Silva 1

Wilmer Silva
Mr. Furman
AICE Media Studies
2 October 2016
Film Analysis of Fingersmith
The opening scene of Fingersmith, Walsh 2005, uses a variety of elements to build the
representation of sexuality and social class. Upon the first ten seconds of the film opener, we
realize the two main characters, two women, who go by Maud and Sue. The clip commences
with a voiceover of Maud, expressing her thoughts as she looks at Sue hold up a dress and look
in the mirror. Sue is a monumental part of Mauds life, as she takes a very important part in her
heart. The voiceover fades into new scenes and is non-diegetic. One can infer from the tone and
words that are said in the voiceover, that Maud indeed has a sexual desire for Sue. Maud is
tormented by these uninhibited desires, but she cant afford to admit it, only keep it to herself.
The diegetic background music serves to portray a happy and light hearted feeling when the
romantic scenes were underway. This sound represented different factors of Mauds perspective.
Maud lacks the confidence to express how she feels towards Sue, but still withholds a passionate
love for her. Ironically, this quickly subsides as the music stops and transitions into the next
scene. The mood of the background music morphs from a happy tone, to a rather sinister sound
when Maud is painting sue. As she paints Sue, a man known as Richard hastily tries to seduce
her and convince her to marry him, even though Maud truly loves Sue. He seems to be aware of
Mauds impending love for sue.
In the first scene of the film, mis-en-scene immediately affects the viewers perspective
on the main characters lives. As Sue holds up the dress, gawking at its beauty, Maud is looking

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at her with eyes of temptation, admiration, and love. The dress is purple, which combines a flare
of gloominess with romance. The clothes also manage to display that these two characters come
from a time period that looked down upon such blasphemy. It is also prevalent that they are part
of the wealthy upper class. The use of dark lighting inside also induces that truly vintage feel,
due to the lack of electricity in such times. Fast forwarding to the outside scene, we meet
Richard. Richard appears in an all-black attire, giving him a very dark and aggressive look.
Black represents aggression, and even evil. His actions only confirm this notion, as he later
proceeds to pull Maud away and bid her to love him instead of Sue. He pins her against the tree
and his very obnoxious, not caring for her feelings. The red paint also displays meaning behind
Mauds intentions. The paint is red, which symbolizes love. Maud was so caught up in paying
attention to Sue that she didnt take notice of her paint dripping. During the whole of the scene
where she is pinned to the tree by Richard, her facial expressions show that she is uncomfortable.
Richard is forceful and powerful because she tries to deny him but he still ended up putting her
in that position against her will.
Furthermore, camera shots also played a vital role in the flow and significance behind
different scenes. Close-ups of Sue throughout the film opening can be taken as a representation
of Mauds desire for Sue. The close-up shots bring out the more sexual side of the story, but the
long shots do an excellent job at showing their romance as a whole. When Maud was a painting,
she was seen from a high angle, as if looked down upon. This applies perfectly in this situation
because Richard is looking down at her, making her feel pity for herself for her blasphemous
desires. The initial opening shot of the film opener is also very creative, because it shows a twoshot with a voiceover overlaid on top of the scene. Upon seeing the two women, the viewer must
assume which girl is the one talking from the mis-en-scene. There was also meaning portrayed

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through the editing. Many of the scenes would dissolve to the next one, representing the passage
of time as Mauds love for Sue grows greater. Tilting is used to show what Richard was doing
and the disgust that Maud held on her face while Richard was hastily trying to seduce her.
The representation of sexuality in Victorian times is extremely prevalent in this film clip.
Rather than being expressed through simply dialogue and actions, the mise-en-scene, sound,
camera shots, and different editing techniques all work together harmoniously to paint the picture
of Mauds forbidden love for Sue. The camera angles focus on the facial expressions and the
actions of each character. The sound and mise-en-scene created the mood for each scene and also
expressed the feeling of love that Maud had for Sue and the disgust she has for Richard. Mis-enscene also shows what kind of background these two women have as well as the society they are
surrounded with. The editing was used to change up the scenes and give a clearer description of
what they are trying to get across.