Words are powerful, indeed. A love story challenged by mistakes and misunderstanding.
Mistakes. We all make them, but just how damning can a singular mistake be? Joe Wright’s 2007 film adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel shows us exactly what a mistake is capable of doing.
The film starts off with a girl, Briony Tallis (Saoirse Ronan) finishing off a play, which sparks off the fllm’s dealings with words and stories. We are then introduced to Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) and Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley), who are definitely in love. Briony witnesses the sexual tension between her sister and Robbie and mistakes for Robbie being exploitative of Cecilia. And we are launched into the world of a thirteen year old girl who sees her sister’s behaviour with Robbie as a sign that the latter is a crazed sex maniac who wants to take advantage of her.
We are never really told what made Briony think as such, it might be jealousy, or it might just be her imaginative mind (she is a writer at the age of thirteen). Well, nothing is going to happen is it? Briony is just a child with a childish crush on her sister’s boyfriend, right? She will eventually find her own love… And many such questions flood one’s mind while watching (if they have not read the book, that is..) And then, we are brought to Robbie’s room as he attempts writing a love letter to Cecilia, and comes up with two versions; a flowery, romantic one, and a crude, sexual one. And alas! He gets the wrong letter delivered to Cecilia, and Briony, being ever the suspicious sister, reads it and cements Robbie’s status as a sex maniac in her mind.
As the viewers are still busy scolding Robbie for his stupidity (that is why you should deliver letters on your own, dear Robbie, and please do check!), Benedict Cumberbatch makes his appearance as the creepy paedophile Paul Marshall, who rapes Cecilia’s and Briony’s teenage cousin, Lola, and gets away with it. Why? It is in the dark and poor Lola is unable to tell for sure who did it… And Briony then decides that it has to be the sex crazed Robbie.
And then, the viewers are left cursing Briony instead (why are you so hasty? You did not even see… What makes you so sure?) as Robbie is arrested.
I am not going to reveal anything else that happens, but keep in mind that words play a crucial part on the film. The film starts with Briony writing a play, we know that Robbie’s mistake of writing that crude letter in the spur of the moment indirectly validated his false accusations of being a rapist (of course it was not him, poor boy), a library serves as the scene for another spur of the moment, and Briony publishes a novel. Of course, McAvoy and Knightley gave stellar performances as Robbie and Cecilia (I believe this has to be one of their best perfomances to date) and Ronan plays the ever-suspicious Briony perfectly, all three to the point you forget they are actors. The settings are beautiful, and the cinematography has to be praised for the wonderful portrayal of how various events are from Briony’s perspective.
Just a slight warning though, tissues may come in handy when watching this film.
Reviewed by Thaheera Althaf
Rating: 4.5/5 (the acting is fantastic and I was glued to my screen.)
Monsters have always been part of literature through the ages. What originally was used to describe a grotesque being, the word, ‘monster’, has been defined, and redefined with time. Despite various interpretations of the word, people are often indoctrinated from a young age, thanks to numerous stories, that anything that deviates from the norm is a monster, especially if unusual physical traits are in question. This may cause, in extreme situations, labelling and alienation of such individuals. Such labelling may be detrimental to the mental and emotional state of the affected individual, sometimes inevitably causing a vicious cycle of constructing a monster from one who retreats to solitude as a result of the painful indifference from others. Both Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera present characters with physical defects who are never referred to by their real names, and who are ultimately forced to become the very monster everyone calls them.
Mention Frankenstein, and Boris Karloff’s 1931 portrayal will pop into the mind of most.
In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Frankenstein’s creature is immediately dehumanised, and never named throughout the novel. Victor Frankenstein, upon setting his eyes on the creature he had just given life to, calls it “the miserable monster (he) had created” (Shelley 53), and runs away. Once his pride, the creature now becomes a “monster” he “dreaded to behold” (Shelley 56). Just because he did not look like a normal person Frankenstein was accustomed to, he is now labelled as “demoniacal corpse” (Shelley 54) and loathed by the very man who created him. Having just come to life, the creature is immediately subjected to labelling within just two pages of the book, but given no proper name (he never is named at all), highlighting the severity of this superficial nature of humans. That the creature is abandoned on sight because of his unusual physical features makes one question Frankenstein’s attitude, while realising that such a reaction is, surprisingly expected and such labelling of something as a monster, just because it does not correspond with one’s expectations of what it is supposed to look like, is not unique to Frankenstein alone.
