Brian de Palmas 1976 film is is the first, most famous, and most widely-praised adaptation of. The words Carrie White burns in hell appear again here, this time scrawled in red paint across Carries actual gravestone. Carrie's original sin was being born. After getting disgraced by Chris, everyone laughs at Carrie, forcing her to use her powers to burn down the school. After all, mothers dont like to their daughters. Spacek also examined the body language ofthose stoned to death for their sins. The sequence was filmed, but the effect of the rocks did not result in De Palma's liking, so the ending was changed. Considering the millions of words devoted to analyzing Stephen Kings novel Carrie in light of the abundance of religious imagery and the seemingly unlikely coincidental naming of a major character, it is actually surprising how rarely one comes across an interpretation that almost begs to be examined. She is good and her goodness is made all the more striking by virtue of the portrait of Carrie which is painted by her mother in her hysterical prayers: "help this sinning woman beside me here see the sin of her days and ways. With the original film version celebrating its 44th anniversary this year, here are 10-Behind-The-Scenes Facts about the making of Carrie (1976). The music slowly begins to pick up its tempo when Sues realisation becomes apparent. When the pigs blood drops on Carrie, the non-diegetic score peaks and becomes distorted, a range of new instruments are introduced in a warped manner creating a climax of noise. Based on Stephen King's first published novel, the story centers on Carrie (Sissy Spacek), a timid teenage girl who is bullied in school by popular girls and tormented at home by her fanatically religious mother (Piper Laurie). Still, there's a lot to like in this remake. With Julianne Moore, Chlo Grace Moretz, Gabriella Wilde, Portia Doubleday. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Carrie by Stephen King. Stephen King gave a multi-faced perspective that featured many primary and minor characters, giving the story an intricate depth and detail. Soles) in Carrie dies via fire hose. RELATED: 10 Differences Between Carrie Remake & Original 1976 Movie. Carrieshows how bullying affects the mind of young adults and shapes them to become enemies of society. that what she witnessed was a natural act? Her haunting you from. The use of cross cutting creates a chaotic atmosphere as the tension swells as the hazy lighting blurs the focal points, this serves as the climax. The camera stays on the gravestone as Sues black-booted feet walk away and an electric guitar riff starts up. The gruesome nature of the novel made Stephen King feel disconnected from the main character as he could not fully indulge in Carrie . That question is asked more than once in "Carrie," and it cuts to the heart of this new adaptation. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . RELATED: Every Carrie Movie Ranked, Worst To Best. The slow motion returns as the pace of the editing slows down, this creates a crescendo in the scene as the scene started off with slow motion, then the editing became so fast it was reminiscent of subliminal images, and now the editing has returned to its original pace. Interiority is not the provenance of the novel alone. There is a heavy use of cross cutting between Sue who is getting kicked out of the prom (the gym teacher assumes she is there to sabotage Carrie), Carrie and Tommy who are on the stage receiving praise from the audience. The change of pace serves as a suggestion that the tone of the film is also going to alter, this is also done by the score which has now introduce a bass which swells as Sue is getting kicked out of the prom, this lets the audience know that the climax is going to arrive. Born and raised in California, Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on theory and criticism, is the author of several "WTF Happened To This Movie" and "WTF Really Happened To This Movie" videos on YouTube, and has covered everything in the entertainment industry from set visits, studio luncheons, and red carpet interviews to wrap parties, movie premieres, private screenings, talent interviews, and more. And totally memorable. De Palma opted to keep the shot in the film, even though Soles was so badly hurt that she could not hear out of one ear for the following six months before the eardrum eventually mended. Her body is perceived as possessed by an introject of an intrusive, domineering,. In this version, Carrie gets to be the Final Girl. She may have committed the Sin of Lustful Thoughts. Carries mind was far from innocent; this made her feel like a terrible sinner