Characterisation in The Fisher King
...indow asking for money, to which Jack responds, “As if a few quarters is going to make a difference”. The audience is able to see here, that Jack is void of any compassion as a result of his self-centredness. Jack’s lack of insight, is also portrayed using symbolism, in the scene where he approaches Perry to pay him off, and perhaps no longer be indebted to him. In the scene, Jack is wearing dark glasses, which are again suggestive of the fact that Jack is unable to see the reality of the situation around him. Perry at the beginning of the scene attempts to take off Jack’s glasses, as he wants Jack to see the world and it’s inhabitants for what they are, and not to hide behind a façade of items that simply do not matter in the scheme of things. By revealing to the audience, that Jack is naïve in that he believes money is most important and also the effect of believing this has for Jack, Guilliam helps an audience to understand that in life, the desire for status and wealth can cripple the human spirit. Another way, in which Guilliam uses characterisation to better convey a crucial theme in the film, is through the character Perry. By using motifs and threnody to create Perry’s “demon” of the past, the film stresses the importance of accepting ones past, before moving forward to another future. In the scene where Perry walks Lydia to her doorstep, and the demon appears, there is a strong use of threnody; in the form of heartbeats, which help to build the scene to an emotional climax. The reoccurrence of the colour red is prominent in the form of the demon that appears, and also in the blood of Perry’s late wife in the restaurant shooting. Both uses of the colour red give a feeling of terror, and together with the fire form a reference to hell. This is appropriate, because Perry is experiencing his own personal hell, by loosing his wife and now being unable to cope with this loss. Robin Williams, who played the character Perry in the film, explained, “Perry is a man with a previous life that was so damaged that he had to create another personality… Perry is a creation – somewhat Don Quixote, somewhat Groucho Marx – but he’s a creation designed to avoid a past event”. The use of these techniques, help to recreate the terror and dread of Perry’s memory, but also highlight the negative effects of repressing the past. Unable to deal with or face his memories, they have now accumulated into the horror that is able to reduce Perry to tears. Guilliam, through this characterisation of Perry conveys to an audience the importance of accepting the past and facing your demons. The portrayal of Lydia and Anne also add to the success of the film. The contrasts of these two women highlight to an audience the importance of embracing love, as ‘love conquers all’. The effects of depriving oneself of loving and being loved are demonstrated through Lydia, in the scene where she is first introduced to an audience. In this scene Perry watches as Lydia attempts to exit the revolving doors at the entrance to her apartment building. Lydia makes various attempts to exit, all the while appearing awkward and flustered by the experience. This event is symbolic of the idea that Lydia is well and truly stuck ‘in a rut’, when it comes to her ability to receive others and embra...