Cat People

This particular scene in Cat People portrays the lust of a woman as something to be feared. There are indicators of the untapped passion that lies within the mysterious Irena and Oliver wants to find out for himself. He is drawn in by the girl and yet warned against her by all else. Within each aspect of the scene lay a hindrance and a warning to Oliver from either Irena or an outside force.

The lighting in this scene points a finger or two at Irena’s sensuality. As she stood by the window, the light hit her physique in a delicate way and made her skin look soft and feminine. Along with Oliver, the rest of the room was left in the dark. Even after she turned the light on, it did not hit Oliver in such a way that would make you notice him, but it caught Irena’s eyes in such a way that it caught mine. She had something about her that seemed to draw everything in, even the light. But her clothing seemed to always provide a contrast to the light on her. She was wearing a dark color, and her hair is dark; both of which made her mysterious and unusual.

The characterization in this scene raises my deepest curiosity toward Irena. Oliver and she had just met and yet she was standing in the window humming a strange song in the dark. Most people would be a bit more conscious of the way they appear to others, but Irena’s behavior was a bit unorthodox. This conduct however, went completely unnoticed by Oliver, as he was interested in getting her attention. The fact that she is so peculiar is what draws Oliver to her. All of the signs are jumping out at him to stay away, but something about Irena lures him in and he cannot ignore it.

Irena’s character skewed my perception of the surroundings and of Oliver. The room may have appeared to be normal if she had not left the lights off for so long and had a creepy story to tell about her statue and homeland. The story that she told and the look in her eyes when she spoke created a tension for me, but again did not affect Oliver. He tried all of the usual things to get Irena to be more intimate and normal, but she had a strange distance about her, one that he could not crack. He had her fix him a drink; he casually sat and smoked in an inviting position on her sofa; he tried to break the ice with conversation. But Irena was not responding