The Yellow Wallpaper (film)


The Yellow Wallpaper is a 2011 Gothic thriller film directed by Logan Thomas. It is based on the 1892 short story of the same name written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Synopsis

The film is an “Origins Myth" rather than a direct adaptation of the famous Charlotte Perkins Gilman story. Drawing from the original short story and a number of Gilman's other gothic works. Also, the film is an original narrative of events that unfold around the actual writing of “The Yellow Wallpaper” short story. The film's plot is greatly expanded from the bare bones of Gilman's often-anthologized short story. It stars Juliet Landau as Charlotte and Aric Cushing, Golden Globe winner Michael Moriarty as Mr. Hendricks, Veronica Cartwright, Raymond J. Barry, and Independent Spirit Award winner Dale Dickey. The story surrounds Charlotte and John, who retreat to a countryside house in an attempt to start their life over after a devastating fire takes the life of their daughter. Soon the spirit of the deceased Sarah and other spirits are haunting the place. There are feral dogs, an interaction with a dead man in armor, and a shout out to classic, early genre vampire fiction.

Production

Most of the scenes in The Yellow Wallpaper were shot in Eatonton, Georgia, in and around an isolated Civil War-era house. The farmhouse's location is undisclosed, meant to represent, as the director puts it, ' a space outside of space'. Jessi Case recalled being a little frightened of the house where the film was shot. 'The stairs leading to the attic, where we filmed a lot of the scenes, were very narrow and it was very hot. They didn't want me to go outside because my hair would poof up'.
Michael Moriarty said of the film: The Yellow Wallpaper is going to be a wonderfully haunting film, profoundly Gothic. It's a low budget production, but exceptionally well written."
After the shooting of the film, Michael Moriarty retired from acting, after an illustrious career in which he won a Tony award, numerous Emmy awards, and a Golden Globe award. It was his last feature film role.
The script was written in three months by Logan Thomas and Aric Cushing, and Cushing said his goal was to popularize Gilman's work.
Director Thomas used the Digital Sony 950, and the film is the first ever period feature film to be shot with this digital format. Thomas is becoming known as a "visualist" director in the tradition of David Lynch and Ridley Scott.
Juliet Landau, during an interview, compared her role to Nicole Kidman's role in "The Others".
Kyla Kennedy's first role at the age of 3, before going on to work on shows such as The Walking Dead and Speechless.
The film is a seminal role for actor Aric Cushing and the last film role of actor Ted Manson, who also appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Brad Pitt.
A companion book to the film was written, The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Gothic Stories, by Aric Cushing. The book features two stories previously unpublished since their inception, and seemingly lost. The essay in the beginning of the book was written by Cushing entitled "Is the Yellow Wallpaper a Gothic Story?"

Release

By the time the film was released, Blockbuster Video was beginning to have problems and mass-shut downs of their video stores. The film was picked up by Netflix, iTunes, and various distribution outlets in the United States and subsequently released on Amazon.
Aric Cushing said of the release of the film: In the 1990s the trend in acquisition, as well as public consumption, was independent films. You could write, produce, and distribute a movie and make money. Redbox and Amazon has now killed that almost completely.
Upon the film's release, reviewers were polarized with such statements as "'Even as straight horror without any implications of living up to an established narrative, “Wallpaper” plays against some traditional horror conventions – and not in a good way.'" and "the film is atmospheric but feels at times that it is too languid in its approach." While other reviews commented, "'Luckily, the cliches are kept to a minimum, and as it turns out it's actually a rather unique take on the material, deftly blending psychological terror into the mix in a manner not unlike The Shining.'" and "The idea of male dominance and male-dominated culture is a favorite issue of Gilman’s, as well as the idea of there being no escape. That issue runs through most of her works, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” is no different. The movie version may be tamer, but the underlying theme is indeed still there. And while there are definitely similarities and differences between the two, when it comes down to it, in the end both women end up becoming the woman behind the wallpaper." Cushing commented in the introduction to his book Lost Essays, the film was both loved and loathed.

Cast