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Introduction :
Brief outline of the film. Intro thematic concerns.
Specify theme specify the settings.
List the techniques associated.
Stranger than Fiction (2006) is a postmodern film scripted by Zach Helm and directed by Marc Forster. Although
Helm's stated aim was to write the story of a man, IRS auditor Harold Crick, who finds that his life is being narrated by an annoying voice over, he and Forster have also used this absurd conceit as the basis for a film that addresses serious issues about the way we live our lives as well as about fate and free will, and the responsibilities of art. Of these ideas, the one that is most clearly related to the setting and the way it is presented is the issue of embracing life, of accepting that death is inevitable and so life should be lived to the full. To do this, Forster and his crew have utilised the cityscape of Chicago to stand in for 'Big City, USA', and have found and created strongly contrasting settings within that. paragraph 2 city generally – brief descry + motifs, colour, reflections specific examples
The dominant effect of the cityscape is that of high rise, blandly coloured, strongly rectangular buildings that tower over the characters and seem to imprison them within the regularity of their lines. The early scene where Karen Eiffel is shown standing on the top of the high rise and we share her high angle point of view of the city emphasises this aspect of the setting. As is appropriate in a film that reflects on the quality of life, the cinematography has captured reflections in the glass-fronted buildings, and even occasionally and spectacularly in such things as bus windows, as in the scene where Harold brings Ana flours and they take the bus to her apartment. The regularity of the buildings and the rigid effect they have on Harold's perception of the world are wittily demonstrated through the film's most delightful special effect, the GUIs (Graphic User Interface) that accompany him in his earlier scenes – before he has learned to live. They are visual representations of both the way he sees his environment and the way he tries to control it: he is even shown mentally correcting right angles that are a little off because of the distortion inevitable from camera angles. paragraph 3
Harold's apartment and IRS office – motifs, colour; trapped, boring specific examples
The colourlessness and the rectangular motifs of the city are carried over into Harold's apartment, which is spartan, bland and geometrical, and into the oppressively rectangular office in which he works. These settings are the outer indication of the rigidity and dullness of the life Harold lives – except that he is not really living, simply existing. He lives alone, eats alone, sleeps alone in a plain room barred by venetian blinds, and keeps his possessions in rigidly neat rows.
Obsessed with time and numbers, he does not know how to enjoy life. It is in this dull setting, standing in front of a mirror that frames his reflection like a cage, that he first hears the voice narrating his life. To begin with it is just a distracting and puzzling annoyance until she mentions his "imminent death". And it is in this dull setting that the outcome he is trying to escape pursues him, when a huge grappling claw breaks his apartment open. His literary advisor
Professor Hilbert, recognising fate when he sees it, suggests Harold simply make the most of what life he has left and live it: "Just go make it the one you've always wanted." And so, in the words of his narrator, "Harold Crick did that which had terrified him before… Harold Crick lived his life." paragraph 4
Ana's world – life, light, colour
Harold is helped in his quest to live a more full life by a young woman he has recently met. Ana Pascal, whom Harold is auditing, is a baker, and the settings she is shown in are strongly contrasted with both Harold's world and the city generally. Her bakery is dominated by curves and circles: not just the pots and pans, containers and mixing bowls but even the doorways and circles on the windows. Instead of bland colourlessness, there are rich turquoise and pumpkin shades; instead of bare walls, she has flowers and a busy notice board. Her own apartment carries on the same visual themes: the same colours, the same floral motifs, and even a guitar, symbol of grabbing life. It is within this setting that shy diffident Harold shows how far he has come in embracing life by playing and singing the one song he has managed to teach himself. The editing and cinematography support the effect of Ana's spaces as places of life: the variety of intercut shots creates the effect of lively and vibrant movement. The strong unforgiving light within which the city and especially the IRS office are shot is here replaced by softer, warmer light with more shadows. Ana is associated with food – a metaphor in this film for the embrace of life – whether it is cooking in her bakery or cooking for Harold in her apartment. conclusion: pull threads together; try to avoid repeating what has been said.
Repeat key words
The warmth of Ana's settings is found also in the office of another embracer of life, Professor Hilbert, while the starkness of Harold's apartment – to which he returns only once after the wrecking claw drives him out – is echoed in the workspace of his author Karen Eiffel, a recluse who has retreated from life. The strong contrasts between these two groups of settings, between the environments of those who embrace life and those who retreat from it, effectively and visually present and help develop the key theme: that we must grab hold of life and make the most of whatever time we have allotted to us. number of words: 916