Edward Scissorhands

Edward Scissorhands is a modern fairytale, released in 1990, and was directed by Tim Burton. It stars Johnny Depp as a scientific experiment who has scissors for hands.

The main Gothic theme in the film is isolation, both physical and emotional. This is shown most notably by the fact that Edward is discovered in the attic of a huge Gothic castle, and eventually that is where he is left, having been rejected from the town. It is also represented by the garden he has created for himself in the castle, implying that he has to occupy himself by making sculptures. The scissors on his hands represent a physical barrier between Edward and the rest of the characters, as he is unable to interact with them or the world they live in, as shown in the scene where he tries to eat dinner, along with many other moments in the film where it is played for comic effect, but tragically when he tries to help the young boy but ends up scarring his face. This reinforces the theme that even though he has a special gift, he will never be accepted into society. Edward is also emotionally isolated from the other characters in the fact that he has to learn about the world from scratch, which is evident in the scene where the professor, his "father", teaches him how to laugh.

Although it includes devices from the horror genre, like a mad professor and a frankenstein like creation, it differs from traditional horrors in that it does not focus on terror or being scary, but instead is about the development of a tragic character. It contains more similarities to fairytales, in that it is opened and closed by a character, who is now old, retelling the story to her grandchild. It also focuses on the love between a beautiful girl and a "monster" like in the fairytale Beauty and the Beast.

When he has to adjust to the world outside his castle, Edward is a naive, suggestible character, which contrasts with his image as a man who has blades on his hands. He is frequently used by the other characters, which frequently lands him in trouble and eventually in exile.

The suburb below the castle is painted with pastel colours, which represents the generic nature of suburban life and exist to show the contrast between the town and the grey stone world that Edward has just left. The castle is full of eccentric shapes and structures like the staircase and the machine that makes cookies, whilst the suburbs, before Edward arrives, consist of square houses and neat lawns and hedges. Again this is to show how normal suburban life is compared to Edward.

There are many characters in the film who are stereotypes, and this is to show us how odd the world is when seen through Edward's eyes, such as the moments when all the men leave for work at the same time, and when the women gossip around to find out who Edward is when they first see him.

The film follows a Classical Narrative structure, which means the story is made up of three sections (usually the beginning, middle and end). The first section exists to establish the characters, and the key scene is when Peg enters the Mansion and discovers Edward. In this scene the audience is introduced to the contrast between the two worlds, and also given insights to the characters of Peg, Edward and the women of the town. Another key scene is when Kim and her boyfriend arrive back in the town. This sets up their characters and sets up Jim's conflict with Edward which froms the basis for the rest of the plot. The middle section provides the bulk of the movie and develops the characters towards the climax. In this section, Edward is initially accepted by the neighbourhood, and the jobs that he does for them provide most of the comedy in the film. It also builds up the relationships between Kim, Edward and Jim, with the key moment when Jim lets Edward get arrested. The climax of the film is after his exile from the suburbs, when Jim confronts Edward and Kim in the mansion attic. It ends with Edward killing Jim, but only after Kim gets hurt. This confirms Edwards character as a "monster with a heart". The film is given closure by fastforwarding to the future where Kim is old but Edward lives on creating snow from ice sculptures to show that he still remembers. I think this is a good way to end the film as it avoids the cliches of a traditional fairytale happy ending, and it underlines the overall theme of the story, which is that two people may be destined for each other but their differences mean they should remain apart.