ipl-logo

Gothic Style In Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow

962 Words4 Pages

It is a known fact that Tim Burton enjoys teaming up with Johnny Depp to produce many awe-inspiring films such as Edward Scissorhands, The Corpse’s Bride, and Alice and Wonderland. These movies contain wacky characters, dark themes and a wonderful story that can leave the audience wanting for more. Another collaboration between the two, the 1999 film Sleepy Hollow, conveys all of those themes. In this film, Depp, again, plays an odd protagonist, and the gothic style of Burton is obvious. However, the film also contains an unexpected, deeper layer of meaning. The film incorporates the three early American literary styles: Puritanism, Rationalism, and Romanticism. Puritans, a group of Reformed Protestants, were a highly religious group of people. …show more content…

Colors such as grey, black, and dark blues are all over the place in this film. For example, when the film introduces the house Ichabod will be staying, there is a dark blue sky. Around the exterior of the house are trees with no leaves, and bark that is pitch black. This is how Gothic Romanticism is present in Sleepy Hollow. There is also Nature Romanticism shown through Katrina’s dresses and Ichabod’s mother. Katrina is seen wearing a variety of light pastel colored dresses. She he is seen wearing a rose gold colored dress with flower patterns on them when she meets Ichabod for the first time. The flowers on her dress represent the nature that she surrounds herself in. Before Ichabod and Katrina properly introduce themselves, she is seen playing a game that is sort of childish and immature. Romantics, the youthful ones of the three literary styles, find solace while in nature. This is shown through Ichabod’s mother. Whenever she appears in one of his dreams, she is dancing with a smile on her face. The smile on her face makes it look like nature is her happy

Open Document