what's eating gilbert grape (1993): observations

• An overarching diegesis that I noticed throughout What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) dealt with the concept of limits and boundaries. Gilbert and several other characters are often trapped in a crowded shot, such as the setting of the grocery store. Arnie is sent to prison, Mrs. Grape never leaves the house, and the entirety of the film takes place inside sleepy Endora. Both Gilbert and Becky's mother are also shown trapped inside a stalling car, literally stranding them to the spot in the shot. Mr. Carver is constantly asking Gilbert over the first section of the movie if he's "free" for a meeting. The family's house is slowly collapsing as the faulty foundations and the floors reach the limit of what they can take. Later in the film, Becky and Gilbert watch a sunset that she describes as "limitless". All these small details help contribute to the storyline and the theme of possibility and confinement.

• Gilbert Grape is known for its phenomenal acting-- obviously by Leonardo DiCaprio, who invokes a childlike element through his use of movement and space as well as his speech. However, Johnny Depp's acting is also important, although subtle. A key element I noticed throughout the film was his use of eye contact. During his affair with Mrs. Carver, he almost never looks her directly in the eyes-- in one shot, the camera moves between their two faces, his staring off elsewhere as Mrs. Carver fixates on him and kisses the side of his face. However, throughout the movie he is always facing and staring at Becky, mastering the concept of eye contact as a key indicator of attraction. At the grocery store, parallel sequences show Mrs. Carver and Becky moving through the boxes of food-- however, Gilbert avoids Mrs. Carver and stares fully at Becky.

• An interesting aspect of the use of mise-en-scene and symbolism in Gilbert Grape is the movie's attitude toward food-- especially in scenes with women. Obviously, Mrs. Grape's addiction and indulgence in food is a core aspect of her character, highlighting her depression and how she is immeasurably changed by her husband's death. However, several other female characters are tied to food, eating, and the mouth. Gilbert only makes grocery deliveries to women-- Becky and her mother as well as Mrs. Carver. Amy Grape is constantly baking and transporting food for her mother. Mrs. Carver is highly associated with sugar-- she is always seen in a grocery store or a kitchen (and on one occasion a drive-thru), both of her scenes highlighting her indiscretion with Gilbert are punctuated with eating desserts, and when she is upset she burns a pan of cookies. Even Becky is never seen without her red lipstick and pastel-colored clothing, evoking a more visual sense of sweetness and drawing attention to her lips as she and Gilbert eat ice cream and watermelon. The women in the film act as the prime emotional navigators and are very important to the plot line, yet by the end of the movie I have next to no sense of Becky's inner conflicts, emotions, and desires-- or, for that matter, anyone's but Gilbert's. The film's view of women is interesting to me and seems to straddle a line in which the women are numerous, present, and significant, but also associated with a frivolous "excess", indulgence, or consumption.

• Something particularly interesting to me about the framing of shots in Gilbert Grape was a certain shot of Arnie in the bathtub. Although I've never seen the film, I've read before that the Japanese anime movie Perfect Blue (1997-- created later chronologically than Gilbert Grape) contains an iconic frame of a character in a bathtub viewed from above. The director Darren Aronofsky wanted to use a similar sequence for his movie Requiem for a Dream (2000), so he bought the rights to remake Perfect Blue just in order to include a parallel shot. He also used this in his movie Black Swan (2010). Since reading that, I watch for overhead shots in films of characters in bathtubs-- the angle is so interesting, and the symbolic implications of washing, purifying, drowning are especially important in Gilbert Grape. Arnie is both drawn to and repulsed by water in the film. In one shot, the residents of Endora literally flock towards a water tower to watch Arnie climb as if drawn by an eerie supernatural force. Seeing the Perfect Blue-esque shot of Arnie completely submerged in water brought to mind the baptismal qualities of water in literature. 

• Another thing I noticed about the film was its constant mis-foreshadowing. There are parts of the movie in which Arnie literally knocks on a hearse or characters have a conversation about death, for instance specifically about the "fun" parts of death, while Arnie plays pinball in the background. In the opening voiceover, Gilbert discusses Arnie's lifespan, and constantly characters refer to his impending death-- "I just want to see my boy reach eighteen", etc., etc. Arnie is constantly placed in perilous situations, such as climbing the water tower or being left in the bath, yet all this hinting and foreshadowing never culminates in his death. Arnie is constantly balanced on a precipice of peril, misleading the audience into believing that he will die during the film, when really their attention should be directed elsewhere (towards his mother).