Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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Askew believes Ward borrowed Hitchcock’s “sudden shock” technique, a technique in
which he had shown a particular interest at art school. 446
The film has direct links with Expressionism in its subjectivity, chiaroscuro lighting,
and unusual composition of shots. A good example is the shot of Malfred’s mother
lying on her deathbed, with the figure of the dying mother in the background
overshadowed by Malfred in the foreground, a composition reminiscent of Edvard
Munch, the Norwegian Expressionist painter. In one of his first meetings with King, the
film’s editor, about the look he was trying to achieve in A State of Siege, Ward talked
about Munch’s painting, The Scream, in reference to “feel and light, light and shade
more than anything”. 447 Direct links aside, the film has much in common with the spirit
of Expressionism in its creation of an atmosphere of unease and its subjectivity. As in
many Expressionist paintings and films, distortion is used both to help create an
atmosphere of unease and to suggest disturbance of mind. An example of this is the
scene where Malfred is clambering down to the beach to do a sketch of the sea. The
camera tilts up to the looming cliff face and revolves in a way that suggests her inner
disorientation and confusion. Nature often seems to reflect the protagonist’s disturbed
state of mind, as in the scenes later in the film, where the intensifying noise of the
windstorm howling around the house seems to reflect Malfred’s increasing unease. The
film’s soundtrack is used to increase this mood, for example in the magnification of
sound effects in the scene where Malfred is cleaning the bath, particularly of the
scratching noise of the bath being cleaned and the sound of the clock ticking, which
creates an atmosphere of unease. As in many Expressionist films, objects seem to have
a malevolent life of their own.
The dialogue in A State of Siege is minimal and the strength of the film lies primarily in
its visual impact. The visual irony in the beach scene is created by the wordless
depiction of Malfred’s futile painting attempts to capture the menacing power of the
sea, evoked by the camera moving closer and closer to the crashing waves as they
explode ferociously against the rocks. Such scenes reflect Ward’s interest in Dreyer
and other great silent filmmakers. In his words:
446 Lynette Read, interview with Maurice Askew, 25 January 1999.
447 Lynette Read, interview with Chris King, 2 February 1999.