve the same iconic purpose.
Elephant: symbolizes power,
Authority in china, India and Africa. It also symbolizes victory in
Rome. Republican in the United States. In Islam it symbolizes an army
moving forward to destroy the ka’ba.
Lion: royal power
Arm: power
Beard: king
Gates: secular Power
Thrown: symbolizes power and authority.
Circle: no beginning, no end.
Perfect shape, the power of the world
Deceptive
Portraying the message directly
or indirectly, filmmakers with funds of the government uses techniques
to play with the unconscious mind to have an effect psychologically
in years by sending their message to viewers. This section mostly is
driven from conspiracy theories and privet investigations regarding
mind control.
In cartoons the Pinocchio's
nose began to stretch "You've just told a lie! It’s the most
common symbol of telling a fabrication and mendacity. Political cartoon
uses a long nose on politicians to portray them as dishonest.
The introduction of Alien
species
The establishment
wants to make the new generations believing in aliens for
their future agendas.
UFO sightings documentaries
The establishment wants
to deceive people from thinking that UFO as Government secret weapon
technology development and rather to the believe in aliens spices.
Alien attacks
The establishment
wants the people to believe that such thing is possible, just like terrorism;
there will be a global war on aliens
The secret agents:
The Mask or
the masked terrorist:
Symbol
of ideas of freedom and expression. Also could be a “Face behind the
Mask” theme. Or news propaganda in the where insiders, mask themselves
to harm the group agenda. Usually when someone is masked, he is ashamed
of what he is representing or his facial appearance.
Evil
Snakes or Satan or are a symbol of
temptation, and lies toward wisdom and eternity.
Paper Contracts: in Aladdin
when the genie is revealed he has a contract for Aladdin sym
Selling your soul to the devil
The satanic hand gesture
Demons:
both angels and demons are beings with some powers. Existing somewhere
between God and human beings. Angelic and demonic entities are predominantly
characterized by qualities of light and shadows, and can also be associated
with the light and shadows within the human unconscious. The name is
derived from Greek diabolos which means “slander” he is also known
by many other name including Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles, Beelzebub
Iblis and Shaytan. In early and recent films and cartoons the Devil
can be seen as a new terror provoking image of a beast with horns, cloven
goats’ hooves, wings and spiked tail as well as an attractive woman
with British accent or more human figure than beast.
Shadows: aspects of a person's
nature that are unconscious or not integrated, underdeveloped feelings,
bad evil figure.
The apple: symbolizes thee fruit
of knowledge, Youth, fertility, life wisdom, immortality and something
forbidden
Thirteen: Unlucky. Kabala 13
spirits of evil
Darkness is naturally
connected with a dark side of a characters persona. In Star wars we
can see clearly the light transition from light to dark on Anakin Skywalker’s
face when he started becoming evil.
The Masonic Compass and
square: depending on what message
you are conveying, Masonic symbols are portrays the agenda of free masons
within the characters. Some people believe that’s one was they use
of mind control, to portray free masonry with saviors of mankind. Films
show them in positive, depending on which side the filmmaker is on.
Crow: war, Death, solitude evil
or rising from the dead.
Jackal: Destructiveness or evil.
The G in the middle represents
Geometry or God. Compass and square is a direct symbol to the free mason
society
Black and white checkerboard
floor: symbolizing
light and dark, good and evil, and man's perpetual journey from one
to the other and back again, and this was a perfect choice for a carpet
design for a Masonic temple where worship and sacrifice was made to
Satan. An example in the devils advocate when al Pacino and Keanu Reeves
at the end before Reeves shot himself, note the floor is checkered.
Madonna on the other hand
The Lady in red
The worldly pleasured that
no man can refuse
The
Twin Pillars
symbolize the dual nature
of life and death, positive and negative or rather active (establishment)
and passive (endurance), male and female, light and dark, good and evil,
uniting in a central point of equilibrium, the apex of an equilateral
triangle; a circle between two parallel uprights. Isis represented standing
between two pillars of opposing polarity, the Ark of the Covenant between
two Cherubim, Christ crucified between two thieves, are all symbols
of the same trinity, the completeness and perfection of Deity. In masonry
it symbolizes the gates of salmon temple.
Pyramids
The barer of time
and space,, Depending on where you stand on the pyramid, at bottom is
debt and slavery, on top you are free. Unattached pyramid top means
higher authority, pyramids symbolizes the creative power of the sun
and primal mound.
The eye
Eyes are
a symbol of understanding. It is often said that eyes are the windows
of the soul (therefore, the eyes reveal what lies in the heart.)
The eye is also connected with
perception and vision, the ability to see beyond the purely physical
to the realms of soul and spirit. The mason symbolize the (divine knowledge)
signifies a state of awareness.
