Order in the court
Friday, November 9, 2012
CineVerse took a trip to court on Wednesday and enjoyed "Witness for the Prosecuction," Billy Wilder's well-crafted take on the Agatha Christie tale. Before you reach your verdict on this flick, here are the closing arguments, as discussed by our group:
WHAT IMPRESSED YOU ABOUT
THIS ADAPTATION OF AGATHA CHRISTIE’S WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION?
· It’s not easy to adapt the intricate structures,
characters, plot turns and puzzles of Christie for the screen: the filmmakers have
to know what to cut and what to emphasize
· Director Billy Wilder took what is essentially a
stagebound play confined primarily to a boring courtroom setting and made it
cinematic, interesting and cynically humorous
o How? By choosing to insert flashbacks
o By making Sir Wilifrid, originally just a supporting
charcter in the play, into the picture’s male lead
o By throwing in a subplot about Sir Wilifrid’s need for
regular medical care, which builds suspense about whether he can endure the
rigorous trial in his condition
o By introducing the character of Nurse Plimsoll and her
nagging skirmishes with Sir Wilifrid for comic relief; also, by casting Charles
Laughton’s real life wife, Elsa Lanchester, in this role, which capitalizes on
ideal chemistry between the two
o By employing fluid, kinetic camera movements
o By casting big name, talented actors for the main
parts who could employ effective facial gestures and subtle expressions for
dramatic effect
WILIFRID’S MONOCLE IS USED
AS AN EFFECTIVE SYMBOLIC DEVICE IN THE FILM. WHAT DOES IT REPRESENT, AND CAN
YOU CITE EXAMPLES OF HOW IT IS USED WELL?
· It is used as an idiosyncratic prop that adds detail
and dimension to the character
· It also symbolizes the peering eye of investigation
and, when it glints with light, the blinding light of truth and justice
WILDER GOES FOR SHOCK AND
SURPRISE AT THE END, WHILE HITCHCOCK BELIEVED IN BUILDING SUSPENSE BY REVEALING
KEY DETAILS ABOUT A CHARACTER EARLY ON. WOULD THIS FILM HAVE BEEN LESS
EFFECTIVE AND ENJOYABLE IF THE STORY HAD REVEALED SOME OF ITS SURPRISES EARLIER
ON?
· Hitchcock was a proponent of building suspense: His
theory was that if the audience knows that a bomb is under the table and the
characters sitting there don’t know it, there is a greater thrill for the
viewer than if the bomb suddenly goes off without our expectation of it, which
evokes shock and surprise instead of suspense.
· Arguably, because this is a courtroom drama and an
Agatha Christie story, audiences probably expect more of a surprise and plot
twist at the end that they didn’t see coming. Such is the nature of dramatic
court cases, where surprise witnesses can suddenly be called or last-minute
evidence is introduced that blows the trial wide open.
· You can make the case that Wilder did employ enough
suspense by creating doubt around the motives of the characters and worry about
Wilifred’s health.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER MOVIES
THIS FILM BRINGS TO MIND?
· A Foreign Affair, another Wilder-Dietrich
collaboration where the female lead character is similar
· Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case
OTHER FILMS BY BILLY
WILDER
· Double Indemnity
· The Lost Weekend
· Sunset Boulevard
· Ace in the Hole
· Stalag 17
· Sabrina
· The Seven Year Itch
· The Spirit of St. Louis
· Some Like it Hot
· The Apartment