The sequence begins with Laura taking her child to the baby-sitter as she drives, there is a establishing shot of a clean, and comfortable neighbourhood in which Laura lives in. There is, however, a silence between mother and son, which indicates both their anxieties. There is a long shot when Laura comes out of her car to go into the babysitter’s house. The shot also makes it clear to the audience that Laura is pregnant and her movement is slow which is good performance of the actress playing the role. The audience is made increasingly aware that the pregnancy is part of the entrapment which Laura feels.
The next shot is a close up of Richard, Laura’s son, who remains still in the car, rather than getting out. His sense of panic at his mother’s departure is introduced, and confirmed when he says, “Mommy, I don’t want to do this.” The close-up shots of Laura and Richard’s strained faces add to the sense of tension within the relationship and the scene. The surface elements of the film at this point contradict the emotional reality of the scene. Both Laura and Richard are dressed neatly, in clothes which confirm the decade as the 1950s. The mid-shot of Laura, walking away from leaving her son, allows the viewer to see the control and order of her clothes, but also the emotional of her facial expression and body language. The camera tracks back in front of the distraught Laura, showing her distress and then a shot of her, making her the viewer’s focus of the scene. As she reaches the car, we see Laura in mid-shot waving to her son. She has held back her tears before turning to wave to him, thus indicating the continued up emotion of her life. Richard’s face, also shot in mid-shot, is serious. Laura, who is the mother is show to have determination which contrasted with the increasingly close-up shots of Richard, becoming more and more hysterical as his mother’s car pulls away, this shows the emotional attachment between characters using various shots and performance in the shots.
The next shot of Richard within this sequence is a long shot of him standing in the road, looking at the back of his mother’s car as it departs.He is small, vulnerable and alone within this frame and as the viewer realises later in the film, this theme, abandonment, is one of the key causes for the adult Richard’s tendency towards self-destruction.The next series of shots within this sequence show Laura driving and Richard in the living room of his baby-sitter. The mise-en-scene of the sitter’s house indicates the 1950s setting of Laura’s narrative. The huge flowered wallpaper of the room.. After that we view Laura driving and then a long shot shows her swerving off the freeway. She has arrived at a hotel; the mise-en-scene of which is grand, yet anonymous. Laura is then shot in central frame, over the shoulder of a porter. As the porter moves out of shot, Laura is left, alone, in a large, stylish, but lifeless room. The colours within the room are creams and beiges. There is little natural light and the impression is of a room with shadows. The psychological situation of Laura is extremely apparent. A birds eye view shot is then used to show Laura lying on the bed. She looks swamped by the room. So far in the sequence, the viewer has feared that Laura will do something desperate. The next shot, possibly a point of view shot from Laura, shows her taking out a book and bottles of pills from her bag. The viewer’s fears are confirmed by the sight of these props and the next shot, a cut away to the birthday cake she has made for her husband and place on the kitchen table connotes the life she lives. The camera then pans around Laura lying on the bed, reading Mrs Dalloway. The viewer hears the voice of Virginia Woolf reading a line from the book - “Did it matter that she would cease to exist? “. As we hear this line, Laura pulls up her shirt to reveal her pregnant stomach,indicating to the viewer one of the sacrifices she will have to make in order to escape her unhappiness. The next cut is to Virginia Woolf and the camera continues to pan, but in the opposite direction. This cinematography links the two characters’ states of mind.
The mise-en-scene of Woolf's clothes and room locate the time as the1920s which is Woolf’s era. The viewer then hears the thoughts of Woolf, as she states “It is possible to die” and the next shot shows the impact that this line has on Laura Brown. Laura’s face and body are partially in shadow which is a good use of dim lighting to intrigue and add an dramatic effect on the scene as she lays on her bed besides pills.
This mise-en-scene element clearly links Laura Brown and Virginia Woolf. Laura is shown to be drowned by her unhappiness and metaphorically feels as if she is drowning. Virginia Woolf,as we have seen in the opening sequence to this film, did drown herself in a river in 1941. The water is shown covering Laura Brown and the audience fears that she has taken the pills and died in her sleep. However, the shot cutting of Virginia Woolf and the close-up of her suddenly seeming to wake from her sleep, stops the viewer from having this fear confirmed.
The connections built between Woolf and Laura through the cinematography within this sequence, gives the audience a hope for Laura. The cut back to Laura in mid shot, shows her waking suddenly and gasping for air, stating “ I can’t “. The camera tracking shot slowly back from Laura as she begins to cry, hold her pregnant
stomach and rocks back and forth. The camera and the viewer may be able to leave Laura at this point, as she has not committed suicide, but her body language indicates that her unhappiness is still very real and is very sad.
The cinematography and mise-en-scene used in this sequence have contributed to the audience’s increased understanding of the character of Laura Brown. These micro elements have shown the dissatisfaction which can lie beneath the American Dream of the post war years. The differences in mise-en-scene between Laura Brown and Virginia Woolf’ scenes have distanced them in terms of chronological years as the two characters are based from two different eras which the use of Mise en scene in clothing and performance help differ and makes the audience’s understanding of the characters more advance, also the cinematography and performance has clearly shown the connection between the two characters which also helps the audience understand the story line of the movie ‘The Hours’.
by
ahmedrumena (student)
