Textual Analysis: Paris Je T'aime - Pere Lachaise - Wes Craven

Textual analysis is an extremly important part of the reseach and planning into making any media text. I feel that I need to complete a textual analysis of a short film so that I can fully understand the conventions and techniques that are generally used. The short film that I will textual analyse is Pere Lachaise from the compilation of short films Paris Je T'aime.

This text is a short film extract taken from the compilation of short films which create Paris Je t’aime. I have chosen this text because it is an interesting take on love and the stereotypical representation of men and women and how that can be changed. This short film also has what I think is a fascinating twist which separates this film from other short films which I have seen. How often do you get a lesson in love by one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian era?

The story is of a young couple who are supposedly on honeymoon in Paris, although they are not married for another month. The reason for the pre honeymoon is because the guy took a new consultant job which filled his schedule for the next six months to the women’s disappointment although she didn’t make this clear and as a typical woman expected him to realise that she was lying. Even when this couple are together in Paris they are still arguing. They are in the famous cemetery of Pere Lachaise where the woman is obviously looking for something and is intrigued by the cemetery whereas the guy is not; he has their 5 star restaurant dinner on his mind which they are missing. All the while the couple are arguing about their issues and how the guy does not make his future wife laugh. It is clear that she is focused on whatever it is she is looking for. Eventually she becomes downhearted not being able to find what she is looking for, when she turns round and realises its there. It turns out to be Oscar Wilde’s grave which she is amazed by, the man says it is ugly and doesn’t understand why she is so fascinated by it. Their argument comes to a head and she runs off leaving him, the guys goes to turn in the opposite direction and trips over a tree root, hitting his head on the tomb. Oscar Wilde appears telling the guy that if he lets her go, he will die. “Death of the heart is the worst kind of death”

He runs out of the cemetery chasing Francis, apologising, kissing her passionately. He then unknowingly quotes Wilde impressing his finance and she laughs, they make up and whilst hugging, he notices Oscar Wilde fade away and the couple go of happy together.

This is a five minute short film with three main characters, the man and women who remain nameless except for towards the end and Oscar Wilde. The location is Pere Lachaise cemetery, in Paris which is said to be one of the most visited cemeteries in the world. The sequence begins with two establishing shots. The first is a bird’s eye view which shows us the world of inside the cemetery from outside. We can tell this as inside this shot we can see that the camera is placed at the edge of a building which is outside and also because of the cars parked on the outer perimeter of the cemetery. This is just giving us a glimpse as if the world inside is hidden, it is concealed by trees. The second establishing shot is still a bird’s eye view but it has panned across so that the trees are not concealing so much. We are then able to see that this is a cemetery, we are getting closer to this “world”.

 

We are then allowed in to the cemetery, which we can see as peaceful and beautiful. The location is obviously still the cemetery however the inner location is a long pathway entrapped by tombs and trees. We are then introduced to our two main characters from a long shot. At this point we are not aware that they are a couple and we do not know why they are there. Close-ups follow of each characters face whilst they have a conversation, bantering together, with mid shot of both characters which makes us infer that they are a couple.  Although we do see the characters together, the number of close-ups that we see makes them look individual however when we do get a shot of them together they seem distant and opposite.

The two characters are very different; the man seems to be very serious, very stuck in his ways. He is well dressed, with smart trousers and a dark jacket. This is in contrast to the women who is also well dressed but is wearing a light jacket. She seems to be lighter, not so rigid and wants to be with someone who will make her laugh. As a couple they seem to be very distant, almost incompatible. They are unable to click to link together and agree on anything apart from one thing which is that they love each other.  The women is really determined that she wants the man to make her laugh and this is emphasised by the point of view shot of who women walking along with a baby in a pram laughing as they go. The laughter sounds distant and this shows that laughter is what she yearns for.

The shots are still very separate as we keep going through this short film and you can’t help but notice that the female character is constantly running out of shot away from the male character. This is because she is obviously looking for something whereas in a conventional love film you would usually see some evidence of the love, maybe a kiss, hug, or just even holding hands. In this though you don’t they are two people who say they are in love but don’t seem to know how to show it or just don’t want to. She is always focused on something else, the first thing on her mind is whatever it is she is looking for and the second is her relationship. This isn’t how it should be conventionally.

