1990 | Auteur Theory

Directed by: Rob Reiner

Cast: Kathy Bates [Annie Wilkes], James Caan [Paul Sheldon], Richard Farnsworth [Buster]

Paul Sheldon, a novelist, is in a serious car crash and is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes, who claims to be his number-one fan. Annie brings him to her house in the suburbs, where her obsession for him takes a horrifying turn when Sheldon is killing off her favourite character, Misery, in his upcoming novel. As Sheldon comes up with a plan for escaping, Annie becomes more controlling and violent as she forces the author to write according to her wishes.

Based on: ‘Misery’ by Stephen King

My rating: 8.5/10

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Narrative aspects

‘Misery’ is a film that explores a brilliantly thought out plot that is simple but yet multi-layered. The film mainly takes place in the house of Annie Wilkens, limiting the settings in which the protagonist Pal Sheldon is exposed to yet, the film remains to be interesting until the end. A main point about the film is the character portrayal and development that aid the story to move forward and engages the audience into the surprises of the unknown:

Paul Sheldon – The famous author for the ‘Misery’ novel series suffers from a celebrities worst nightmare when he is taken hostage by a woman who claims to be his number-one fan. Paul Sheldon is thankful at first but as the story progresses he starts to realise that whatever happened to him with the car crash was a complete disaster and far from any good. The audience sees him start to struggle and suffer, which would ultimately bring an inner awakening to a person who would be assured of being arrogant and egotistical. Paul has a successful novel series and out of nowhere, he is in a situation he never thought he would end up in. It makes one realise how sufficient we are on our own but also how easily we can be brought down to nothing from illness or injury. Paul is seen bedridden and completely dependant on Annie Wilkens, who sadly, by his bad luck, is not someone who he would want taking care of him.
Annie Wilkens – The antagonist of the film is seen with a variety of attitudes, from content and civilized to completely rageful and horrific, which would lead an audience to immediately conclude that Annie is suffering from bipolar disorder. She is easily triggered into feeling angry by the slightest of words or actions, and Paul falls victim to it. Annie’s innocence is shadowed upon a few scenes after she appears, at first making an audience question the outburst but once it continues repeatedly on occasions, an in-depth look into her character could unearth more origins for her behaviour. Annie is portrayed as someone who is most likely having ‘Celebrity Worship Syndrome’, an obsessive-addictive disorder, where clearly, Paul is the famous personality in this situation. For Annie to stumble upon her idol is beyond her dreams and she displays to be ‘overly involved and interested (i.e., completely obsessed) with the details of the personal life of a celebrity’ (PsychologyToday). This leads her into controlling Paul as if he is some sort of play-doll or pawn in a game of chess, with her demands being every move towards reaching ‘checkmate’ and gaining the version of the ‘Misery’ novels she would be pleased with.

According to Wikipedia, based on the book by Christopher Booker:

Overcoming the Monster
- The protagonist sets out to defeat an antagonistic force (often evil) which threatens the protagonist and/or protagonist’s homeland.
Rags to Riches
- The poor protagonist acquires power, wealth, and/or a mate loses it all and gains it back, growing as a person as a result.
The Quest
- The protagonist and companions set out to acquire an important object or to get to a location. They face temptations and other obstacles along the way.
Voyage and Return
- The protagonist goes to a strange land and, after overcoming the threats it poses to them, they return with experience.
Comedy
- A light and humorous character with a happy or cheerful ending; a dramatic work in which the central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.
Tragedy
- The protagonist’s character flaw or great mistake which is their undoing. Their unfortunate end evokes pity at their folly and the fall of a fundamentally good character.
Rebirth
- An event forces the main character to change their ways and often become a better person.

‘Misery’ fits in the categories of ‘Overcoming the Monster’ (where Paul makes it his mission to get rid of Annie, the antagonist, and break free from being held captive), ‘Rags to Riches’ (Paul is successful at his work as an author and it all goes away when Annie finds him after the car accident. Paul grows as a person with more consideration as he escapes from Annie’s home), ‘Rebirth’ (Whatever Paul goes through makes him realise that he should change his ways and so ends up with a new mindset about himself and his work). The combination of these plots allows the story of the film to become more in-depth as well as continue to remain entertaining with multi-layered characters till the credits roll. It is storytelling at its finest and combining many of these plot concepts is not noticeable in the film, nor probably in the book by Stephen King.

Infer & Deduce: The film’s title shares its name with the novel it is based on by Stephen King, though contains a hint of mystery since the word ‘Misery’ is also the name of the book series that the main character, author Paul Sheldon, creates and writes. Additionally, this is also the name of the protagonist in the book series that is in the book written by Stephen King that the film is based on. Humorously, it sort of feels like something Christopher Nolan would conjure up. Moreover, the use of the descriptor ‘Misery’ would apply to the emotional state Paul Sheldon goes through while being held captive at Annie’s house, as well as what Annie feels towards Sheldon.

