Film Choice Research

The Sorcerers

Characters: The main characters are Marcus Monserrete, Estelle Monserrete and Mike Roscoe. There is a mix of victims and hero's. The villain isn't who you would expect it to be but you sort of click on who is going to turn out to be the villain. There are more victims than hero's and villains in this film and, but it seems as there are two baddies, the audience sees the real villain, and the characters see another villain, a boy who is being controlled by the real villain. Firstly Marcus and Estelle's motive was just to test his new hypnotism, marcus wanted to use it to help people, Estelles motive was that she wanted to feel powerfull. I think that Estelle is pure evil, but Mike is tormented as he is being told to do these things.

 

Narrative: The Sorcerers is about an elderly couple who have a fixation on hypnotising people, Marcus Intends to use his hypnotism skills to help people, but his wife Estelle has other idea's. They use this new found hypnotism to control another humans mind, they can tell him to do whatever they want. The horror starts to unfold when Marcus and Estelle are having a conversation at the dining room table. Marcus is telling Estelle he wants to use hypnotism to help people, when Estelle has another idea, to use it on someone to benifit them, Estelle convinces Marcus to agree and they go onto talk about the perfect person to test it on. But the real horror unfold when Estelle becomes obsessed with the power she has over Mike, and turns on marcus who is trying to stop his crazed wife. There a few key scenes which show the real horror, for example when Estelle enters Mikes head to play a game with Marcus to show him he cant stop her, she make him pick up a pair of scissors and savagely murder his friend. 

Themes: The themes I think the film touches apon are Power and Control. Estelle loves the feeling of being the powerfull one, she evan turns against her own husband when she knows he's weaker than her, she liked playing games with Marcus to show him how powerfull she was and she told him repeatedly that he couldn't stop her that no one could stop her. Estelle also loved the feeling of controlling someone elses mind, knowing that she could tell Mike to do anything and he would do it, she said she wanted to use it to their advantage, but the only thing Estelle done for her own advantage was telling Mike to steal a fur rug for her, everything else she has told Mike to do was out of spite of her husband. I guess these themes are relevent today as everyone one wants to be powerful, but powerful in out minds mean rich and being powerful in your career. I believe the main theme is being powerful as Estelle literally goes crazy for all the power she has over another human, being able to do anything and get away with it. 

Setting: The film is set in London. This is important because it gives the room for the scenes. You get the wonderful use of dark streets. The specific time period is the 1960’s, which is a time of ecstasy, parties and fun. I think this time period was chosen because of the difference between the young people and the old people. The Monserrete’s against the wild lives of the younger main characters. The setting mixes in with the characters types; For the Monserretes we have their flat, which is bright and cosy, but there’s a dark part of the flat. The Hypnotism room. Mike’s setting is usually the dark streets of London, we rarely see him in the day time. This gives the audience the feeling that he is dark and bad. 

Iconography: The Monserrete’s lab in their flat. In some horrors there are labs for the mad scientist. Another part of the iconography which isn’t usually found is the club the young stars of the film go to. It is the same club every time, this stands out because it is a lasting location. What stood out about Marcus was his walking stick, which is also used as a weapon against him by Estelle. Showing us that it makes him weaker in more way than one. The 1960’s music and clothing stand out because they clash with the general fibe of the film. Though it is not an item, the thing which is more of an icon to the film is Estelle’s way of saying “Marcus”, especially so in the scene when he argues that he will stop her “You can’t stop me, Marcus!!!!”. It is said in such a cold violent tone, that you would not expect it from such an old lady. Also the use of the suspicious music when Mike is under the influence of Estelle. Dark streets are another icon of the film, all of the killings and main actions are taken place at night, and all we see Mike doing is walking the streets, not giving us an exact location.