as part of her mothers fanatism was present in her. The book featured both first and third-person perspectives. Some girls, led by Christine Hargensen, start throwing tampons at her. Critics panned the Pierces adaptation and called it unnecessary given its similarity to the still-iconic de Palma film. It establishes a connection between the two girls and gives Sue a voice to tell their stories. The version of Sue in this film is a slightly smoothed-out version of Kings character not quite as cruel or derisive in her worst moments but Pierce does maintain Sues complexity and the connection between her and Carrie. King also ensures that Carrie isnt an angel. Most significantly, Sue is the only person who willingly opens her mind to Carrie. This girl Carrie isn't another stereotyped product of the horror production line; she's a shy, pretty, and complicated high school senior who's a lot like kids we once knew. Fatal Attraction Works As Entertainment, Fails as Social Commentary, Prime Videos Citadel Traps Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden in Played-Out Spy Game, New York Philharmonic and Steven Spielberg Celebrate the Music of John Williams, A Piece of His Fire: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023). All rights reserved. Carrie snaps out of that hallucination, then pulls of her wig and stars pensively into the distance. Pierces original aim was to to be a reinterpretation of Kings novel; there are rumoured to be 40 minutes of cut footage, including filmed versions of many of the White Commission. Sue remains firm. The prom crowd doesn't start lusting after her the moment she walks in. Carrie dies from excess blood loss. The shot lingers on the hysterical Carrie forcing us to sympathise with her and possibly even ignore her approaching actions. Sue is forced to truly bear witness to the pain Carrie has suffered and gets the opportunity to offer Carrie a moments succor with no ulterior motives. Its about the horror of being alone in the dark. The shot was achieved with the help of cinematographer Mario Tosi, who replaced original DP Isidore Mankofsky early in production over creative differences with De Palma. When the Stephen King book was first optioned, it was set up with producer Paul Monash at 20th Century Fox, and Monash hired writer Lawrence D. Cohen to pen a first . This ending sits a lot more strangely with the rest of Pierces film because it seems to undermine the connection established between Sue and Carrie at Carries death by ending on a note of fear. Carrie is a perfect example. Peirce's version sometimes makes Chris seem a bit of a victim, too, by implying that she was spoiled rotten by her yuppie dadplayed by a perfectly cast Hart Bochner, a.k.a. The editing is slow and deliberate, for example the camera tracks Sues eye line to show the audience the bucket of blood. A shy girl, outcast by her peers and sheltered by . She had hopes and she had fears. Her myopic view on religion got passed on to her daughter, and after Carrie resisted, Margaret used subjugation to break her. Its a striking ending that is consistent with both genre tropes and de Palmas specific vision for Carrie, but not the character of Sue Snell or her relationship with Carrie. Unlike in de Palmas film, there is no indication that the gravestone shattering moment exists in the context a dream: Sue doesnt even see the stone shatter, only the audience does. This guilt eats away at her for the whole novel. Whoever the author.Discover new and exciting books to dive into with our Book Explorer Tool. The one thing which that description does not apply to throughout most of the book isCarrie White. Feeling both ashamed and afraid of her condition, Desjardin tells Carrie that she was having her first period even though it surprised her that Carrie experienced her first at a late age. Her gawkiness is internalized. Because of her mothers religious fanatism, Carrie grows up with her mother teaching her nothing about how her body works; this makes Carrie ignorant. This infantilizing is made clear when her mother fails to tell her about menstruation, her first period being her rite of passage, as it were, into womanhood. Carrie gets dressed up nicely for prom, but it is done in a realistic way. The first adaptation ended with stones raining on Carries house, killing her and her mother. The community's original sin was attacking Carrie in the shower, humiliating her for manifesting signs of Eve's "curse." Sues insecurities and internal conflicts are verbalized and mirrored back to her in a scene with the cruelly perceptive Chris. Ironically while the rest of the cut footage was rumoured to me much more consistent