Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

186
growing familiarity, “the audience is denied any insight into the emotional forces which
motivate her character”. 618 Aitken argues that after the sex scene between Liz and
Ethan which Toss observes, the remainder of the film is almost entirely shot from
Toss’s point-of-view, but there is insufficient justification for the audience to
understand why Toss has apparently reverted to her original animosity towards Ethan.
He sees this as “a serious flaw in the overall structure of the film”. Aitken is also
critical of the scene where Toss gets her first period, describing it as “at best tacky and
to many, somewhat offensive”. As for the film’s ending, he concludes: “As a result of
the collapse of the film’s internal narrative drive with its lack of a dramatic climax, the
last scene, of the departure for the farm, is unexpected. We have no way of knowing
what Toss’s feeling are as we watch her walking away, her face remains impassive; and
rather than concluding decisively, the film’s ending is hollow, lacking emotion and
meaning”. 619
Aitken’s arguments are similar to Horrocks’s earlier suggestions, based on standard
assumptions about character motivation and narrative proportion. Horrocks had written:
The middle section of the film - from scene twenty-five where Ethan reappears,
say to scene sixty-four, where Ethan and Elizabeth are now lovers - covers too
much too rapidly. There are a lot of deep and fascinating shifts of emotion in
this part of the film, but they need more space to breathe, more room to grow
[…]. Because the relationships between Elizabeth and Ethan and Elizabeth and
Justin are not developed very far, Elizabeth may remain a vague and
unsympathetic character. I think viewers (especially women viewers) would
want to see her presented more fully in some respects. 620
Similarly, Aitken commented: “Liz’s anger culminates in her offering herself to Ethan.
While this action could be justified if we had been led to identify more closely with Liz
emotionally, we get not real idea of why sex with Ethan will be cathartic for her […],
rather, the immediate effect created by the build-up to this scene is that she has been
motivated by jealousy of her daughter, and a wider impression of what motivates Liz’s
character is lost”. 621 Ward acknowledges that it was difficult to “find a balance”
618 Aitken, "Sightlines on the Usurper," 7.
619 Aitken, "Sightlines on the Usurper," 8.
620 Horrocks, undated letter to Vincent Ward.
621 Aitken, "Sightlines on the Usurper," 7.