Comparison of the characters in Sleepy Hollow - Movie Review Example

19 April The Rational and Irrational Sides of the Truth in Burton’s Sleepy Hollow To see is not to believe. Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow depicts the investigation of the mysterious beheadings at a rural community, Sleepy Hollow. Young Constable Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp), a man of science, is assigned on this case, so that he can apply his scientific methods in resolving these crimes. Sleepy Hollow, however, offers the rational Ichabod a supernatural, evil nemesis, the headless Hessian Horseman (Christopher Walken). From here, Burton depicts the spectrum of rationality and irrationality in what is true. Truth is both irrational and rational, wherein Burton uses sound, lighting, shadows, camera angles and shots, mise-en-scene, and characters to show that people should go beyond appearance and balance rational and supernatural beliefs because they lead to open-mindedness and critical thinking that are essential in finding the truth. Conflicts between appearance and substance are depicted through sounds, as they increase suspense over the mystery of the town and its characters. Diegetic sounds explore the contest between what is and what is not. The signing of the will should signify calmness because of the preparation for the future, and yet the music that plays diegetically produces a suspenseful mood, which serves as the foreshadowing of the horror genre of the story. In the scene where Van Garrett (Dirk Van Garrett) runs for his life, the music becomes more upbeat, as if he would escape, but he does not. The music contrasts with what is happening to the plot to enhance the viewers’ anticipation. Non-diegetic sounds further amplify the difference between substance and appearance. Van Garrett tries to evade the Horseman, and the bristles of the corn stalks can be seen. These sounds are natural, but the plot is about the supernatural. Thunder cuts in to show the appearance of the pumpkin scarecrow. This sound breaks off the natural from the supernatural. It prepares the audience for the real horror ahead, the slashing of Van Garrett’s head. Another example is the hooting of the owl, right after the scene where Ichabod reveals to Baltus Van Tassel’s (Michael Gambon) group that Widow Winship (Layla Alexander) is pregnant. The owl’s sounds indicate that Ichabod is increasing his knowledge, but it is also a sarcastic sound, because of the little he knows. These sounds support the differences between what is real and what is not. Aside from sounds, camera angles and shots portray the disparities between appearance and substance. Camera angles of characters depict their personalities and motives. When Ichabod urges the Burgomaster (Christopher Lee) to shift their archaic means of resolving crimes to scientific methods, the camera shows the latter in an eye level angle, illustrating him as an equal to his viewers. The angle indicates that he sees every accused as equal too, until a scientific criminal investigation proves otherwise. On the opposite, the High Constable (Alun Armstrong) and Burgomaster are at low camera angle to depict their high social stature. Their high social positions, however, are deceiving, because they are a shame to their professions. The Burgomaster mocks Ichabod’s scientific means by sending him to a faraway rural county, while the High Constable forces Ichabod to “stand down” from criticizing his management practices (Sleepy Hollow). These shots signify the belief that appearance is not everything. Camera shots are also significant in supporting clashes between realities and lies. Martin Kevorkian believes that Burton’s Ichabod faithfully reflects Irving’s Ichabod through the ironies of the former (28). When Ichabod finishes his post-mortem analysis of Widow Winship’s body, he exclaims to onlookers that they are “dealing with a mad man” (Sleepy Hollow). With blood all over his clothing and face, he looks like a mad man too. The effect is a play on truth and deception, where Ichabod may look mad himself, but he is dedicated on finding the truth and unmasking the lies behind the deaths in Sleepy Hollow. The film emphasizes that the way people see others do not always justify their true personalities. The clashes between rationality and the supernatural are explored through lighting and characters too. The city is cast in greater light than the country, suggesting darkness in the supernatural beliefs of the rural people. Stanley Orr explores colonial themes in Sleepy Hollow. He cites Barry Gross, who describes Ichabod as “the colonizer, the empire builder, bringing electric light to the darkness…and totally lacking in the spiritual element that has occasionally ameliorated the materialism of such civilizers” (8 qtd. in Orr 45). The city stands for the metropolitan culture of the colonizers, which is why it is brighter than the countryside. Another interpretation is that Ichabod has been resistant to the spiritual and supernatural explanations of the beheadings because as the emblem of the city or the colony, these rural explanations are inferior to his scientific methods. He tells Van Tassel’s group: “We have murders in New York without benefit of ghouls and goblins” (Sleepy Hollow). Ichabod represents the rationality of the city, a stark opposite to the darkness of the supernatural beliefs of the rural community. He bears light to his origins, without being prepared for the light of truth inside the darkness of the supernatural. Moreover, the film uses characters and feminine-versus-masculine symbols to explore the spectrum of the truth. Patriarchal values are the causes of the curse on the Van Garretts and those who are related to them. Van Garrett’s illicit relationship with Widow Winship has resulted to their crossing paths