"I have a voice!"

Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech is one of the few movies where the actors enthrall and enlighten the viewer by presenting the emotion of the situation by their mere gestures and actions, fitting of the morals and philosophies of the film. At it’s simplest, the film deals with the overcoming and conquering of a physical defect that prevents the protagonist from realizing his full potential and his royal duties. 

The film circles the concept of the battle against the effects of physical defects, of stammering and the inability to speak as well as the external circumstances within that moment in time that affect the speaker, in this case, it is the Duke of York, future King of Britain. There is the looming threat of war with Nazi Germany and the discrimination, from society and familiar, towards those with any sort of defect or incapacity. Discrimination  as well as abuse towards those with any sort of difference or those who are not as charming is as present in the royal world as it is in the world of commoners. 

It is pain and the quiet elegance that it takes to overcome it. One of the most poignant of these moments of quiet pain happen early in the film, when the Duke and the Duchess of York arrive for the Duke’s first appointment with a controversial speech therapist. The scene is cold and dark, the colors of the receiving hall dark browns that border on black with a sense of chilliness in the air. A young boy, shy and stammering, receives the couple timidly, barely able to get his words out. The pain in the faces of the couple couldn’t be more evident, pale faces growing ashen and eyes glittering with unshed tears that aren’t allowed to fall. It is more than clear that the little boy is meant to symbolize the Duke in his childhood. 

Quiet elegance overlays the entirety of the film, the rich backdrops of London and of royal palaces doing nothing to overshadow the film, adding to it’s depth rather than detracting with any possible gaudiness. None of the colors present within the film are overpowering, rather, they are almost faded, perhaps, due to the historic nature of the film and the image of it that is ingrained within the cultural perspective.

Audio is an integral part of the film, more so than usual considering that the theme of the film is the simple notion of a voice being heard. Perhaps the greatest moment in which it is used is the moment in which that the King to be, the Duke of York, Bertie to his friends and family, is in his first visit to the Antipodean speech therapist Logue and is reciting Hamlet’s soliloquy in the “Nunnery Scene” whilst the Duke is listening to classical music. The audience hears only the first six words of the soliloquy before the music drowns him out, the entirety of the speech is only heard later, when the Duke listens to the recording for the first time, and hears himself speaking without a single stammer. 

There is another moment of musical importance in the film, the moment when Bertie, now King, is about to give his first wartime speech regarding Britain’s entrance into war with Nazi Germany. It is at this moment that the Allegretto of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony begins, at the moment that the King is hesitating before delivering his speech over the wireless to the entirety of the British nation. The music itself is melancholic and gentle with moments of greatness that are built up to gradually after having started with ominous chords that time perfectly with the King’s struggles at the beginning of the speech. There is irony in this moment as well, that the music used at this moment is that of a German when it is Britain declaring their intent of war with Germany. 

It is fitting that the score as well as the visual components of the film are comprised of quiet elegance when those two words are what one of the themes of the film can be narrowed down as, quiet elegance in the face of battle.

A Leaf on the Wind

Joss Whedon’s Serenity is often called a space western, but, it is not a film that can be relegated to one shelf. It is science fiction and drama, a thriller and a Western that draws elements from Chinese epics. This idea follows through in the use of color within the film, drawing overlapping elements from different cultures to create a blend of cultures that would exist in a world beyond an overpopulated and contaminated Earth.

It is not a pure science fiction film, nothing like the Star Trek that modern audiences know, closer to Blade Runner with it's almost grungy feel. It is nothing like the clean metal of Star Trek or the stylized richness of Star Wars. It is dirty, it is emotion in its most natural form, it is human. The film is the outside of that which is constantly presented by science fiction films, the opposite of all the cold gleaming metal surfaces and technological advances. Serenity, both the film and the namesake, a near derelict spaceship that is barely held together, are the opposite of that vision. It is closer to the gritty and dark visual style of Ridley Scott’s neo noir film Blade Runner. 

Within the long spanning history of the films and television shows of Star Trek, the colors have always been quite clear. Everything to do with the color palette, for the protagonists of the films/shows, are on the lighter side of the color spectrum. The Federation, the advanced government within the home world of Star Trek, is shown having beautiful, crisp and cold environments of gleaming metal. It is just as the presentation of the Alliance in Serenity, a totalitarian and highly advanced government. That is the opposite with Serenity, those with the lighter color palette, the pale blues and grays, are the antagonists and villains of the situation, having created the monsters known as Reaver through their own meddlesome actions. 

The darkness apparent in Blade Runner, the grittiness throughout the dystopian world, that is what is reflected within Serenity. It is the darker side of humanity in the future, in a future that is not only gleaming and wonderful, but cold and cruel. It shows that humanity is not simply that which glitters the brightest, but also that which is dull and drab. 

Within the scenes of the school, when River is dreaming or having a vision, the prominent colors are blues, whites, and, oranges. There is green in the background, that of the foliage and flora, but it is almost too real, the green does not feel real. Everything is oversaturated, almost technicolor and hazy in appearance. The color white, within the scene, is almost blinding and surrounded by a halo, mimicking it’s Western definition of purity and innocence while, at the same time, contrasting it’s Eastern definition of being the color of mourning and death. A fitting comparison when, towards the end of the first school scene, the teacher stabs River in the forehead with a blade, and, in the second scene, when all the students lay down and turn into mummified corpses before River’s eyes.