Technical Aspects

‘Misery’ uses a variety of techniques to convey the mysterious and disturbing attitude of the character Annie, for example, or the nature of the plot itself. While the soundtrack enhances the atmosphere and makes the scenes more suspenseful, the variety of shot types allows certain implicit messages to be translated for the audience:

Bird’s-Eye Shot – In the few beginning scenes, shots taken from a helicopter while flying over a landscape create the setting for the rest of the film, allowing the audience to familiarise themselves with where the story takes place and how the setting could affect the fate of the characters.
Long Shots – These kinds of shots are used for establishing a setting but show the more intricate of details when compared to a bird’s-eye view. An example of this are scenes from the beginning where the snowy mountains and location is shown while Paul Sheldon drives on the road. Like the Bird’s-Eye Shot, it enlightens the audience about the setting where the film could prominently take place and how the snow, in this film, could act as a helping hand for the protagonist when he is in a life-or-death situation. In ‘Misery’, it is the snow that causes him to be taken hostage by his psychotic number-one fan Annie Wilkens.
Extreme Close-Up Shots – These kinds of shots are used to either direct the focus of the audience to a specific aspect in particular or if an object is of small sizes, like the orange Novril pills that Annie gives to Paul for his pain. Moreover, a sequence that extensively uses these shots is when Annie is coming back home from getting the paper Paul requested for his typewriter while Paul is hurriedly going back to his room so that Annie does not suspect anything. Movement and facial expressions are emphasised on as the pace of the scene rises. Paul is seen struggling with his injury but hastening to his room with close-up shots of the door nob and him locking the door with a bobby pin, for example, or Annie shoes as she walks into the house.
Low Angled/High Angled Shots – These camera angles allow an audience to view the world from certain characters’ point of view without the shot being in the first person. Low Angled shots are used to create the view of Paul Sheldon since he is lower in height when talking to Annie because of being on his bed recovering. Similarly, the audience sees a repeated use of High-Angled Shots that portray how Annie sees Paul, towering over him and looking down. Moreover, these shots depict the level of power in the situation where Annie is seen as superior and controlling over Paul, and Paul is inferior and helpless.
Pans/Tilts/Dolly Movements – Camera movements of any kind keep the shots more interesting to watch for an audience. While in some moments they help reveal details an audience would not have seen in the setting, camera movements follow characters throughout a scene allowing the audience to feel as if they are in the situation rather than watching characters on a screen. This film uses movements to their advantage in scenes that are high in tension with no knowledge of the fate of characters. This keeps it fast-paced as well as the audiences on the edge of their seat.

Furthermore, the lighting techniques allow another level of emotion to be felt by the audience as it creates an intimidating atmosphere in some settings while giving a natural, homely look in others. In scenes hot during the day, lighting is mostly natural from the source of the sun, while indoor scenes use lamps and candles to illuminate the set. In addition to that, an interesting use of lighting is when it starts to rain in the area where Annie lives. When she enters into Paul’s room with surprise, the scene uses the lightning outside to create a dramatic play of light and shadow on her face, enhancing the menacing and malevolent attitude of Annie.

Favourite Scene

This scene explores a different side of Annie Wilkens as she is seen with a unique attitude when compared to the rest of the film. Annie is seen to have an inner realisation about the situation with Paul Sheldon, stating that because he is almost finished with writing the Misery novel that she wants and that his legs are getting better, he would demand to be let out of the house and go home. Annie would not have any control over his life and situation she seems to be enjoying and the rain outside continues to remind her of that ‘inevitable’ future.

The scene uses an array of camera techniques to portray the emotions that Annie in particularly is feeling, with close-up shots emphasising on capturing her facial features and expressions of despair and melancholy. This makes an audience’s strong pessimistic feelings towards her psychotic behaviour previously die down a little as she is seen to have a progression of character and forget about her delusions. Annie seems to know that she cannot have everything she wants anymore. While this scene has comparatively focused on Annie with lengthened shots on the character, the reactions have been countered with Paul’s expressions being shown from time to time as she looks at him and says particular words. From the way Paul reacts, he would seem to feel exactly the same as the audience and be hopeful that once the new Misery novel would be over, and Annie receives the story she wanted, she would let him go without any harm. There is a look of relief on Paul’s face. The low-key lighting in this scene adds to the gloomy atmosphere created by the rain which in turn affects Annie’s normally energetic attitude. Moreover, the natural lighting sources of the lamps in the room make the scene feel less scripted or fabricated and more of an actuality. To add on, the sound from the rain outside hitting the windows also brings more emotional pain to the scene while making it more naturalistic.

However, all restored faith in Annie Wilkens drains away when she seems to become detached from the rationale she was leading Paul towards believing and pulls out a small revolver from her robe pocket. Immediately the audience, as well as Paul, realise that Annie definitely has some psychological conflictions with herself and would do anything in her power to achieve what she wills. The tension rises in the scene, creating anticipation towards what horrific action Annie would commit next, or when she would have her next anger outburst. The final dutch-angled shot in the scene taken to show Annie exiting her house and stepping onto the porch portrays a sense of displacement between the character’s attitude as well as their morale.

What would I do differently?

Of course, producing this film with modern day technology would allow it to be high definition and consist of different settings, clothes and props as times have changed though I would not change anything about the film. It was pleasant to watch, disturbing at times which is exactly what it intended on, as well as, entertaining. The actors did a brilliant job in portraying the characters and the emotions they felt in the situation.