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Mary Shelley gave a detailed account of the conception of her timeless work, Frankenstein, in the preface that she wrote for the book in 1831. While spending the evening together with her husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and another guest, they came up with the idea to amuse themselves by writing ghost stories to trade with one another. Mary Shelley was at a loss for ideas and went to bed, where she continued to mull things over. While she was asleep, she was suddenly possessed by a vision of a man sleeping on a table and gradually waking up. Shelley recalled that she had jolted awake and thought to herself, “I have found it!” What frightened me will frighten others, and all I need to do is describe the spectre that had haunted my pillow at midnight.
A similar conviction resides in the mind of film director Guillermo del Toro, who thinks that the images that fill his head can be brought to life. He conjures up intricate worlds that overpower viewers with their level of detail and submerge them in a sea of symbolism. It is helpful that the majority of what is seen on screen is not computer-generated but is, instead, made up of real objects. The setting of “Crimson Peak” reeks with the acrid tang of sexual desire and shadowy mysteries. There are a few monsters, both supernatural and human, but the most terrifying thing onscreen are the enormous feelings that the characters are experiencing. The emotions of Grand Opera can be conveyed in Del Toro’s films. In England during the Victorian era, the Lyceum Theatre wowed audiences with innovative stage effects that were designed to bring the macabre elements of plays like “Macbeth” (for example) to life in ways that were previously unimaginable to the audience. The style of Del Toro would have been a good match for that. Because of his efforts, he is now a part of a long-standing tradition, and he has earned that place.
As a young girl, the protagonist of “Crimson Peak,” an American heiress named Edith Cushing played by Mia Wasikowska, had a vision of her deceased mother’s ghost, which appeared as the shadow of her mother’s long fingers creeping along the wall (a steal from “Nosferatu”). She is a young woman who prefers books to beaus and is currently working on writing a ghost story. She lives with her father, who is a wonderful Jim Beaver, and he is very supportive (“Ghosts are a metaphor for the past,” she states). Edith has a calm response ready for the ignorant women who mock her by saying, “Jane Austen died a spinster,” and she says, “I’d rather be Mary Shelley and die a widow.” The arrival of Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain as the mysterious brother and sister duo from the United Kingdom, Thomas and Lucille Sharp, brings an end to Edith’s solitary existence spent reading books. The two have fancy English titles, but neither of them has any money to their name and is pleading for financial support for one of Thomas’ inventions. In the presence of his sister’s watchful gaze, Thomas pursues Edith with burning, sensitive eyes, and Edith quickly becomes enamored of him. Another man, an optometrist by the name of Alan McMichael (played by Charlie Hunnam, who was so sensitive and heroic in Del Toro’s “Pacific Rim”) is interested in Edith, but he gives Thomas the upper hand, albeit with some reservations. Thomas gets married to Edith, and then he, Edith, and Lucille move back to England to live in Allerdale Hall, which is the family estate.
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Even though the film doesn’t officially start until Allerdale Hall, the scenes leading up to it and Edith’s introduction to the outside world are crucial to the narrative. The United States of America is portrayed as a nation that values things like family life, intellectual pursuits, and garden parties. Mustard and orange are the colors used here, which are very autumnal. Lucille slashes her way through that mellow golden landscape while dressed in dresses of flaming crimson or heavy all-black gowns. It rains quite frequently, which causes the shadows cast on the walls to have an underwater, wavelike appearance. However, it is a civilized world with established norms and laws. On the other hand, Allerdale Hall is an abandoned ruin of a mansion with towering black turrets that stands in the midst of empty fields. The walls of the basement are covered in a layer of red clay as it seeps up through the rotting floorboards. The main entrance leads to a hall that rises up three stories, and due to the deterioration of the roof, the hall is constantly filled with debris from the outside weather, such as falling leaves or snow. Allerdale Hall is not only a design masterpiece (Thomas E. Sanders was the production designer), but it is also a masterpiece in terms of its concept. The house is noisy, groans, and moves around. And always, always that red clay, which was a danger to everyone and threatened to engulf them all.
