Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1948) is a dynamic film that attempts to rebuild a post-war economy by teaching lessons on the importance of gender roles and a balanced family to men and women in theaters. Mildred Pierce highlights “the historical need to rebuild an economy based on a division of labor whereby men control the means of production and women remain within the family, in other words the need to rebuild a patriarchal structure failing” (Cook, 69). The film also evokes the fear of women among men returning from war. Women were more independent and less feminine than before the war. “The films themselves seem to indicate how threatened and uncertain the hegemonic patriarchy was during the postwar years” (Benshoff, 264). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay This essay will discuss a scene from Mildred's first flashback in the film, beginning with Mildred fixing up her newly purchased restaurant as Monty walks in and flirtatiously invites her over. at the beach house and ending with the words of affection exchanged by Mildred and Monty regarding their beating hearts. This scene overlaps with Kay and Veda's trip to the beach with their father Bert during which Kay suffers from pneumonia. This essay discusses the symptomatic significance of the film Mildred Pierce. “It’s abstract and general. It places the film in a current of thought supposedly characteristic of American society at a certain period” (Bordwell, 62). This film deals with the deterioration of a family in post-war America. “As birth rates increased after the war, divorce rates also increased. Men and women had very different experiences of war, and the two often did not adapt easily” (Benshoff, 262). The film teaches its audience how to avoid such a failed family ideal. “The first sign of deterioration comes when Mildred's night of illicit passion with Monty is followed by Kay's death” (Cook, 74). This film establishes ideal gender roles for the redevelopment of society while defining the fear of women present in post-war America. It is important to note that this scene is Mildred's flashback. Mildred Pierce has two distinct points of view: Mildred, the woman, and the detective, the man. “The fundamental split is created in the film between melodrama and film noir, between the “woman’s image” and the man’s film, a split which indicates the presence of two “voices”, feminine and masculine” (Cook , 72). Mildred's flashbacks are uniformly lit, but they can't be trusted. “The viewer's process of picking up on clues, developing expectations, and constructing a continuing story from the plot will be partially shaped by what the narrator says or does not say” (Bordwell, 92). The detective's point of view explains the truth of the story. narrative, but is presented in shadows and low-key lighting. “Mildred's speech is the speech of melodrama, her story is the stuff from which the 'Portrait of a Lady' was made in the pre-war and war years, when women were seen as having an active role to play in society and in the problems of passion, of desire. , and emotional excess” (Cook, 71). The melodramatic tone of Mildred's narration helps draw the woman of the theater into the storyline. This is crucial given the message the film presents to women: they need to support their men and get back into the kitchen and bake pies. THEThe detective's speech is a representation of man's role in finding the truth through hard evidence. "The detective is simply concerned with establishing the truth, solving the riddle, while Mildred's story contains complexity and ambiguity, showing a concern with feelings rather than facts." (Cook, 71). This scene begins with a wide shot of the exterior of the restaurant, still under construction, and quickly dissolves to the interior of the restaurant with Mildred's legs, detached from her body, in the side. upper right of the screen Mildred's legs are fetish-sized in order to control her sexuality. “A part of a fragmented body destroys the Renaissance space, the illusion of depth demanded by the story, it gives flatness” (Mulvey, 838). If the man takes a small part of the woman and focuses on her, the woman as a whole no longer poses a threat to the man. This whole scene sexualizes Mildred. first, a close-up of her legs is shown, then her in a two-piece swimsuit At this point in the film, the viewer has not yet seen the quintessence of Veda's evil actions, nor the reverse shot revealing Veda as a. killer therefore, Mildred is still strongly suspected for the murder from the first scene. Mildred appears to use her sexual prowess to control Monty in this scene. Joan Crawford's performance is that of a confident woman in charge. Monty asks if she needs help with her zipper and she says "no" with a big smirk on her face. His business isn't a success yet, but it's on its way thanks to the property Monty lent him. “Joan Crawford, who plays Mildred, is a sexually ambiguous figure as a star with a history of ‘independent female’ roles” (Cook, 77). It's almost as if Mildred "seals the deal" with her body in this scene. In postwar America, men were threatened by women's sexual prowess and often attempted to