with the family of Lady Van Tassel/Crone (Miranda Richardson). Land issues, another product of patriarchal competition for power and influence among men, brought injustice to Crone’s family, so she resorts to vengeance to take back their land. Ichabod, on the opposite, is not the clean-cut patriarchal man. On the one hand, his rationality initially allows him to dismiss women’s intuition and the town’s supernatural beliefs. He stands for justice by determining the truth through rational means. On the other hand, Ichabod has a feminine stereotype nature. He is fearful of insects and often faints. David Arnold believes that Ichabod includes a “strain of femininity” (33). Arnold states: “Tracing out the implications of these ambiguities- and the gender economies they suggest- becomes, in a sense, the point of the stories” (34). Ichabod’s masculinity-femininity suggests the broadness of reality that can be found in truth too. The appearance of good and evil witches enhances the tension in the film. Katrina Van Tassel (Christina Ricci) makes a sign of protection for Ichabod and her family. But her powers are no match for her evil stepmother witch. These differing images of witches indicate that even in the realm of sorcery, good and evil reside too, and so it is hard to judge people by their appearances. Individual-versus-social interests affect the conceptualization of truth. Individual evil affects the portrayal of truth. Reverend Steenwyck (Jeffrey Jones) is a wolf in sheep’s clothing because he sleeps with a married woman. He is not a reliable source of truth. Magistrate Philipse (Richard Griffiths) knows that Lady Winship is pregnant with Van Garrett’s child, but he hides this from Ichabod. As the protector of the law, Magistrate Philipse seriously breaches his social roles and responsibilities in life with his hiding of the truth. These men have neglected their duties because they prioritized their material needs. Then again, good people live too, who promote justice and truth. Ichabod does not stand down to the High Constable and asserts: “I stand up for sense and justice” (Sleepy Hollow). Katrina follows and supports Ichabod, unlike the men in her community who are afraid of the horseman. She tells Ichabod that she came “[b]ecause no one else would go with [him]” (Sleepy Hollow). These people go beyond their call of duties to know the truth and to serve their loved ones. Embedded in the struggle between right and wrong, some characters conflict with social norms and practices. Lady Van Tassel becomes greedy because of her vengeance. She kills her own sister to ensure her success. She opposes the gender stereotype of a submissive woman, but more than that, she contradicts moral beliefs and practices. Ichabod has problems with social duties too. He bids farewell to Katrina, after he feels that he has found the truth that her father masterminded everything: “It was an evil spirit possessed you. I pray God it is satisfied now, and you find peace. The evil eye has done its work; my life is over, spared for a lifetime of horrors in my sleep, waking each day to grief. Goodbye, Katrina” (Sleepy Hollow). Ichabod is among the few in the film, who chooses duty over self-interests. The film portrays conflicts between individuals and society, which affect their pursuit of truth. The film argues, nevertheless, that truth can only be attained through independent thinking, but with flexibility in accepting that truth has irrational and rational components. Open-mindedness and critical thinking can be attained through an independent mind. After leaving Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod plays with his optical illusion toy. He gains insight that to see is to not believe, as realizes that Lady Van Tassel is the true culprit of the crimes. Furthermore, Ichabod applies critical thinking in his approach to crime investigation. At first, he does not allow his feelings for Katrina to affect his investigation because he considers Baltus Van Tassel as one of his suspects. Later on, Ichabod boosts his critical thinking with creative thinking. When he finds out that the drawing that Katrina placed in his room is a protection for loved ones, he realizes that Lady Van Tassel faked her death because of the absence of blood in her “dead” body. People should consider other factors too in finding out the truth and in proving it. In the film’s case, it includes seeing the truth in its rational and supernatural sides. The truth does not rely on appearance. Ichabod uses rational and supernatural means to uncover it because it has rational and non-rational components too. What is irrational, however, is not simply the negation of the rational, because a human being still controlled the supernatural to achieve human ends. The supernatural is not evil, but the person who controls it is. The supernatural, which includes feminine and rural dimensions, is not the opposite of truth, but supports it. It engages people to widen their minds, to be creative and yet remain critical. For to see is not to believe; to see is to think and to feel altogether. Works Cited Arnold, David L. “Fearful Pleasures, or 'I am Twice the Man': The Re-Gendering of Ichabod Crane.” Literature Film Quarterly 31.1 (2003): 33-38. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Kevorkian, Martin. “'You Must Never Move the Body!': Burying Irving's Text in Sleepy Hollow.” Literature Film Quarterly 31.1 (2003): 27-32. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Orr, Stanley. “A Dark Episode of Bonanza' Genre, Adaptation, and Historiography in Sleepy Hollow.” Literature Film Quarterly 31.1 (2003): 44-49. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2013. Sleepy Hollow. Dir. Tim Burton. Perf. Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Miranda Richardson. Paramount Pictures, 1999. Film. Read More