▲ Even though Shirley is an actress, she is more interested and anxious about social issues than glamour and fame. Provided by collater.al

Looking back through the movies nowadays, you will see the effort producers put in to continually entertain us even at the last moment. The sound effects and vivid videos drag us away from reality into the huge screen in front of us. However, some may feel tired of these numerous movies focusing merely on entertainment and visual effects and may crave for something new. For these people, the movie Shirley—The Vision Of Reality is surely a great getaway for enjoying a relaxing atmosphere. 

Shirley—The Vision Of Reality reenacts 13 pieces of Edward Hopper’s. This characteristic distinguishes it from other movies. In many other movies, an artwork on screen does not have much meaning but is used only for the background. However, in Shirley—The Vision Of Reality, the plot revolves around Edward Hopper’s pieces and its theme is greatly influenced by his works as well—while you are watching the movie, you will feel like you are in an art museum appreciating a movie screen-sized painting.

The setting takes place from the 1930s to the 1960s—the period of chaos following the Great Depression, the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. The movie begins by blacking out with the date written and a radio newscaster briefly reading the headlines of the social events happening on that day. When the radio stops, the screen fades out and you will see the scene of Edward Hopper’s works produced in detail on the screen, such as the location of the light and the colors. From the start to the end, the movie repeats this pattern of compositions.

In each day, Shirley, the protagonist, comes out in every scene and develops the story by telling her honest thoughts about her daily life. She is a New York actress who appreciates art, and is independent and smart enough to contemplate the social issues around her. During the harshest period in America, she goes through many hardships influenced by social events.

She faces the crisis in her profession as an actress and her lover loses his job due to the Great Depression. However, she does not cease to lose hope but continues her livelihood by taking on menial jobs and sticking with her partner. Shirley sees the world somewhat similarly to intellectuals of that period. She criticizes society which lacks affection. For instance, she condemns Kazan for turning in Communist friends to the House Committee.

As seen from the title, The Vision of Reality, Gustav Deutsch, the director, shows a more truthful reality by revealing Shirley’s interpretation and gives a different stance about life, asking the viewers whether the world we are seeing is 100 percent true. It also gives an idea to viewers that a situation could be different from what we are seeing. Overall, she sees the world from a different and rather critical perspective. She concentrates more deeply on small things and gives meaning to them or grieves at those findings.

▲ Comparing the scene from Shirley—The Vision of Reality and Edward Hopper’s Room in New York. Provided by gbtimes.com

By borrowing her voice, the movie interprets the everyday life of the individuals and their feelings during the turbulent times and also, ultimately, how these personal stories create a history. This idea was influenced from John Dos Passos, who believed that the daily life of a few represents the wider public, society, culture, and history of America. 

This theme has a deep relationship with the characteristic of Edward Hopper’s art life. He was a prominent realist painter and printmaker. Realist artists focus on the subject itself and try to illustrate a typical situation truthfully, rejecting idealization and focusing on everyday life. Edward Hopper specifically focused his pictures on solitary and lonely people instead of crowded and noisy situations. To describe the deep emotional content that Edward strived to paint, light was a very important concept in all his paintings.

Therefore, Gustav Deutsch tried to emphasize those feelings people get from the light effects Edward Hopper used in his paintings. His pictures were a great inspiration to express the genre of film noir—a cinematic term used to describe a cynical and dark mood. With Gustav Deutsch and his coworkers’ careful analysis of Edward Hopper’s approach to the choice of lighting, subject, and framing, it brought his pictures almost alive on screen.

The movie did put Edward Hopper’s artwork on screen, but it is not exactly the same because the dark colors and rather rough feeling of Edward’s were softened in animation form. This was greatly managed by Hanna Schimek, the key scenic artist and the head painter, who not only painted the background superficially similar to that of Edward Hopper’s but also added her own feelings as well. The movie did not let go of small things but focused even on subtle matters such as the suitable amount of light and angle, the arrangements of furniture and characters, and the colors which made the movie more astonishing. Even the character’s strand of hair felt as if it was delicately drawn by a paint brush. 

The novel cinematic experiment of putting the art of Edward Hopper into a historical and social context is absolutely fascinating. Despite the effort Gustav Deutsch and the others put into the movie, some may find it a bit boring due to no dramatic plot or action but only the voice of Shirley’s thoughts, as if she is reading a diary to the viewers. However, anyone who is interested in Edward Hopper and American history would be satisfied with the content and how it was beautifully produced. Even without that basic information or interest about them, the cinematographic beauty and the background music are sufficient to enjoy the movie.

▲ Behind the scene of Excursion into Philosophy. Provided by gustavdeutsch.net

▲ The blueprint of the scene Excursion into Philosophy. Provided bygustavdeutsch.net