Danny Devito's Techniques In The Film Matilda

The film ‘Matilda,’ was released in 1966 and directed by Danny DeVito (who also plays an important role in the movie as an actor, Harry Wormwood,) is reviewed as ‘utterly fantastic’ and ‘the best family movie I have ever seen,’ according to Rotten Tomatoes review website. ‘Matilda’ is a movie about a child who lives in a family that doesn’t appreciate her, has a principal who doesn’t believe in her, but when she finds her special power, she will give payback to those who deserve it. Danny DeVito uses many techniques in the film ‘Matilda’ to illustrate that the character, Agatha Trunchbull is evil and malicious. Some of the techniques Danny DeVito uses include Agatha Trunchbulls appearance, the characters personality and language towards other
When we first met Agatha Trunchbull, it was the scene when Matilda was arriving at school for the first time. Agatha Trunchbull was taking loud, big footsteps when walking out of the school into the yard to greet all the students an unwelcoming hello. This is the first time we see Agatha which means it will set our minds into thinking how she will be for the whole movie. The scene and large footsteps and rude comments to the kids as she walked into the yard including ‘get a haircut,’ ‘grow taller’ and ‘fresh meat’ etc. tells us that Agatha Trunchbull is not nice to children, is rude, evil and unkind. An unusual personality feature Agatha Trunchbull has is that she is scared of small, harmless living creatures; even though she is quite the opposite. For example, when she is in Jenifer Honey’s classroom teaching a lesson, and she sees the nute in her glass of water, she shrieks in fear and her facial expression appears scared. Agatha Trunchbull uses negative language towards all of the characters throughout the movie. Some phrases she uses throughout the movie include, ‘disgusting, rotten children,’ and ‘sack of goat slime,’ and ‘im big and your little. Im smart and your dumb. Im right and your wrong.’ These are just three examples, but there are
An example of a lighting effect used in the movie, ‘Matilda’ includes shadow. Shadow is used in this movie to make Agatha Trunchbull appear more suspicious and mysterious. A few examples of when shadow is used in the movie to make Agatha look more mysterious is the very first time we see her, when she is buying a car from Harry Wormwood. Her shadow makes the audience feel mystified as they wonder and want to know more about the character. Shadow is also used at the school and at Agatha Trunchbulls home when Matilda is taking back her Lissie Doll to give to Jenifer Honey. Since we already know Agatha in this part of the movie, this makes the audience feel more fearful by Agatha and also creates suspense. Throughout the film, bottom and side lighting is used to illustrate Agatha Trunchbulls evil and malicious personality. This makes us feel uncomfortable and anxious towards Agatha Trunchbull. Low key lighting is also used in many scenes (which is when a stage is flooded with darkness) to represent the same thing; her evil and malicious personality. When Agatha Trunchbull becomes less powerful, the lighting is brighter as she becomes more of a victim. As a result, Danny DeVito uses many important lighting techniques including low key lighting, bottom and side lighting and shadows. Without this lighting effect Agatha Trunchbull would not be