The Long Kiss Goodnight Movie Analysis

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The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) is an American action and thriller movie directed by Renny Harlin. At the beginning, the plot portrays the lead role, Samantha Caine, as a school teacher in a small town in Pennsylvania. Samantha lives with her boyfriend and her daughter, and remembers nothing about her past life. During the Christmas holidays, the heroine meets with an accident and consequently starts to get flashes of her past life. As the actress decides to discover her forgotten life, she unveils an extremely contradicting personality from her past, Charly. As Samantha uncovers Charly, she is confused whether to remain in her present life or go back to her past life. The main theme of the movie is the dual identity of Samantha/Charly, as the …show more content…

The opening scene is a medium, long and a loose shot of Samantha dressed as a Santa Claus and throwing candies to people; the shot indicates the mood of the scene – fun and happiness, and implies that the teacher is a fun-loving person. The consecutive shots of Samantha making dolls out of clay, teaching lessons to kids in school, cooking, buying groceries, doing household chores, and spending time with her boyfriend and daughter implies that she is a sweet, loving, and a typical woman of the society. During the Christmas party, Samantha stops a young boy from stealing cigarettes and warns him not to repeat his mistake; the scene denotes that Samantha is a woman of norms. After the party, Samantha drives an elderly drunk man back to his home, where they meet with an accident. The accident leads Samantha into a dream where she meets Charly, her old self, revealed through a double exposure shot using a mirror to expose both her personalities at the same time. As her former enemy breaks in and attacks her, she decides to uncover her past life with the help of a cheap detective, …show more content…

After a series of trouble and hardship, Samantha recalls her elapsed life. Samantha’s transformation into Charly begins with a shower scene where the camera reveals her body, suggesting confidence and boldness as opposed to Samantha, a quiet and a tender lady. The camera moves around the washbasin revealing makeup and hair products used for the changeover. Extreme close-up shots exhibit body parts such as eyes and lips and enforce the changes contradicting Samantha’s simple and neat appearance. The hair is transformed into a short and blonde hairstyle, indicating the manly and daring nature of Charly. A mirror scene is used to expose the final look of Charly and to indicate the complete transformation of Samantha into

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