with Kings novel, this ending borrows significantly from de Palmas film, with Pierce doing him one better on the shock front after all, whats more horrifying that someone haunting you from beyond the grave? Carrie is one of the most iconic horror movies ever made, and here are 10 interesting behind the scenes facts about the film. She would hole up in her trailer, which was adorned with a slew of religious regalia including Gustave Dore's illustrated Bible. The story of Carrie begins when her mother gives birth to her with little medical assistance. However, viewers can spot the optical illusion when a car in the background drives down the street backward. Chris pours pig blood on Carrie, and everyone laughs at her. The final paragraph reinforces the connection between Carrie and Sue by mirroring the novels opening trauma, only this time it is Sue who feels blood run down her legs. Prom Dress. Blood represented an entity that Carrie knew she was never going to escape. Although Carrie can be seen as a horror film, it is dominantly a "Coming of Age" story due to the conflicts that are presented against Carrie. Prom Dresses Market 2023 Research report presents an in-depth analysis of the Prom Dresses market size, growth, share, segments, manufacturers, and technologies, key trends, market drivers . Carrie gets stabbed by her mother and heads to the road, where she meets Chris and her boyfriend, killing them. Not affiliated with Harvard College. The shot takes place as Sue Snell places flowers on Carrie's grave. This version strands the supporting characters between realism and archetype, an awkward spot. However, it uses an omniscient narrator for most of its story. Andthe end Sue is a much more straightforward friend to Carrie, with their mad dash across state lines evoking shades of Thelma and Louise. The novel ends with a cliffhanger suggesting that Carries powers still existed and that a young girl inherited them. . Though Carrie wanted to experience life like an average girl, she could not because her mother destroyed her social life; this led to her getting ostracized by her peers. A bucket of pig blood is pulled and it covers her and her date, Tommy. Im going to analyse a scene from Brian De Palmas Carrie. The lighting changes to a dramatic red which connotes blood, which then is alluded to the idea of violence. Rather than focusing on the blood per se, consider who is always there in concert with the blood, using it to taunt poor Carrie. Actually, its worth noting Carrie spares Sue that fright. It is a scenecomprised of telepathic communication. Before they break.. If we accept that Carrie has suddenly become a ghost, we can be reasonably sure she isnt haunting Sue. A hopeless cinephile, social media Luddite, certified Nic Cage doppelganger, and a big Weekend At Bernie's fan, Jake can often be found tucked away in a dark corner watching an old horror movie. The music compliments the slow motion as they both slowly drawl out the process of Carries prank, when the editing becomes more fast paced so does the score, this indicates the approaching terror. At school she is bullied for her appearance, her general difference to others and of course the very public beginning of her menstruation. These various adapted endings all have their points of interest but its hard to argue with Kings original. will review the submission and either publish your submission or providefeedback. Instead she very deliberately and maliciously destroys her towns water supplies before dousing as much of it as possible it in gasoline and setting it on fire. Required fields are marked *. By ending with this reference de Palma aligns Carrie with these psychopaths, recasts Carrie simply as a creature haunting Sues unconscious. However, she showed signs of a mental issue, and those issues got channeled into the form of religious fanatism. Carries body language is reminiscent of Christian icons of tortured saints and martyrs, this links to her religious upbringing and her change from a young angelic girl into a vengeful demon. The music composer for Psycho, Bernard Herrmann, scored two of De Palma's prior movies, Sisters and Obsession. One thing Carrie wanted was to have revenge on the people who tormented her. Carrie is bulled everywhere she goes, both home and school. Although several witnesses describe being able to vaguely intuit Carries feelings and intentions, Sue is the only character who is so in tune with Carrie she is actually able to track her. After discovering she had the power of telekinesis, Carrie felt overjoyed as she knew she had powers that could protect her from the dangers of her peers. This ending sits a lot more strangely