Eye of
Providence: interpreted as
representing the eye of God keeping watch on humankind
Darkened eye or one eyed:
The Darkened eye depicts a symbol of
Antichrist. According to the Old Testament [Zech 11:17] and many Islamic
transcripts.
Blindfold: symbol for blind,
spiritual blindness in Masonic ritual removing the blindfold symbolizes
spiritual illumination.
Mermaid: Greek myth of demonic
figure, part woman part fish which uses its songs to enchant sailors
and lure them to their death.
Death
Wolf howling
Butterfly at nigh
Clock stops: death or something evil
coming along
Scull: death
Sun: old age, ending
Black: death,, depression, conformity,
secrecy, obscurity.
Sorrow
Rain. Very often we see rain
as a substitute of a desolate character’s tears, for instance in In the Mood for Love.
In Blade Runner the rain in the final scene represents the
tears that the inhuman replicant Roy could not shed. The rain is flowing
for him as he is overcome with feelings he has not experienced before,
lamenting his life and the sights he has seen.
Often it is used in funeral scenes to enhance the mood of flowing tears,
for instance in the final scene in Amadeus.
But rain can also symbolize conflict, or express that a character is
in inner turmoil, such as William Holden in Sunset
Blvd or Alain Delon in Le Samourai.
In Indian cinema rain is however usually a harbinger of joy, for instance
in Monsoon Wedding.
It also symbolizes emotion and tears
Love
Heart
The heart represents the emotions and
love as well as the spiritual center
The color
Red: sexual, romantic, love intense passion. Energy, fire, anger,
Fire symbolizes
personal force of love, passion & warmth. Also can be conflict or
war
Butterfly: transformation, mystical
rebirth. . The appearance of a single butterfly might be a sign of true
love approaching, but a large number of butterflies might be a bad omen.
Birds: and in particular doves are a universal symbol
of both life and peace. Often flying doves are used in movies in connection
with a person dying, as a symbol of the spirit being released. This
is also related to the biblical symbol of the dove being the image of
the Holy Ghost. In Blade
Runner, we see this connection
clearly in the end when the replicant Roy releases the white dove himself
in his dying moment. The bird is representing both the life he lost,
but also the spirit / spirituality he was never allowed to have. In
the end of Remains of
the Day, a pigeon is trapped
within a room of the manor. The butler Stevens (Anthony Hopkins) is
unable to get a hold of the bird, while his new master (Christopher
Reeve) gets it easily and releases it to fly away. This is a poignant
symbol of how Stevens' life slipped away from him while he was occupied
with his duties. He was never able to get a hold on life and love, and
now his life is as good as gone.
The color red can also be conveying
warm, loving feelings, as it is the color of the heart.
"In Fanny and Alexander, the family with life, love, sexuality and
bad boundaries is filled with candlelight and the color red. The home
of the mean stepfather, filled with guilt, rules, condemnation and punishment
is pale neutral." (Ellenmaxwell)
Fanny och Alexander:
Christmas with a red table and red dresses.
Holding babies hand: love and
protected ness.
flowers, jasmine, peony, red rose,
wild olives and apples, a pair of mandarin ducks, doves and pigeons,
colorful parrots, precious stones. Red ruby, human hart. Green doors,
wedding ring, and other might symbolize love in a scene.
Happy
Keys: in Japan
the key is a symbol of happiness, because it opens up the doors to the
rice pantry, symbolic of the source of life. Also symbolizes authority
Freedom
Horses often are used as a symbol of life, and especially
a free life, for instance in Tarkovski’s movies. In Lars von Trier’s The Element of Crime
there are dead horses everywhere, as a symbol of how the spiritual freedom
of Europe has been crushed.
Candles being lit in darkness
often represent the spirit life or freedom for single person, or for
humanity, as in the quiet intro to Schindler’s
List.
Weird
Tension
Elevators: Sending someone down with an elevator as a
metaphor for sending them to (literally) Hell in the final scenes of
at least 3 movies, The
Maltese Falcon, Angel Heart,
and The Grifters
Purification
Birth symbolize purification
and cleansing
Deer: light and purity
Bread: purification and sacrifice,
enlightenment.
White: innocent, emptiness,
honest, cleanliness.
Innocent
Snow is often a symbol of purity,
of cleanliness, hope, redemption, transfiguration. Of course, like rain,
a snowstorm can also represent trouble and hardship.
Telegonus: "It seems to symbolize innocence, a white blanket
on a dark world. Also, because snow it frozen water, there's the possibility
of rebirth implied in heavy snow. Frank Capra used snow beautifully.
In more remote, desolate places being surrounded by or enveloped in
snow can suggest lostness, a kind of vast, beautiful nothingness."
