Emilie Vigliotta


March 2nd, 2018


Blue Group

Cinematic Analysis

Part A: Summarize the elements of a plot by discussing: the introduction (include establishment of
setting), rising action (include establishment of conflict), the climax, the falling action, and the
denouement, or resolution. The summary MUST be centered around the film’s theme/s. Each part of the
summary should help further reveal the theme.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a 1956 science fiction film about a mysterious alien invasion in
Santa Mira, a fictitious town in California, and a local doctor’s attempts to end and escape the epidemic.
Taking place in the 1950’s, the events portrayed in the film each build up to the theme of the movie, that
one should place the utmost value on their individual identity. The film begins with Dr. Hill, a
psychiatrist, who arrives at an emergency room in California to talk with a detained and screaming man,
who tells the story of the previous days in a flashback. Dr. Miles Bennell, the screaming man from the
emergency room has returned to his hometown after a long trip and encounters some of his patients, each
of whom believes that an imposter has replaced their loved one. However, each replacement shares the
same memories and appearance as their duplicate. Becky Driscoll, Miles’ ex-girlfriend, comes bearing
news that her cousin shares the same fear - she believes that her uncle, is in fact, not her uncle. Later that
night, Bennell’s friend Jack discovers a figure at home with the same features as himself, although the
body doesn’t appear to be complete and continues developing over the course of the evening. Bennell
sneaks into Becky’s basement that night and finds another duplicate. When Bennell has another doctor,
Dr. Kauffman, come and examine the bodies, they find that the duplicates have vanished and Kauffman
dismisses Bennell as another victim of hysteria.

That night, Bennell hosts the frightened Becky, Jack and Jack’s wife Teddy in his home, and the
following day, the group discovers more of their duplicates coming out of large seed pods in Bennell’s
greenhouse. They deduce that the copies are replacing the townspeople as they sleep. When Miles
attempts to place a call to the federal authorities, the operator claims that the line is busy, so he sends Jack
and Teddy to the next town over in order to find help. Becky refuses to leave Bennell, so after discovering
the extent of the alien invasion, the lovers seek shelter in Bennell’s medical office. Through the window
the next morning, Bennell and Becky watch as trucks drive seed pods out to the surrounding towns in
order to make the invasion more widespread. Kauffman and Jack arrive at the hiding place, having
already been taken over by the pod people, and disclose the truth: that alien seedlings have landed on
Earth after floating through space for thousands of years. They took root in a farmer’s field and produced
pods, which could reproduce themselves in an exact physical and mental duplicate of a nearby sleeping
person. Kauffman and Jack claim that post-invasion life becomes simple once each life form loses their
emotions and any sense of individuality, and explain that there is no real need for human feelings. 

Bennell and Becky manage to escape the office building but are chased by a crowd of
extraterrestrial-infected life forms. They hide in an abandoned mine, squeezing underneath a set of loose
floorboards just as the townspeople begin to search the area. After the ‘pod people’ leave, Becky hears
music and Bennell leaves his exhausted girlfriend behind to investigate, reminding her to stay awake in
order to protect her identity. The doctor discovers a greenhouse, where the seed-pods are being mass-
produced in order to spread the invasion across the Earth. On his return to Becky, Bennell kisses his
girlfriend and realizes that she has become emotionless and cold, having fallen asleep and been replaced
by a pod person. He realizes that the women he loves is gone, having none of the emotions or personality
that he fell in love with. Bennell escapes capture once again, running towards the nearby highway and
dashing in between cars as he attempts to find a ride. However, once Miles finds transport vehicles loaded
with the seedpods and bound for other parts of California, he begins to scream at the passengers in the
cars. “They’re after you,” he cries, “you’re next!” The flashback ends, returning to a disheveled Dr.
Bennell inside the emergency room. It’s clear that Dr. Hill, the psychiatrist listening to Miles, doesn’t
believe the patient. Seconds later, a truck driver is wheeled into the room on a stretcher, having been run
into by a Greyhound bus and found amidst a pile of seed pods. Dr. Hill rethinks the situation, and the
movie ends with Dr. Hill calling the FBI and alerting the local authorities.
Part B: Describe the historical setting of the film and the significant aspects of American society
portrayed. This requires some research and the use of at least two citations. Explore the film’s
significance at the time it was produced and the historiography (biases) presented in the film. Remember
to include MLA based in-text citations, from at least two outside sources, and a Works Cited Page.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is set during the late 1950s, around the time that the film was
produced, and portrays the infiltration of communism into American society. In the movie, the “pod
people” are emotionless alien lifeforms that become indistinguishable from former neighbors and loved
ones; however, when looked at in the perspective of the McCarthyism Age, these extraterrestrials are
communists, who spread across the country like a disease (Kehr). Communism was a real fear to many
American citizens, as Senator Joesph McCarthy spent about five years accusing and attempting to expose
communists in the government. The country was highly suspicious, especially considering the current
Cold War with the Soviet Union, and people began to suspect officials and government leaders of
corruption and traitorous deeds (“Joesph McCarthy”). Citizens accused of communism were tried, and if
they pled the Fifth - refusing to testify and incriminate themselves - they would risk losing friends, careers
and any positive relationships with neighbors. There was a very strong anti-communist sentiment
throughout the country (“McCarthy Era”). Communism was advancing throughout the rest of the world -
in the Soviet Union, the government had managed to create and test a successful nuclear weapon, while in
China, communist forces had taken over the country. Politicians were taking unwavering anti-Communist
standpoints, as Communism was the most clearly identifiable American fear (“Red Scare”). Although the
political climate had began to abate in 1956, as the actions taken by Republican Joesph McCarthy had
resulted in censorship by the Senate, Invasion of the Body Snatchers attempted to portray the communist
invasion that had existed only mere years prior (Kehr). The movie reflected the anxiety about
Communism that existed across the United States, as Americans watched loved ones be replaced by
replicas filled with new ideas about the ways of the world. The supposed traits of Communists -
unemotional, unoriginal, unable to love, inhumane - are amplified in the film, turning the Communists
into pod people that absorb the mind of anyone they can and that spread like a malignant tumor. There is
definite historical bias in the film, as the director takes a clear anti-communism standpoint through the use
of a traditional “good vs evil” relationship between characters. Communists are seen as villainous
invaders that spread their ideas and new way of life across the world without sparing a thought for how
their consequences affect others; they invade the country and are emotionless and cruel and unable to love
anyone else. Invasion of the Body Snatchers takes a staunch anti-communistic stand in it’s portrayal of the
pod people, reflecting the 1950s American fear of communism and the McCarthyism era of years prior.