with the rest of Pierces film because it seems to undermine the connection established between Sue and Carrie at Carries death by ending on a note of fear. Its Carrie who inspires Sues first transgressions against the social order: Sue rebels against the cruel, popular Chris Hargensen by accepting her share of the punishment for abusing Carrie and flouts the expectations of her peers by sending Carrie to prom in her place. As Carrie dies Sue is able to offer company and the comfort of knowing at least one person meant her no harm. The horrific mayhem that surrounded the scene enabled for a satisfying means to an end; justice had been served. Its a striking ending that is consistent with both genre tropes and de Palmas specific vision for. After the incident at prom, Carrie snapped, and that was when all her emotions of hate and revenge came flooding back in. Frankly, though, it reads less like a thoughtful addition to the rest of the film and more like a half-hearted capitulation to the genre dictate to end on a scare. In the final pages of the novel, it got revealed that Sue was late on her period; this leads to the conclusion that she was indeed pregnant with Tommys child. Sues testimony from the hearing continues in voiceover: You want an explanation? By ending with this reference de Palma aligns Carrie with these psychopaths, recasts Carrie simply as a creature haunting Sues unconscious. The 2002 made-for-television adaptation of, offers another ending for the story that differs dramatically from the novel and the film adaptations and for good reason. Though the story is fictional, its elements of realism push the mind of its reader to the extreme. In this dream Sue dressed in a white flowing gown and holding a colourful bouquet of flowers, walks toward the site of the former White house, where Carrie White burns in hell is scrawled in red paint across a For Sale sign. And ghost-Carrie does seem like the most obvious interpretation if we take this moment literally and as integral to the film. After that, they were thrown out of the garden of their innocence, or ignorance; each counterplot or attempt to make amends is a doomed attempt to return to the garden. Sue is still pregnant and clutches her belly, still screaming, as her mother holds her hand. Analysis Paragraphs: The ending of the book Carrie by Stephen King is very unique. A state of emergency is declared in Chamberlain as the death toll reaches four hundred. the protagonist is jolted awake by a nightmare of the sadistic cannibal strangers who hunted him throughout the film. Or unutterably evil. Carries terror kills hundreds of people. Utterly humiliated, Carrie freezes, and everyone begins to laugh at her. Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture. Trying to overrun her, Carrie sends Chriss car flying through a wall, killing them. The use of a spilt scene juxtaposes the characters reactions to the prank; Carrie is clearly distressed and has turned vengeful whereas her classmates find it amusing. I will be focusing on the iconic prom scene which serves as the climax of the film, as Carrie takes revenge on her high school bullies after constantly being tormented. After killing her classmates, Carrie heads home and confronts her mother, who believes she got possessed by Satan. The intention of the editing and sound is to set up tension in the build up to the pig's blood being poured on Carrie. He shows the bucket of blood. Mentioning Stephen King's classic 1974 horror novel likely calls to mind one of two iconic scenes: Carrie getting her period for the first time in the school shower and being pelted with tampons as her classmates scream "Plug it up!" or Carrie wreaking fatal havoc on a gym full of students after being drenched in pig's blood just as she was Bullying Motif. In this version, Carrie gets to be the Final Girl. This adaptation was intended as a backdoor pilot for an ongoing Carrie television series (it wasnt picked up). It is through your support of visiting Book Analysis that we can support charities, such as Teenage Cancer Trust. The Cast Of Carrie (1976): Where Are They Now? Perhaps because this "Carrie" is helmed by one of the only prominent female directors in Hollywood, Kimberly Peirce ("Boys Don't Cry"), it appreciates Carrie and her mother and the heroine's various female adversaries as women, and portrays their brand of cruelty as specifically female. The diegetic sound of Carrie gasping can be heard, this marks the first diegetic sound of the characters. She stabs Carrie in the shoulder. Bad dream? Sue asks, before her face is transformed into that of Chris Hargensen. The ability to move objects and control things