Horses in rain. It is a symbolic
image as horse for me is a synonym of life. When I’m looking at a
horse I have a feeling I’m in direct contact with the essence of life
itself.
Light is a very simple metaphor
for life, optimism, innocence, and a host of other positive issues.
Since light and darkness are costantly contrasted throughout any movie,
there is hardly any limits to the possible practical or symbolic uses
of light.
Hope
In Besson's Léon,
"light often represented hope, but it could also show exposure
and danger. Mathilda's shadowed face when she was pleading for entry
suddenly bathed in light as Léon opened the door and Léon's futile
search for the glowing exit both expressed the hope and security of
light. In the beginning, Léon opens his door, bathing Mathilda in light
and granting her shelter in his world. When she leaves it behind, she
descends into the darkness of the wall shaft and is reborn in the indifferent
world she left behind. As she ascends out of her subterranean escape,
she walks into a bright natural light with abundant noise as if breaking
the surface from a dive." (DFC-2).
Rainbow:
“The rainbow is a true sign of magic; it exists in both worlds
at once!” Douglas Monroe
It symbolizes healing, fertility,
childbirth, hope, also it is the symbol of transsexual
Revenge
The fire marks a point-of-no-return,
a distinction between what was and what has become. In this way the
force of the fire is very much the same as a storm.
Sacrifice
A fire is a destructive
event which can have both good and bad consequences for a character.
In Tarkovsky's Offret, the fire is a symbol for the sacrifice
itself. The main character (Erland Josephson) sacrifices his whole existence
to save the world. This he does both literally and symbolically by burning
down his house.
Peace
3 symbolize such qualities
as peace, friendship, justice, piety, temperance, and virtue. 5 represent
light, health, and vitality- 7 is a symbol of control, judgment, government,
and religion.
blue: open space,
infinity, primordial emptiness, peace, emotion, depression, space
Life / birth
Water represents life, birth, renewal,
infinity (the sea), and sometimes love, or romance. It can also represent
an overwhelming force, or fear, dread. Impending doom.
Gateway: symbolizes birth and
death, heaven and hell, small or hidden gateways symbolizes secrete
entrance to a magical other world, which Alice cannot get through until
she shrinks
Baby in the womb: present circumstance, ambitious plans and project
in your waking life that you feel need nurturing and bringing to life
Mushroom: life arising
from Death.
Green: new beginning,,
calm, natural, illness, envy.
Orange: vibrancy, joy, life,
warmth.
Good /
Enlightenment
Angels: either visible or semi-visible, angels are
portrayed as guides to the soul. Similar to Greek imagery they have
wings, reflecting their celestial qualities.
Angels symbolize messengers, guardians
and protectors.
Fairies: symbolizes human aspects projected on to nature
or be seen as independent being with their own qualities and consciousness,
living within their own reality. They are often connected to children.
Tree: immortality in paradise.
Tree spirits: based on Kabbalah's Sefirot,
which depicts a "map" of creation to understand the nature of God
and how he created the world ex
nihilo (out of nothing). The
Sefirot Tree, being two to three hundred feet tall in lore, had to be
resized for The Fountain to fit in the camera's frame. It symbolizes the bullpen as a Circle of life
that would not want to be received.
Figs:
symbolizes the promises land. Jerusalem.
Connecting with spirit
Prayer strings: represent the
connection between human and the divine.
Sacred sticks
Altar
Place of worship
Mirrors/Reflections
In dreams, mirrors (or the reflection
that you see in them) refer to truth, wisdom, as well as self-understanding
Mirrors are symbol of spiritual wisdom,
knowledge and enlightenment
An image in a mirror is naturally some sort of representation of
the same person. Depending on the circumstances it can be a positive
or negative impression.
It is remarkable how many times in
movies that persons are shown with multiple reflections at the same
time, in a number of mirrors or in a shattered mirror. It has to be
one of the most used visual cues in cinema, typically implying that
the character is in a disintegration state. This is certainly the case
for Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in Psycho. In Mulan Mulan herself is shown with multiple reflections
in the temple early in the movie, showing that her personality is under
pressure from various expectations posed upon her (as a woman) from
society an her family.
A mirror is also a device to show that
the character is in deep thought, or self-reflective—thinking about
her self or her life.
Well: knowledge, source of life,
places of healing, wishes or good luck.
Pomegranate is a symbol for righteousness, fertility and
abundance
Good VS Evil
Elemental beasts: symbolize the struggle between good and evil
and the spiritual journey of the soul as fear are confronted and transformed.
Doors/Doorways
A door is an opening to a new phase
in life. in Japan open archways known as tori mark the entrance to shinto
shrine, they represent a divine state of perpetual openness, and symbolize
the point at which a visitor passes from everyday world to the sacred.
