Desperately seeking susan Analysis

Desperately Seeking Susan A life so outrageous it take two women to live it

01 Message 02 Social Context 03 Cultural Influences 04 Casting 05 Colour 06 Stlying & Prop 07 Audio 08 Moving Forward

Message - Transformation of both roberta and susan - journey and adventure away from surburbian life - self discovery and liberation of roberta

- Strays from the male dominated attitudes of the 1970’s - Became iconic due to the number of powerful women behind production and as the protagonists.

- Confidently represented the new found freedom females were experiencing due to the equal rights acts being passed just prior to production.

Social Context

Cultural Influence

- Celine and Julie Go Boating - The Wizard of Oz - Mythical and Magical associations with Eygpt

Casting

Rosanna Arquette

VS

Diane Keaton

- Initially wanted Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn to play the roles of Roberta and Susan.

- The studio wanted the film to have younger actors in order to appeal to younger filmgoers.

- Orion wanted a valued name to sell the film and Rosanna Arquette fit the bill and was cast as Roberta, the lead role and intended star.

- Madonna was chosen for her confident sense of herself and her style.

Madonna

VS

Goldie Hawn

Colour - Colour has been very important and cleverly used throughout the film and creates two distinct worlds at the very start of the film.

- The middle class suburban housewife has a pastel colour palette.

- Susan’s palette is more vivid and harsh, almost neon in certain places.

- Lighting isn’t natural in the New York locations, especially in the night time shots, but most scenes seem to have two strong, contrasting main colours.Red and Green.

- Green is a dominant colour throughout.

It’s the symbolic colour for rebirth, renewal and also money.

- The limited colours also encourages audiences to focus attention to particular pieces of information. These methods are used to highlight and emphasise moods and objects and also create a hyper-reality.

Styling & Prop - costume designer - Santo Loquasto - 80’s punk styling highlights the expressive energy of the youth culture.

- Middle class people featured in the film are seen wearing pastel simple, classic clothing in contrast to the youthful care-free people.

- The iconic egypitian jacket Susan wears in the film portrays her care-free attitude

Audio - use of madonnas music -strong female artists -pathetic fallacey

Moving forward

Thank You Jay Alice Fiona Rosie Niamh Elonore