Essay On Steel Magnolias

In the movie version of Robert Harling’s play, Steel Magnolias, Harling presents a story about a close group of women and their efforts to look out for one another. In the film Julia Roberts portrays Shelby Eatenton Latcherie, Sally Field portrays M’Lynn Eatenton, Shelby’s mother, Dolly Parton portrays the beauty salon owner, Truvy Jones, Daryl Hannah portrays Truvy’s assistant, Annelle Dupuy Desoto, Shirley MacLaine portrays Shelby’s neighbor, Ouiser Bordreaux, and Olympia Dukakis portrays the former mayor’s wife, Clairee. Steel Magnolias takes place in Chinquapin Parish in Louisiana during the 1980’s. The film is full of drama, romance, and comedy from the greatest moments in life to the more heartbreaking times. The film begins with Truvy hiring Annelle to help her out at the salon, while Shelby and her mother come to get their hair done for Shelby’s wedding happening later in the day. Shelby goes into an insulin shock and the women in the salon work together to help Shelby recover. Ouiser, the Eatenton’s neighbor comes marching over to the salon complaining about M’Lynn’s husband’s ways of getting rid of the birds and how the gun shots are driving
He worked really well with the buildings and places in Natchitoches that were available to him for filming Steel Magnolias. In Shelby’s insulin shock scene Ross was able to capture all of the action and emotions of the scene even though the camera, cameramen, and actresses all had to fit in the small room of the salon. As one can see in the film some of the shots show a lot of the room while others are very close to the actresses and their faces. Herbert Ross used the small space to his advantage to bring out the emotions in the scene and to involve the viewer more in the action. When the shot is zoomed in on Shelby’s face during her hypoglycemic episode the viewer is brought even closer to the action taking