Analysis of my Best Friends Wedding

Analysis of the opening scene of My Best Friend’s wedding

Genre

The genre is a romantic comedy

Narrative

 

The plot of the film centres around a woman’s long term friend who tells her he is engaged. She realises at that moment that she loves him and she sets out to get him, with only days before the wedding.

Setting

The whole scene has a Hollywood feel – exuding glamour, love and romance. It has a slightly old fashioned feel –maybe a feel of the 1950s or 1960s. It creates a fantasy church wedding which every woman would love to experience.

Themes

The themes are love and marriage

Character

We initially feel sympathy for the character of Julia Roberts but we lose this as she becomes rather devious as the film progresses. The character of Cameron Diaz is warm and loving.

Atmosphere

The opening scene is pink – a stereotypical colour associated with girls. The camera tilts down to show three women dressed in white – the traditional colour for purity and weddings. A fourth woman enters, dressed in a white wedding gown. She is to the fore of the scene and is shown very much as the main character in the scene . This connotes her importance over the other characters. She is the personification of happiness, goodness and warmth. The entire scene gives a very traditional, conservative view of gender. It shows women as believing tha weddings and marriages are their big goal, desiring marriage above all else.

The mise-en-scene is bare apart from the pink background and the four women. This focuses attention on the characters and denotes their importance. The costumes all point to the theme of weddings.

The whole scene has a Hollywood feel – exuding glamour, love and romance. It has a slightly old fashioned feel –maybe a feel of the 1950s or 1960s. The dance routine is highly choreographed. There is an element of comedy in the sequence. It is full of a posing bride and bridesmaids and is full of exaggerated movements and gestures. This foretells the genre of the film – a romantic comedy.

The camera angles are in the main long shots although there are some cuts to show their individual facial actions to fit in with the song. The women are performing – they look like they are on a stage. At several instances, the women pose directly for the camera. There is a lot of use of props associated with weddings such as diamond rings, bouquets and lacy garters.

When the bride throws the bouquet she is standing on a chair. This signifies she is married and above the others in importance. When she throws the bouquet she catches it herself. This is a break from what we expect to happen and perhaps foretells a twist in the plot of the film.

The overhead shot shows the woman lying on the ground with their heads together. It is almost reminiscent of a synchronised swimming sequence.

The bridesmaids give the bride their bouquet. They kneel in front of her. They are admiring her. She has achieved a higher status through marriage. The camera zooms in to show her face in an almost heavenly light shining on her. There is a real religious feeling connoting a real success. However the scene is rather unreal and false. It holds a sense of irony and the audience knows perhaps it is not real.

Sound

The women begin to sing “Wishin and Hopin”, a track originally recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1964. It tells how to get and marry your man, and fits in with the mise-en-scene focusing on weddings.

Titles

The credits that start to play are written in a hand written style of font. This connotes intimacy and family. Julia Roberts is the first name on the credits and we realise she is going to be a big star of the film.

The non-diegetic sound of the gospel singer adds to the religious feel.