Fingersmith
The Fingersmith period drama has a social issue of sexuality in the clip. We know that Maude has feelings for her female servant, but has to keep them hidden, as in Victorian times, homosexuality was not legal and not accepted. Towards the end of the clip, the male character realises her feelings for the servant and threatens and intimidates her into marrying him.
The most noticeable feature in the clip is the binary opposites between Maude and the two other characters. This is because Maude is a homosexual and the male is heterosexual. Therefore he feels more powerful and can threaten her because of her sexuality. This also shows the opposites of fair vs. unfair, as Maude cannot have what she wants as she will be frowned upon and breaking the law which can be seen as unfair. Whereas the male thinks it’s only fair it’s kept a secret and that she marries him instead. A long shot of the male grabbing and puling Maude represents that he feels angry and is expressing it through his negative and aggressive body language against her. By covering her mouth we can identify that he is physically violent to her because of her sexuality and that his attitude towards her is now different because of it.
Again we can identify that she has feelings for the servant straight away when she’s looking in the mirror with an over the shoulder shot as Maude has her hands on the servants shoulder which creates more tension and linked to the expression on her face we know she has feelings for her. This is also reinforced by the way she looks at her in the mirror. As the scene moves on we notice that she lightly skims her hand across the servants body in bed and this also makes us empathise with her as it represents how she loves her but is too afraid for people to know. She also watches her whilst painting and fast cut between close ups of Maude’s face and the servants women pars signifies what she is looking at and acts as a point of view shot. This links to the binary opposites of tradition vs. non-traditional as her mind is very non-traditional as she expresses this homosexual behaviour. Whereas the time setting has very traditional rules, in which this relationship would not be acceptable.
Another contribution to us identifying her sexuality is the non-diegetic sound in the background. The score fits in very well with the scenes taking place as the tempo and pitch of the instruments increases to coincide with Maude’s heartbeat. Therefore when she is looking at the servant, the music changes dramatically and this creates tension by emphasising Maude’s feelings for her.
Towards the second half of the clip, the male changes the atmosphere as his power is against Maude’s weakness and we know that he recognises her looking at the servant. This links back to him being a heterosexuals and her homosexual because he thinks that she is in the wrong and that it’s very degrading. Whereas he feels empowered by his sexuality as we see through his body language. In between the shots of her looking at the servant, we notice that red paint is dripping from the paintbrush and this is a polysemic iconic sign as it could have various meanings such as her love towards her or perhaps to danger that may occur as the male now knows what’s happening and could foreshadow future events. When he pushes Maude against the tree we see an over the shoulder shot is used to again reinforce the power he now feels over her and make him seem more intimidating. Maude has very defensive body language which the director has done cleverly to address the audience of her naiveness towards him. It is apparent to us that Maude feels weaker against the male because of her sexuality as we see a two shot of both of them, both having a conversation with the male talking aloud and Maude was whispering. This signifies how she is nervous and scared about people finding out about her sexuality as she won’t be accepted.
We are made to feel sympathetic towards Maude and want to empathise for her as its unfair she can’t share her feelings as her sexuality will not be accepted. The voiceover at the beginning of the clip makes us empathise for her as it’s an insight as to what she’s thinking and feeling and how she is quite vulnerable and naïve. When she is painting and looking at the servant, we see that she is expressing her love but instead she is punished for her actions as the male quickly interrupt s. When the male pulls off her white glove it signifies how he is taking away her purity as she is no longer sweet and angelic as he now knows she’s a homosexual and doesn’t agree. Straight after this, we see a fade transition to another scene which represents that time is going slowly for Maude as everyday seems so long as she’s living a lie and hiding her feelings. This makes us empathise towards her as she can’t be happy due to the traditional rules. We can see a point of view shot from Maude as she’s looking at the servant topless from behind. This also symbolises how she can’t have her and therefore only her back can be seen. The fire behind her also represents her burning desire for the servant and how her feelings are very strong. The scene then ends with Maude and the servant in the same bed, but they are both facing opposite ways. A close up of Maude puts emphasis on her facial expressions and how she is trying to resist the other woman. We can notice how she is clutching the covers which show how she fears her own feelings as she knows it’s wrong and is seen as illegal. Once again this makes us sympathise with her as she is keeping her feelings locked away and can’t be happy.
Overall I think that different camera shots and iconic signs make it very apparent that Maude’s sexuality is the key theme and is seen as a problem by the male as he is heterosexual and therefore strongly disagrees with her opinion. This then had an effect on the entire clip as Maude has kept her feelings a secret throughout so she is not judged by her feelings.
