Use of Montage in the Movie, Night of the Hunter :: Movie Film Essays

Use of Montage in the Movie, shadow of the HunterEbert said it best when he describes the characters of Night of the Hunter as Norman Rockwell archetypes. Taking place in an unassuming river town presumptively during the Great Depression, the plot unravels around $10,000, stolen during a poorly planned bank building robbery. No thought need be heeded on the heist, however, seeing as it was not important enough to waste film on. The money serves entirely to set up the dominoes that will be knocked down preferably linearly in this predictable storyline. But to criticize this movie as predictable would be missing the entire premises the movies true purpose is seeking to illustrate a kind of function vs. evil through key use of montage.The central character to the storyline, reverend Harry Powell, is what to twenty-four hour period would be considered the archetypal psychopath. His mask of a righteous, dear saver of souls makes his true self that much creepier. In a rattling twis ted scene, Rev. Powell perverts the embraced psyche of a hero riding in on a white horse by using such a steed to stalk John and Pearl, the two children of the robber who have been entrusted with the money, accurately portray the helplessness of innocence when a greater evil looms. Such biblical conflict can be seen throughout the movie, culminating with Rachel, a true companion of her Lord, warding off the evil Rev. Powell.In regard to montage, it would be easy to publish off its use as the most effective instrument for illustrating an idea with the technology at hand in those days. Upon closer inspection, however, montage allows a concept to be portrayed much more effectively than business leader otherwise be possible using standard filming techniques. The childrens journey down the river is a great example of this. The collision of scenes of them soft drifting in a boat, sometimes sleeping, sometimes talking, both day and night, with the reverend on his horse somehow keepi ng up explodes in the rather nebulous concept of a nightmare in which no matter how fast or far one runs, the pursuer forever and a day keeps up (Eisenstein, The Dramaturgy of Film Form).