Appendix 3.2: Sample films - synopses and character lists
MARNIE US 64
house after her ordeal at the hunt (convolution, her twisted
mind).
Now in this study of a clinical trauma and its consequences we
have a female patient, a male investigator. As Marnie herself
points out, however, Mark too may be worth investigation:
I'm sick! Well take a look at yourself, Old Dear. If
you're so hot to play mental health week, what about you?
Talk about dream worlds! You've got a pathological fix on
a woman who is not only an admitted criminal but who
screams if you come near her. So what about your dreams,
Daddy dear?
Though we are required in the end simply to take Mark on trust
(unlike Marnie who must be explained) yet through his own
utterances as well as the juxtapositions between him and other
male characters we are allowed some insights into his
sexuality, his desires. Mark is, in fact, offered as a model
of an enlightened male, an early 'new man' as he suggests to
Marnie:
Eventually you would have got caught by somebody, you're
such a tempting little thing. Some other, er, sexual
blackmailer would have got his hands on you. The chances
of it being someone as permissive as me are pretty
remote.
Mark claims to love Marnie, and her response
You don't love me. I'm just something you've - caught.
You think I'm some kind of animal you've trapped.
allows questions about his 'love'. What is it, then? She's a
'tempting little thing', she appeals to his appetite. He
agrees that he has tracked and trapped her, she is 'wild' like
the jaguarandi, the South American jaguar Sophie he had
trained to trust him; she is thus a challenge to the
zoologist. She is a problem to be solved. She needs help. So
can we say that Mark's 'love' consists in Marnie's unwitting
appeal to his sexual appetite (temptation); to his intellect
(challenged); to his emotions (her dependence)? Is Marnie
right in her assertion that she is 'just something he's
trapped'? The film allows this question to be asked though,
not surprisingly, answers are not so easy. Yet there is no
doubt that we are constantly invited to examine Mark and find
him admirable. Compared to Strutt he is enlightened. Compared
to his father he is responsible since, unlike his father who
has 'never set foot in the place' he did not allow the family
firm to go bankrupt, out of concern for its employees.
Compared to his cousin Bob he is able to use and enjoy his
money rather than be dominated by it. Above all it is
suggested that he is supremely confident. He is at ease in
the world - not only in the world of business but also,
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