represented Carries desire to control her life. The iconic prom scene in Carrie took two weeks and roughly 35 takes to create. All of Carrie's pent up emotions from the malevolent bullying she had faced throughout the film were finally released. Short of a Carrie adapters roundtable, wecan never really be sure. Chris decides to exert her revenge on Carrie by ruining her prom and employs the help of her boyfriend and his gang. Carrie is a novel that brings themes of vengeance, pain, and suffering into the life of a young girl who should have never experienced the torment she received from everyone. Each killing is a discrete work employing different media and techniques: death by psychic assault, by trampling, by electrocution, by fire, by face-through-glass. But when famed production designer Jack Fisk suggested his wife Sisssy Spacek audition, everything changed. When Carrie spares Miss Desjardin from the prom rampage, lifting her off a dance floor that she's about to fill with corpses, it's one of the most perversely touching gestures in a movie filled with them. This ending is a significant departure from all previous version of the characters, which makes sense for a film exists not so much to adapt Kings book but to provide an origin story for a new series. Tommy asks Carrie to prom, and though she initially tries to decline, she later agrees to his offer. This is achieved by an eye line match, as her awareness grows; the camera follows her line of vision. After showing reluctance for a while, Carrie accepts Tommys invitation. Margarets fanatism influenced Carries life as it cut her off from the real world. Accessed 1 May 2023. Even when Carrie tried her best to fit in, she still got rejected; this only added to her torture. Carries rage extends to all of Chamberlain as she delivers a telepathic message to Chamberlains citizens and then rains hell on them by destroying buildings and killing people. This ending is a significant departure from all previous version of the characters, which makes sense for a film exists not so much to adapt Kings book but to provide an origin story for a new series. Carries powers rise to the surface precisely because Chris is so monstrous, and yes those powers are wrought for evil purposes. Peirce has turned "Carrie" into dark, sick take on a superhero origin story, complete with wide-angle lenses and God's-eye-view shots and poetic sound effects (when Margaret is near, Carrie "hears" her before she sees her, thanks to a high-pitched whine that's like a dog whistle). Carrie discovers she is not an ordinary person as she discovers she has telekinetic powers. Carrie gets ridiculed by girls who throw tampons at her after getting her first period while in the shower room. The film treats the school's gym teacher Miss Desjardin (Judy Greer)who punishes Chris Hargensen (Portia Doubleday), leader of the girls who torture Carrieas Carrie's shadow "good" mother. These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. Carrie's prom scene serves as a climatic eruption of revenge. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. They should really put a sign up: "Don't flush tampons down the toilet, or throw them at each other ." Importantly, though, Sue is the only one who seems to feel bad about it. But at its heartCarrie is a horror story of isolation and abuse about a girl with no safe haven and no one to understand her. On prom day, Carrie and Tommy have a good time as she meets his friends and talks with him. Their clapping stops and the score slowly distorts into an empty silence, the only diegetic sound present is the dripping of the blood from the bucket. The primary genre ofCarrieis horror. Carrie cant seem to turn around without stumbling over Chris Hargensen: The catcall came first from Chris Hargensen., Chris Hargensen called up after school from the Kelly Fruit Company downtown and asked her if she knew that pig poop was spelled C-A-R-R-I-E., She cant get away with it! To atone for her part in the bullying and to give Carrie at least one good memory of high school Sue gives her prom night with her boyfriend, Tommy, for Carrie, and risks provoking her classmates ire in the process. Carriemade sure to dive deep into the mind of its main character as it showed everyone a girl who wanted to be loved, respected, and feared. The Female Revenger: Gothic Influence in Stephen Kings Carrie and Gillian Flynns Gone Girl, Emergent Sexuality and Religious Shame: How Stephen King in 'Carrie' and Peter Shaffer in 'Equus' Use Stylistic Features. Guilt is a theme that coursed through the minds of some characters inCarrie.Sue felt guilty for what she did to Carrie while in the shower room, and