Wicker ParkPeriod 1

Manali, Bhrigu, Jessica, Taz, and Margo

Story• Within the first 11 minutes we are presented

with split screens and a flashback involving our 3 main characters. We know that the main characters names are Matt ,Lisa, &

Luke. Matt is a business man who is leaving for China and has plans of getting engaged

or married. He also is close friends with Luke but hasn’t seen him for some time. But soon after, we are introduced to Lisa and find out

that Matt was attracted to Lisa through a flashback.

Plot• Matt returns to Chicago with Fiancé after

being in New York • Matt puts life and job on hold all for an

obsessive hunt to find Lisa• Leads him to a complete different girl who

pretends to Lisa• Little by little Matt finds clues leading him to

the real Lisa• At the end Lisa and Matt are reunited

Range• Range focuses on: • Restriction/ Unrestricted- Unrestricted we know more than the characters seem to know • Suspense• Surprise

Depth• Depth focuses on:• Subjective- Recollection of memories - Scenes detached from the narrative• Objective- Knowledge of character according to depiction by camera carrying more narrative-orientated information

Meaning• Emotional meaning throughout the movie is

desperation and trying to fight for what you want the most

• Explicit meaning how much it shows us in a scene and how much the character knows of what’s going on

• Implicit in the way the Characters act towards each other

• Symptomatic in the moods shifted throughout the movie

• Referential by showing us not through dialogue but through the characters actions

Good Story? • Over all, I believe that Wicker Park has a

good story line. There is a unified plot, even though there are several different plots going on, the movie all comes together in the end, because there is a reason for everything in the movie from the color to the objects such as the high heels. The audience comes to know this in the end, when more awareness sets in and the audience realizes that “there is a method to the madness”.

• The movie is an unbiased view is not plausible, because even though when one watches the movie the first time it makes sense, but when one re watches it again you start to realize that some of the things that the actors do are not what would be feasible in real life and the audience can tell where the movie falls short in believability. the externally observable truth is that we know as people that from the outside, you can tell that Matt is really in love with the real Lisa and not Alex, but from someone that knows what is going on in their heads. I think the movie portrays the internal truths of human nature well because it shows the basic human nature such as jealousy and passion for someone, which are the primal human instincts and I think the movie director really wanted to show that.

• The externally observable truth is that we know as people that from the outside, you can tell that Matt is really in love with the real Lisa and not Alex, but from someone that knows what is going on in their heads. I think the movie portrays the internal truths of human nature well because it shows the basic human nature such as jealousy and passion for someone, which are the primal human instincts and I think the movie director really wanted to show that.

Themes/ Tropes• Themes/Tropes- There are several themes in Wicker Park, since

the whole movie is focused around love and how the main character is looking for his lost love Lisa which he doesn’t know where she went because she was supposed to meet him , but there seems to be a twist in the story because Lisa’s friend also has an obsession for him as well. The theme in this movie seems to represent a struggle to regain something that is lost, such as regaining a lost love and there seems to be a pattern of struggling to find out what is lost and what is going on with the outside characters in relation to the main characters internal struggle. There seems to be tropes regarding a struggle of power as well between Alex and The main character because they are both struggling against each other, one is struggling to uncover Lisa and one is struggling to hide her, so they clash against each other and make each other either more held back or one has more of a distinct advantage.

Intent/Message

• Morality •Wicker Park was generally for the

younger audience because of its morality and ethics it hungers for foul language, arrogance, defiance of wholesome morality and being rated PG13.

• Human Nature It explores love an desire and the how far someone will go to be loved, as a human.• Social ProblemsAlex had trouble finding that she was in society.

• Struggle for Human Dignity • The struggle to be loved, wanted, and accepted was apart of the

movie. Also the struggle of losing someone that you care for. • Complexity of Human Relationships • Humans can be manipulated. • Innocence of Awareness • What started out as an innocent obsession led to more. Ex. With the

crazy girl led to stealing identity and with main character led to stalking the lover.

• Moral • The heart desires what it wants and will stop at no means to get what

it wants. Also hiding your identity will never overcome your true life.

Subplots and Subtext

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Title/Opening Credits• The title ‘Wicker Park’ is chosen because the

the main characters revolve around the location Wicker Park.

• The main points in the movie happens at Wicker Park. It gets to the highest point of suspense in the movie.

• The opening credits foreshadows an event that brings vital information to the audience.

Motivation• The director shoots the movie in the present and at various

emotional and heartbreaking moments for each character. Furthermore, these flashbacks with many throughout the movie, helps contribute to each of the characters’ motivations, Though the beginning drags, once you begin to watch you're sucked in and curious what will happen next, all the way until the end. On another note, the title Wicker Park which also means obsessed gives you another hint of the characters’ motivation throughout the film. Additionally, motivations play a crucial role within the Wick Park in that the protagonist, Matthew, is motivated to finding his love Lisa. He doesn’t stop looking for her at any point in the movie, but is rather extremely motivated. In addition, Matthew is constantly motivated to find out who he is, as he is portrayed as someone “lost” and looking for what to do.

• On another note, the title Wicker Park which also means obsessed gives you another hint of the characters’ motivation throughout the film. Additionally, motivations play a crucial role within the Wick Park in that the protagonist, Matthew, is motivated to finding his love Lisa. He doesn’t stop looking for her at any point in the movie, but is rather extremely motivated. In addition, Matthew is constantly motivated to find out who he is, as he is portrayed as someone “lost” and looking for what to do.

