Himmelberg - Closer - Mise en Scene

Closer was a very interesting and "real" movie. I had no idea what to expect when I watched the first scene but then it transformed into a huge love square that truly tore at your emotional heart strings and left you guessing as to what the final outcome was going to be.


That being said, I think by far the strongest actor in the movie was Natalie Portman's character Alice or Jane(as we later find out). You immediately can tell she is the strongest character from the very first scene. In the scene she is walking through the crowded streets of London and Jude Law's character makes eye contact with her and can't look away. She has an air of self-purpose and arrogance when it comes to the way that men see her that immediately makes her the dominant character. She is obviously a girl that knows what she wants and gets what she wants from men. Throughout the movie her character goes through a lot of ups and downs, but even when she is vulernable she is still strong. For example when Daniel tells her that he has been seeing Anna for a year she gets very upset and crys and then goes over to him and starts kissing him and being pathetic, she asks him to make her tea. When he gets up to get the tea and turns his back on her, she leaves without saying or leaving anything behind. She is clearly in control of the situation. Also the ending where you find out that the entire relationship she had with Daniel she was lieing to him, because her real name was Jane and then the very last scene that parallels the very first scene, except being in New York completely shows her strongness. She walks down the New York street looking the same way she did in London. She has a new style, but the same confidence and "swag" as she did before.

This picture is kind of the signature pose for her character. I think it captures alot of her personality though. It is innocent, but playful, interesting, but quizical, flirty, but non chalant. It shows her strong character. One of the major reasons I see her as being strong is because she is resourseful and can manipulate a situation so that she gets what she wants and this photo is a prime example of that. She is obviously the dominant, because there are only a few people in the background, but they are hardly noticable and are blurred out so we focus on her face. The camera proxemics are initmate because it is a close up of her face from the next up. The lighting is low key in the background with a spot light on her face. Obviously the director is trying to draw the audience to look at her face closely. It is "low key" lighting , first ,because of the setting( a strip club) and second becasue it adds to the flirty strong character that she is.