Crimson Peak
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam
In the aftermath of a family tragedy, Edith Cushing, an aspiring young authoress, is torn between the love for her childhood friend and the charming and seductive outsider, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). As she struggles to escape the ghosts haunting her past, Edith is swept away by Thomas to a house that breathes, bleeds - and remembers.
Butterflies play a strong, symbolic role when it comes to illustrating power…particularly between Edith (who represents the beautiful, yet fragile butterfly) and Lady Lucille (who embodies the dark and powerful black moths who thrive on the butterflies and dwell only in darkness and cold).
When they are in her world, Edith is the butterfly - the delicate beauty adorned in golds and whites and Thomas and his sister, Lady Lucille (Jessica Chastain) are the black moths – dark and powerful, but out of place in the light - as seen in the dance scene where Lucille's vibrant red dress clashes sharply among a sea of soft whites and pinks. When Edith goes into their world after her father’s untimely death, the roles are switched. Lucille is now the powerful black moth and Edith is the one who doesn't belong, as seen by the colors she wears (gold and white). As she grows weaker, and Lucille’s power over her grows, those golds that illuminate her in the darkness of her new home soon fade to her wearing pure, fragile white. The only time the two worlds merge together is when Edith and Thomas have their love scene alone.
The ring that is worn by the women in the film is also a strong metaphor for who possesses the power. It’s not just a sentimental trinket. We first learn see in the painting that the ring was originally warn by Lucille's mother when she had power over her children. Lady Lucille inherited the ring…and the power…after her mother’s mysterious death, but when Thomas gives Edith the ring after they are married, she then had an illusion of power over Lucille. When Lucille took the ring back from Edith after the girl discovers the family’s dark past, this act is a deliberate way of Lucille saying "I am in power now" after Edith learns their secret.
© 2013 – 2018 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, Charlie Hunnam
In the aftermath of a family tragedy, Edith Cushing, an aspiring young authoress, is torn between the love for her childhood friend and the charming and seductive outsider, Sir Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston). As she struggles to escape the ghosts haunting her past, Edith is swept away by Thomas to a house that breathes, bleeds - and remembers.
Butterflies play a strong, symbolic role when it comes to illustrating power…particularly between Edith (who represents the beautiful, yet fragile butterfly) and Lady Lucille (who embodies the dark and powerful black moths who thrive on the butterflies and dwell only in darkness and cold).
When they are in her world, Edith is the butterfly - the delicate beauty adorned in golds and whites and Thomas and his sister, Lady Lucille (Jessica Chastain) are the black moths – dark and powerful, but out of place in the light - as seen in the dance scene where Lucille's vibrant red dress clashes sharply among a sea of soft whites and pinks. When Edith goes into their world after her father’s untimely death, the roles are switched. Lucille is now the powerful black moth and Edith is the one who doesn't belong, as seen by the colors she wears (gold and white). As she grows weaker, and Lucille’s power over her grows, those golds that illuminate her in the darkness of her new home soon fade to her wearing pure, fragile white. The only time the two worlds merge together is when Edith and Thomas have their love scene alone.
The ring that is worn by the women in the film is also a strong metaphor for who possesses the power. It’s not just a sentimental trinket. We first learn see in the painting that the ring was originally warn by Lucille's mother when she had power over her children. Lady Lucille inherited the ring…and the power…after her mother’s mysterious death, but when Thomas gives Edith the ring after they are married, she then had an illusion of power over Lucille. When Lucille took the ring back from Edith after the girl discovers the family’s dark past, this act is a deliberate way of Lucille saying "I am in power now" after Edith learns their secret.
© 2013 – 2018 Keriane Kellogg. All rights reserved.