Sickly blues, greens, and, grays dominate the Alliance lab scene where River is being experimented on. There is an unhealthy sheen to the skin of the characters within this scene, almost as if they were monsters or even corpses. The Alliance itself, whenever present, is represented by those hues along with white. The records room, in which the Operative is reviewing River’s escape from the Alliance lab, is primarily neutral in color. The only contrast within the room’s color palette are the red lights on the shelves, the red stripe on the floor, and, the blood of those that the Operative slaughtered. 

For Serenity, the spaceship that is called home by the majority of the characters of the film, is filled with warmer colors, denoting that it is a safe place. Even though the inside of the ship is gray or light blue metal and there are areas that are coolly lit, the general feel is that of safety due to the warm hues decorating the interior. The most prominent of those colors being yellows, reds, and, browns. 

As the albatross that the Alliance seeks to silence, River is clad in regal colors. Dark blues, purples and reds are the colors that she is always seen in. She is both a psychic and an engineered weapon. The red symbolizes the death she is able to bring down upon others in an instant, the purple being the symbol of her metaphysical abilities, and, the blue referencing the nobility of her birth.

The abandoned planet known as Miranda is, as is the norm within this film for dangerous locations or moments of dramatic importance, depicted in lighter colors. All the colors, of everything found on that abandoned planet, are cold and icy. Steel grays, icy blues, and, whites cover the screen within the scenes on Miranda. There is no variety of color but for the corpses of the former inhabitants of Miranda. There is nothing that lends to the belief of life existing on the planet.  

Serenity does not follow the story of what would be considered the counterpart of Star Trek’s Federation, the Alliance in this case, nor does it follow the noble cause of the rebel forces in Star Wars. Rather, it’s story follows the path of a ragtag group of honest thieves who live aboard a derelict spaceship bearing the name of Serenity. The symbolic albatross of the film is a young girl, River Tam, daughter of a high ranking family within the Alliance, psychic, and, lab rat of the the Alliance. Before her brother, Simon, managed to rescue her from the Alliance laboratories, she unearthed a truth from within the minds of the leaders of the Alliance that burned her mind. It is for that secret that she is hunted by the Alliance, to prevent the truth of the tragedy of Miranda from reaching the mass public. It is for that reason she and her brother managed to hide themselves within a small band of thieves, who, are led by a former rebel captain.

River herself is no longer just a brilliantly gifted child. By the hands of the Alliance, she has become a weapon. Mentally unstable, her movements and appearance throughout the film reflect this. At times, she appears unearthly, her skin too pale or even glowing within certain scenes. The camera follows her motions, and, when she is especially disturbed, it is reflected in the manner of editing. There are moments when she is reading the minds of others and the camera portrays this through the use of an extreme Dutch angle, intent on causing disorientation and discomfort, mimicking what River herself would feel. When she has visions of the Reavers, those unlucky humans who have fallen into darkness and madness by the hands of the Alliance, there are close ups and rapid camera movement that mimics their chaotic movements and thought patterns. 

The movements of the Reavers, especially when fighting, are chaotic and out of control. Fitting with their background, being the few survivors of Miranda who had gone mad due to the secret experimentation of an entire planet by the Alliance in the attempt of creating a docile and malleable populace. The Alliance soldiers, in contrast, when moving, are stiff and methodical. They are organized, playing to the knowledge of the Alliance being cool and calculating when it comes to any and every thing. On the other hand, River, she plays to her name. She is graceful in both battle and in her daily movements, almost as if she were dancing or even simply a leaf on the wind with the delicacy of her appearance and movements. 

It is a dance, the entirety of the plot and aesthetics of the film. River and her protectors shying away from the ever reaching hand of the Alliance as they move further and further to the edge of humanity. It is simple and complex, a moment in time that is repeated throughout each scene of the film. River is, after all, an albatross aboard a rudderless ship that follows the wind. 

That, perhaps, is how Serenity can be summed up: a leaf on the wind. 

Works Cited

Dargis, Mahnola. "Scruffy Space Cowboys Fighting Their Failings." NY Times. The New York Times, 30 Sept. 2005. Web. 4 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/movies/scruffy-space-cowboys-fighting-their-failings.html?_r=0>.

Kempley, Rita. "Blade Runner." Washington Post. Washington Post, 11 Sept. 1992. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/bladerunnerrkempley_a0a2e1.htm>.

Orr, Christopher. "The Movie Review: 'Serenity'" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 27 Dec. 2005. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2005/12/the-movie-review-serenity/69420/>.

Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Warner Bros., 1982. Film.

Firefly. Dir. Joss Whedon. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2003. Film.

Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon. Universal Pictures, 2005. Film.

Wood, Jennifer M. "Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk on Firefly Fandom and Their Con Man Indiegogo Campaign." Esquire. Esquire, 21 Mar. 2015. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/interviews/a33827/nathan-fillion-alan-tudyk-firefly-reboot-tournament/>.