her feeling of guilt caused the entire story of Carries demise. De Palmas film also reduces the role Sue plays in the story and the depth of her characterization. This adaptation was intended as a backdoor pilot for an ongoing. In contrast to DePalma's version, Carrie's mom seems less a standard-issue, frothing-at-the-mouth "religious nut" movie character than a mentally ill single mom, eking out a living as a seamstress and dry cleaner. Christine always seems to be around whenever anything bad happens to Carrie when shes away from home. The diegetic sound (apart from the blood in the bucket) is muted to emphasis the action. Original sin is never far from its mind. Sue, one of the girls who bullied Carrie, felt guilty for what she did, and trying to atone for her misconduct, she tells her boyfriend, Tommy, to ask Carrie to prom. Pierces original aim was to to be a reinterpretation of Kings novel; there are rumoured to be 40 minutes of cut footage, including filmed versions of many of the White Commission. The fast paced editing is contrasted to the slow and intentional dragging earlier on in the scene. The reader never learns if Sue Snell marries or joins a country club, but we do know that she wrote a book, a memoir of her account of what happened on prom night that both exonerates her from implication in Chris Hargensens horrific prank and humanizes Carrie. It belongs to the culture. Margaret White and Chris Hargensen take the role Carrie occupies at the end of the other adaptations with Carrie essentially taking on Sues role. The easiest answer might be in the question: Kings ending is highly novelistic. write out a theme statement for The Supernatural and the power it wields. Spacek wore a sailor dress made for her as a child and smeared Vaseline in her hair prior to the audition, which she hit out of the park. Watch, Momma said. In the novel, Carrie and her mother lack a healthy mental life. Killed a bunch of people. Its not an entirely faithful adaptation of the original end of Carrie, but for the most part it is consistent with the spirit of Kings ending. Its after this point that things take a turn for the nonsensical. However its worth noting that this fear is not of Carrie herself, but of giving birth to Carrie: of having a daughter that takes after (the tormented, suffering and eventually violent) Carrie. (Peirce doesn't show nudity; this time it's all about the girls' emotions.). Carrie: Directed by Kimberly Peirce. The sonic flashbacks end and a new non-diegetic score is introduced, the tone is eerie and it plays only one melody the entire time. Most importantly, the two see each other. Whatever the genre. Its also not Pierces original ending. This interpretation is supported by de Palmas comments that the final scene of his film was inspired by the 1972 thriller. "Thanks, Mom. There is also diegetic sound present but it can barely be heard due to the score, ambient noises of people clapping and cheering for Carrie is contrasted to the slightly frantic score. As Sue walks away, Carrie feels a hand clap her on the shoulder. After you claim a section youll have 24 hours to send in a draft. A character analysis of Carrie reveals an adolescent who is unable to separate psychologically from her mother. Again and again. The iconic prom scene in Carrie took two weeks and roughly 35 takes to create. Moore's Margaret is a purely pitable figure who scratches and cuts her own flesh, and who cannot love herself, let alone a child. On getting crowned as prom queen, Chris exerts her revenge on Carrie; this makes everyone burst out laughing and mocking Carrie, who had horror written over her face. It's on this last point, though, that "Carrie" falters most conspicuouslyand ironically, its failure is a product of its decision to depart from the novel and the first film, but without going far enough. In high school, Carrie begins to experience what being a woman was about as she got her first period in the shower room after gym class. The easiest answer might be in the question: Kings ending is highly novelistic. Being a gothic horror novel,Carriehas influenced American culture as it made people see the dark side of the mind of those who get bullied. Due to its depiction of how the teenagers died, Carrie got banned in parts of the United States. It will make you think of the evil that goes on in parking lots and roadhouses.. Still, Peirce's movie does have a nod to this dress in Sue's unworn prom . Using epistolary writing, Stephen King designed Carrie to show different angles of characters who mattered to the story. Carrie tries to kill sue, but after discovering Sue did not plot with Chris to humiliate her, she freed her.