SPACE ODDITIES: Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Movie Review

Fig 1 : Edward Scissorhands castle 

Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 American romance, fantasy, drama, Gothic and fairy tale hybrid film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man it name is Edward an unfinished creation who has a scissors for hands. He is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter Kim. The director Burton previous films Beetlejuice and Batman prepare one to expect a film which is visually stunning perhaps with humor or self- parody. The advance publicity for Edward Scissorhands used the phrase 'the story of a uncommonly gentle man' and poster showed a picture of a sombre Edwards with a butterfly perched on one of the sharp blades constituting his hands.



"Then there's Edward himself, one of the most memorable figures in modern cinema: strapped to the throat in S&M black leather, deathly pale, sad-eyed and eyebrowless – and blessed with a terrifying array of razor-sharp blades instead of hands". (Lee 2014)

The set design of the movie it would be Tim Burton with his mood and macabre film style. He takes on a key role in everyone of his masterpieces and the ability to transform the viewer’s sense of reality into a surreal new world. The Gotham city the films’ backdrop never remains in the background. For an example of Burton scene- setting success is in the movie, Edward Scissorhands.  Edwards, an inventor’s who was left to live alone in the dark industrial castle with the scissors for hands. She convinces Edwards to come to her home in the over-stylized suburban neighborhoods his mansion overlooked. This highly-clichéd sense of suburbia serves as a clever contrast to Edward cold mysterious origins. The Gothic aesthetic to deepen character and create contrast and everything show on the screen enhances tell of his story. Edward's gargantuan mansion, perched a top the absurdly huge hill overlooking the town is miles taller than any of the pastel bungalows below. it's full of darkened corridors and bulbous robots with the secluded garden  and its majestic  shrub-giants it show a stunningly beautiful. The mansion is a visual representation of the isolation Edward feels from the rest

of the town.

Fig 2: The poster Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Fig 3 The Pastel Town 

The Edwards Scissorhands castle  the colour is a greys and blacks with a shadow of the dark inventor’s mansion turns out to be far more it’s colourful than the rest of the town.  Edward the outsider show the contrast of these two worlds are beautifully displays the disconnect between him and the rest of ‘normal’ society.

"On, then, to the better side of "Edward Scissorhands": the tremendous cleverness with which Mr. Burton brings these ideas to life. As embodied by Johnny Depp, Edward himself is a stunning creation, with a blackish cupid's-bow mouth and plaintive expression to offset his fright hairdo, abundant scars and potentially lethal hands. " (Maslin, 1990)

Bibliography

https://allthaatjazz.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/why-edward-scissorhands-belongs-to-the-gothic-

genre-2/ (Accessed 8/11/2015)

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~media/EdwSci.html (Accessed 8/11/2015)

Maslin, Janet. (1990) 

 http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C0CE2D81338F934A35751C1A966958260&partner=Rotten%2520Tomatoes

 (Accessed on 11/11/2015)

Marc Lee (2014)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11298442/Edward-Scissorhands-review-a-true-fairytale.html

(Accessed 21/11/2015)

Illustrations

Fig 1:  Edward Scissorhands castle

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4d/37/35/4d3735802348d359ded69ea4979cd6b3.jpg (Accessed 8/11/2015) 

Fig 2: The poster Edward Scissorhands (1990)

https://allthaatjazz.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/why-edward-scissorhands-belongs-to-the-gothic-genre-2/ (Accessed 8/11/2015)

Fig 3: The Pastel Town

http://www.artsjournal.com/aestheticgrounds/TimBurton%20copy.JPG (Accessed 8/11/2015)