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| Fig. 1: "The Descent" Alternative Poster. (2005) |
A year after
Sarah, the main protagonist, loses her husband and her young daughter in a
terrible car accident, her and her five friends go on a caving holiday in the
Appalachian Mountains; as arranged by Juno. The six women enter the caves, only
to be trapped within by a cave-in.
They soon
discover that Juno had knowingly led them to an uncharted cave system; she
explains that she wanted them to claim it and that she would name it after
Sarah. Then begins their desperate search for a way out, all the while they are
hunted by blind humanoid creatures, perfectly evolved for the darkness, which
hunt by sound. Below are some of the main Archetypes depicted in the film…
Tragic / Reluctant / Loner Hero
Sarah
Sarah becomes
the tragic hero as the result of the death of her husband and daughter. She is
reluctant to go on an exploration in the Appalachian Mountains. She becomes the
loner hero when she is broken off from the main group, and when in the end she is
left the last one standing.
The Shadow
Creatures
Carnivorous,
they kill the girls one by one.
Juno’s dark side
When Juno accidentally
stabs Beth in the throat with a climbing axe – thinking it is a creature behind
her, she leaves her to die without even a sorry. She also had an affair with
Sarah’s husband.
Sarah’s anger
After discovering
from a dying Beth that Juno left her to die, Sarah is asked to put Beth out of
her misery, of which she reluctantly obeys. Sarah also learns about Juno’s
affair with her husband. When Juno and Sarah are the only ones left alive,
Sarah reveals what she knows and stabs Juno through the leg with a climbing axe, incapacitating her.
The Threshold Guardian
The Cave
The cave’s
claustrophobic composition as well as its many dangerous hazards provide
constant obstacles as the girls struggle towards the exit; “guarding” its own
exit via its hazards and the creatures within it.
Just as it
seems Sarah is about to escape she falls down a hole and is knocked out. It
seems that she then escapes the cave but it is revealed that she is simply
hallucinating as she stares at a lit torch; the cave appears to have won.
Creatures
In order to
reach the cave exit the girls must get past them – or die. When the entrance to
the cave is blocked off by the cave-in, the girls must attempt to find another
exit – they discover that there is a way out via ancient cave paintings on the
wall. At the end of the movie, the
creatures can be heard, leaving it open as to whether or not Sarah survives.
It is to be
noted however that in the sequel she does manage to escape but in the end, on a
forced return to the caves, she sacrifices herself in order to allow another
woman (a mother) to escape; unfortunately this woman is then knocked out by a
shovel and dropped back in the cave – in the end, the cave and the creatures
win.
The Quest
This begins
as the girls’ original intention of exploring the cave, but becomes their quest
to survive the cave and escape from within.
The Herald
Juno takes
the role of the Herald, due to the fact that the exploration of the cave system
was her idea. Sarah’s first sight of the creatures heralds the challenges that
lay ahead.
The Shape Shifter
Both Sarah
and Juno fill this role. Sarah could be descried as beginning as a Beta, she is
the tragic mother who is reluctant to go on an adventure but becomes strong and
able to do what must be done, she becomes a leader; when she incapacitates
Juno, she removes the alpha-female status from her, claiming it for herself.
Juno fills
this role in that the audience is first led to believe she is caring, with good
intentions at heart e.g. wanting to claim the cave and name it after Sarah;
however she becomes the enemy when she leaves Beth for dead, and when it is
revealed that she had an affair with the husband of the very women she
supposedly cared for.
The Mentor
The mentor takes the form of the girls themselves, working together in order to escape the cave.
The mentor takes the form of the girls themselves, working together in order to escape the cave.
Illustrations List
Fig 1. "The Descent" Alternative Poster (2005) [Poster] At: http://www.screenrelish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/the-descent-alt-poster.jpg
(Accessed 10.10.14)
(Accessed 10.10.14)
Hi Danny
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen the decent but will give it watch and check out your Archetypes. Although after a quick read they sound like logical choices, perhaps with the exception of Mentor may be. I reserve my judgement though until I've seen it.
I = I'll
ReplyDelete