thriller analysis

MISERY


the thriller i analised was misery which is a psychological thriller, it was realeased in 1990. it is a  film based on Stephen king's 1987 novel of the same name. it was directed by Rob Reiner and stars James Caan and Kathy Bates it is considered to be one of the best thrillers in the past 20 years.


the reason this thriller works so well and because it won so many awards was because of the realism and twisted characterisation that was portrayed during the film. the antagonist in the film Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) is one of most complex and iconic villains know to the genre, she keeps a calm and sweet attitude even when doing evil things. for example in one scene where Annie discovers that her handicapped captive Paul Sheldon (James Caan) has been out of his room when he is not allowed, she violently breaks his legs however whist calmly explaining to him why she is doing so. this strange combination which creates this character is extreamly effective and keeps the audience guessing what on earth she will do next, her unpredictability helps keep the suspense at a high throughout the films suspense filled scenes. the protagonist of the film Paul Sheldon is also quite a less typical character because he is a 'handicapped hero' and is almost compleatly at the mercy to the antagonist Annie.


camera work on misery is very typical of a thriller film. for example there is one scene where a huge amount of dramatic irony is used when Paul breaks out of his room to explore the house he is being held in only to be unaware that Annie is approaching the house on her way back from going to town. this is shown by cutting from person to person, first of Paul who is wondering about the house looking for an escape and of Annie driving back getting ever nearer. the closer Annie gets to the house the quicker the cutting is, until she is outside and Paul is finally aware she is approaching the cutting speeds up with shots getting shorter and shorts creating more and more tension. this really gets the audience anxious and makes you feel like you are in the situation yourself because it is so perfectly timed.