Under The Skin Flashcards
Who directed fish tank, when was it released and who produced it
2009, Andrea Arnold, produced by bbc films and UK film council, music micachu
Who directed under the skin, when was it released and who did the music
2013, Johnathon glazer, music mica Levi ‘micachu’
What’s structuralism
The idea that films are structured around binary opposites
What’s Dominant ideology ?
The most prominent one in the film
Wats a critical approach
You view the film looking for one specific ideology
What does use of the female gaze achieve in under the skin
It reverses the idea of scopophilic pleasure; it is unusual to see a Female being a predator due to patriarchal society - she is able to do this because she isn’t human. It is unusual for an Audience to watch
What does post feminism believe and how do fish tank and under the skin oppose this
Post feminism: embracing sexuality leads to a powerful women
Mia refuses to embrace her feminine side let alone her sexuality but gets groomed into sex with Conor
The Female is powerful not due to her sexuality, but due to men’s ignorance and beliefs that a woman could never be a danger. She uses her sexuality to her advantage as a weapon, yet in the end her sexuality causes men to view her as an object and she still gets raped and murdered.
Who plays he deformed man, what’s his condition and why is his role important
Adam Pearson, he has neurofibromatosis. The Female doesn’t see his deformity, that prejudice is an entirely human trait that she hasn’t learnt. But she does see him as someone similar to herself, someone who doesn’t know what it is to be loved despite the men she’s lured in. Being female = being an object, never loved
How did mica Levi compose the music for under the skin
Micachu took ‘identifiably human sounds’ and distorted them by altering the tempo and pitch to make them deliberately uncomfortable.
What is the temporal order of fish tank and under the skin
Both are linear narratives
What’s narrative point of view
The character we see the story through
What is narrative patterning and narrative parallels
Patterning: characters or events in the narrative that follow an identifiable pattern, eg Tyler turning into Joanne and Mia turning into her to an extent
Narrative parallels: characters or events that aren’t exactly the same, but mirror or contrast each other. Vidal and Ofelia, Mia and the horse
What does fish tanks open ending achieve
The open ending doesn’t offer ‘blind optimism in the face of sociopolitical complexity’. Instead it offers a glimmer of uncertain hope, but shows that just a little bit of hope is all some people need to pull themselves out of an economically difficult situation - they are not lost causes like many assume.
How is poetic realism shown in Fish Tank
Lens flares, soft lighting etc on scenes where life is better for the family (eg when Joanne is hanging clothes up and talking on the phone about how she thinks she’s in love with Conor) because of Conor. These moments are fantasies - they’re not real and they don’t last, just like Conor’s attentions.
It’s sad because being a ‘Normal’ mum just hanging up clothes and looking after the house is Joanne’s ‘dream’
How many women get sexually assaulted a year vs men
Average 510,000 women get sexually assaulted a year, compared to only 138,000 men
