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The Yellow Wallpaper (film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Yellow Wallpaper' is a 2011 Gothic thriller film directed by Logan Thomas. It is based on the 1892 short story of the same name written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Synopsis
The film is an Origins Myth" rather than a direct adaptation of the famous Charlotte Perkins Gilman story, drawing from the original short story and a number of Gilman's other gothic works (The Giant Wisteria, The Unwatched Door, etc.). Also, the film is an original narrative of events that unfold around the actual writing of The Yellow Wallpaper short story. The film's plot is greatly expanded from the bare bones of Gilman's often-anthologized short story. It stars Juliet Landau as Charlotte and Aric Cushing (as her husband John), Golden Globe winner Michael Moriarty as Mr. Hendricks, Veronica Cartwright, Raymond J. Barry, and Independent Spirit Award winner Dale Dickey. The story surrounds Charlotte and John, who retreat to a countryside house in an attempt to start their life over after a devastating fire takes the life of their daughter. Soon the spirit of the deceased Sarah and other spirits are haunting the place. There are feral dogs, an interaction with a dead man in armor, and a shout out to classic, early genre vampire fiction.
Production
Most of the scenes in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' were shot in Eatonton, Georgia, in and around an isolated Civil War-era house. The farmhouse's location is undisclosed, meant to represent, as the director puts it, ' a space outside of space'. Jessi Case recalled being a little frightened of the house where the film was shot. 'The stairs leading to the attic, where we filmed a lot of the scenes, were very narrow and it was very hot. They didn't want me to go outside because my hair would poof up'.
Michael Moriarty said of the film: "The Yellow Wallpaper is going to be a wonderfully haunting film, profoundly Gothic. It's a low budget production, but exceptionally well written."
After the shooting of the film, Michael Moriarty retired from acting, after an illustrious career in which he won a Tony award, numerous Emmy awards, and a Golden Globe award. It was his last feature film role.
The script was written in three months by Logan Thomas and Aric Cushing, and Cushing said his goal was to popularize Gilman's work.
Director Thomas used the Digital Sony 950, and the film is the first ever period feature film to be shot with this digital format. Thomas is becoming known as a "visualist" director in the tradition of David Lynch and Ridley Scott.
Juliet Landau, during an interview, compared her role to Nicole Kidman's role in "The Others".
This was Kyla Kennedy's first role at the age of 3, before going on to work on shows such as The Walking Dead and Speechless.
The film is a seminal role for actor Aric Cushing and the last film role of actor Ted Manson, who also appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt.
A companion book to the film was written, 'The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Gothic Stories', by Aric Cushing. The book features two stories previously unpublished since their inception, and seemingly lost. The essay in the beginning of the book was written by Cushing entitled "Is the Yellow Wallpaper a Gothic Story?"
Release
By the time the film was released, Blockbuster Video was beginning to have problems and mass shutdowns of their brick-and-mortar video stores. The film was picked up by Netflix, iTunes, and various distribution outlets in the United States and subsequently released on Amazon.
Aric Cushing said of the release of the film: "In the 1990s the trend in acquisition, as well as public consumption, was independent films. You could write, produce, and distribute a movie and make money. Redbox and Amazon has now killed that almost completely."
Upon the film's release, reviewers were polarized with such statements as "'Even as straight horror without any implications of living up to an established narrative, Wallpaper plays against some traditional horror conventions and not in a good way.'" and "the film is atmospheric but feels at times that it is too languid in its approach." While other reviews commented, "'Luckily, the cliches are kept to a minimum, and as it turns out it's actually a rather unique take on the material, deftly blending psychological terror into the mix in a manner not unlike 'The Shining'.'" and "The idea of male dominance and male-dominated culture is a favorite issue of Gilmans, as well as the idea of there being no escape. That issue runs through most of her works, and The Yellow Wallpaper is no different. The movie version may be tamer, but the underlying theme is indeed still there. And while there are definitely similarities and differences between the two, when it comes down to it, in the end both women end up becoming the woman behind the wallpaper." Cushing commented in the introduction to his book Lost Essays, the film was both loved and loathed. The director Logan Thomas's comments on the film after the release were, "we never thought of it as a horror movie, more of a gothic mind bender" and, commenting on his new feature film 'There's No Such Thing as Vampires', "I certainly didn't want to do another slow-burn movie that was a head puzzle like The Yellow Wallpaper".
Cast
* Aric Cushing as Dr. John Weiland
* Juliet Landau as Charlotte Weiland
* Dale Dickey as Jennie Gilman
* Raymond J. Barry as Dr. Jack Everland
* Veronica Cartwright as Catherine Sayer
* Michael Moriarty as Mr. Isaac Hendricks
* Ted Manson as Sage at Duel
* Alex Schemmer as Duellist
* Keller Wortham as Duellist
* Jessi Case as Sarah Weiland at age 8
* Gena Kay as Colleen Preston
* Joseph Williamson as Travis Preston
* Sharon Blackwood as Mrs. Foucoult at Tea Party
* Stephanie Wing as Mrs. Tremayne at Tea Party
* Holly Stevenson as Mrs. Steele at Tea Party
* Cindy Pain as Mrs. Daygeron at Tea Party
* Margie Mack as Rat Woman
* Bob King as Rat Man
* Pieter Kloos as Eckhart Van Wakefield
* Earl Maddox as Burn in Hell Man
*Kyla Kennedy as Sarah Weiland at age 3
* Fara Eve Soleil as 17th Century Woman
* Thomas Rouzer as Mysterious Man in House
* Oliver R. Smith as William at Duel
* Wayne Dutton as Carriage Driver
* Brian Bremer as Man in Field (Scenes Deleted)
Bibliography
Hischak, Thomas S. (2012). 'American Literature on Stage and Screen'. McFarland. .
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins and Cushing, Aric. 'The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories: The Complete Gothic Collection'. Ascent. .
Cushing, Aric and Thomas, Logan. 'The Yellow Wallpaper: The Official Motion Picture Screenplay'. .
References
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