My Assessment, 'Edward Scissorhands'

3^rd October 2011

Edward Scissorhands   

‘Edward Scissorhands’ is a quirky themed film made by Tim Burton, A famous Hollywood director. He has made many films including, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Planet of the Apes.’ The list goes on to include many more films. Burton is known for directing dark and quirky themed films, but they are not made as a scary type film, but as films which are for families to enjoy, which also include a moral.

Born on the 25^th August 1958, Tim Burton spent his early life in California. His mother owned a Cat themed gift shop. He spent a lot of time drawing cartoons and making short films using stop motion animation techniques without sound.

After their first film together, Burton became very fond of Johnny Depp, who has appeared in many of his films. He also was fond of Danny Elfman, who composed music for all but five of his films. Along with these two people, Tim’s second wife was also an actress, so she was seen in some of their films during their relationship, between 1992 and 2001.

‘Edward Scissorhands’ was produced by 20^th Century Fox productions, in 1990. Being a very unusual film, ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is hard to put into a particular genre. It is probably the following: Romance and action/adventure. The age certificate is 12.

The storyline consists, of a quirky young boy named Edward, who lives alone in a dark and majestic castle/mansion. And also in a content village, called Suburbia in America.  A family, who live in this village, consist of many different characters, who have extremely unrealistic personalities. Peg Bogg the mother of the family, finds Edward in his house, and takes him in to her own home. She doesn’t realise the consequences this could have on both Edward and her own family. Edward starts off with a new happy life, with lots of attraction drawn to his unusual Scissorhands. His life soon changes again, once his hands give him trouble. They start getting in the way of his everyday life, such as eating, he can’t pick up his food, and goodness knows how he drinks. When he tries to help people in distress he ends up hurting them with his metal hands. He cannot fit in. But what happens when he falls in love with Kim, a teenage girl in the family he is staying with? But his self- conscious ways get the better of him; he can hardly look at Kim without feeling shy. How will he keep going in this way? Suburbia is a village where everything is so simple, and perfect, so when Edward comes along they find it hard to adjust to their differences.

The film has a very strange setting it has a very dark, shadowed theme, when things are not looking good, and when everything is as perfect as normal in a Suburban life, the setting changes to a brilliant bright and cheerful set. The houses are all the same, in colour, shape, and how the places are run.  The time setting plays a big role in the film, the story is told through Kim as an old woman. She tells the story to her grandchild. So firstly there is a scene where the child is in bed, and Kim tells the story. Then the story goes back to the past, where the story begins. But, (just to confuse us more,) during that story there are flash backs, so you see the past, from the past! Very confusing to describe. The variation of sets is extremely limited, there are only two sets. The village of Suburbia and Edward’s mansion. Although saying this is bad, the variation in other misc-en-scene is good.

Edward is the main character in the film; he is played by Johnny Depp. His personality is realistic, however his features aren’t.  He is a shy, timid, boy, who comes across a murderous stranger, to those within the village. Because of his scissors for hands, he cannot lead a normal teenage life. He is made fun of, and is scared of, as a result of this. His inner personality never has its moment to shine, as the monster on the outside will not fade. Will he come across to anyone with a glimmering light? Edward’s character is definitely not realistic, as where will you find a person with scissors for hands? But there is some appreciation here for the person who came up with such an idea.

Kim Bogg, daughter of Peg Bogg, is a young teenage girl. She is pretty, with strawberry blonde hair, and a pale, yet stunning, face. She has a boyfriend who misleads her, into doing what she knows to be wrong. Being such an easily lead person, she cannot always have a mind of her own. The saying never judge a book by its cover, comes in handy when explaining this situation. Kim has quite obviously judges Jim’s looks. A young reasonably tall teenage boy, who charms with his looks. But she should have judged his personality which soon comes out. Kim finds herself in love with Edward. I don’t think Kim’s character could be real, as normally you are either lead easily or you’re not, but Kim is somewhere in between.

Her inner personality is a shy person, who knows her rights from her wrongs. As soon as she lets this out, her life changes. Despising Edward at the start, she ends up being his lover, which is where everything starts to go downhill. She must hide Edward away in his castle never to be seen again.

Peg Bogg is the Avon sales lady who lives within the town of Suburbia. When her sales are not working out, she tries her luck with the castle. The mansion is where Edward lives. Once within the mansion, Peg finds Edward, alone, afraid, and scared. She takes him in to her own home, without realising the terrible consequences this could have on her family, and Edward himself. Once again, Peg is very unusual; you wouldn’t just take a potentially dangerous person into your house with no consideration.

Jim is Kim’s boyfriend. He looks tall, and he is blonde, with a short, smart haircut. He is the villain within the film. He tries to get Kim to share his beliefs about Edward, which fortunately fails. He has a monstrous personality, which includes a cold heart.

The inventor is an understanding old man, who has tried his best when inventing Edward. He soon realises that Edward wants to fit in, so makes him a pair of normal hands. He tragically dies before poor Edward can receive them.

The misc-en-scene is very strange. Although there is not much variation within the sets, the lighting, costume, music, and props are very interesting.

The lighting is made good use of, when there is a dull moment, or when something has gone wrong, there is either a dark light, or a shadowed effect to the scenes. E.g. When Edward is running away. If there is a particularly good situation, the sun is out everyone is happy, the sky is clear and everything is perfect. For example, when everyone is having a barbecue in celebration of Edward.  You can interpret the emotion, by the weather or time of day. This is brilliantly done.

Costume is very interesting. Edward wears a black leather jacket, with black trousers, and jet black hair. His hair is styled in a wild way, to show that he has no one there for him. Once Edward arrives at his new home, he wears white, it conveys his feelings as a sign of joy. Kim is out in the night, before Edward runs away. She wears a white dress, which shows her personality, she dances in the snow, when she becomes happy, and is seen smiling showing off her facial features.

Music is very vague in this film. The only time there is music is when there is either a happy moment or an angry scene. This was very disappointing, considering that the musician was meant to be extremely good. At the start the music is good, as it is there for effect, but once you get further into the film, you get quite bored of the same old thing.

Camera shots are very plain, but there are a few very good ones, which add a lot of effect to the film. The best one of these is when Peg’s husband is on the roof, and there is a shot taken from the roof of Edward running away. You see him from behind. This is interesting because it is an unusual idea, and you can see where Edward is heading. Another is when Peg has put some make up on Edward, and there is a close up of his face, he is looking shocked and scared, but you can also see the make up on him.

The audience ‘Edward Scissorhands’ is made for, is teenagers. This is because, at times you can think that the film is scary (which it isn’t) and that something might happen which could scare you. Another reason is that it has a very gothic theme. People who might enjoy this gothic idea, are young adults/teenagers. It also conveys a moral, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover.’ And this age group are always being told morals, and things like this.

Personally, I think that this film is completely pointless, despite the moral. Any decent person would know that no one should judge anyone by their appearance. So, unfortunately no I don’t think Tim Burton has done a good job, because I think that everything was the same, music, camera shots and sets. The best part was costume. I think the situation Kim found herself in, was very realistic and a good idea to include, as many people may find this as they get older. Again, there was nothing that affected me in any way about the film, as it is not something I would normally watch or take note of.

I would give this film...

Karnika Sanders