What

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Whats Eating Gilbert Grape
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Whats Eating Gilbert Grape?

• Director
• Lasse Hallstrom, Paramount Pictures, 1993.
• Cast
• Gilbert Grape Johnny Depp
• Becky Juliette Lewis
• Betty Carver Mary Steenburger
• Arnie Leonardo DiCaprio
• Momma (Bonnie) Darlene Cates

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Type

• Whats Eating Gilbert Grape is a slice of life
  film. This film is taken from the life of an
  ordinary person and is about their experiences.

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Overview
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Narration

• Gilbert is the narrator at the start and clearly
  the film is from his point of view. Gilbert talks
  in the movie, telling the audience about his
  town/family etc. This technique is called
  voice-over.

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Characters

• Gilbert Grape
• Johnny Depp plays Gilbert as a kind,
  self-sacrificing young man who sees no escape in
  the world. He has more burdens than any young man
  ought to have.

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Gilberts Burdens

1. He lives in isolated Endora, a dying town.
2. He stacks shelves at a shop whose business has
   dropped to a new mall supermarket.
3. His large Mother needs care
4. No father
5. His sisters are always quarreling
6. His mentally challenged brother Arnie requires
   constant attention/supervision
7. His affair with Betty isnt going anywhere

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Gilbert Grape

• All appears grim until worldly Becky arrives
  opening his eyes to the outside world.
• We see several interesting sides to his
  character escape from his boring routine
  frustration and a change in his attitude.
• Whats eating him is how he can balance his own
  needs with those of his family.

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Questions on Gilbert Grape

1. Gilbert finds an escape from the boredom of his
   everyday life, from?
2. Why does he lose it with Arnie?
3. Why does he feel his relationship with Betty is
   hopeless?
4. How does his attitude towards his Momma change?
5. Explain how Gilbert finds a new freedom

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Arnie

• Leonardo DiCaprio shows us a real person, both
  likeable and infuriating. He keeps doing things
  he shouldnt such as climbing the tower, yet is
  helpless and dependent.

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Questions on Arnie

1. Why is he frightened of the basement?
2. How does he overcome his fear of water?
3. Give an example of his helplessness.

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Bonnie

• Darlene Cates performs Momma, a complex person,
  not a stereotype fat lady. She controls her
  childrens lives, but is also dependent upon
  them. Her march into the police station is the
  key moment of the film nothing will be the same
  again.

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Questions on Bonnie

1. Apart from her march to the police station, what
   is her other significant accomplishment in the
   film?
2. Give 3 examples that show her as being treated
   like a figure of fun.
3. Give an example that shows the directors
   intention to treat Momma with respect.

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Becky

• Juliette Lewis is the outsider who offers Gilbert
  an escape route. But it is important that she
  reaches out to his family too. She comes to
  understand Arnie and overcomes his fear of water.
  When she meets Momma, and they get on well, its
  as if Momma can now hand Gilbert over he has
  someone else to go to.

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Questions on Becky

1. Give examples of how her lifestyle and
   personality contrast with Gilberts.
2. Why would Gilbert and Becky make a good match?
3. What does the ending suggest for the couple?

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Betty Carver

• Betty is having an affair with Gilbert. She is a
  lonely housewife. Because Gilbert quits the
  affair because of Becky, she goes mad while her
  husband commits suicide. When she leaves she
  shows she understands Gilbert by pointing out
  that he is always thinking of other people, but
  should think of his own future.

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Setting - Time and Place

• Place?
• Small town of Endora, Iowa, U.S.A
• Time?
• 1980s 1990s
• Could easily be present day

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Setting - Time and Place

• Films usually establish a time, place and social
  setting very early on with establishing long
  shots, giving the audience a clear idea of the
  location.
• Once these have been established, the events and
  characters should appear realistic and convincing
  in this setting.

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Place is?
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Place is?
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Time is? Place is?
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Time is?
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Time is? Place is?
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Setting - Time and Place

• BRAINSTORM IN GROUPS
• How is a setting conveyed (shown) in a film?
  Think about time and place.
• Vehicles, clothes, hairstyles, dialogue, music,
  buildings etc.

