What's Eating Gilbert Grape

In the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape, the director used a variety of shots to convey meaning. One of the things the director did was always surround Gilbert with lots of stuff. Just tons of stuff would be in the frame and in the way behind him, or he'd be boxed in by the walls or the aisles of the store. But whenever he was with Becky, things would be more open and more free. This showed how he felt in the small town. Gilbert felt trapped and bored by everything around him. But as soon as Becky came into his life, things opened up. She was something new to the town, and she was great. Becky helped Gilbert out of his own little world, out of only thinking about the people around him, because even though it was destroying him to be so bored he wouldn't stop.

One of the best scenes of the movie was when Bonnie Grape got up and left the house to pick up Arnie from the police station. On the way there, the car is tilted. On the way there, it's funny. Haha, she's so fat the car is tilting to one side. But then in the police station, people are staring. People are shocked that she's up and about. And when the car is still listing to the side on the way back, it's just sad, and you feel bad for laughing. This is an impressive piece of diegesis, because it is the same image. It's amazing how one poignant scene can change your point of view on how you see something.