Cinematography

  Streamlining the Plot | Maintaining Character Relationships | Reinterpreting Fagin | Cinematography

The reinterpretation of these characters was very much emphasized through technical and cinematic elements.  The music throughout the movie really sets the mood and has the power to bring the scene to life.  For instance, during “the game” Fagin was teaching Oliver how to pick pockets, and the music was a bouncy, fun, free-spirited mix that may have been meant to represent a circus.  Then, in contrast at the end of the film when Oliver and Fagin are forced to separate in the cell, very dramatic music begins to play.   The screams of Fagin are diminishing into the background as the music crescendos.  These audio effects help to make the viewer feel as though they are a part of the action.

Movies are able to visually show effects in which a novel cannot.  Producers of movies have that ability to show exactly what they are picturing in their own heads.  Authors have to grant creative freedom to their audiences while reading.  However, it is very possible for producers to allow creative freedom and the use of imagination for their viewers.  Polanski did this during  the scene when Nancy was murdered.  Instead of showing the brutality and violence of the scene, Polanski chose to show shadows on the wall, allowing viewers to fill in the rest of the story for themselves.  The same situation occurred when Oliver left Fagin pleading in the jail cell.  Although it wasn’t explicitly shown in the film, the images of the nooses being set up helped the viewers fill in the story for themselves. 

Visual effects, whether plainly shown or implied, are very important to the viewers understanding of the film.  Polanski did an outstanding job with the use of lighting and color to imply emotion and mood throughout the film.  One of the most standout scenes is when Dodger is leading Oliver to Fagin’s den.  The roads and alleyways are hardly lit,and there are a lot of shadows cast on the buildings.  This makes the outside world seem very cold and scary.  However, when Dodger opens the door to Fagin’s den, the lighting is a warm yellow and there are scarves of many colors hanging on the walls within the den.  The insertion of these colors into the film symbolizes the safety and the protection under Fagin’s roof as opposed to the danger of the dark outside world. 

Plot and emotion are also widely recognized through the use of dialogue in film. The language in the movie really rested on that of the novel.  Polanski was able to bring Dickens’ vision of Oliver’s London to life by using lines within the film that are very accurate and relatable to the novel. Using direct dialogue from the novel secures the idea that Polanski is following the fidelity model.

Polanski was able to successfully streamline a 450 page novel into roughly two hours by eliminating character connectivity and adding identifiable emotional bonds between two central characters.  This approach allowed Polanski to tell a story that was published two centuries ago and make it entertaining for a modern, twenty-first century audience.   

Work Cited: Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. New York: Penguin: 2003