The Whore of Babylon
A Hitchcock Remake
Plot
A businessman starts passing by a blonde women on the sidewalk bridge everyday from his way to work, and it seems to be love at first sight. He goes up to introduce himself, only to be greeted quietly as the woman peers down into the river below. She speaks very quietly and says very little, before completely ignoring him. He continues doing this everyday, believing that it is his fault and that he should try to fix what he has done. She begins to warm up to him, yet still keeps her strange attitude. One night, when he is running back to work from a bar to pick up some files for a presentation the next day, he sees her holding her shoes and peering dangerously over the railing of the bridge. He realizes that she has bruises on her face, collarbone, and arms. She admits to him that she can't stand herself anymore, and that she couldn't make herself leave her abusive boyfriend. Determined to win her over, the businessman offers to call the police, but she declines and asks him to help her get rid of her husband once and for all. In his drunken state, he agrees and walks over with her to her apartment nearby the river. She brings him to a closet, where the husband is bound, bruised, and unconscious, explaining that she had no choice and that she had to get rid of the mess. They carry him into the trunk of the woman's car. When she goes up to start it, the man wakes up and has a terrified look on his face, shaking his head at the businessman before he closes the trunk. They drive to the empty bridge, and throw the boyfriend over the side. The couple drive back to the woman's house. On the porch, the woman thanks the drunken businessman, yet says that it should've been her, since she doesn't know when to stop. The man is confused by this, but doesn't bother to ask questions once he gets pulled into her house with a smile. Shortly after, a loud thunk is heard and he falls unconscious onto the porch, his forehead bloody. He slowly gets pulled into the house, and the door closes behind him.
Cast and Characters
Blonde Woman
- Reese Witherspoon has a seemingly innocent persona, yet displays a depth to her character.
- Blonde Woman appears very fragile and innocent potential love interest at the beginning of the movie
- Later on is revealed to be insane, abusive, and deceptive, as she uses her harmless appearance as a blind to her potential victims
Businessman
- Ryan Phillippe has great chemistry with Reese Witherspoon and has a naive yet serious appearance.
- Businessman is single, lonely, and just trying to get by
- Easily pulled in by the idea of a possible romance, sees it as fantasy coming to life
- Very naive, practically hypnotized by the Blonde Woman to do her bidding with the dream of starting a life together
Abusive Boyfriend
- Ben Affleck is able to play a physically strong yet emotionally weak man (Gone Girl).
- Abusive Boyfriend is physically intimidating, making him the perfect stereotype
- Yet, it is later revealed that he is a victim, and that his wife has been mentally and physically abusing him
- Very desperate, tries to fight back, but the mental abuse is what brings him down
Camera and Lighting Techniques
- Natural lighting during the day
- Soft, artificial lighting from street lights at night to give a more eerie and old-fashioned look
- Close-up shots on what characters are looking at
- Sudden wide to close-ups
- Tracking shots of character's movements
- Angle above actor
- Landscape shot of city, especially when driving in the car
- Point of view shots
- Focus on character's eyes to show inner conflict and emotion
Setting
- Urban city nearby a deep, large river
- Around the mid-1960s during late spring/early summer
- Daytime helps give more of a romantic comedy feel and helps enforce the stereotype of single people in the city in search of love
- Nighttime gives more of a crime drama and thriller feel
Music and Film Score
There is no film score or background music. There are sounds of the city during the day, including traffic and pedestrians, and at night, including a few cars and distant muffled noise from the inner city. In addition, there is dialogue and sound effects from the fight when trying to get they abusive boyfriend into the car, when he is thrown over the bridge, etc. This is to make the audience a little unsettled during the more quiet night scenes. It also takes away any notifications of a change in mood, making it more difficult for the audience to predict what may happen next or a character's true behavior.
Hitchcock Influences
- Lead actress is blonde
- Follows character stereotypes in the beginning, but some change by the end
- Camera takes on human qualities and tracks scenes as though its a character
- Big twist at the end
- Information hinting at woman's insanity is shown to audience yet not to the character (due to his drunken state, he ignored this)
- Dialogue only when necessary, very uncommon in beginning due to the awkward relationship
- Soft lighting
- Point of view shots
- Showing story visually through close-ups
- Focus on characters eyes
- Close ups, wide shots, and angle above actor
- Exaggerated sound effects