JACKIE :: Use of Symmetrical Framing

NO SPOILERS

I was watching director Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) the other day. I couldn’t help but notice the extensive, limitless usage of symmetrical framing. Anderson is obsessed with symmetry. In this age where ‘rule of thirds’ and ‘the golden ratio’ are growing trends, Anderson is the only modern director I can think of using this age old technique. What symmetry does is, it brings the focus point of the frame in the exact centre, giving the image ‘a stage-like and unrealistic feel’. [a] Now, filmmaking is supposed to be all about, how real is the world you can create through your images and sound, but the symmetrical framing seems to distract you from the realism of cinema and hence should be considered bad. But that is exactly what Anderson uses to create his own brand of filmmaking, he doesn’t want you to believe that the world of his films is real. No. In fact, his movies have this dreamlike quality where everything seems to be made out of Play-Doh, for a moment you’ll feel his production designers are a bunch of kids from the kindergarten! Anderson uses this symmetry and many other techniques like smooth movement of the camera to give his audience a feeling that they are in a pleasant dream, the one that you wish to never wake up from!

Film analysts have compared the symmetrical framing of Wes Anderson to that of Stanley Kubrick’s. He is the mind behind the timeless classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Shining (1980) among others. But, surprisingly, Kubrick’s films are dark and gritty. They aren’t going all happy and peppy like those of Anderson’s. It feels strange that the same technique is used by two different filmmakers to create effects that couldn’t have been more opposite. Take The Shining (1980) for example. It is like a bad dream you desperately want to wake up from, but you cannot! What I think Kubrick cashes on, is the ‘orderly-ness’ and perfectness of symmetrical framing. We all fear chaos and strive for order, but when the order is prolonged, it starts becoming horrific! That is perhaps because we come from a world that balances order and chaos in such a way, that when even one of it is out of bounds, the panic inside us kicks in. And this feeling is exactly what Kubrick preys upon.

Symmetry has a varied usage in art and architecture. The Last Supper (1498) by Leonardo da Vinci can be cited as the most famous example. da Vinci has also been known as the man obsessed with symmetry, so much so that he analysed and studied the resemblance of human body to regular geometrical shapes through his work The Vitruvian Man (1490). Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan has contributed vastly to art and especially architecture during his rule over the Indian subcontinent. His works the Taj Mahal (1648) and Takht-e-Taus or The Peacock Throne (1635) prove his deep interest in symmetry. These uses of symmetry in ancient art and architecture seem to be direct inspiration for films.

 

All of this brings us to Jackie (2016), a biographical film based on the life of Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of former President of the US, John F. Kennedy. It deals with how our protagonist, who is quite obviously Jackie here, deals with the assassination of her husband which was a very unexpected and unfortunate event for all of the US. Symmetrical framing plays a very important part here, its use in this film is, to my knowledge, unprecedented and takes inspiration from mainly the fields of philosophy and theology which makes it quite an interesting study. Let us have a look at Jackie, screenplay by Noah Oppenheim and directed by Pablo Larrain.

In the very beginning of the film, a reporter comes to our protagonist’s doors in order to interview her after the tragic event. It is this moment which gets inter-cut with the flashbacks keeping in sync with the dialogue between her and the reporter. After some time, the reporter finally blabbers out the question which forms the drama in the film. The question is: what sound did the bullet make when it hit JFK’s head? The question is of course as cruel as it sounds but this is the one which introduces the premise and is the so called dramatic question. That means it is this question which when finally answered will resolve the drama. The question might seem very simple the first time you hear or read it, but it is quite layered in the context of the story. Going by all of this, you might have now understood what the film is about. It is about death, dealing with someone’s demise to be precise, and the affairs sure become much more complicated when the dead person is head of a state.

It becomes very important then, that we know about the person who will be answering the dramatic question, the protagonist. The leading actor. The person responsible for informing the audience about the character is the director, and where does the director get informed about the same character? The script. I was going through Jackie’s screenplay and found something at the very beginning of it, that will perhaps answer my doubts about the reason for the symmetrical framing that is used in this film.

Did you see it? It is one of the keywords the screenwriter has used to describe the protagonist: perfect symmetrical features. And this is one little thing that anyone could have missed, but it is too important to be missed. Because this is what has helped the director in portraying the character of the protagonist. I did my research and found that the real Jackie Kennedy was known for her symmetrical facial features. I would give one thumbs up to the casting department for choosing Natalie Portman to play this role, because undeniably, the resemblance is uncanny.

Now, why do the facial features of a character become important enough to be studied? Because, people with symmetrical facial features have been known to hold great adaptation qualities, they are the ones who have the ability to withstand changes in their environments. [b] And this film is just about that, dealing with sudden changes in the environment, and there can not be a change more sudden than the assassination of one’s husband. I loved how this decision to replicate the character traits through the frame was taken. Almost all the symmetrical frames give the message of Jackie trying to hold it all together while the world around her collapses to chaos. It is only in the extreme close-ups of actors’ faces, the most intimate moments in the film, the framing loses symmetry and rightly so, because that’s how the people are: organised outside but chaotic to the T, from the inside.

The religion plays a very important role in the narrative. Jackie’s confidante is a priest and a personal counselor for her in the matters of her faith. In Christianity, balanced proportion or symmetry is seen as a symbol of peace and harmony. [c] The conversation between Jackie and the priest proves to be the very reason for her changed outlook towards her husband’s death. The priest constantly tries to relieve her of the pain she has been carrying by narrating her various parables from The Holy Bible. Larrain, the director, couples the medium close-ups of the characters with symmetrical natural elements in the background, it is one of the most beautiful frames of this film.

There is one more visually stunning (symmetric) frame which does not require anymore explanation because it wraps the entire plot of the film in a single frame. I guess I’ll leave you with that and, end this week’s write-up here. I hope you liked this analysis on ‘symmetry in framing’ and I do hope that you will find time to watch Jackie to see how the protagonist manages to answer the dramatic question posed above! If you would like to get notified of the new posts, please subscribe to the blog with your email ID, scroll down to the end of the page for details. Suggestions are welcomed here. Next post on next Sunday, till then: Bye!