Tale Tell Heart Points of film analysis By
Tale Tell Heart Points of film analysis By Electa Berk IUE
Summary of story and film “Tale Tell Heart” is a gothic short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1846. The Gothic tale is about madness within the mind of a man who commits a murder. Tale Tell Heart is a 14 minute film with Vincent Price as the narrator of the story. Tale Tell Heart is a straight adaptation of the story with a few minor changes of the script without changing the story. One line at the end of the story is not used.
Vincent Price is a well know actor for his portrayals within different dramatic films. He started his career in 1935 on Broadway and then went to films. In 1944 he was in the film Laura. His horror film career started with film the House of Wax, which was done in 3 -D’ He has a distinctive voice which brought about a type of tension in his films. One should note that another generation of people discovered him when he was a voice over for the Michael Jackson song “Thriller”.
Setting and Lighting The films opens with a distant shot of Vincent Price setting on a chair in a room. Contrast with the story that nothing is stated about where the narrator is while he is talking. The lighting at times is dim and dark to reflect the mood of the narrator. Dress of the actor is appropriate for 1846. Actions of the actor indicate what he did to watch the old man and how he committed the murder and hide the body. The film presents the interpretation of the story. The reader of the story would have to develop own idea of the narrator and how he acted. The story has the narrator talking to the reader, the film has the narrator talking to the viewer of the film.
Camera action and music Opening shot is long and goes towards Vincent Price setting in the chair. There are different close ups during the film. There are different close ups of the face of Vincent Price as he speaks to show him emotion. An extreme close up of an eye that Vincent Price states is the old man’s vulture eye (which looks like a human eye). The pulsation of the film as Vincent Price is stating how he is hearing the heart beat of the old man is distracting. Pulsation of the film acts as a means to what Vincent Price is hearing in his head. Closing scene of the beating heart in Vincent Price’s hand is unnerving.
Historical and Sociological Influences The story centers on the idea of madness and how a person may consider himself just nervous and not mad. Madness can be interpreted in many different ways. In the 1800’s people with mental illness were put into asylums and left there with no treatment. Not until the 20 th century, the mentally ill receive treatment. The narrator does not see himself as mad just very nervous and clever person. For the narrator madness begins with the evil eye of the old man and ends with the heart beat in his mind.
Work Cited https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=m. Txy. N 0 g. UZFI-this is the web site for the viewing of the film. Poe, Edgar Allan. “Tale Tell Heart. Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Double Day & Company, Inc. 1966. pp 121 -124.
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