Acceptance And Self Confidence In Pudding Bowl And Rite

Acceptance And Self Confidence In Pudding Bowl And Rite 

By Tom Wilson

The influences of Pudding Bowl, by Vanessa Caswill, are apparent from its stylist opening shots and use of sound design. The heavy breathing coming from the girl resonates that of Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, 2006) which was released only a year before, and the stylised cinematography, capturing the almost dreamy appeal of 90s cinema, seems to mimic the colour palette and visual style of films by Jean-Pierre Jeunet such as Amelie and Delicatessen. But it's influences do not appear in just the visuals and sound design, but more prominently within it's chosen themes. Both Pudding Bowl, and the other film I intend to analyse Rite by Michael Pearce, focus on themes of acceptance and self-confidence, Pudding Bowl also focusing on beauty. These themes are also present in both Amelie and Little Miss Sunshine.

Pudding Bowl's opening scene creates an immediate atmosphere of acceptance and the desire to be. Jack (Tommy Knight), longs to be outside with his friends, but is unable to due to his strict mother. In order to both be with them, and likely impress them he ruins his sister's hair with glue. The cinematography in this scene also helps to amplify the desire to be accepted as the framing of Jack puts him central, alone, surrounded by the little furniture within their home. His friends are shot from behind a shut window, almost as if they're in a whole other world, together and laughing. The contrast between the Jack and his friends helps to further reinforce both Jack's longing to be outside and his desire to be one of the group, accepted. However, it is with Sophie Kingsley's character, Ivy, where the idea of acceptance is most apparent. The scene opens up with a close up of her character looking longingly at the beautiful women she's cutting out of magazines, similarly to Abigail Breslin's character Olive Hooper in Little Miss Sunshine as she watches the models on the television. Later, after her mother has cut her hair, she gazes at herself in the mirror as she tries to model herself of the women she sees in her magazines. These scenes help to highlight the central theme of the film, Ivy's self-confidence and desire to look like someone else, someone more beautiful. It is when we get to the final scene and we see into Ivy's consciousness, her desire to be thinner, without her glasses and chased by boys, that this theme is its most emphasised. While this scene is shrouded in dreamlike cinematography and accompanied by cheerful music, a sense of sadness is lingering as the audience realise she is not content unless she looks completely different. She wants to be accepted by society, and look as she is told she should look by these magazines. This contrasts with this films influences such as Little Miss Sunshine and Amelie, which is why it was my preferred film out of those we watched. The film masquerades it's sad themes with cheerful cinematography and music, Ivy laughing, just like Ivy masquerades her discontent with make up and her own imagination.

Similarly, my least favourite film of those we watched, Rite uses the same themes, but less generalised than Pudding Bowl. In Rite a son, Gary (Bradley Hall) has to deal with his violent father, Mike (Martin Herdman) who fails to accept him, or understand him. Unlike Pudding Bowl, Gary is content with his own identity, and is clearly confident about being both gay and as he describes it "alternative". He wears what he likes, and hangs out with his boyfriend. However, similarly to Pudding Bowl, Gary doesn't feel accepted. While in Pudding Bowl it was by society as a whole, Ivy not feeling like she looked how society wanted her to, Gary doesn't feel accepted by his father, who struggles to understand that he doesn't like football, and just wants to be with his friends. While Rite doesn't take any risks with cinematography, it does make good use of close ups, and crowded spaces, to create a feeling of claustrophobia. However, unlike Pudding Bowl, the cinematography doesn't help to add to the themes, it is merely the story that helps to highlight these. The acting in this short film also helps as the bond, or lack thereof, between the father and son feels realistic, and the violence that Mike displays doesn't feel out of place, rather we understand that he is in a tough place, and has a lot of anger built up within him.

Both films successfully touch on the themes of self confidence, identity and acceptance, just in slightly different ways. Pudding Bowl is not necessarily risk taking, but uses its cinematography and sound design in a clever and thoughtful way to help add to its themes. Rite doesn't do this as much, and as a result finishes without making too much of an impression, but does deal with these themes in a respectful manner.