Edward Scissor Hands (1990)

Edward Scissor Hands (1990) directed by Tim Burton, is considered to be a modern fairytale, far different from classics such as Cinderella. Burton has conveyed the film to be a dark and gothic modern fairy tale yet the environment in which it is set that is far from gothic.

Figure 1: Edward Scissorhands poster

This creative pale faced character is dropped into a set of a generic American Dream town where everybody is the same and un-unique, where he wholly does not fit in with the environment - from the life style to the clothing greatly contrasting from his own. When you first view the town at the beginning of the film your eyes are instantly drawn towards this out of place looming dark hill which contrasts against the small pastel suburbia, which could be implying the difference of the main protagonists within the film and also the. The contrast in the sets and characters can be seen when Peg first approaches the castle, you immediately see the contrast in personalities from her purple pastel clothing to the dark and gloomy personality of the inventors mansion.

 

 Figure 2

"Addams Family-style mansion plonked on the edge of a pastel-hued American suburb" Lee 2014

Edward can be argued to have been portrayed in an angelic way with his pale skin contrasting greatly to his raven black hair and also to the entire personality of the films main set and main protagonists. Edward himself as a character is dependent but also to an extent is also dependent on others within the story of the film, showing the lack of connection to those who are living within this pastel coloured suburbia.

 

Figure 3

 

"central characters in a Burton film - Pee-wee, the demon Betelgeuse, Batman, the Joker or Edward Scissorhands - exist in personality vacuums; they're self-contained oddities with no connection to the real world." Ebert 1990

 

The sets within the film, next to Edward is also the star of the show in terms of production design. The set consists of a 'Fifties' looking suburbia with a 'Nineties twist', as a result Welch has created a unique, yet modern 'American Dream' Suburbia, albeit one that is bland during the first half of the film until the personality of Edward is expressed within the neighborhoods unkempt shrubbery and plants. Edward begins creating this vibrant environment, one that its inhabitants where incapable of creating due to their lack of imagination and creativity, his creative skill is then taken onto the characters, which begins to bring individuality to each character living within the suburbia. This could support the opinion that Edward Scissorhands is a film about lost individuality, yet it celebrates it at the same time.

 

Figure 4

"Production designer Bo Welch has fashioned sets that look like a garish John Waters nightmare of Fifties suburbia with a Nineties twist. It's Edward who eradicates the blandness by sculpting the town's hedges into exotic topiaries of animals and people." Travers 1990
 

Bibliography

Lee. M (1990) Edward Scissorhands - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/11298442/Edward-Scissorhands-review-a-true-fairytale.html 11/11/15

Ebert. R (1990) Edward Scissorhands - http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/edward-scissorhands-1990 11/11/15

Travers. P (1990) Edward Scissorhands - http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/edward-scissorhands-19901214 15/11/15

Illustrations

Figure 1 : http://theauthorsfiles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/100-something-movies-you-should-see-if-you-like-movies-part-2.html 15/11/15

Figure 2 : http://fogsmoviereviews.com/2012/05/13/movies-that-everyone-should-see-edward-scissorhands/ 15/11/15

Figure 3 : https://mubi.com/lists/pastel-films 15/11/15

Figure 4 : https://hausmanllc.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/ 15/11/15