OANTOF BCC clip

The BBC adaption of “Oranges are not the only fruit” is really eye opening. It helps you visualize what happened in the story. I love the director’s works with the camera and setting up scenes. The scene in which Jess’s birth mother is interesting. When Jess walks into the hallway they don’t show the scene in front of her but just show her standing in a dark hallway clinging onto her dog. Then when the birth mother leaves and her adopted mother tells her “I am your real mother” Jess runs for the door. She has the chance to talk to her mother but instead just watches as she walks away.

Then the scene for the exorcism was probably the best scene. When the pastor and her mother were speaking to her about the demon the camera was angled up. With the pastor standing and the mother sitting they looked like two people looking down on someone smaller. When camera work is done like that it usually emphasizes displeasure or evil. In Jess’s eyes her mother and the pastor are both the evils in her life especially after they find out she’s a lesbian. Jess is scared that they’ll hurt her and the pastor says they want to hurt the demon. Which in a lot of cases happen even now in real life. A lot of these exorcisms have been deadly. Then the director brings the camera to the floor directly facing Jess as they tie her up and gag her. This highlights the horrors of what they are doing to the poor girl.

There is a scene where her mother is going through her room to throw out items. Her father stands in the doorway and stares at his wife not saying anything. The mother turns to him and tells him she’s protecting their daughter. The husband walks away and behind him is a picture that says “What is home without a mother”. There is also a moment that I thought was pretty funny where all the church goers get up and leave the funeral. The other guest watch in confusion and the one woman at the head of the table just looks at the empty seats where there is ice cream and starts to eat theirs. Through the adaptation you can clearly see how aggressive her mother is to her. Whenever her mother touches her or says anything it’s in a hard tone or she shakes her and smacks her.