Works Cited

History.com Staff. "Joseph McCarthy." History.com, A+E Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/cold-


war/joseph-mccarthy. Accessed 2 Mar. 2018.
History.com Staff. "Red Scare." History.com, A+E Networks, 2010, www.history.com/topics/cold-war/

red-scare. Accessed 2 Mar. 2018.
Kehr, Dave. "Facing Evil, Both Terrestrial and Otherwise." The New York Times, 13 July 2012,
www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/movies/homevideo/high-noon-and-body-snatchers-from-republic-
films.html. Accessed 2 Mar. 2018.
"McCarthy Era." AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/
global-citizen/mccarthy-era/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2018.
Part C: Discuss how various cinematographic techniques are used to increase the viewer’s awareness of
the setting, characters or plot development.

In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a multitude of cinematographic techniques are used to increase
the viewer’s awareness of the setting, characters or plot development; however, various camera shots and
framing, lighting and auditory techniques seem to have the most impactful role on the movie. Towards the
end of the movie, when Bennell and Becky hide underneath the floorboards from the rest of the
townspeople, the camera operator utilizes both low angles and dim lighting to raise the tension of the
scene. As the so-called “pod people” run across the floorboards, the camera is filming upwards through
the small crack between the pieces of wood. The townspeople look taller and much more powerful, a
useful trait because it emphasizes the severity of Bennell and Becky’s situation. During the same scene, as
the camera angles switch back and forth between shot-types, the lighting used when focusing on Becky
and Bennell is almost pitch-black. Their faces are highlighted by the light shining between the wooden
boards, but nothing else can be seen around them. This increases the audience’s awareness of the scene,
drawing their attention to the characters and creating suspense. Earlier in the movie, when Becky and
Bennell hide in the office, they watch their fellow townspeople walk around the town square. Filmed from
high-above the square, while normally this camera angle makes a subject look smaller and weaker, in
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the camera is able to accurately capture the strangeness of the
townspeople. They walk around emotionless and devoid of purpose and the high-angle camera is able to
capture the townspeople suddenly streaming towards the town square. This camera angle develops the
plot, allowing the audience to understand that the entirety of the town has been taken over by the
extraterrestrials. Towards the beginning of the film, Miles sneaks into Becky’s basement and finds a
second duplicate. This entire scene is darkly lit, although Miles holds a flashlight in his hand that adds a
contrasting tone and brightens up his face. The conflict has begun to intensify, as the first body was
discovered earlier that day in Jack’s house, but the audience is still unclear as to the purpose or mechanics
of the duplicates, and has not been informed about how the duplicates come into existence. The dimness
of the scene allows the tension to rise, heightening audience awareness to the scene and moving the plot
forward. When comparing the beginning and end of the movie’s flashback, the film appeared to grow
dimmer and darker are the conflict became revealed. The lighting in the movie was used to represent the
intensity of various scenes and events. Finally, various auditory techniques are used by the director to
move the plot forward. Music was used rarely throughout the film, and because it wasn’t constantly
playing in the background, when music was used in different scenes, it amplified the scene’s emotions
and filled in long, quiet paused. In the escape scene, for example, when Bennell and Becky escape Santa
Mira and hide in an abandoned mine, fast-paced music is used to fit the fast-paced chase. Earlier in the
film, when Bennell examines the first duplicate in Jack’s house, dark, loud and suspenseful music is
played - it’s foreboding, foreshadowing the epidemic that is to come. In each of the scenes, music,
lighting and various camera angles are used to raise the tension and suspense of the scene, to further
develop the scene’s setting and emotional subtext, and to increase the viewer’s awareness of the character
and plot developments.