Part One
For the first part of my essay I decided to choose Pretty Woman (1990). Directed by Garry Marshall, Pretty Woman is an emotionally appealing movie. Pretty Woman gives prostitution a lighter side by creating a romantic comedy out of a busy businessman in need of female company that endures up conjuring the perfect companion out of a mere hooker woman. From a standpoint of plot, controversial-filled premise resolves itself into transformation from a streetwalker or hooker in the streets of Los Angeles to an acceptable wife material for an executive and wealthy man. Lewis, a very successful lawyer hires Vivian for companionship during his business trip. In the course of their one –week stay, the two become attracted to each other and Lewis finds it hard to let Lewis go. Through the film, Marshall taps the primal feelings on issues of power, pleasure, shame, intimacy and love as the redeeming power.
Marshall does an incredibly good job when it comes to cinematography. For most of the scenes, it is evident that the setups provoke emotions sequentially strengthening the plot of the film. Particularly, the lighting and sound of great significance in Pretty Woman. Mostly, Marshall created an elaborate high-key lighting, typically for the romantic comedy genre (Pretty Woman, 1990). Also, quite a significant number of scenes use the sun as a key light. The sunny scenes in Los Angeles have low contrast. Vivian’s most scenes have a lighting that reflects a confident person. For the few intimate scenes between Vivian and Lewis, however, there is either dim light or three-pointed traditional lighting. Overall the lighting conveys happiness in the movie, which was basically meant to be lighthearted fun for the audience.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
What I like most about the movie is its portrayal of love when one least expects it. Vivian and Lewis are two different people from a class perspective yet they end up falling in love. I also was captivated by the lighting used throughout Pretty Woman. The lighting made a significant contribution to the theme in that it set the prefect mood. Being a romantic film, the inside is a bit darker with not so much lighting. Furthermore, when you think of romance, you think of candles and dim lights as opposed to full lights.
The sound of the movie, however, has been done in a very odd manner. In the beginning of a scene, Vivian’s and Lewis’ are audible but they become drowned by music as they progress (Pretty Woman, 1990). For instance, when the two are travelling to the Opera show, Lauren Wood’s Fallen plays, blocking their conversations. Also, I feel the editing is not as classical as it should be. Some shots are combined in a manner that event that logically happen over a long period of time, take place simultaneously.
Part 2
Julia Roberts is such a great actress. As predicted in the movie despite being a prostitute to foot her bills, she wants two things, just as any other sane human- to be loved and respected. In Pretty Woman, Roberts’ role can be seen as a personality star and professionally trained actress. However, prior to the film she was not very well-known. She had only had featured in Mystic Pizza (1988) and Steel Magnolias that was yet to be released. As such she had not landed a lead role in acting as she did with Pretty Woman. Much of Robert’s popularity and fame stems from this movie. It boosted her professionalism. Julia’s uniqueness, particularly after she wore the red dress to the opera shines through the scene and propels her career to the next level, in the 90s. At a personal level, this is where I began to fall in love with the acting of Julia Roberts. At the time, Roberts was only 21 years of age.
As a “happy hooker” Roberts charmed me. The only problem is that prostitution and drug use as portrayed in the film is far from reality. Prostitution is ugly and does not make one happy as portrayed in the film. Prostitution and drug use is very high in the U.S. as women are lured into the business by a class of rich wealthy men. In most cases, prostitution constitutes exploitation of women (Wang, 2018). Most prostitutes, just like Vivian come from a place where there is little hope for the future. This is depicted by the kind of life they live with her roommate who introduced her to hooking. Also, most prostitutes are hooked to drugs by their boyfriends and then begin to sell their bodies to an endless stream of men that does not fit Gere’s character profile.
Realistically, depictions of Los Angeles in the 90s did not begin from a promising standpoint. Three months into the decade, however, Marshall gave rise to what would become a culture-defining center of film movement and highly lucrative. Besides, Pretty Woman became an impossible fairy tale particularly in Hollywood. Los Angeles at that time was a center of actual film-making. Through the lenses of Pretty Woman, Los Angeles was depicted as similarly unrealistic due to geography, culture, and ethnic diversity all of which the film ignored (Avila et al, 2019). With the unspooling of the 90s came gritty representations of Los Angeles as revealed in this film.
The use of beauty and fashion in society cannot be ignored. In Pretty Woman, money is everything. Vivian and Lewis shopping on Rodeo drive reveals the perception of society on beauty and fashion. Women that are smartly dressed and endowed with beauty tend to earn the “respect” of society (Tyas, 2019). As a viewer, there is a reason to resist gross materialism but the way Vivian ascends to the upper class through her beauty and fashion reveals a win for the man. Despite being beautiful and being in such a demeaning profession, Vivian is no pushover. She even refuses to be mistreated by Lewis and his lawyer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Marshall’s Pretty Woman successfully tells a love story from a nonconventional point of view. Through the film, Marshall taps the primal feelings on issues of power, pleasure, shame, intimacy and love as the redeeming power. The movie reveals that love could be found in the least unexpected ways. In the end the prince rescues her, and so does she rescue him.
My Criteria
The movie features excellent professional acting.
The film has a happy ending where true love is found when least expected.
Lighting of the movie is exceptional
The film is a comedy making it fun to watch.
There is literal and concrete sources of movement which show the actors’ friendliness, and seductive mannerisms.
References
Avila, J., Tremps, A., Besné, V. G., Garcia, D. J., & Hoechtl, N. (2019). Cinema Between Latin America and Los Angeles: Origins to 1960 . Rutgers University Press.
Pretty Woman (1990) Online For Free. (2020). Retrieved from http://123movies.net/watch/d7l8zj1v-pretty-woman/thevideo.html
Tyas, S. S. (2019). Sex and power in Pretty Woman movie script (Doctoral dissertation, UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung).
Wang, V. (2018). Crack-Whores and Pretty Woman: The Media Framing of Sex Workers.
