Sleeping With the Enemy, staring Julia Roberts as Laura and Patrick Bergin as Martin, is an atypical love story as Laura tries to make a new life for herself, which happens to include a new man named Ben. Laura and Martin were married for four years during which Martin constantly beat her for not being the perfect wife in his eyes. She decides she must do whatever it takes to escape and begin a new life in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The story line in itself is worth watching the movie for, but it is enhanced with the use of different film techniques such as sound, cinematography, and color.
Sound plays an enormous role in creating moods for the audience in this film. Through mainly orchestral pieces, the audience is more or less forced to feel certain ways. The first example of this is when Laura and Martin are on the sailboat and the storm comes as Laura secretly jumps overboard for her escape to a new life. During that scene, there is fast pace, high pitch non-diegetic music for the audience that instills feelings of anxiety and suspense. In addition, when Martin first figured out that his wife escaped by receiving a phone call from a woman Laura new from the YWCA and finding her wedding ring in the toilet, that music that the audience experienced was high pitch and anxiety producing. The filmmakers used sound differently in a couple of scenes as well. They used a low pitch, somber sounding track to emphasize Laura’s words as she said, “…that was the night that I died, and someone else was saved…” Also, the song Symphonie Fantastique by Berlioz acted as symbol throughout the film for the danger that Laura faced with her husband. The first time we heard this song was in the beginning right after we see Martin beat Laura for the first time. The last two times it was played was near the end when Laura suspects Martin of being in her new house in Iowa. The song is played for the last time when the boom box is placed in front of the door and we see Martin come up behind Laura and embrace her.
The cinematography used if fairly minimal to keep the film looking realistic, but it creates very meaningful nuances. The most drastic and noticeable technique was the use of low angles while filming Martin. Throughout the film, Martin always seems very tall and domineering because of the low angles on him. Especially in the scene where Martin first finds Laura’s mother in her new nursing home, Martin appears to be towering over her mother as she sits unaware crocheting in her wheelchair. From the angle alone, we interpret that Martin has total control and power in their relationship. The two primary shots used to infer that scenes were meaningful were extreme long shots and close up shots. Extreme long shots were used while she was in the ocean swimming to shore, on the bus passing through numerous states, and as she arrived in Cedar Falls. These moments were all major steps in the transition to her new life, and it is clear that they are highlighted by these extreme long shots. Close up shots were used a lot to show intense emotions on the characters faces. In the beginning there were close up shots exposing Laura’s pain and sadness when Martin touched her, then as she told her story on the bus close up shots were used to clearly show the agony on both of the women’s faces.
Lastly, color was used on a purely symbolic level during the film. Most noticeably, the color red kept resurfacing and seemed to symbolize danger. The first time the color red came up was after their first big fight that we saw; Martin came home with a bouquet of red roses and a red teddy. After, the color red highlighted danger as Laura was cast under red light when she was swimming to freedom by a buoy, and Martin was under a red light when he was stalking her at the carnival. The contrast of dull and bright colors also added to the film by only using dull colors such as black and white when Laura was with Martin and using bright colors when she was living her new life with Ben in Cedar Falls.
This film has always been one of my favorites, and by digging deeper into it through analysis I have had the opportunity to appreciate it more for its techniques not only its storyline. I highly recommend this movie, but proceed with caution…it is a bit creepy!
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