Free Essay on Gothic Movies: The Others by Alejandro Amenabars

The industry of filmmaking is characterized by different genres of movie production. In the process of writing a story, the writer expresses the social and emotional aspects of the characters. Then the movie director tries to incorporate different character in the written script. In the process it brings about different movies that interest different people. Gothic is a type of genre in the movie industry but it is hardly recognized as a category on its own (Bruce, 2007). This is because the existing types such as science fiction, film noir, thriller, and comedy have been incorporated in gothic movies. This has increased the comparison of the film to horror films because of its similarity in plots, language and characterization. However, the difference is that Gothic movies create images to form spectacles. This is enabled by the ability of filmmakers to create new camera tricks that challenge the audience perception. The article will be based on the film by Alejandro Amenabars known as The Others (Byron, 2012). This is a perfect example of gothic movie and its analysis and critiques will bring a proper understanding to the film industry.

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Gothic Movie is characterized by wild and desolate landscapes. This is where the area that shooting takes place is old and there are no neighbors around (Bruce, 2007). This can be in the middle of nowhere and presence of visitors is rare. This is evident in the others film where Grace, her two children and her three servant lived in an old ragged house. According to Bruce, the house was surrounded by bushes and it was in the middle of nowhere. In addition, there is the presence of ruined abbeys. This is seen in the movie where the mansion is old and most of the furniture is ruined (Bruce, 2007). More so, the surrounding of the building is full of trees and leaves scattered all around. This gives an impression that there was no one to clean or take care of the environment. Existence of graveyards is another characterization of the Gothic Movies.

This brings about the deep feelings of anxiety to the audience. Moreover, it is a clear notation that the film will have spooky effects with ghosts and specters. In the movie the others Grace Children, Anne and Nicholas had attempted to run out to escape from haunted mansion. In the process they ran across the graveyards of the three servants namely Mrs. Bertha Mills, Edmund Turtle and Lydia (Bruce, 2007). This shows that the three servants had already died and they merely exist as ghosts. They even went to the extent of explaining their cause of death to Anne which was tuberculosis. More so, the spirit in the Anne was an old woman who had possessed her and this is eventually viewed in the movie when Grace found the book of dead people in the house. This is a book with mourning photos of deceased family. She goes to the extent of searching for the voices but her efforts were void. In another event, as Grace was strolling outside she met with his husband who was a solider and has died years ago. His presence signifies that the film is characterized by ghosts (Bruce, 2007).

Monstrous apparitions and curses are elements that are included in the Gothic films. A curse could be a disease or a plague that befalls a family (Byron, 2012). This is observed in the incurable illness that Anne and Nicholas had of the skin. The sickness is characterized by photo sensitivity where they did not expose themselves to the sun. This is because the light could cause severe injuries on their skins. In addition, the lighting used in the film production was low. This is noticed in the entire film where all captions were dark and the lighting was categorical. This is because there was absence of electricity in the building and they used candles which illuminate less light to the surrounding. This creates the brooding and moody ambience of the gothic genre (Byron, 2012). Another effect of low lighting is to include the existence of shadows that would represent the ghosts. More so, the environment was covered with fog which blurred distant visual capabilities. This made it difficult to view the house and created an atmosphere of the gothic films.

The introspective character of the main actor is regarded as troubled. This is because the main characters must wrestle with their own weaknesses, their own dark pasts, and their own insecurities, while also dealing with their external crises. This is practical when Grace heard his kids breathing very loudly and in the event it irritated her. This annoyance was too much that she took a huge pillow and suffocated her only children to death (Byron, 2012). This is despite the love and attachment she had on Anne and Nicholas. After this act, she could not stand to live with the guilt and she eventually took a rifle and shot herself. According to Byron, this act had already happened in the early life of Grace because she had remembered doing similar things. Hence, in the event of dealing with her insecurities she had revealed her darkest past that was haunting her (Byron, 2012).

Gothic movies are obsessed with death. This happens either at the beginning or the end of the film. Most deaths occur due to the fact that there are souls that are haunted by demonic spirits. In the event of clearing the haunted nature one ends up either crazy or dead. In most cases it is associated with darkness and dark spirits. This is apparent in the others where Grace ends up killing his two children and ultimately taking her own life (Byron, 2012). This was due to the fact that she realized that the mansion had strange people due to the voices she heard. Then sequentially the voices were too vivid that her kids produced the same vocal sound. In addition, the existence of wicked tyrants and malevolent witches is rampant in the Gothic films. This is where the performers are haunted by the witches that had existed in the family line or previous owners of a house. This is evident when Anne was possessed by and old woman who was previously a witch (Byron, 2012). She had previously lived in that house that the family had occupied.