Although they are often separate in shots we do get to see their facial expressions, in particular the guys who seems to be realising that the women isn’t necessarily who he has been assuming or imagining she is. The surroundings although would normally be seen as a morbid or uncomfortable place, it seems comfortable, almost beautiful and tranquil. One interesting shot is a tracking shot when the couple are arguing/discussing/bantering (depending on the interpretation) taking a path which is behind the tombs and the camera is tracking along the front of the tombs. We cannot see the couple and the audience are left looking at the tombs whilst listening to the dialogue. The sound of this dialogue is echoed, this is because we are hearing it from a distance and this adds a realistic feel to the dialogue and what it would actually sound like if we were there.

We then reach the point where the couple come out from the intertwining paths in between the tombs and come back out into the open of the path way. The women still not being able to find what she was looking looks dejected and the guy is still following her. Out in the open the women looks around and finds the tomb she has obviously been looking for, Oscar Wilde’s tomb. During this scene we are giving a close up of the tomb of Oscar Wilde which is interesting in itself covered in kisses which women have given to him over the years since he has been dead. The woman is placed on camera right up close to the grave and the man is placed further back. This could represent the distance that seems to be between them as a couple. There is also a difference that can be seen with their reactions to Oscar Wilde’s tomb. The woman has an expression of adoration and the man of disgust. Once the couple begin to argue they automatically become close again. It is a common link that brings them together.

Once the woman has run off, and the guy has hit his head on the tomb, we see a third character of Oscar wild joining the film. He is first introduced into shot, sat on a bench opposite his own tomb, dressed smartly and relaxed, smoking a cigarette. He looks real but sounds distant which suggests that he is not real. Depending on the audiences knowledge of Oscar Wilde they may not realise quickly that this is who it is. However it is soon clear with just the way that he talks and what he says that this is who it is, also by the way that he is dressed as most people nowadays do not take to wearing this style of clothing.

The ending of this short film, equals a completely new equilibrium with the couple actually happy and expressing their love for the first time in the film. The shots used for the last conversation are traditional over the shoulder shots with the film ending on a high angle shot as it began with.

Within this short film the pace of editing is rather average not too fast and not too slow however the pace of editing increases with the male character’s realisation that he needs to go after his fiancé. The conversation between Oscar and the guy gets faster and fast as the conversation gets deeper and the realisation becomes clearer. The editing of shots between when the male character runs after his fiancé is fast as this is the “action” of the film, trying to catch up with her and apologise.

The sound in this film is the usual, diagetic sounds that you would find in a cemetery which is surrounded by trees is bird song and trees rustling. There is dialogue within this film, with the two characters talking about what they are doing and how they feel. There is a negative/positive contrast within the dialogue and between the characters who are the speaking the dialogue. Laughter is an important sound in this short film, it is only heard twice, the first time by a stranger who we do not know, which the woman is watching and secondly from the woman herself. The two sounds at the opposite ends of the film show how the film develops as does the love between the couple, with at the beginning the female character having to just listen to other people laugh and by the end laughing herself. The other diagetic sounds are footprints and leaves rustling.

There is non-diagetic music within in this short film, it is backing music consisting of strings and a piano It opens the short film, then continues until the couple begin to argue. This music is slow and almost sad. The same music begins to play later in the short film, when the couple reunite, the section without music symbolising the break in the couples relationship and communication ties. The pace of the music as with the editing gets faster when the male character goes after his fiancé. When he kisses her the music turns into a lighter, romantic piece which continues through the dialogue and the realisation the Oscar Wilde was not real. One of the most important sounds of this short movie is the female characters laughter. Throughout the whole of this short film, the woman has been expressing how she wants to be made to laugh and the event of her laughter brings the film to its conclusion, successfully tying up the lose ends.

It is a break of convention that this is a happy story set in a sad place. A place of death and a place of sorrow, but then of course not everyone accept this interpretation. If you look deeper into the location of a cemetery, and why they exist, you can find the other side of the coin. They can be places of lessons, memories, celebration and of course happiness. Who better to take advice from, than the dead who most likely have more life lessons than us living do, in particular Oscar Wilde.

The process of analysing Pere Lachaise has allowed me to look at every aspect of this short film in great depth and detail. From this I have learnt that short films are unique and often one of a kind, with meaning. Within a short film there is often meaning with everything. For example in this short film the location, the music, the characters, every single item has been individually crafted with an interpretable meaning which when edited together creates a wholly unique product with a particular viewpoint or opinion. I have also learnt that short films are allowed to be different and almost weird, having a dead famous person come back to give someone advice in the cemetry they are buried in is classed as weird, allowing the maker to experiment with what they want. After learning all these things about short films I feel that I can take them away and incorporate them into my own film and if not include them then keep then in mind even if I am breaking a convention.