Critical Analysis of Film free essay sample

This essay will focus on the current representation of women and men in the classical Holly Wood western film High Noon, focusing on the gender roles of each character and the stereotypical roles that are given. High Noon  is a 1952 Western film  directed by  Fred Zinnemann, one which broke genre rules of masculine ideals and popular themes of cowboys and indians (Johans;1994). The male protagonist Marshal  Kane (Gary Cooper  ) starts out as the typical unambiguous, uncomplicated hero of a cowboy. He was represented and given the typical role of the handsome, older man who likes to be in charge however, unlike most cowboy films he turns in his badge to become a shopkeeper and live a nonviolent life with his beloved wife, Amy (Grace Kelly) This suggests that he is given up his authority, his manhood and the job of being the townspeople’s â€Å"hero. † Critic John Mellen described 50’s male heroes like Kane as ones that â€Å"revaluated the male psyche† as â€Å" characters became less action – oriented, more psychologically introspective even sexually ambivalent† (Ben Johans; 1994). We will write a custom essay sample on Critical Analysis of Film or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As we can see throughout the film this point made by Mellen is relevant however, in some sense we can see the stereotypical views of representation of men in this era when Marshall Kane hears that Frank Miller (the ostensible villain) will be arriving on the noon train with his gang to kill him. This is when he becomes the main man again and stands up for his town, even though the town’s people haven’t his back, like a true cowboy; he will finish what he started. An American cinema objectifies woman of the 1950’s as not having much diversity in their roles, but High Noon takes a different take of the norm for 50’s females. There are two types of women in these films: the civilizing woman who seeks to end violence and endorse the community; and the dark woman who understands the marshal and the need for violence (Matthew Costello; 2003). In High Noon these are Amy (Grace Kelly), Kane’s wife, and the saloon keeper, Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado). High Noon is known for being momentous as it gives a different standing point of representation towards women. The female’s roles within this movie make it unconventional as women of this era were usually known as the ‘Damsel in Distress’ but not in this case . We are shown an example of this when Helen Ramirez stands up for herself against her lover Harvey Pell, â€Å"Youre a good-looking boy: youve big, broad shoulders. But hes a man. And it takes more than big, broad shoulders to make a man† (1). In her relationship with Pell we realize that she is the stronger of the two and when it comes to the gender role of Harvey he is the weak one and not a real â€Å"man†, again degrading the representation of men once contrasted against Ramirez, which shows how unconventional the movie is to the typical, stereotypes of men of this particular time period. Amy, at the start is shown to be the cliched domesticated housewife as she comes across as the characteristic loving, beautiful young lady getting her hand in marriage. Once we are shown the circumstances that come with Kane staying to kill Frank, we can see the formulaic reactions of the emblematic woman as she turns into a feeble, fragile and frail character in fear of her husband’s life. Once Amy gets talking to Kane about the situation, she swore that she would leave without him if he stayed, â€Å"I mean it! If you wont go with me now, Ill be on that train when it leaves here† (1) showing that she isn’t afraid to threaten her husband and stand up to him. However, the real courageous act and breakthrough that highlights High Noon as being ‘unconventional to the stereotypes of women’, is when Amy gets off the train as she realises she must be there for he husband which finishes up the final scene when she is the one that ends up shooting one of Frank Miller’s gang. She has saved her husband’s life, rather than him saving hers, which is a change in the stereotypical gender roles of a cowboy movie.