A door also stands for a possible new
opportunity or development in life as well as the invitation to enter
an unexplored area of yourself.
In many cultures the doorway represents the passage between safety and
danger or the transition from life to death.
In many respects, a door/doorway in "The Matrix" is also symbolic
of choice and the need for making a decision.
Danger
Alternatively, a flickering
light shows danger in many thrillers, and a light blown out by the wind
or snubbed shows imminent death in countless horror movies. History:
This metaphor - a "dying" candle light - was seen already
in Alexander Korda's Rembrandt (1936). One year later Frank Capra used it
in Lost Horizon to show that the High Lama had died.
In many movies RED simply means
danger. This is of course because the sight of red blood is an ancient
signal that something bad is happening to you. For prehistoric man,
seeing blood was the most basic warning - get away! In horror movies
red is therefore often used as a substitute for blood. Actual blood
is also used as a messenger of great danger, not least in the seminal Carrie,
where the innocent Carrie reacts so violently at the sight of her own
blood. In the finale of the movie, the omnipotent Carrie leaves only
in red lamps switched on in the prom scene, bathing everyone in red
light.
Psychological Twist
Labyrinths and Mazes: as a walk through symbol, it is a creative
or ritual space that reflects our sense of unknowingness and disorientation
as we move through the challenges and obstacles of life. Mazes also
symbolize the choice of life and directions.
Fantastic Creature:
Mythical Creatures often symbolize the tension between instinct
and reason, nature and civilization that is part of human life.
A house or apartment
can be seen as a model of a mind. The rooms can represent different
states of mind, or different locations for information, perhaps repressed
memories. Moving along corridors is akin to trying to reach or find
these different "compartments" of the mind, and doors are
the portals to the information, which may need to be "unlocked".
This general framework has in movies has been established at least since
the works of Maya Dehren (1943-1945) and Secret
Beyond the Door (1948).
In the latter movie, Fritz Lang pulls all the tricks very obviously,
in a story where a woman (Joan Bennett) needs to unlock or pass seven
actual chambers to reach the ultimate mysterious room that will let
her understand her husbands psychosis.
Illusion
Smoke:
The use of smoke (or lights which appear hazy) is symbolic of blurry
boundary between reality and illusion
Lost
Drowning, under water, fish tank
"the graduate"
Aquarium fish often symbols
of isolation and loneliness, as in Masumura's The Eel, Tsai Ming-Liang's What Time Is It There?
Or the Danish movie Fish Out of Water (De frigjorte). In all these movies
the (male) protagonist has large fish in his home, their silent solitude
mirroring his own life.
Tidy bear: lost childhood
Defeat
High angel shot,
Success
Upstairs, up lader.
Wealth and pleasure
Grapes: The grapes wealth and pleasure.
violet: rage, royalty
Purple: royalty
Fly Wisk: royalty, rank, compassion
Horus: royalty and immortality,
god sun
Religion
Obelisk: in ancient Egypt the
obelisk symbolized the
sun god Amon Re God sun
Angels as females:
from the Quranic prospective, the pagans used to say that the angels
are the daughters of God; therefore to Muslims it adds satanic symbols
to the scene.
This list is by no means a complete
accounting of all cinematic symbols. If you feel I've missed something
major, please leave a comment.
One more thing, just because a movie
has a water fountain or a club doesn't necessarily mean it's intended
to be phallic.
Oracle: Oracles are a way to communing
with the unseen influences beyond the reach of the everyday world.
It symbolizes answers.
The wheel: symbolize the passage of
time.
Puppet master: who is running the show
Egg: changes from what you are and
what you will become.
Themes
Bell: truth
Clock: transition of time
Crown of thrown: in Christianity
it symbolizes Sacrifice and consecration
Dagger: courage and dignity
3rd eye: eye of the heard
Nails: wealth
Knot: power to bind and to set
free, it could also symbolize marriage.
Noose: one of the Masonic symbols.
Sheppard: protection
Sword: authority, justice, intellect,
light emblem of magic
Treasure: found rather than
earned. Reward
Whip: role ship, judgment
Curtains: separation between
dirrent realms, either opening them up or concealing them.
Flower lily: purity innocence
Cards: gambling and fortune
telling.
Frog: Transformation, magic,
good luck
Pig: gluttony, selfishness,
lust, obstinacy and ignorance
Donkey: foolishness, poverty
Ape: Vice, Lust
Cock: on top of churches symbolizes
watchful against evil which could be blown in by the wind.
