Misery opening

Misery opening



Misery, directed by Rob Reiner, is a 1990 American thriller based on the novel by Stephen King. From the opening scene we gather that the main character is an author by the name of Paul Sheldon. The props used imply that he is dedicated to writing and reasonably successful as he keeps a good bottle f Champaign on ice, one cigarette and one match for when he finishes. We get the impression that this is a tradition of his. Other indications of him being fairly successful would be his car, which is a mustang. He well-dressed and middle aged but the silence along with the occasional piece of cold ambient music seem to suggest a bit of loneliness and how cold his surroundings are.

From the first two minutes Misery doesn’t come across as a typical thriller. His house is well lit and colourful. This however is contrasted when he drives out to publish his book. The weather becomes a blizzard and it gets darker. There is suddenly a lack of colour, however it doesn’t have much affect on us as the audience because the music is very happy and up beat. We get the impression the sound is diegetic, maybe from the car radio, as the character taps along on the steering wheel. We don’t get the full effect of dark and empty colourless surrounding until the car crashes and silence sets in. A cold mountain wind can be heard quietly. This is all very sudden and the mood changes completely. This very effective and leaves the audience suddenly worried and wanting to know what’ll happen next.

After watching the trailer it is obvious that a contrast is what was aimed for in this opening of the film. The main character, who is more of a victim than a protagonist, throws a snowball at a tree and say “ive still got it”. This is very ironic because we can see that his life goes from relative luxury and independence, to a long horrific and dependent existence after the crash.

The setting of the film is perfect for the mood. The cold desert emphasises the themes of loneliness gives the whole film a cold feel. The trailer also reveals how the plot changes. Strangely a woman who seems to be a heroin and save the mans life, quickly changes into a sick and mentally insecure capturer. At the beginning she seems perfectly fine and we are obviously not aware of her obsession with paul sheldons books. These sudden twists are what make thrillers so enjoyable and full of suprises and are the key to making a good one.

It is clever how just two minuets in we can already come to so many conclusions about the characters wealth, job and tastes however we are still unsure as to the main ideas of the film. Obviously the car crash is going to be important but this lack of understanding and making us think is what makes it such an effective thriller.

Arran Fitzgerald