suppress it. The film provides an example of "the brutal and forced repression of female sexuality and the institutionalization of a social place for men (as fathers and husbands) and for women (as mothers and wives) who hardly relies on this repression” (Cook, 69). Mildred's sexuality is repressed by the realization later in the film that it is Monty who is using Mildred and not the other way around. The most interesting cinematic shot in this scene shows Mildred entering a room in the beach house with Monty close behind. Monty stops in the doorway as Mildred approaches the closet to look for a swimsuit. Initially, nothing seems unusual or strange about this shot. However, as Mildred moves closer to the camera, something the viewer did not expect happens: Mildred enters the frame from the left of the screen, whereas moments before she was moving down from right to left on the screen. Then two images of Mildred are shown and the viewer realizes that the initial shot was not real. It was just a reflection on the mirror of a closet door. This cinematic trick makes the viewer question what is real and what is just an illusion. At this point, the viewer may question the validity of Mildred's flashback. Even though Mildred is not the femme fatale in this film, she is a woman. In postwar America, women couldn't be trusted. This scene is just a flashback sequence told from Mildred's point of view. It could be argued that flashback sequences, like the one in question, are presented according to how Mildred remembers them. "Mildred's story turns out to be misleading, puttingthus to the fore the work of repression involved in the narrative resolution” (Cook, 73). Curtiz's choice of harsh lighting is appropriate because this appears to be a happy time in Mildred's life. There is no need to create sharp contrasts between light and dark, like so many other less light scenes in the film. “Unobtrusive lighting was generally applied to dark and mysterious scenes” (Bordwell, 130). Instead, Curtiz relies on double entenders to highlight the question of what is real and what is an illusion. For example, Mildred, looking out at the ocean from the window of the beach house, responds, “You have a wonderful view. » Monty, looking at her body, replies, "Well, I wouldn't say that... I hope the suit looks better on her than the dress." Monty knows she's talking about the ocean and not its appearance, but twists her question. There are other ways to interpret Mildred's question. Mildred could draw attention to Monty's point of view, a man's point of view. One man's point of view represents the truth in this film and in post-war America, it was one man's point of view that mattered. By denying the woman's point of view, the man can gain the upper hand. “As if to restore a proper patriarchal order, American culture attempted to deny or degenerate the stronger woman that wartime conditions had created” (Benshoff, 262). After a wide shot of Mildred and Monty jumping into the ocean together, the film dissolves inside the beach house where Mildred is drying off by the fire. Another illusion is presented here through Mildred's reflection in the mirror while Monty takes a drink to the left of the screen. Curtiz once again plays with the viewer's perception of reality versus illusion, who to trust in this scene and whether to trust him. In this scene, the viewer does not yet know that it is Veda who is the real femme fatale. and not Mildred, but Mildred is still a woman in post-war cinema and is therefore painted in a negative light. Her narrative cannot be trusted and she exudes sexuality. The character of Mildred is paralleled with that of Veda. “The film asks us, through metaphorical substitution, to confuse the wicked Veda with the honest Mildred, thereby establishing Mildred's innate guilt, even though she is not guilty of the actual murder” (Cook, 71) . Although Mildred did not kill Monty, she is guilty of an even greater crime in post-war America: pursuing a career and becoming the head of a household. “Mildred's taking the father's place caused the collapse of the entire social and moral order in her world” (Cook, 75). At the end of this scene, Monty and Mildred kiss and exchange words of affection. However, through the movement of the camera, Curtiz allows the viewer to see past the false feelings Mildred and Monty have for each other. As Monty and Mildred kiss, there is music in the background coming from an off-screen record player. The record starts to skip and Mildred responds, “The record Monty, the record.” » Just before Mildred says this, Monty says, "When I'm near you like this, there's a sound in the air like the beating of wings. Do you know what it is? My heart beats like a schoolboy's. To which Mildred responds, “I thought it was mine.” » The camera then slowly pans to the right until it reveals the record player and the mirror image of Monty and Mildred kissing in the same shot. The viewer can now make the connection and understand that it is not his heart that is beating. It's just the sound of the record player skipping. The setting of the beach house is important to the entire narrative of the film. The beach house in, 2007. 833-844.