Bees: model of human society
Maps & directions symbolizes how
people move through life and the world
yellow: "new skin”
The yellow brick road symbol is associated with compliance, travel,
and a goal to be achieved. It is adapted to fit in with the differing
circumstances of the individual. For example, if a person were in a
career that required them to drive a NASCAR race car, the yellow brick
road might be the track upon which the individual races. But, if that
same person were a politician, the yellow brick road might be the overall
agenda that needs to be gradually put into place. No matter how bleak
or difficult things become, they are told to remain on that yellow brick
road!
black and white: dull colors, which represent something undesirable
to the subconscious mind of the children
Sex: depicting women as object
of lust and men as dominant. excitement and outrage. it is to keep the
viewers in their surreality world and to stay a sleep in their desires
to convenes them to buy what you are showing and not to think of themselves
as being ripped off of buying something that they don’t want.
Numerology
Zero: the blank space of infinity, the avoid from which life
arises and to which it ends; it is the symbol of complete potentiality.
Twelve:
Universal fulfillment, relates
to space and time continuum (with zodiac and month of the year) 12 represents
a complete cycle.
99 in Islam they symbolizes
the names and attribute of Allah
5: in Islam it represents the 5 pillars of Islam or the
5 prayers.
Below info copied from http://www.cinemasymbols.com/
It
is truly amazing how much of the symbology in movies that has to do
with sex... Apart from this subject page you will find lots of other
allusions to the male reproductive organ elsewhere.
Here I will just list a number of elongate objects that have had the
honour of representing "it". There is cigarettes, guns, pens,
lipstick. There is Jane Fonda blowing a saxophone between Michael Caine's
thighs in Hurry
Sundown.
There is young Mathilda (Natalie Portman) cleaning Léon's long barreled
handgun in Léon (a relation that could
not be consummated). There is Veronica Lake stroking her hairbrush in Sullivan's Travels.
The NexT saxophone
quartet from Latvia - promotion picture.
Humphrey Bogart
and Lauren Bacall.
When women
are smoking cigarettes it will often suggets a sexual act. This is for
instance the case when the female character lets the male character
light her cigarette, as the famous scene between Bogart and Bacall in To Have and Have
Not.
The two became lovers over this movie, and of course later to be married.
However,
for an actress such as Marlene Dietrich, it can also go in the opposite
direction; Dietrich's cigarette simply provided her with a male appendix
she could wave around, underscoring her unsettling bisexuality.
Marlene Dietrich.
The user
Ruby Tuesday wrote about Notorious: "Speaking of
Hitch and phallic symbols, one of my favorites
involves the champagne bottles in Notorious--really, liquids and drinks
play a huge role for the plot alone, but early on they represent Devlin's
sexuality (and more explicitly, his erection); he's romantic with Ingrid
Bergman and they're clearly ready to have sex with each other (after
a kiss like theirs, who the hell wouldn't?), and he leaves and promises
to bring a champagne bottle back with him. However, while he's out he
finds out that the job the Secret Agents have lined up for Alicia involves
sleeping with another man, he loses his drive and unconsciously leaves
the champagne intended for himself and Alicia, and has to return to
her with odd news."
Others: Bai
guanchang, Washington monument, Eifel Tower, Obelisks, Pillar of Ramses...
the color red
The main character
in The Red Shoes.
The
wearer of red clothes is automatically perceived as hot-blooded, perhaps
sexually challenging, or perhaps in rebellion to society's norms, as
with Sister Ruth's explosive red dress in Black
Narcissus
or James Dean's red jacket in Rebel
Without a Cause.
In The
Red Shoes
the "magic" shoes unleashes all the potential and passions
of the dancer Moira Shearer.
Other tsunamis in red dresses include Bette Davis in Jezebel and Maureen Stapleton
in Interiors.
Further into the theme of "red anger", in Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter, the hero ends the
movie by painting an entire town red, renaming it from "Lago"
to "Hell", and finally burning it in an act of revenge.
James Dean
in Rebel Without a Cause.
Images of the
daughter and the gnome in Don't Look Now.
Similarly, in Schindler’s
List,
the red dress that accentuates the little girl, symbolises the very
(living) existence of the Jews that are pursued, or their will to continue
living, which is so under threat.
The phoenix
burns in its own flames and is reborn out of the ashes. Fire is trans
formative. It is transcendence. It is transfiguration.
.
Gray
usually signifies dullness, indifference, a life devoid of excitement.
A quote about Jef (Alain Delon) in Le
Samourai:
"Much in the same way Scorsese would do later in Taxi Driver, Jef's
apartment is as dreary as possible, even cage-like in it's relative
sparseness and the gray deterioration that takes hold of both his room
and his apartment building. The color reflects a mixture of indifference
and lack of variation within Jef's life, one of an isolated contract
killer than is detached from most of society. The contrasting opulence
of the piano player's house or the rich magenta and blue of the night
club further emphasize Jef's isolation and detachment from his surroundings,
a lone wolf, as the film puts it" (Mr Chopin).
