Full Moon
Anyone know why the full moon played so prominately in the film? It appeared at least 7 times in the movie.
shareGood question--I was wondering that myself and this is what I came up with.
The moon is out when she first shoots Hammond. She does the murder in full view of everyone, lighted by the moon. So it underscores her brazen act--she did it in full light. Then the true story comes to full light and eventually she herself is "rightly" punished in the full light of the moon. Contrast that with the other symbol of the film--her lace work. She used that to ease her mind when she wasn't with Hammond. She did a good job hiding her true self even after it had been revealed. Make any sense?
That's good.
I have always thought that since the full moon supposedly makes people behave in ways they wouldn't normally, that it also unmasks the subverted emotions her character is forced to hide--bringing her normal cool and the frustration underneath it to a boil. The ingrained british reserve doesn't stand a chance against the full moon.
Even reason is abandoned at the end under the full moon and she willingliy follows her curiosity towards her own frightening fate.
Her compulsive need for control and creating order from the chaos in her heart and mind is why she works so determinedly on the lace. It veils a lot. It's precise and intricate work--just like her alibis.
But in the end, under the full moon, the lace flutters ultimately abandoned as a forlorn symbol of her defeat against her emotions and the undoing of her veneer of containment.
Of course, I haven't really examined it too much...:-)
I've wondered about this myself, and both of these great theories are perfect. The moon with the music were such a part of this film.
shareThe Moon is the only witness to Leslie Crosbie's crime...that is why she looks so alarmed at the start when it suddenly comes from behind the clouds to light up Hammond's body. It's reappearance throughout reminds her that even if she has fooled everyone else, she won't get away with it.
In the final scene, she looks at the moon which ominously hangs over the garden - where she knows she must go to meet her fate.
That's always been my understanding of this motif.
I've seen this film about 5 times and love it more each time. Regarding the crocheting, my theory is that it symbolizes the web of lies she has been weaving (or crocheting) over time. At the beginning of the film the piece of lace, which would have been from the time before the murder, is rather small. By the time she gets out of prison, and after her amazing depiction of her attempted rape, the lies about the letter, and the attempt to buy it with her husband's life savings, the piece of lace has become enormous. Even Dorothy Joyce is amazed at how the lace has "grown." Also buttressing my theory I think, is the fact that at the end, we see her leave the party and go in to the bedroom, where she attempts to crochet -- something she has been doing with ease as long as we've known her. However, this time she realizes that she can't do it (anymore?), and she throws the lace down. A moment later, she attempts to lie to her husband, telling him she loves him. As we see, she realizes that she can't do the lying any more, and confesses that she still loves the man she killed. I think the throwing down of the lace is a metaphor for her throwing down her life of deceit.
Also, I've always wondered why she goes out of the gate at the end of the picture. She expresses no surprise at the sight of Mrs. Hammond, and she must know that Mrs. Hammond is lurking somewhere about (ref. the knife on the veranda). The code being what it was, are we to surmise that Leslie has also come to the conclusion that she can't live anymore as well, and decided to end it all via Mrs. Hammond?
The moon, coming in and out of the clouds as well as the music swelling, makes for a suspenseful film..
My theory at the end is that she has nothing left to live for...she's made her husband miserable and can't face him with what she's done, plus she tells him she still loves the man she killed, and knows they can never be happy again; therefore, she welcomes the death that she knows will come quickly when she walks out into the garden and lets Mrs. Hammond get her revenge.
The knife was put in front of her door, indicating that she should do the honorable thing and commit suicide. When she doesn't, it is picked up later and used on her. She notices it's not there when she goes outside..and she knows what's to come.
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man"..
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I like your explanation BILLYED!
Enrique Sanchez
Just what I was thinking. They were giving her a chance to do the "honorable thing", but she didn't have the courage to kill herself. I have always thought she knew when she walked out into the garden that she was going to her death. Her moment of fear when she's grabbed is just instinctive panic knowing her life is over. And yes, the lace represents the lies she weaves, as well as the emptiness of her life with a man she doesn't love.
shareEXCELLENT THEORY.....I really like that metaphor of the lace and the web of lies. As the English would say, "well done".
shareHA, CAN TELL YOU HAVEN'T. I AGREE WITH YOU. VERY GOOD ANAL. I WAS MARRIED TO A WOMEN THAT COULD DEAL WITH HER DISCONTENT BY DOING PRCISE AND INTRICATE THINGS! ALAS IT ONLY MASKED THEM FOR A WHILE, THEN THE DISCONTENT SPILLS FORTH.
shareI took the fluttering of the lace as her ghost, brushing past, on it's way to her ultimate fate.
share