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The Innocents (1961)

Fig.1 ~ Film Poster The Innocents is a 1960's horror film that has elements of shock and wonder. The plot is reminiscent of The Cabinet of Dr. Calligari in that there is a duel air of the supernatural wrestling with possible madness. The illusionary concept of reality from within the mind of the possible sociopath describes the events of The Innocents. This film is borderline psychological thriller and ghosts story horror. This seems like a big difference but the great example of how ambiguous the film is purely from the genre. The film plays with a lot of taboo subjects and uses questionable imagery. We will get into that in a moment but first let us run over the plot quickly first. 'Miss Giddens: But above anything else, I love the children.' ~IMDb (fig.3) The story begins with a woman who loves children and is hired by an uncle that you could argue is on the other end of the scale. He is almost uniquely snobby by contemporary standards and hires Miss Giddens to look after his nephew and niece. So naturally this is where it begins. When Miss Giddens gets to the mansion in the countryside, she meets a rather peculiar little girl who sometimes does not act the way a girl of her age should. That said, when the nephew gets expelled from his school things really start going pear shape. On direction to look at this is that the children are sinister and go down the horror route. Or that the children are innocent and that we have a delusional schizophrenic character and take the Thriller route. The film is frustrating, however, because it never tells you which one it is. 'The final scene earned the film an X-certificate on its initial release, and an enduring reputation as a properly disturbing depiction of repressed sexuality.' ~ The Guardian (fig.4)

Fig.2 ~ Film Still

This film also challenges ethics to an extent. Questions like can you cause children to suffer even if you believe it's for their greater good. Coming from a world-view that is often associated with that approach this strikes home. The plot also brings this in when introducing the Freudian concepts from the aspect of the 'Sexual Infantilism'(Fig 5) linking the children to be sexually activated. The trigger being the dead couple that were present to the plot and how they were inconspicuous about they're sexual finesse. Though out the story we are led to believe that the children have been possessed or have picked up the characteristics of the two deceased. Under this notion you could ask if the children were ever innocent. But that, like so many other questions, is never answered.

Bibliography Images Fig. 1 ~ Film Poster, The Innocence, Dir. Jack Clayton, 1961, UK, http://www.britposters.com/images/the%20innocents%20320x240.jpg Fig. 2 ~ Film Still, The Innocence, Dir. Jack Clayton, 1961, UK, http://www.leninimports.com/deborah_kerr_the_innocents_uk_dvd_2.jpg Quotes Fig. 3 ~ The Innocence, Mrs. Giddens, Deborah Kerr, Dir. Jack Clayton, 1961, UK, Fig. 4 ~ The Guardian, Andrew Pulver, Friday 22 October 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/oct/22/innocents-clayton-horror Fig. 5 ~ Sigmund Freud, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosexual_development

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