Director Mark Water’s Freaky Friday (2003) displays the relationship between an overworked mother and her rebellious daughter. Dr. Tess Coleman is a widow that is about to remarry. Her young daughter, Anna, is a teenager with musical aspirations. There are many reasons why the two of them do not get along, the main reason being the different paths that they took in order to cope with the death of the father in the family. There is a wide gap between the mother and daughter and the two simply cannot find a way to stop their personal hectic stress and learn how to understand each other. These problems soon change at a night in a Chinese restaurant when the two reach a raging argument and a woman hands them two fortune cookies; however, these aren’t ordinary fortune cookies. Anna and Tess fall into a mystical switch and wake up only to find themselves in the wrong bodies. They are literally forced to learn how to live in each other’s shoes and soon develop a new respect for their views on life.
Before this mystical switch happens, the scene at 24 minutes and 43 seconds reveals the principle conflict in the film. The director uses an over-the-shoulder shot to pull all the attention on the heated argument between the mother and her daughter. This focus on the two characters displays the most crucial conflict in the film which is the way that Dr. Tess and Anna do not understand each other and do not share a healthy parent -child bond.
There is another character in the background of the scene, but he stands far away from the conversation. It is clear that he is not part of the conversation and therefore he cannot interfere or solve the conflict. This is evident because of the staging in the scene. Dr. Tess sits in the left corner and the shot of her is a medium shot. She becomes the largest figure in the scene, essentially facing the two smaller characters and she becomes the character with the most power. In fact, it is at this point in the scene that she is taking away Anna’s door to her room because Anna managed to land herself into detention twice in one day. Her final remark to Anna is, “Privacy is a privilege.” The second largest character is Anna and the shot of her is a medium shot. She also has slight power in the conversation because she challenges the way that her mom is approaching her. The character with the least power is the step-father and the shot of him is a long shot. He stands life-size and almost appears to be hiding behind the counter, meekly and awkwardly, too afraid of challenging Dr. Tess’s or Anna’s power.
The set design and costume/make-up illustrates the conflict because it shows what differences cause the two characters to fight and why the character standing in the back is the least assertive. Dr. Tess sits at a table that is neatly organized. There are no flaws, everything seems perfect and clean; however, her daughter in front of her appears to be the one thing that she cannot fix or clean-up. Anna’s clothing is rebellious, grungy and dark. Her hair is messy and she is wearing studs that chaotic punks wear. She defies Dr. Tess’s “perfect world” just by the way that she dresses. The step-father that stands in the background is behind a large counter that separates him from Dr. Tess and Anna. This kitchen counter becomes the barrier between him and his future family. Anna cannot accept him because she still misses her real father and she builds a wall around her that does not let her step-father reach her. The kitchen counter also separates the step-father and Dr. Tess. Dr. Tess does not want him to help her with the problems she shares with her daughter, and that becomes her way of pushing him away and building a wall in front of him. It becomes harder for him to fit into the chaotic family.
How do you think the scene would work without the kitchen counter?
Mr. Cowlin here again. I'd like to add to Sylwia's quesion. How about the chair and the kitchen table? Also, what about the staging, with the mother sitting down and the dad standing up?
