Gothic Horror: Miss Havisham On Screen

Whilst reading the book 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, I began to imagine and interpret my own portrayal of Miss Havisham in my mind. The descriptions of her character throughout the book are very descriptive and detailed which made it very easy to build up a picture in my mind. These descriptions and my thoughts made me interested to know how other people perceived Miss Havisham. For this project I will be designing my own make up look and interpretation of Miss Havisham, I am excited to do this especially after researching the previous portrayals of the character as I feel that they are all similar and I am looking forward to creating my own version. I began to research different films and television show versions of 'Great Expectations' and paid close attention to Miss Havisham. These are are some of the films and televisions shows that I researched.

1946 Great Expectations

In the 1946 version of the film 'Great Expectations', the actress Martita Hunt played Miss Havisham. She was born in Argentina to British parents in 1899, and when she was aged 10 they moved to England. She was praised for her role and level of acting in the film 'Great Expectations' and after the film was released her popularity grew and she was consequently offered a wider range of more interesting roles. The 1946 film version was shot in black and white, I believe this adds to the effect in making Miss Havisham seem spiteful and bitter. From all the images that I have seen the shadows seem more prominent adding to the overall effect of age but also highlights her skin making it appear paler. In the film her make up appears to be minimal as if to reflect that she has given up and is stuck in the house and room where she spends most of her time. As the book was set in Victorian times the make up designer I imagine drew inspiration from cosmetics in that era which, from what I have researched, was very minimalistic and almost secretive. Her hair in the film appears to have been backcombed and is a half up half down style and almost blends in with the cobwebs that appear around the room with her. This type of hairstyle is currently very popular and can be seen on many different people including the celebrity Arianna Grande. This was interesting to me as it gave the film a contemporary and modern feel even though it was released over sixty years ago. The make up artists working on this film were George Blackler and Ernest Gasser. They are both English make up artists and between them are known for films such as 'Tommy' (1975), 'Stairway To Heaven' (1946) and The Dirty Dozen (1967). Martita Hunt died in June in 1969. I think that Miss Havisham's look captured in this film is the closest to that I imagined while reading the book. I think the age of Anne Bancroft is more what I imagined, I also think that the hair and the clothing is more what I had in mind.

Martita Hunt As Miss Havisham
https://www.pinterest.com/muirhewitt/the-grande-dames/

Martita Hunt As Miss Havisham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8907506/Gillian-Anderson-Helena-Bonham-Carter-and-Miss-Havisham-on-film.html?image=11

1998 Great Expectations

The 1998 film of 'Great Expectations' saw Anne Bancroft take the role of Nora Dismoor, who was the film equivalent of Miss Havisham. This film is a modernization of the original story and is loosely based upon the book. Anne Bancroft was born in New York in 1931to Italian parents. Her most famous film role was that of Mrs Robinson in the 1967 film 'The Graduate', she also appeared on Broadway for five years during a break from films. In the role of Nora Dismoor she wears very heavy make up and appears nothing like the original Miss Havisham. In the film she has a very pale face, which I believe was used to reflect the fact that she rarely goes out in the sun. The make up also seemed out dated and too young for her age, this helped to highlight the fact that she was stuck in a time of 20 years ago. The way the make up was applied also highlighted her aged as it settled into her fine lines and wrinkles, I also think that the make up made her look quite masculine as well as sad. The most famous and iconic outfits worn throughout the film were predominantly green which is said to have been the director's favourite colour. Interestingly the house name of Ms Dinsmoor in the 1998 film is ‘Paradiso Perduto’ which means lost paradise. I thought this was interesting as it continued with the theme throughout the film portrayed by Miss Havisham that she was longing for her past of love. She also wears pearls during the film, this is interesting to me as they resemble peace, and to me she is far from peaceful. Overall this portrayal is far from how I imagined Miss Havisham, this is however a modern version and my imagination is based upon the original.

Anne Bancroft As Miss Havisham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8907506/Gillian-Anderson-Helena-Bonham-Carter-and-Miss-Havisham-on-film.html?image=17

Anne Bancroft As Miss Havisham
http://rosamondpress.com/2012/04/06/great-expectations/

2012 Great Expectations

In the 2012 film version of Great Expectations actress Helena Bonham Carter played the role of Miss Havisham. She was born on May 26 1966 to a merchant banker father and psychotherapist mother. She has appeared in many films, with one of her most famous roles being Belatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter films. On the website Stylist.co.uk I read an interview with the costume designer Beatrix Aruna Pasztor who worked on the 2012 film 'Great Expectations'. She speaks of her processes in finding inspiration and designing the wedding dress and other costumes worn by Helena Bonham Carter in the film. In the interview she speaks of how she ‘consulted paintings and bibliographies from the Dickensian era’. She also says how she ‘tried to combine them with contemporary fashion shows for a fresh modern look.’ She also talks about how she also had a contemporary vision for the story. In the film Helena has very curly and frizzy styled hair which, like in the 1946 film, reminds me of the cobwebs that are hung around in the room. Interestingly the style of hair in this film was actually of gothic origin instead of victorian. This is due to the hair style being twenty years prior to the date the film is set, representing her being stuck in the past. Beatrix Aruna Pastor also expressed in the interview that she wanted to have dramatic hair and make up to go with the costumes that she designed. Helena's face was pale in most of the pictures that I have seen of her with an ashy look around the eyes and other areas of her face. I think in this version of the film she looks far younger than that of the 1946 and 1998 films, I presume the thought behind this is the director's interpretation of the age of the character and Beatrix Aruna Pasztor's vision of the look of Miss Havisham being more fresh than previous portrayals. This portrayal to me is a good interpretation of the book but is however not how I perceived Miss Havisham to look and, like the TV mini series, I think that Helena Bonham Carter looks too young for the role.

Helena Bonham Carter As Miss Havisham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/9726621/Great-Expectations-Seven-magazine-review.html

Helena Bonham Carter As Miss Havisham
http://diymag.com/archive/first-look-at-helena-bonham-carter-as-miss-havisham

2011 Great Expectations BBC Mini TV Series

In the 2011 BBC mini series of 'Great Expectations', Miss Havisham is played by Gillian Anderson, an American actress born in Chicago Illinois in August 1968. She has appeared in many films including 'The X Files' (1993) and 'Playing by Heart' (1998). Some people were critical of her role in the TV series expressing that they thought she was too young to play the role of Miss Havisham as well as her high pitched voice. On a BBC interview that I have read with Gillian Anderson, she discussed the process of turning into Miss Havisham. She says how she had two different wigs to wear which had three different stages of deterioration. In the beginning of the film her hair was set into tight curls at the front, but the back was messy and unkept. I think this was done to show that she was trying to keep hold of something of her looks but did not have the energy to fully complete it. At the end of the film however her hair is almost falling out, Gillian explains how she had to wear a bald cap underneath due to the lack of hair in the wig. Her make up in the film is very pale and dusty looking, she looks more ill and frail than the film interpretations. She almost has a grey undertone to her skin, her lips are also chapped and dry which reflect her lack of care for herself and her disinterest in life. This version is how I imagined Miss Havisham to look whilst reading the book.

Gillian Anderson As Miss Havisham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8907506/Gillian-Anderson-Helena-Bonham-Carter-and-Miss-Havisham-on-film.html

Gillian Anderson As Miss Havisham
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/8907506/Gillian-Anderson-Helena-Bonham-Carter-and-Miss-Havisham-on-film.html?image=1

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/great-expectations-feature

http://vintagemakeupguide.com/victorian-look/

Gothic Horror

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Miss Havisham On Screen

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