The+Purple+Rose+of+Cairo

Film Title: The Purple Rose of Cairo

Plot: Cecilia is a waitress in a diner from New Jersey who's stuck in an abusive and unloving marriage and goes to the movies on a regular basis to escape from her boring and depressing life. One day she watches a movie called "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and likes it so much that she goes to see it half a dozen times more. Tom, the main character of that film, breaks through the fourth wall and literally steps out of the black-and-white screen, into the colorful actual world. He informs her that he's fallen for her after noticing her watching him all those times and then the two fall in love. They walk around Jersey and talk passionately about their hopes and dreams. Then the director of "The Purple Rose of Cairo" finds out that Tom is missing from the movie, and that's what is making them lose profit on the sales of their film. So he flies to New Jersey, along with the actual actor who plays "Tom," and attempt to convince Tom to step back into the movie. This paves the way for a love triangle between Cecilia, Tom, and the real-life actor who plays Tom. Cecilia ultimately decides to leave her abusive husband and stay with the actor, leaving Tom heartbroken, who chooses to go back into his film. But then Cecilia finds out that the actor only pretended to love her so that he could have his career back and get Tom to return to the film. She ends up alone.

Theme: The theme of this movie would be Cecilia's search for love, whether it's from her husband, Tom, or Gil (the actor who plays Tom). She can't distinguish the line between fantasy and reality and spends her time fantasizing about an escape from the harsh reality of her own world. Tone: The tone is both comedic and serious at times. It's comedic and romantic when Cecilia and Tom interact but it switches over to a more serious tone when she's abused by her husband or when she realizes that she'll lead a bleak existence for the rest of her life.The entire movie, in my opinion, has a very subtle dark tone to it. Woody Allen described the message of the film as "life is ultimately disappointing" and it would be foolish to expect anything out of it.


 * Non-Diegetic **

1) Like in many of Woody Allen's films, The Purple Rose of Cairo plays both jazz and piano as background noise throughout the film. The characters can't hear it, so it's obviously not diegetic. However, at one point Tom asks Cecilia when the music will start playing and the lights will fade out, as they're kissing passionately, which is something he states "happens in the movies."

2) In the movie within the movie, many of the sound effects are exaggerated for dramatic effect, probably to emphasize the contrast between the real world and the fake "movie" world. This is non-diegetic because the characters in the movie-within-the-movie wouldn't hear those noises that loudly, they're just accentuated so the audience can hear it better.

3) At the beginning of the film, the credits can be seen in the right-hand corner of the screen. The characters can't see it, so it's not diegetic.

4) When Cecilia and Tom enter the film-within-a-film, and are literally breaking the fourth wall, they enter a black-and-white world. Cecilia comments that she doesn't see that it's in black-and-white, but the spectators who are watching the film, that she's in, would see it in black and white. (This is slightly complicated). So Cecilia is unaware of her surroundings, which therefore is non-diegetic.

5) At one point, when Cecilia is working in the diner and thinking about how bleak her life is, we can hear her inner monologue and so this is non-diegetic for the other characters in the movie, who obviously would not be able to hear it. 

6) When Cecilia watches The Purple Rose of Cairo for the first time, she cries alone in the movie theater. Along with the sound coming from the film that she's watching, soft non-diegetic music can be heard in the background, to dramatize the overall effect. 

7) The entire movie could be a figment of Cecilia's imagination, which is a strong possibility since she's so depressed with her own life and confuses reality with fantasy, and therefore everything that she sees and hears is non-diegetic, because other characters in the movie would not be able to see or hear it.

8) The end credits are non-diegetic. 

9) The last shot of the film is a close-up on Cecilia's face, and the lighting slowly fades out into black. This is non-diegetic because it doesn't happen within the realm of the movie. 

--> There are virtually no non-diegetic elements to this movie except the music and the credits, so it was very difficult to find ten examples.

