Shallow Grave

How does Boyle represent gender in Shallow Grave?

 

In the dancing scene from Shallow Grave, Boyle represents gender in many ways using a variety of techniques. He shows the difference between the three main characters using different camera shots and angles and also uses all aspects of mise en scene but especially costume.

 

At the start of the scene when Juliet, David and Alex are sat at the table we can clearly see the difference in clothing between Juliet and the two men. Alex and David are both wearing suits which are not very striking to look at but are both very formal; however they are similarly dressed to a lot of the other male characters in the scene. Juliet, on the other hand, is wearing a very striking purple dress. This shows that unlike the male characters she has a wider choice of clothes to wear and as she is a woman, she might have a better fashion sense. It also seems like she has made more of an effort to impress and dress correctly for the occasion than David and Alex. Juliet’s costume makes her stand out amongst all the black and grey suits. This shows that she perhaps wants to be noticed by the men.

 

One of the most interesting shots in the dancing scene is a Point of View shot from Alex looking directly up at Juliet who is standing over him. Alex is lying on the floor and he is looking directly up at Juliet. The way she is stood suggests that she is the more powerful of the two characters. The camera angle looking directly up at her gives her a great sense of power over Alex. The camera looks slightly up her skirt and this suggests sexual power over Alex. Again at this moment her costume suggests that she is quite a powerful woman who may know how to get what she wants. The way in which Alex looks up at Juliet suggests that he does find her very sexually attractive. This could be Boyle showing that the stereotypical man does think about sex a lot of the time. The way Alex laughs afterwards suggests that he and Juliet are very close friends and this sort of behaviour is a common occurrence between the two of them and it is acceptable for them to behave like this around each other. This situation may be Boyle’s way of saying that not all women suffer from inequality as Juliet clearly is more powerful than Alex. 

 

Right at the end of the scene we see David getting really angry and very aggressive towards another man. David threatens to put him in a “Fucking bin bag”. This shows that males can be very aggressive towards other men. This makes David look very frightening and the bloke he is shouting at looks perplexed as to why he is being so aggressive. David is clearly doing this to protect Juliet. This shows that men are probably expected to protect and look out for women. This also portrays that David may be cracking under the pressure of keeping such a dark secret, he clearly wants to talk to the others about it but they don’t allow it. Shortly after that he becomes very loud and aggressive to a seemingly innocent man. This shows that men can become very grumpy and quite angry when they don’t get what they want.

 

Men are also represented, by Boyle, as being bullies and also very cruel towards people who they can sense have a weakness about them. This is showed when Alex taunts Cameron about not becoming his flat mate. What he said could be interpreted as him deliberately embarrassing Cameron in public. This shows that men do tend to put other men down especially in front of women to boost their own egos. Alex clearly enjoys putting Cameron down as it makes him seem more important.

 

To conclude, Boyle uses many techniques very effectively to portray men as being aggressive and somewhat animalistic. He also uses mise en scene effectively to show women as being very glamorous and well dressed.