According to Neve, Gothic is a genre. This is based on the fact that it is important to psychoanalytic critical inquiry. I t does not solely for its ongoing popularity and easily recognizable motifs, but for the affinities between its central concerns and those of psychoanalysis (Neve, 2004). This conveys the factors that are inputted in the film scripts and production. These factors include the being of ghosts, dark powers, and haunting pasts. These make the film more unique and enforce its recognition as a genre by producers of movies. In addition, the consideration of theory and fiction would be important to initiate dialogues whose purpose is to enhance recognition of gothic films (Neve, 2004). These exchange of ideas would shed light into coming up with new possibilities and platforms that would ensure competence of the movie. More so, it would enable the producers of gothic films to come up with methodologies and new styles (Neve, 2004). This would improve the exceptionality and competiveness of the movie.

The competent aspect of the gothic movies is the use of thrilling language. This is explained by Elliot as beautifully elaborated fabric of language. This involves coming up with lines of communication that will reconcile what is going on the mind. It has been a difficult task to reunite this aspect hence creating a gap in the movie communication (Elliot, 2008). Therefore, understanding of basic psychoanalytical concepts like mourning and melancholia or introjection and incorporation assists in delivering the message. In addition, the unrevealing of the secrets does not occur at the beginning of the film. This happens towards the middle of the movie (Elliot, 2008). This is an exclusive facet that the gothic films have. In the others the story starts as a woman who is raising her kids very well but it eventually changes to be a completely ghost haunted film. More so, the unconscious impulses and the identity was projected outside to be able to tackle and of course at the same time to keep the integrity of the subject intact. This is to eliminate the knowledge of what is going to happen in the course of the movie (Elliot, 2008). This is later revealed that the film that the occasions are based on the acts originated from the innermost recession of the past. This is seen in the ghosts that are present in Grace House due to the past events that had befallen (Elliot, 2008).

Gothic films have been introduced in the market in order to refute the myths and stories that were told by forefathers. The stories were characterized by the existence of supernatural powers. The fundamental question was that if they do exist or they were purely folklores. This brings religion into the picture where they believe in a supernatural being. It conveys that there is true existence and guaranteed freedom to worship (Elliot, 2008). However, according to the Freud provisions the ghosts are not supernatural beings but are a figure of repression of mind activities. Therefore it does not give the clear justification of presence of supernatural beings. According to Judith, the gothic movies bring about cultural anxieties. This is due to the fact that it undermines the religious and moral status quo. An example is Grace who is a caring and loving mother who moves into a mansion. This family lives a peacefully and is able to accommodate and maintain peace with outsiders like the three servants (Judith, 1995). Then in the film, the woman completely changes due to haunting and she ends up being a murderer. This contravenes the moral codes of a society and it might impact the way of living negatively. It can consecutively reduce trust between the owners of the home and the servants. This is because the fact that the three servants that Grace had employed are the ones who are haunting her soul (Judith, 1995).

According to philosophers, the gothic film reveals the state of being a buffered self. This happens when the belief of a higher authority that is supernatural is reduced (Neve, 2004). It has dismantled the earlier trust that people had in the spirit, angels and words from Holy people. This has corrupted the religious beliefs that people had and has led to the self-becoming buffered. In the process the vulnerability of people toward supernatural beings has been overpowered. This is because philosophers started having faith in science and the inventions that contributed to the well-being of human beings. These include technology, industrialization and scientific inventions (Neve, 2004). More so, it brings out the character of people who dont fear demons, thunderstorms and radical activities. This is explained as a modern self that is completely characterized by the secular acts. In the end the society becomes a place where anything takes place even the criminal and immoral activities.

Teens and children are exposed to films in the society. This is because they extra time to get involved in extracurricular activities and most of them preferred watching movies. The gothic films are among the movies that the young people interact with. This could lead to constant fear among them which affects their psychology (Rall, 2015). Due to this the social organizations came up with activities that would lead to elimination of the constant terror. This has led to introduction of social event such as the Halloween. This event enables the young generation to interact with the zombies, ghosts and shadows that are not real. This aided in the control of fright emotions that sequentially led to reduced cases of mental disorders (Neve, 2004). In addition, it offers an opportunity to interact with the factors that cause fear in the young generations. The facing of these factors reduces the probability of a person t...