Ever since the evolution of cinema in our society, filmmakers have used one literary device to convey the film’s essence and underlying emotions to the audience without explicitly divulging its fundamental details – metaphors
As an art form, cinema is one of the few mediums that can incorporate visual metaphors and symbolism within its framework to craft a rich and dynamic story that can completely alter the viewer’s feelings and emotions and enhance the impact of the film tremendously.
It basically uses the “show” not “tell” approach to communicate complex, emotionally charged concepts with use of sounds, motifs, objects, colours, recurring patterns and camera angles among other things to provide insight into the tone and narrative of the scene.
The abstract idea that represents a real and significant part of the story ‘symbolizes’ either the character or a concept that is crucial to the scene; one that just can’t be verbalized. In a sense the symbolization or metaphor; whatever form it may take, is a character in its own right in the film.
So let’s talk about some of the ways films use symbolism.
Symbolism via colour is when a repeated or significant colour is used to create a desired effect. In Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’ the colour green is repeatedly used to show Detective Scottie’s obsession with Madeleine. The colour keeps becoming more prominent as the film progresses and Scottie’s obsession grows. A sophisticated and exemplary use of colour symbolism.
It can also be via music, when a leitmotif is used to communicate the emotionality of the scene. A masterful example can be seen in ‘The Schindler’s List’ when the brutality of war and pain of tragedy is beautifully depicted by the violin solo that plays in the background.
Some films even use objects as symbolic ideas to represent an abstract notion. The Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’ brilliantly, among other metaphors, used a scholar’s stone to represent wealth and stability, or lack thereof, in the lives of the Kim family. The object makes regular appearances throughout the film and reminds viewers of the family’s plight; sometimes a boon and sometimes a bane. The overall theme of the film let’s audiences find meaning in these seemingly ordinary objects and elevate the overall delivery of the film.
And finally there can be symbolism in the plot itself, when a film embeds a story within a story it can act as a continuous metaphor of plot. This can be seen in many films such as ‘The Truman Show’, ‘Inception’, ‘Groundhog Day’ and ‘Mother!’ among many others where the dynamic nature of the metaphor can organically make a good film great and a great film a masterpiece.
The beauty of metaphors is that there is no right interpretation and no single answer for their meaning. The cloak of ambiguity that films wear while using symbolism is perhaps a metaphor in itself, depicting how films are a universal medium yet a deeply personal experience for each. This is what makes them extraordinary in their depiction yet extremely relatable in their sentimentality.
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