In the Cut

Foreshadowing is used heavily in this film, starting from the first shots. During the opening scene, a red flower with an angel’s halo is painted onto the sidewalk as the camera shows quick scenes of a busy city. In addition, one of Frannie’s student’s says “’how many old ladies have to die’ – ‘at least three’” is the response. This is foreshadowing that at least three women will die during the course of the movie. Once seeing the film, this image comes to mind as representing Detective Malloy. This is so because he is represented as the bad guy with the theme of red that is present throughout the movie, but instead he is good and an angel in disguise. Foreshadowing is used deceptively in this movie to give the audience impressions of characters that are later revealed to have been woven in to throw off viewers. Another image that uses foreshadowing although it is deceptive is when Meg Ryan is playing with the business card and the screen shows a clear shot of Detective Malloy’s name while the narration of a murderer is going on. Scenes like when Malloy asks Frannie to marry him, just as the murderer’s trademark is a wedding band, or when he comments “this looks like a place where they dump bodies” gives the incorrect impression that he is the murderer. Many scenes use red to foreshadow, an example of this is when Frannie is at the police station and Detective Rodriguez’s face is framed by a painted red door. Because red is a symbol of murder and guilt, in this scene, it is pointing a finger at him, but indirectly because there are many scenes in which red illuminates certain characters. During the movie I noted everything that was done in red. My count was seventy different instances of red objects and lighting, but I am sure there were many I did not include as well. Just this large number shows the importance of red to the movie's theme and plot.

The sex in this movie is very express and intense. Campion’s stance on this issue is shown when Frannie says “slang is either sexual or violent or both”, meaning that sex and violence go hand in hand in the opinion of many. This film shows a very up close and personal view of sex. The first scene like this is in the bar, where there is a zoomed in picture of oral sex. Campion obviously sees a strong relationship between sex and violence towards women. This can be seen by the fact that the murder victims are all women and the crime was sexually involved. It is prominent that a woman wrote this because they recognize the issues and probably was touched by sexually influenced violence at a point in her life. This film is very surprising and shocking, and I am unsure how I feel about its storyline or character’s actions.