Alienation in Modern Society

      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....