 In almost every shot the actors are wearing brown, coffee-colored clothes and the sepia background follows that color-scheme as well. Brown is usually a color associated with dullness and nothing special, which is exactly what Cecilia's life is like. So it is very fitting that most of the shots are of that hue and convey the boring tone that is Cecilia's life.
 * Mise En Scène Example 1: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">The world of cinema is contrasted from the outside world with the help of color and lighting. Even though the movie-within-the-movie is in black and white, it seems much brighter and lighter than the dark tones of the real world. This is to show that the fantasy life Cecilia dreams about is much more bright and appealing (and well-lit) than real life, which is very brown and dull.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 2: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This is a familiar image, because Cecilia is seen in this exact position (the center of the shot), with the exact same clothes, at the beginning of the movie, and at the very end. Unlike most movies, this one ended on a rather dark note, since Cecilia was depressed and sad at the beginning of the movie and was depressed and alone at the very end too. She watches the movie in the movie theater, because she knows this is the only escape she can get from her grim life.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 3: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> **Mise En Scène Example 4:** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The bird's eye view establishing-shot of the ferris wheel in the amusement park is completely empty and dark to show that it's a perfect hiding space for Cecilia and Tom. The background is dark and eerie-looking but then the camera slowly pans across the area at eye-level and dollies in on the two characters, who are sitting in a carousel chair with the light from a lantern casting a soft glow on them. They are now centered in the shot so that the audience can focus on both of them and are the only colorful (reds and yellows) beings within the dark and brown/grey-ish environment surrounding them. This just shows the viewers how in love they are and how they can bring color to the rest of the outside world.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Woody Allen makes a point of dressing the prostitute here in colorful clothes, and Tom in boring, brown, ones. He's starting to discover the differences between movies and real life, as he's encountered prostitutes, theft, abuse from a husband to a wife, etc. That's why the woman here is dressed in contrast, to emphasize how there's a difference between real life and the fantasy life Tom came from.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 5: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This is the scene when Gil, the actor, has duped Cecilia into believing he was in love with her, just to get her to choose him over Tom and so that Tom could re-enter the movie-realm, and then flies back to California. His clothes match exactly the leather seats behind him, making him conform to the background of the shot. He's pretty much the antagonist of the film, so it would make sense that he would just blend into the backdrop, because what he did to Cecilia was cruel, and so he is not colorfully-dressed or brightly-lit like the characters are within the fantasy realm, not the outside world.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 6: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">This is the scene when Cecilia meets Tom for the first time (in the first picture), and the first time that he breaks the fourth wall and addresses her directly. Suddenly, the lighting is different, because usually she's dimly lit (look in the second picture) and here her face is much brighter. Finally something interesting occurs in her life and so the lighting has changed dramatically just to demonstrate the effect that has on her.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 7: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> In order to differentiate between Tom and Gil, who are played by the same actor, they are seen wearing different clothing (Tom is wearing a trench coat and Gil is wearing a tie) and Tom, I noticed, is always better-lit than Gil, probably because he is the protagonist, and not the antagonist, of the story. He's a good character, so it would make sense that he's usually in the center of the frame, to represent how he's a good person in this film..
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 8: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Again, here Cecilia is brightly-lit and she's now wearing lipstick and brighter clothing (red) now that she's met Tom. The makeup demonstrates her new and improved persona but so does the lighting, because there's a soft glow on her face now, instead of always being dimly lit and wearing brown, she now stands out which emphasizes her newfound happiness.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 9: **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This entire scene was of the silhouettes of Cecilia and Tom, and it was during the time that they first met and that he admits his feelings for her. It's interesting that their entire bodies are dark, because then the audience has to rely on the words they're uttering, not on their facial expressions. This actually pulls our focus onto the dialogue and keeps us aware of what's going on. Maybe they are heavily shadowed to show that they share a deep connection, beyond the superficiality of looks and appearances.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Mise En Scène Example 10: **