Night of the Hunter Film Analysis

Night of the Hunter Film Analysis: Foretelling through Symbols

“It’s a hard world for little things,” symbolizes the theme of the film The Night of the Hunter. John (Billy Chapin) and Pearl (Sally Jane Bruce), two innocent kids whose father has been arrested for stealing money, are forced to keep the biggest secret. That secret is where thismoney is hidden. For these two youngsters, keeping this secret is tough. The money is held in Pearl’s doll that she carries around everywhere. The town’s preacher, Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), has married and killed the children’s mother and now only has one desire, to find out  from John and Pearl where all of the money is hidden. The Night of the Hunter is a story of two innocent, orphaned kids who are being chased by a fanatical man. Although some of Sally Jane Bruce’s (Pearl Harper’s) acting is unrealistic and appears contrived, Charles Laughton effectively adds suspense through his foreshadowing by using shadows and lighting, LOVE and HATE tattoo, and music which all efficiently foreshadow the outcome of the subsequent scene.

In The Night of the Hunter, the shadows and lighting add suspense to the scene and symbolize what is about to come. One reoccurring use of shadows in the film is the shadow that appears most every time before Harry Powell, the unwavering preacher, enters the scene. This shadow is used to indicate something bad is about to happen. In one scene Pearl takes all of the hidden money and begins to play with it and make paper dolls using the money. As the scene continues you begin to see a shadow of the preacher coming towards to door. This shadow adds suspense for the viewers because they wait in awe to discover what will happen when the preacher catches the kids with the money….Order a Similar Paper