Jef's apartment
in Le Samourai.
In contrast
to gray, a splendor of different colors often shows a sprawling personality.
In The
Wizard of Oz
the colors show us how vivid the imagination of Dorothy is, as we tap
into her sub consciousness. In Giulietta
and the Spirits
the flamboyant colors are more of a stress signal, ominously displaying
the troubled psyche of the main character.
Wind,
like rain, can be used to express different kinds of emotional upheaval.
A single gush of wind signals a situation has had an impact on the character.
In Zerkalo this is the case after
the opening scene where the mother meets with the doctor for the first
time.
In Witness, Peter Weir "uses
an approaching storm to externalize the sexual conflict felt by the
two main characters, who are not sure they can keep away from each other
any longer" (EricBarker).
The storm coming
up in Witness.
A violent
storm is often the climax of a movie, signalling a moment of great
change for a character, a point of no return. Often the destructive
force of that storm is associated with breaking down barriers and leaving
behind things that hold you down, as the prison break in The Shawshank Redemption. This symbolic signal
of change is the same as for a fire.
telegraph / telephone
poles
The opening
scene from Zerkalo. Photo from http://www.miradas.net/.
The
poles with wires between them can represent connectedness, and in
the case of the opening to both Tarkovski’s Zerkalo and Nostalghia, a sense of longing
back, or being pulled back, to one’s past. In Zerkalo, the telegraph
poles are seen throughout the opening recollection of the mother's meeting
with the doctor.
The memory
of the doctor in Zerkalo.
The telephone
wires and poles might more accurately represent a longing to connect,
a feeling of disconnection, detachment, isolation, alienation, or inability
to communicate.
Andie MacDowell
and the big bad birdie on the rooftop in Green Card. Photo: trailerfan.com.
In Peter Weir's Green Card, the main character
Brontë (Andie MacDowell) is annoyed by the fluttering pigeons on her
penthouse terassa. In this case a disturbing lifeforce, symbolised by
the fluttering birds, is penetrating the very quiet and controlled emotional
bubble that Brontë has build around herself. The actual lifeforce in
the movie is of course George (Gerard Depardieu), who also significantly
brings a lively fish as a present into Brontë's glass greenhouse universe.
Moon
"There
are a variety of ways in which the moon is used, as it can suggest anything
from romance to danger (especially for those with the werewolf curse).
It seems that the moon suggests the tug of nature, something that pulls
people along, or drives them, as the case may be, toward the inevitable,
that which must happen, cannot be changed, cannot be run away from."
Bath/ shower
To take a shower
often symbolizes washing away your sins (if you're religious), but put
more simply it is a cleansing ritual, like baptism; it is renewal, to
start over, start again clean, with a fresh start. In Psycho this attempted cleansing
was famously not completed for Janet Leigh!
In similar fashion, Michael Haneke's Der
Siebente Continent,
the introduction shows a car being meticulously washed. This image encapsulates
the proces of cleansing that the family in the movie will go through
(sol-).
For a person to be in a bath is a normally a state of peacefulness and
quietude, but also vulnerability - what we see is the naked truth.
In The
Searchers,
Marty's (Jeffrey Hunter) love for Laurie (Vera Miles), and his embarrassment
and confusion, is all revealed in her walking in on him while he bathes
(Dehlia).
Stairs.
In dream interpretation
it is well known that the rhythmic action of climbing stairs represent
sex. As such it has been used many times in movies for situations where
sex could not be depicted, or where the characters could not indulge
in sex.
Thus
in Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958), when Scottie
(James Stewart) is not able to climb stairs because of his fear of heights,
it symbolises that he is afraid of sex. In other words, Scottie is probably
a virgin in his mid-ages, and his disastrous adventure with Madeleine
(Kim Novak) is partly a result of that problem.
Stairs can
be a descent into hell or an ascent into heaven, like the famous 'Led
Zeppelin' song—Stairway to Heaven. It might be a spiritual
or psychological development, or evelolution, much like an elevator,
or a bridge, or a train. A spiraling staircase is most probably somekind
of spiritual or psychological ascent and/or descent into the mind, into
the sub-conscious. It is mysterious, twisting, unknown, complicated.
Water
is often seen as a representation of the (deep) subconscious. Especially
Andrei Tarkovsky perfected this metaphor in his movies, and it has been
used also extensively by e.g. Lars von Trier and Coppola in Apocalypse Now. Along with other
aspects of the subconscious, water often triggers deep memories, as
in Colonel
Blimp,
where the whole movies flashback is begun when Wynn-Candy submerges
himself in the pool in the Turkish Bath. Water is always acting as a
powerful force, the streams and currents of rivers and pools symbolically
driving the actions of the character, or threatening to swallow his
hopes (see below).