Danny Boyle’s 2011 play, Frankenstein, painted the creature in a more human light, just as how I picture him to be.
In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, we are introduced to the protagonist by Meg Giry as “the phantom of the opera” (Think of Me) as a stage prop falls during Carlotta’s performance. He is known to the characters as “the opera ghost” (Think of Me). He is a “ghost” and a “phantom”, and never a person. He is, to the characters, an invisible and menacing supernatural presence, and is effectively dehumanised to the point he is never deemed as physically present by these characters. He even refers to himself using these labels, such as “the phantom” (All I Ask of You (Reprise)), showing the extent of the effect the labelling has on him; it is something he associates himself with now. The Phantom is never called by his own name, even by Christine, the subject of his affection, and is never referred to as a person. Such labelling and eventual dehumanisation of one who looks different is an unavoidable trait of humans, but care should be taken to ensure that it never amounts to any detrimental effect on the said individual.
The 25th anniversary special production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical saw Ramin Karimloo’s intepretation of the Phantom as a lonely, tortured soul.
After his abandonment, the creature in Frankenstein leaves the apartment and starts living on his own. He relates his story to Frankenstein, explaining how he found himself “so desolate” (Shelley 107) that he “sat down and wept” (Shelly 107). He tried to enter human civilisation, but was “grievously bruised by stones” (Shelley 110). Fearing “the barbarity of man” (Shelley 111), the creature is forced into isolation. He meant no harm to the villagers, but was shunned mercilessly just because of his appearance. The creature displays good values, such as helping the De Laceys by abstaining from stealing from them to avoid hurting them and by saving the girl from drowning. However, he only gets repaid by Felix, who “struck (him) violently” (Shelley 144) and the girl’s guardian, who “aimed a gun… and fired” (Shelley 151). His nature is good, yet, he is punished for his appearance. He thus retreats to solitude, declaring “everlasting war against the species” (Shelley 146). This hatred of mankind has been caused by none other than society’s own attitude towards the creature, solely based on his outward appearance; he himself is not to be blamed.
Karimloo’s beautiful acting brought out the Phantom’s vulnerable side.
In The Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom’s own mother did not accept him because of the “face which earned (her) fear and loathing” (Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer). He was abused and exhibited as a “freak of nature” (Madame Giry’s Tale) in a circus, and is rescued by Madame Giry. Emotionally scarred, he resorts to living alone under the opera house. He yearns to live with and like everyone else, but knows he will never be accepted. When he laments in the final act, that he was “met with hatred everywhere… no compassion anywhere” (Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer), one realises that he has attempted to fit in with society, but was unsuccessful because of his appearance. He sees his isolation as a form of imprisonment, being “chained… for the wickedness of (his) abhorrent face” (Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer). He knows the reason for the hatred he faces, and loathes himself for it, and harbours a deep hatred for others, as “the world showed no compassion to (him)” (Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer). Once again, his hatred for mankind is not of his own accord, but as a result of the actions of others around him.
Both the creature and the Phantom ultimately resort to murder of individuals, and feel no remorse for it. The creature strangles William, and “(his) heart swelled with exultation” (Shelley 153). He then murders Henry and Elizabeth, for he wanted Frankenstein to “ravish from (him) (his) happiness forever” (Shelley 183). The Phantom kills Buquet and Piangi, to show the rest the consequences of ignoring his instructions and to get to Christine. That both characters now kill without remorse to further their own gain causes one to deem them as monsters. The Phantom’s hysterical behaviour in the final act cements his apparent monstrosity. These characters have, unfortunately, become the monsters everyone saw them as, as a direct result of their own mistreatment by the rest in the beginning.
Just as Justine aptly puts it in words, “my confessor… threatened… I almost began to think I was the monster he said I was” (Shelley 87), the Phantom and the creature display the consequences of such labelling. The Phantom and the creature unwillingly become the constructed monsters of the cruel alienation by society, brought about by incessant labelling and forced isolation. Their actions are not of their own accord, but rather forced unto them by society. These two ought to be pitied, and not blamed for their actions for they were very much capable of being good, but denied the opportunity to be so.
Works cited:
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Great Britain: Scholastic Children’s Books, 2013. Print.
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall. Dir. Nick Morris. Perf. Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Hadley Fraser. Universal Pictures, 2011. DVD.
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