摘 要：《時(shí)時(shí)刻刻》這部電影涉及的是女性主義。本篇論文嘗試從電影語(yǔ)言分析的方法，來(lái)解讀上世紀(jì)女性主義者的內(nèi)心掙扎之旅。

關(guān)鍵詞 ：女性主義；時(shí)時(shí)刻刻；電影語(yǔ)言

The Hours is an Oscar winning film adapted from Michael Cunningham's novel， telling the story of three women from different generations whose lives were interconnected by the novel Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. The comparison among three women's spirits reflects the feature of the Feminism. It is concerned with the way in which women are represented， visually and narratologically. Approaches of gender study and textual analysis will be used.

As Wikipedia writes， the term “Feminism” is a range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal for women. Feminists dedicate themselves to promoting the status of women in the society and to assisting women to seek their rights to live and fight against inequality. Therefore， feminist films have features on their film languages.

1.SIGNS and CODES。There is a scene showing Virginia’s lips and her hand with a cigarette. The lips denote a part of facial expression， but they also act to connote a woman. Moreover， the cigarette， which denotes Virginia’s smoking that was traditionally considered as a male behavior at that time (1920s)， signifying her challenge to convention and her desire of breakthrough.

2.MISE-EN-SCèNE。There is a scene after Laura said goodbye to her husband. Laura was standing in front of a bright window far from the camera while her son was looking at her close to the camera. I can see Laura’s lofty image from the picture. The relative positions develop Laura， who was supposed to be a gentle mother， into a character of masculinity originated from master of the house (fathers).

3.EDITING。At the early part of the film， the director shows three storyline of three women， with editing their interlaced scenes. For instance， the film begins in the morning of the day and the three women were waking up. They were in the bed in the continuous frames of the movie. All these settings aim at connecting three different women together and show their similarity to some extent.

4.MIRRORING。After three women got up， there are frames of their images in front of mirrors titivating their hair. The scenes denote the images of female characters. In a deeper way， the mirroring connotes their reconsidering about themselves as women.

5.NARRATIVE。The most impressive and representative plot of the movie is the conversation between Virginia and her husband at the railway station. Virginia was trying to leave for London alone. Her husband hurried to the station to find her. The frames are Virginia sitting at the chair close to the camera， and her husband running toward her (closing up to the camera). The image of Virginia is bigger than her husband’s. This relative position is one of the expression that women are at more center role in a relationship.

Next comes to their conversation. Virginia didn’t want live life she had no wish to live. She wanted to make her own decision and lived a life without other people’s arrangement. She thought no one could judge her own interests except herself.

Finally， her husband submitted to Virginia’s own choice. The scene that he almost burst into crying can denote that he had been living with the threat of Virginia’s extinction out of love， and can also connote another illustration of the film on overturning the male gaze， whose theory is raised by Laura Mulvey.

Ann E. Kaplan has responded to Mulvey in the paper “Is the Gaze Male?” that she believes that both men and women are likely to be in a position of dominance or obedience， and to be able to gaze or be gazed at.

In conclusion， The Hours matched what it perceived to be the belief of Feminism. In return， the film itself frames the ideology of modern culture.

Feminism represents a challenge to cultural myths about femininity， as well as myths about masculinity. A feminist critique is rooted in the struggle to end sexist oppression. Nevertheless， the kernel of this feminist film is no longer a sheer fighting for self-liberation. While holding the firm belief of individual independence， it reveals strong anxiety and confusion in self-identity. To some extent it reflects that the repression of women is no longer from the threat from men， but more from self-confusion and loneliness when separated from man.

According to feminist film criticism， a real feminist film is not focusing on the analysis of gender differences. The ultimate goal is not to highlight the particularity of women and the requirements of the relevant rights. But through the perspective of women， the film pays more attention to women's living environment and the facing problems， in order to reveal differences of women's psychological characteristics and common needs in specific times and regions. The goal of The Hours is to express female’s views for their liberation， to express their aspirations， to solve the difficulties and to choose their own road as much as possible.

Feminist films are making efforts to stimulate the female audience of rethinking. Women begin to accept their physical characteristics， and they try to keep belongs to their own share of freedom， the desire to be independent and to transcend the society， seeking for self-breakthrough with tremendous inner struggle.

Reference：

[1]Steve Campsall. Analysing Moving Image Texts: ‘Film Language’. 27/06/2002 (Rev. 17/12/2005; 14:18:24) Media - GCSE Film Analysis Guide (3) – SJC.

[2]Dwight E. Brooks and Lisa P. Hébert. Gender， Race and Media Representation.

[3]Kaplan， E. Ann. Is the Gaze Male? Oxford University Press， 2000.

[4]Jennie Ruby. The Selling (Out) of Feminist Politics: \"The Hours\". ， Vol. 33， No. 3/4 (march-april 2003)， pp. 62-64.

[5]WU Qing-hong. A Modern Feminist View of The Hours. ， 2006.