However, a crashing surf, with splashing water, can be a vivid symbol
for fulfilled sexual activity. The same goes, without saying, for a
bursting fountain, as seen in The
Producers.
A
river or stream may represent a journey of revelation in life. In Apocalypse Now, the journey on the
river is more of a journey downwards, into "The Heart of Darkness"
as was the original title of the novel. As Willard (Martin Sheen) says
at one point in the movie, it is as if the river is drawing them upstream,
running backwards. This journey into the deep subconscious ends at the
base of good and evil (the id?) where all human actions spring from.
This is essentially the same core found in another movie on a river, Deliverance, where there is also
a journey back in time to a more primitive state of mind and behaviour.
The way that the river transports the characters is also similar to
how corridors
in houses
are forcing characters to move in one particular direction.
The boat on
Nung river, Apocalypse Now.
Another body
of water is swimming pools, which keep appearing in modern day dramas:
"Swimming pools to most of us represent tranquility, relaxation
and escape from the pressures of every day living. In movies, they are
often associated with impending doom and gloom. We get out of our depth,
even in the midst of our suburban havens. On the surface there is tranquility,
in the depths lurks danger. At the beginning of Sunset Blvd., the narrator (William
Holden) is floating face down, dead, symbolising the end of his Hollywood
Dream. In the final scenes of The
Great Gatsby,
Jay (Robert Redford) is floating blissfully, hopefully, awaiting the
arrival of the great love of his life but he is thwarted by a misguided
husband and loses his life in the midst of his joy. The pool symbolises
mistaken realisation of a dream. In The
Swimmer
and The
Graduate,
what could be identified as a luxury associated with middle class success,
becomes a place where hypocrisies are revealed and joy is drained. In Sexy Beast, the peaceful setting
of the Spanish hacienda's pool is disturbed by the sudden appearance
of a great rock splashing into the pool, an omen of the trouble approaching
in the form of Ben Kingsley, who ends up under the pool for his trouble.
This pool symbolises Winstone's (Gary Dove) escape from his life of
crime but becomes the centre of it in the end" (Lucia Harper).
Symbolizing
baptism, Purification and rebirth
Forest
A forest or
wooded place tends to suggest mystery, the unknown, often, it seems,
something hidden, and in some cases dangerous. One has to be careful
in a forest. On a deeper symbolic level, the darkness of the forest
makes it the perfect metaphor for the dark unconsciousness. The danger
of exploring a forest is thus the danger of exploring the deep and hidden,
something not so pleasant, layers of oneself. But the journey into the
forest realm therefore also results in the character finding out more
about himself, to reappear as a changed person.
On a more positive
side it represents nature, peace, serenity, human-connectedness to nature,
the sublime, tranquility, harmony. Consider the light, and shadow, and
the weather when interpreting forest symbolism.
Flowers/
falling leaves/ dead leaves
Obviously,
blooming flowers often signal happiness, a positive development.
In Vertigo, when Scotty follows
Madeleine through a dark alley and opens a door, a beautiful flower
shop is revealed. This contrast in scenery illustrates how Scotty immediately
becomes posessed by Maddie, or rather possessed by the hope that she
is his entry to a wonderful and colourful world. In my own opinion,
the wonderful world of man and woman which Scotty obviously has never
experienced. The dark alley from which he comes represents his own dreary,
loveless life.
In
contrast, falling or dead leaves are often representing loss or death
and ending, as in the final scene of The
Third Man,
where the dead leaves mirror the dried-out relation between Holly and
Anna, as well as how Anna's heart is dead after the death of Harry Lime.
In Andrey
Rublyov
near the end when Kyril and Andrey look back on their troubled lives,
we see Andrey is burning dead leaves. And exactly the same happens near
the end of Colonel
Blimp;
when Windham-Candy looks back at HIS disappointments in life, he watches
a dead leaf floating in the water.
The final shot
of The Third Man.
What about
a green leaf falling?
"Deserts
seem to represent elusiveness. One can never get a full grip on a desert.
They're vast and unmanageable. In movies, they're often places that
people venture through rather than choose to live in. They appear to
be good places for people in need of self-discovery. While forests are
teeming with all manner of life, plant and animal, deserts, while not
devoid of life, feel empty, thus a desert can symbolize a blank slate,
a place where a person who wants to start his life anew can begin without
much in the way of interference. It seems at times that every desert
is an enigma, a riddle, probably one that can never be resolved. One
can only resolve something of one's self in the desert, a predicament,
an issue, perhaps a spiritual need" (telegonus).