Crimson Peak Quiz
Edith, who is unsure of herself in her new life and is frightened of Lucille, investigates the house (by the end of the film the layout is clear, essential to the suspense of the finale). She is warned against entering certain rooms by both Thomas and Lucille, who both relay the information to her. Edith is engulfed in mystery, from the husband she hardly knows to the sister-in-law who glides through the house with a heavy key chain rattling at her waist. Both of these people are Edith’s husband and sister-in-law.
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In more ways than one, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Notorious” serves as an inspiration for “Crimson Peak” (although “Rebecca” is also a clear influence). In the film “Notorious,” played by Ingrid Bergman, the character Alicia Huberman uses her marriage to Alexander Sebastian, played by Claude Rains, as a front for her mission to infiltrate a Nazi drug cartel. As soon as she steps foot in the house, Alexander’s mother, a monstrous Fraulein from hell named Leopoldine Konstantin, takes control of her life. Both “Crimson Peak” and “Notorious” feature recurring visual motifs in the form of tea cups and keychains throughout the series. There are some shots in “Crimson Peak” that are similar to those in “Notorious,” such as a close-up of a common key chain, with the key that is wanted lying on top of the pile, or the camera following a tea cup as it is carried across the room. Edith believes that, similar to Alicia Huberman in the movie “Notorious,” if she could just get a hold of that key and find the right lock, she might be able to understand the secrets that are buried in that house as well as her own destiny.
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As was the case in “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Crimson Peak” establishes an atmosphere in which the high stakes can be played out to their full potential. Allerdale Hall’s cinematography is reminiscent of the work of German Expressionist filmmakers, in addition to other directors as diverse as Mario Bava and Alfred Hitchcock. But “Crimson Peak” is not merely a tribute; rather, it is a hybrid that is uniquely Del Toro’s creation, even though it evokes a number of associations (the Gothic and Romantic tradition, Hitchcock, Shirley Jackson, Murnau, Bava, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” The Brothers Grimm, “Jane Eyre”). The images themselves carry a significant amount of power: A blond woman stealthily carrying a candelabra as she moves through a dimly lit house. A woman with black hair is seen moving stealthily through the falling snow of the interior while balancing a tray of rattling tea cups. A man is seen working in his workshop on the creation of toys. These toys have mouths that open and then vomit silver balls. At night, Edith is haunted by terrifying visions that she sees through doorways and down hallways. She needs to have the courage to confront these phantoms, to look them in the eye, and to see what she ought not to see. On the other side, Thomas and Lucille have the responsibility of preventing Edith from seeing what’s going on.
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Wipes serve as transitions from one scene to the next in Del Toro’s film, and there are also multiple instances of iris wipes. Additionally, Del Toro uses a lot of traditional camera techniques (where a circular shape surrounded by blackness homes in on one small image). In his framing and camera moves, as well as his comprehension of the relationships between spaces, Del Toro employs techniques that are more traditional. There are moments when Edith embraces Thomas, his black coat taking up approximately half of the screen. As the camera moves to the side, Edith is gradually obscured by the darkness that surrounds her.
As the secrets begin to be revealed in the play’s third and final act, there are a couple of monologues that, for some audience members, may be too descriptive. However, in the long history of cinema, suspenseful films have frequently included monologues like this in the final act of the film. There is a substantial body of evidence demonstrating that these devices are effective, and there is also evidence demonstrating that they are effective here. The concept of everything-but-the-kitchen-sink realism is relatively new, and Guillermo del Toro’s films do not adhere to this trend; however, the feelings depicted in his films are always genuine. Actors who worked before the invention of cinema (and the closeup) were well aware that a performance should be substantial enough to fill an entire theater. This did not necessarily mean that I was making empty assertions. It meant that their feelings needed to be substantial enough to travel, to reach the cheap seats, and to fit within the scope of the story. The actors who star in “Crimson Peak” are aware of this fact. Every one of them is riveting.
It is a pleasure to view Guillermo del Toro’s films because his vision is clearly articulated in each and every frame. However, the thing that excites him the most is his conviction that “what terrifies him will terrify others.” That is correct.
For more personality quizzes check this: Chappie Quiz.
