‘Muriel’s Wedding’ is an Australian film set in 1994, written by P.J Hogan. Muriel Heslop, the central figure in the movie, is a 23 year-old, unemployed young woman who still remains living in her parent’s home. The movie explores how she transforms out of being a socially awkward ‘ugly duckling’ with no ambitions, into a girl with a strong motive to achieve her one life goal, to be a bride. Along the way, Muriel rekindles some old school friendships, and develops a stronger more positive outlook on life, eventually discovering that her dream of getting married is not all it seems.
The author of the ‘Great Gatsby’ and P.J Hogan both share a similar plot line. The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald is set in the 1920s America and is conveyed through the narration of Nick Carraway. Nick explores the social issues present of the time, giving readers insight into the American Dream, World War 1, Hedonism and other complex concerns to the era, whilst following the dream of its protagonist, Jay Gatsby.
P.J Hogan uses a range of cinematic techniques whilst filming Muriel’s wedding. This is done to engage the audience, and portray certain aspects of the character’s that wouldn’t be captured without the use of the camera, music and costume. Hogan uses music throughout the movie to give characters personalities a certain touch. This is evident at Muriel’s wedding when she uses the song ‘I do I do I do’ by Abba. This song captures how Muriel isn’t taking the wedding that seriously and it’s all a little bit of a game to her. As well as the strong use of music to achieve the desired effect in Muriel’s Wedding, Hogan also uses a variety of camera angles to depict separate sides to the story. This helps to add deeper and more evident and capturing feelings to the characters. This is apparent when Hogan uses an engaging close up camera shot at the beginning of the film, when the bouquet at the wedding is thrown up and