I will compare and contrast Mike Newell's Dance with a Stranger and
Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave in terms of alienation. The reasoning
behind my choice is that these two films have explicit characteristics
in the frame of alienation. Both highlight modern alienation in terms
of alienated sexuality, isolation, normlessness whereas Newell
discusses alienation also in class and gender difference perspective;
Boyle discusses alienation in the working place as an alienated
labour.
To begin with, when we examine Dance with a Stranger, we see Ruth,
David, Desmond and Andy as film's main characters. Ruth is the most
alienated character in this film. Firstly, she was a manager of a
night club, she was taking care of the customers, singing, dancing and
seemed all right but after having met David, her life was totally
changed she lost her job and she began to have obsessive feelings
about David. She sheltered near Desmond with her son Andy and day by
day she started to get distant from the world. She began to feel
despair and disconnected from social world. The scene in which Andy
was watching the television, in the background she was drinking and
looked like a ghost then in the next shot Desmond entered the room
shouted at Andy, and the child goes to another room without knowing
what he is going to do, and then cuts to the Desmond and Ruth's
alienated making love scene. Because of Ruth's powerlessness situation
she couldn't sustain anything her self identity became normless, so
her bad experiences alienates her.
Secondly, at the beginning of the film David describes nightclubs as
"glorified brothels", and Ruth ironically introduced herself
"glorified brothel keeper", in the film characters' relationships are
cheap and rough like in glorified brothels. Sexuality in these places
are alienated and uncertain, there is lack of love. Also the
relationship between Ruth and David is uncertain and cheap. Ruth
fancies David and David...
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