The Rebecca movie analysis I am about to pen down is based on my knowledge of all the Rebecca versions that I have had the good hap of coming across.
Critics of the 2020 remake of Rebecca gave it overwhelmingly negative reviews. With Rotten Tomatoes reaching a consensus that the remake does not live up to Alfred Hitchcock’s Academy Award-winning adaptation from 1940. While I am an avid fan of both the 1940 film, as well as the Daphne Du Maurier novel of the same name, I found that I was still fond of the newest remake when I watched it in ignorance of the critic’s final judgment. I found myself rapt by the visuals and engrossed in a romantic story that gave me a welcome diversion from the troubles specific to our time.
While we’re burdened with the realities of a pandemic, a film like Rebecca, with its fairy tale-like narrative, replete with riches, love, and danger, provides needed escapism that director Ben Wheatley couldn’t have anticipated when he conceived the film back in 2018. That said, Wheatley’s Rebecca doesn’t contain the slow-burning suspense and flawless performances of the original (especially by Sir Laurence Olivier). But, complementing the stunning landscapes and the copious, majestic manderley, we get a female protagonist who is at once awkward, innocent, and vibrant. But the novel and previous films were inevitably on my mind while watching the newest adaptation.
I wondered if the new film would preserve some of the themes from the novel that Hitchcock ignored. It turns out that some elements of the book are uniquely featured in Rebecca 2020, which provides it with an intriguing angle, even if the Hitchcock version still reigns supreme.
Analysis of The Plot of Rebecca Movie
The story follows a mousy, nameless young woman (Lily James) through her haunted marriage to Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer)–a wealthy widower whose wife’s death hovers over him. The two meet in Monte Carlo while the young woman is employed as a companion at the side of a two-faced, elderly socialite, Mrs. Van Hopper (Ann Dowd). The two end up having surreptitious outings unbeknownst to Mrs. Van Hopper, and finally, Maxim spares her the fate of a life as a companion by whisking her away to his castle, Manderley.
Almost as soon as she arrives, the placid Mrs. de Winter begins to feel the presence of Rebecca. Although she boldly declares “I don’t believe in ghosts,” she finds her confidence buckling under the weight of the dead woman’s spirit as she faces Rebecca’s sinister former maid, Mrs. Danvers (Kristen Scott Thomas), and a slew of people who adored Maxim’s former wife.
Comparing the Three Versions of Rebecca
All versions of Rebecca portray the title character as a strong, independent woman for her time–particularly in contrast with the new Mrs. de Winter, who is more placid and insecure. Rebecca was a sailor, socialite, and a seemingly successful wife, while the awkward new mistress of Manderley has only minimal talent in drawing. Both the films and the book have a similar Gothic ambiance, created with a castle and the darkly clad housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers. There are also numerous scenes from the book that Hitchcock used in his film. But some telling scenes are left out of the 1940 adaptation.
More specifically, there’s a feminist message in the book that we don’t see in the 1940 film. The most striking example is in a scene in the middle of the novel where Mrs. de Winter and Maxim sit at the dining hall table and Mrs. de Winter looks briefly possessed by the spirit of Rebecca. Maxim observes the episode and says, “You had a twist to your mouth and a flash of knowledge in your eyes. Not the right sort of knowledge.” What kind of knowledge shouldn’t Mrs. de Winter have? Perhaps it’s the sexual knowledge Rebecca had that was too taboo for women of that time.
Daphne Du Maurier likely modeled Rebecca and Mrs. de Winter after herself. She was a sailor like Rebecca and was known to be bisexual. Just before her marriage, she had an affair with a woman as well as several men. Her unconventional desires rendered her conflicted between the norms of the 1930s and her individuality, a conflict she entwines in her suspenseful novel.
Another key difference between the films and book is the ending. Du Maurier concludes the de Winters’ story with them living in a modest hotel, ensconced in a life where “day after day dawns very much the same.” They gain most of their excitement from reading billiard scores and the results of cricket matches. The humdrum scenes suggest that Mrs. de Winter’s life didn’t necessarily evolve from her days as a paid companion; it may have actually regressed. Although Mrs. de Winter ostensibly prefers the mediocrity of her new life in contrast with the tumult of Manderley, the reader sees a different story.
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Wheatley’s ending also conveys dramatic irony, but of a different kind. The Mrs. de Winter of the 2020 film claims to be happy with her new apartment life with Maxim. And yet it’s shown to us that she’s perpetually troubled by night terrors, whose aftermath she assuages with a swig of liquor and a cigarette. Something about her demeanor is different overall. She exudes the worldliness and competitiveness of Rebecca, content with having won Maxim and determined to prove the dead Mrs. Danvers wrong when she said, “you’ll never be happy.”
Maxim’s Big Reveal in Rebecca 2020
The 2020 film’s reveal about Rebecca’s true nature and Maxim’s acrimonious relationship with her is different from Hitchcock’s film in key ways. What stays consistent is that Maxim is the cause of Rebecca’s death. His degree of responsibility, however, varies between the two adaptations. In Hitchcock’s version, Laurence Olivier has an engrossing and intense monologue where he relives the night of her death. He and Rebecca had stood in her seaside shack, her taunting him with a spurious story about her pregnancy by her cousin. He ends up striking her, causing her to tumble and hit her head. Being framed as manslaughter, it’s fairly easy to see how Mrs. de Winter might forgive the incident.
Changing the tone for the rest of the film, the 2020 adaptation stays true to the book, with Maxim shooting Rebecca instead of indirectly causing her death. Mrs. de Winter stays by his side, but she takes on a darker air in the eyes of the audience. After Rebecca’s body and boat are found, she even goes so far as to offer a bribe to Rebecca’s cousin to keep his damning testimony out of the inquest.
Mrs. de Winter, still without her own name by this point in the film, fights back against Rebecca’s stronghold but unwittingly embodies her in the process. Yet this isn’t a clear case of Mrs. de Winter becoming the thing she hates. Whenever she envisions Rebecca roaming the halls, it’s no coincidence that she sees herself as Rebecca.
Is Rebecca a Timely Remake?
It’s always fair to ask if a remake is necessary and audiences often give a resounding “no” to that question and cite frequent remakes and prequels as evidence of Hollywood’s lack of originality. And Rebecca is no exception to this. Had the pandemic not occurred and made romantic, period films a therapeutic distraction, one would wonder what the need was for a Hitchcock remake.
Fans of the book and 1940 film might enjoy that the themes of the novel are lightly sewn into the remake, a film about Daphne du Maurier’s life might have been a more timely piece in an age where mere tacit feminist allusions are not as groundbreaking as they were in the 30s.
Every creative person has a right to make their own versions. When one doesn’t complain it clearly means the artist has done a good job. That’s all I have got for the Rebecca movie analysis.
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