ipl-logo

The Witch By Robert Eggers: Film Analysis

543 Words3 Pages

The Witch, directed by Robert Eggers, became a hot topic when it was released in 2016. The slow-burning, horror film leaves the viewer with much to think about at the end of the movie. While there are many horror and gothic devices used in the movie, the setting is one of the more prominent ones and adds to the gothic theme of the movie. The setting shows an example of the sublime and provides a chilling backdrop for some of the more tense moments in the film.
In the opening scenes of the movie, the family is cast out of the village and the viewer watches them ride off towards the forest (3:30). The shot of the family in the wagon heading towards the immense forest shows an example of David Punter’s definition of sublime in the video “The Gothic: A Lecture.” There is another shot in the movie where the family is praying towards the forest (4:21). …show more content…

One shocking scene is when Samuel is taken into the forest (7:03). The shot of the forest is much darker than the previous scene when Thomasin was playing with the baby. Later, the viewer sees the witch kill Samuel and spread his blood over her body (8:00). This happens in the forest, leaving the viewer to relate the forest with witches and darkness. When Thomasin and Caleb go into the forest, the shot gets much darker again (38:00). The director relates the forest with darkness and the supernatural by making the scenes darker. This is also when the second witch encounter occurs, which creates an even stronger correlation between the forest and darkness. At the end of the movie, the final shot is of the witches floating around a fire in the forest (1:27:00). This brings together the idea that the witches stay in the forest and the forest is related to darkness. Throughout the movie, only Black Phillip is seen outside of the forest. The rest of the witches stay in the forest, leaving the viewer with the feeling that the forest is an evil

Show More
Related
1070 Words | 5 Pages

When the children first arrive, the negative description of the place sets the tone. The tone created is dull and boring. For instance, the narrator describes the town as colorless and plain. “A string of houses, weathered grey or peeling gray paint” (39-40). The addition of cold weather also sets the tone since cold weather creates a gloomy atmosphere.

Read More
498 Words | 2 Pages

This imagery is used to convey the mood of the story, which is one of oppressive, eerie stillness. For example, the description of the Clutter home after the murders is

Read More
723 Words | 3 Pages

The combination of the girls dancing in the woods, which is against the Puritan religion, and the endless amounts of conspiracies pioneered a gossip that filled the town. The town’s ultimate verdict was that the devil had turned the girls into witches, igniting a panic that consumed the villagers until twenty people were tried and

Read More
425 Words | 2 Pages

It was clear they were witches due to

Read More
210 Words | 1 Pages

He sees just the trees, no flowers to make it look nice, just a place to sell and where Mr. Pitts whips Mary. The third time he revisits his window to look at the wood he's stricken back with a "vision" he calls it. The sun is setting and there is red all around the trunks as if blood and someone is wounded but he cannot look away. When Pitts pick-up truck breaks his concentration, he runs

Read More
407 Words | 2 Pages

The Crucible Play written by Arthur Miller is about Witches in Salem in 1962. A few girls go into the woods and get intoxicated and everyone in the town immediately assumes that they are witches. A lot of drama starts and people lie about who the real witches are. At the beginning Abigail and her friends went into the woods with her friends and got intoxicated and took their clothes off and were dancing around.

Read More
683 Words | 3 Pages

The witches seem to stay in the scenes more than the actual play intended them to be. The movie

Read More
886 Words | 4 Pages

A common recurrence of memories feeling significant and characters grappling at their meaning. This not only allows for the reader to form their own analysis from the subtle symbolism, but once again models how people would dissect their pasts in real life, not treated to a view above the trees. Also not immune from getting caught up in memory or of imperfect recollection, the hazy atmosphere colored by glossy post-detailing, just creates a pretty

Read More
1608 Words | 7 Pages

This sparks rumors about witchcraft within the town of Salem, as everyone looks toward the girls involved in the forest incident for an answer. Abigail Williams, Parris’s niece and another girl who danced in the forest, begins to take

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

The dark woods in the background show a different identity between the two characters through the tone of the trees, and the use of only black and white shows ambiguity between the characters. When Cousin Chung and Vibiana come together once again and hug, you can see the different tones of the trees, showing light and dark contrasting with one another. That shows the ambiguity of the identities that Cousin Chung and Vibiana both have. On any occasion that Cousin Chung is by himself, the trees are very

Read More
1625 Words | 7 Pages

People’s private lives are on display in the forest. The forest is an essential physical location and a symbol of mystery, darkness, evil, and change. Dimmesdale and Goodman Brown undergo immense changes after and during their time in the forest. They enter the forest for different reasons and with distinct goals. When Dimmesdale went through the forest on his way back to town, he felt trapped and imbodied in his sin.

Read More
770 Words | 4 Pages

This gives the witches an unsettling vibe to them. I believe that this was the main concept that the director wanted to portray onto the

Read More
777 Words | 4 Pages

In Geoffrey Wright’s movie , the girl were seen destroying the angel statues and pouring red liquid on them , while in the Rupert Goold’s movie , the three witches

Read More
2038 Words | 9 Pages

In this scene you see, you are not part of a normal community, but also opening up with the trees and nature. You see Billy fantasies of what society should be. You see the pure beauty, but also see his unrealistic view of the

Read More
1291 Words | 6 Pages

This is showing after the bright snow that reminds people of happy times and Christmas cheer is mixing with the dirt and going back to the unhappy times. Carver also adds “But it was getting dark on the inside too” showing that even inside the houses is becoming unhappy. This setting emphasizes the mood the couple are feeling towards each other. They are feeling unhappy and dislike towards each other because what we can imply the man has cheated on the woman. The couple in “Hills Like White Elephants” are stopped at a train station that is between two different landscapes.

Read More

More about The Witch By Robert Eggers: Film Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document