One
great example of this function of the desert as a "blank sheet"
is in The
Cell.
Here the therapist Jennifer Lopez works with a autotonic boy in a virtual
reality world which is a desert. In this empty space she tries to connect
to the child, to begin fill the blank void, which represents his lack
of emotions and connectivity.
Primordial
state before emergence of life.
.
Bells
It is probably
safe to say the rhythmic pounding of the big bell in Black Narcissus (1947) has a relation
to sexual intercourse. In Narcissus, sex (and love) is what the nuns
in the convent have forsaken, and is what especially Sister Ruth is
missing. Ruth is lusting for the male protagonist, Dean, and when she
is working away at the bell, it is a sublimation of a relationship that
was not to be. The same can be said of the bells in the stories of the
Hunchback of Notre Dame, e.g. the 1939
version,
where a physical union between Quasimodo and Esmeralda is impossible.
They also illustrate
marriage, and death. And sometimes danger, or alarm. Belles also represent
Time, and can signify the passing of time.
Lines
Vertical
lines in front of a person often foreshadows (jail) punishment, like
for Mary Astor in the final scene in The
Maltese Falcon,
where she is seen behind the bars of the elevator.
Mary Astor
going down in The Maltese Falcon.
Bengt Ekerot
and Max von Sydow in The Seventh Seal.
In Bergman's
Seventh Seal, when Antonius Block (Max von Sydow) speaks with death
about his disbelief, we see Block from the inside of the priest's box.
This makes it seem to us that Block is imprisoned, burdened and bewildered
as he is by his lack of faith.
Lines or bars
might represent a psychological prison, or continuity—a lonley, un-resolved
infinity, of limited choice, like the corridor, or long passageway.
It might also represent time, a cold, indefinite, passionless or bleak
measure of time. Like the railroad tracks. Unknown destination.
animals.
All kinds of
animals are naturally an effective symbol of life itself, and as such
can be used in many relations. Very often animals are used as an injection
of energy and spirit for a main character who has come to a dead end
in his/her existence. They can be brought as a gift, or they can simply
be displayed on screen as a contrast to the suffocated everyday life
that we are following. This is partly the function of for instance the
fish in Rumble
Fish.
At
the same time animals are also an outwardly representation of untamed
Nature, thus a mirror of an inner untamed nature of a person. This is
the function of images of elephants in Lynch's The Elephant Man or the vision of a
unicorn in Blade
Runner,
and is an underlying theme explored throughout Peter Greenaway's ZOO.
A Zed and Two
Noughts (Zoo). Photo: www.bfi.org/uk.
But in it's most simple use, the animal
simply is a stand-in for the character in the movie, and it is the circumstances
that the animal is found in that are significant. This is definitely
the case with the final shot of The
Element of Crime, where the
main character Fisher looks down a hole and finds a trapped animal,
a lori or similar (from Madagascar), a primitive primate. The poor animal
is trapped inside its hole from where it can only look up pathetically,
the perfect image of the situation that Fisher has arrived at at that
stage.
This by
no means a complete list. These are what Carl Jung might call archetypal
symbols. Some symbols are specific to certain themes or genre. Some
are devices invented by the author. Can you think of any others? When
you watch movies, or read stories keep an eye out for symbolism.
Corridors
are a limited space where you can only move in one direction. Movement
in a corridor is therefore symbolic of going somewhere purposefully,
similar to the movement of trains.
About corridors in Kubrick's The
Shining:
"There's this prevalent image of the corridor, both in the hallways
of the Overlook Hotel and also in the hedge labyrinth (and references
back to corridor shots in "2001" and even as far back as "The
Killer's Kiss"). I think the sense of this image is that freedom
of movement and freedom of thought are to a certain extent an illusion.
When you're moving down a corridor you're under your own volition, but
there's only one direction you can actually move in without turning
back. And don't turn to the side, don't think you can go into room 237
to find some kind of escape or release ...
It all ties into the sense of personal failure that seeps through the
cracks of the Torrance family. And Jack is a man who feels very much
trapped in his family, that his needs as an individual have been sacrificed
for its sake. He finds something he loves even more in the Overlook,
and thinks that he has chosen this path even though it must have been
chosen for him." (written by funkyfry)
In David Lynch movies such as Lost
Highway
and Blue
Velvet,
subjective scenes in corridors show an inward journey towards deeper
levels of consciousness. By going through these channels the character
who we follow are reaching other sides of their personality that was
hidden before.
Labels: animals and other things that have been used in movies to represent something about the characters., colors, Symbolism in Cinema Here you can find information on many different items
posted by GR EN @ 2:35 PM
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