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From the opening sequence

• What sort of place is the film set in? What do
  you know about it?
• What do we learn about the characters?
• What is the relationship between the 2 boys?
• (Apart from the obvious they are brothers. Use
  one of yesterdays quotes to help answer this).

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From the opening sequence

• How much do you rely on the visuals and how much
  on the narration for information?
• How important is the music? What is the effect?

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Narrative

• Whose story is mainly in focus?
• What techniques have been used to create this
  viewpoint?

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Your Task

• List all the techniques used in the opening scene
  that you can remember.
• Different shots/angles, narrative, music.

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Setting A Metaphor

• The setting for this story is also a metaphor for
  Gilberts life so far. He is stuck at the end of
  the line a place where others just cruise on
  through. The opening scene emphasises this.
• We see the store sign.
• ENDora OF THE LINE.
• Its a joke but it is also truthful.

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Setting A Metaphor

• The house is another metaphor. The beam on which
  Gilberts father hanged himself is now crumbling
  under the weight of his mother, the house is
  collapsing, just as Gilberts old life is falling
  apart.

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Your Task

• Write a paragraph describing the opening
  sequence, and explain how the effects have been
  used to create an impact on the audience and
  contribute to the film as a whole.
• Make sure you answer both parts of the question.
  Try to use at least 1 quote!

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The Pace

• The film pace is slow.
• WHAT MAKE IT SLOW?
• The film regularly uses fades to divide the film
  up into sections.
• A lack of emotions suspense.

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Emotions

• The film does not show a lot of emotions.
• Examples
• The husband of Betty (whom Gilbert is having an
  affair with) is aware of whats going on.
  Although he makes threats to him, there is no
  fight or real confrontation.

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Emotions

• When Momma dies it is unemotional. The camera
  moves away from the house so that Arnies
  reaction is seen only from a distance, without
  using close-ups.

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Suspense

• Suspense is present in the film but its brief
  without a dramatic outcome.
• TASK
• Can you think of examples of suspense in the
  film when you think something bad is going to
  happen but doesnt?

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Suspense

• Examples
• An undertaker waits as Arnie climbs the
  water-tower. He carries with him an atmosphere of
  death but this is misleading. No one is killed
  and when someone does (Momma) the children make
  their own funeral.

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Suspense

• Arnie expresses his fear of swimming and when he
  goes missing we fear he might have drowned. Later
  however, we see him happily splashing about with
  Becky.
• Betty meets Becky in the store one day but they
  dont fight over Gilbert, rather she tells Becky
  hes all yours and leaves.

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Suspense

• Gilbert appears to be getting fed up with the
  family and has a moment of loosing it. He drives
  to the edge of town as if leaving, but turns
  around and returns to his duties.

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Close Reading

• Arne up the water tower
• What camera techniques are used in this sequence?
• What is the effect?
• Why does Gilbert feel so responsible for what
  happens in this episode?

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Close Reading

• Momma leaves the police station
• What camera techniques are used in this sequence?
• What is the effect?
• What do we think of Momma now?

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Themes

• A theme is a big or main idea in a text.
• 1. Frustration with ordinary life
• 2. Caring for others
• 3. Responsibility
• 4. Desire for Freedom
• (There are many themes but we will look at 4.)

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Theme 1- Frustrations with ordinary life

• BRAINSTORM
• What frustrations do the different characters
  face in the film?
• Gilbert
• Momma
• Betty
• Arnie
• Etc.

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Theme 2 Caring for others

• BRAINSTORM
• What are examples of caring for others in the
  film?
• Which characters care the most?
• Which characters dont care for others at all?

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Theme 3 - Responsibility

• Gilbert has the most responsibility in the film.
• What are his responsibilities?
• How does he handle them?

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Theme 4 Desire for Freedom

• Gilbert shows the most desire for freedom in the
  film. He wants to escape Endora and all that it
  holds.
• Becky has got the freedom Gilbert wants. With
  Becky in his life Gilbert can achieve this
  freedom.