Broken Blossoms: The Role Of Women In Film

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Women in early cinema illustrated the culture they lived in during the time-period where men expressed their dominance over women. Film helped bring to the forefront these power dynamics through the use of cinematography and mise en scene. Louis Gianette explains in Understanding Movies “In general, the greater the distance between the camera and the subject, the more emotionally neutral we remain (Page 90).” This is significant because it’s through the varying distances of shots that illustrate the emotion women express within the film. In the film Broken Blossoms directed by D.W. Griffith, Lucy the female heroin is constantly shown battling her inner demons as society pushes her into the traditional domestic role of women at the time. In contrast the film Stagecoach by John Ford brings the female character out of the traditional domestic atmosphere and sets them on an adventure through the countryside. The evolution of the female heroin from domestic to adventurers …show more content…

Malroy is cramped in this stagecoach with six other the framing on her doesn’t suggest this uncomfortable fact. The placement of Mrs. Malroy on the far left side of the stagecoach next to the window allows her again this freedom that the gentleman in the middle does not have. The camera cuts to her a few times for reaction shots but during each cut the camera gives her distance. Allowing her distance and framing her against the window again suggests the freedom she has, while embarking on this journey to find her husband. Of course, even with her freedom she does have Hatfield to protect her if anyone starts to impede on her freedom. When one of the men light up their cigar Hatfield insists they put it out, in part for respect to Mrs. Malroy. The gentleman obliges to Mrs. Malroy’s satisfaction, again this is in contrast to any treatment Lucy would receive around Battling Burrows. This film brings forth the apparent change in how women were portrayed in film over only a twenty years

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