Motif• Throughout Wicker Park, whenever Matthew feels

he has a connection with Lisa a typical song is constantly played. For example, the song played is “Plus/ Minus All I Do”. Furthermore, Lisa/ Alex wearing red and having red throughout the story demonstrates passion and obsession throughout the film especially with Alex. In addition, the visual motif encompasses a “diamond” with numerous scenes and images ongoing on one time. These motif signifies the ideology of Point of View form the audience, in that events can be seen from various angles and different ways to interpret a situation.

Parallelism• Parallelism- There are two scenes in the

movie that are very alike except the only difference is that the people and the actors in the movie are very much different. The parallelism occurs when the high heels with the red soles are shown in the first scene in the restaurant where the main character sees Lisa after a long time.

• Then afterwards, they are shown again in the contrasting scene in Lisa’s apartment, where the main character is shown looking at them because he thinks that they are Alex’s (The fake Lisa). The two scenes are very similar in many ways because they juxtapose each other

• . Also, there is another scene where Matt first puts the high heels on Lisa and she tells him that she is a size 7 and ½ , this compares to the scene where matt tries on the same high heels on Alex and determines that she is not the same shoe size, the two scenes directly compare with each other because they are doing the same action, except in a different location and with different people.

Characterization• Matt SimonThe main character Matt was originally into photography and worked at a local camera store. As the movie progressed his life changed into working for a huge business and having a fiancé. Throughout the story Matt falls in love with Lisa and later learns that he has to leave for business, never receiving the answer if she wanted to go with him or not he is forced to live without her. Matt emotionally doesn’t know what he wants and throughout the movie finds out he is tricked by Alex. Anyone who has ever been in love can relate to him.

• LukeLuke is Matt’s best friend. He is used by Alex who only wants information about Matt. Though Luke really loves her, Alex doesn’t care for him at all. Anyone who has ever been used can relate to him.• LisaLisa is the love of Matthews’s life. She was first spotted by Matt on a video and every since they had been obsessed about each other. She was a dancer, and was trying to separate from her crazy ex boyfriend. Anyone who has ever been in love can relate to her.

• AlexAlex is the stalker that had been watching Matt long before Lisa came in the picture. Once she realized that her neighbor Lisa was dating Matt she made sure she kept them apart and acted as if she were another Lisa just to be close to Matt. Anyone who has ever been in love on the sidelines can relate to her.• RebeccaRebecca was the fiancé of Matt’s.

Information on Characters

• The audience is met to feel suspense to if he is ever going to meet the real Lisa again or will Alex really convince him that he should love her. The big question is can love prevail? It is clear that the hero is Lisa and the villain you could say though primarily just a stalker that wants to be loved is Alex. The values of the characters speak for themselves and they are meant to display the characteristics of being and love so bad that you would do anything.

Point of View• Throughout the movie we are given 3 points

of view from Matt, Lisa, and Alex. • They are presented emotionally and through

flashbacks in a subjective shot to show us how the character felt at a specific point

• Diegetic music is played in the background• We are also given the emotional outlook

through each character

Important Scenes• Important Scenes-The three most important scenes would

have to come from the three parts of the movie, the beginning, middle and the end, or in other terms the rising action, climax and falling action.

• The first scene that was important for the viewers knowledge would be the scene where they first show Lisa running out of the restaurant because she is upset and she breaks her high heels. This scene might not seem important at first but it is critical so when we reach the climax, the viewer realizes that it was Lisa in the restaurant who was running after she got the phone call from Alex. It also shows the important of the red sole on the bottom of the high heel because that comes to be known as a trademark of Lisa.

• The second scene that is important is from the Climax, where Matt tries the high heels on Alex, he is trying to determine whether Alex is an imposter by asking Alex her shoe size. It is an important scene because at that moment, we know why we had knowledge of Lisa’s shoe size from before in the beginning of the movie.

• The third scene that was struck as important is the scene in the end, where Matt finally meets Lisa in the airport and it is an emotional part. The viewer gets the feel about how desperate both of them were to find each other and the viewer feels accomplished and satisfied.

Settings• Chicago is a perfect place for the movie to take place

because out of all the thousands and thousands of people the main characters happen to bump into each other.

• The place Wicker Park is the place where Matthew and Lisa’s bond become closer and stronger. That place becomes significant to Matthew, Lisa, and Alex.

• Wicker Park is Matt’s and Lisa’s cherished meeting place. It is about sunset on the 5th day where Lisa waits for her long lost love to meet her, and as she waits Matt desperately races to their meeting spot.

Dialogue/Quotes• Matthew: When you see something from afar, you

develop a fantasy. But when you see it up close, 9 times out of 10, you wish you hadn't.

• Alex: Love makes you do crazy things, insane things. Things in a million years you'd never see yourself do. But there you are doing them... can't help it.

• Luke: So she had the same name, same perfume, same shoe size. That’s so hot. Or, or maybe that’s just creepy.

• Matthew: I think it’s a little bit of both, actually.

• Matthew: I guess I just have to make the right decision.

• Jeweler Responding: In the end, it is not just your eye that must decide.