The movie Coraline

The crowd that film directors choose for a particular film is an important aspect of the filmmaking process. Age and the capacity of the age demographic to understand the underlying plot are important factors. Currently, books are thought to be better at delivering teenage horror than top videos, the majority of which are grisly and pair with gory pictures. Coraline is a 2002 film based on Neil Gaiman’s novel by the same name. Although the film can be considered nightmare material for children, it is also a symbol of courage for a certain age group of children. The video is extremely unsettling, not because of the graphic scenes shown, but because of the story, it depicts. This is a special kind of film that grips fear on the basis of the story and not images. This is a commendable aspect in the film since the cultivation of fright is one of the great pleasures of youthful moviegoing. Also, the film, does not look far towards violence and mortal dread. Coraline was directed by Henry Selick who also produced it together with Claire Jennings, Mary Sandel, and Bill Mechanic. Produced in February 6, 2009 after its priemere at the Portland International Film Festival, the film made $16.85 million in its opening week and a gross of $124.5 million. In addition, the movie also won Annie Awards for character design and best music. Also, the movie received Academy Award for best animated feature. As the opening scene, hands made of sewing needles create a doll which resembles a girl. After Coraline moves with her parents in Ashland, she is neglected as the parents as they are busy working on a garden catalogue. In one instance, she follows a mouse that leads her to another world where doubles of the real-world residents resident live. She finds doubles of her real parents who are more attentive. Coraline frequents the other world during nights despite warnings from her neighbors. During one of her visits, the other parents convinces her to permanently move in with them. However, there are conditions for permanent residents in this world whereby buttons have to be sewn in their eyes. Coraline demands to be allowed to go back home after the cat reveals the sinister motives harbored by the other parents. The mother transforms into a grotesque version of herself and imprisons her in a dark chamber where she meets the ghosts of her mother’s previous victims. After series of events and overpowering the sinister mother, she hosts a garden party for all her neighbors and also prepares to narrate to Mrs. Lovat about her sister’s ordeal.

Though the central theme is still unclear, the film presents a series of themes throughout. The primary theme is the impact of child neglecting. Coraline’s parents are pre-occupied with their daily chores and rarely have time for her. This opens up a window of opportunity by the dark powers who take advantage of the situation to lure Coraline into their world by providing her with what she had been missing in her real world. The other mother in the new word says to Coraline, “You know...I love you…” Coraline Jones responds, ”You have a very funny way of showing it…” (Gaiman, 2009). Loneliness is also the governing emotion at the beginning of the film. After moving from Michigan to Oregon in their big pink Victorian house, the inadequacy of her parents becomes apparent and she ends up being stressed-out. When Coraline is in the room, the parents are glued on their computers and rarely pay attention to her. Lack of parental attention opens up an avenue for her to explore the surroundings with which she intertwines the odds of reality and imaginations.

The film integrated the two realms of reality and magic effectively. The director does not draw a major boundary between the actual and the magical world making the two realms to easily shadow and influence one another. In addition, the film is inventive and the director is psychologically astute such that the dull moments in Coraline’s life are covered with enchantment (Scott, 2009). In addition, Coraline’s neighbors are a collection of eccentrics whereby their quirks of character match their physical appearance. This gives the film a similar premise as stories such as The Wizard of Oz, Labyrinth among others. Similar of Coraline, these movies follow the same blueprint whereby the protagonist is a young girl who is curious, brave and resourceful. In addition, in all the movies the protagonist is bored with her current life and years for something beyond their reach and they can only imagine of. The three films also involve magic where the protagonist enters another world magically which tends to be wonderful than their real world. Finally, due to the magnificent nature of the new world, the protagonist tends to get hooked into the new world and do not fathom coming back to reality. Such themes are critical in actual Mind Control sessions. For instance, slaves under torture from their masters can use such storylines to dissociating from reality and entering the alternate reality in order to escape from torture. This is commonly by the handlers who program the slaves whereby the brain disconnects from the body in order to make the sensation of pain disappear. Similar to the Wizard of Oz whereby the slaves are encouraged to go over the rainbow, Coraline goes through a small door in order to access the alternative word which is more wonderful.

Another theme clearly evident in the movie is fear and its impact. Coraline goes through a lot of predicament in order to rescue the ghost children and her parents. The unfolding of these events grips the audience with fear. Although Coraline also gets scare most of the time, she mangers her fear appropriately. She also gives herself pep talks as she reminds herself about how brave she is and that she is an explorer who cannot afford to give up. In addition to reminding herself, she reminds other characters about it too. When the ghost children get scared and encourage Coraline to run, she does not heed to their advice and instead encourages them to hang on. When Coraline is confronted by the other mother, she says, ”Evil witch, I’m not scared!!!” (Gaiman, 2009). The fear throughout the period works well for her because after living through the scary adventure of the alternate world, she is not scared anymore about going to school.

The movie Coraline has a deeper metaphorical meaning. For instance, the name and the title ”Coraline” has a Latin meaning of the semi-precious sea growth. In addition, the people with the name tend to have a deep inner desire to create and express themselves. The music used in the film is Hungarian Symphony Orchestra which also has choral pieces which are sung by children in another language. Among the children singing is a soloist who is coincidentally named Coraline.

References

Jennings, C. (Producer), Gaiman, N. (Writer), & Selick, H. (Director). (2009). Coraline [Motion Picture].

Scott, A. (2009, February 5). Cornered in a Parallel World. Retrieved February 1, 2017, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/movies/06cora.html