The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction film directed by ‘The Wachowskis’ starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. It is set in a near future, dystopian society in which reality that is known by humans is a simulated reality. Neo (Keanu Reeves) learns from a group of underground rebels about the truth behind his reality and his role in the war against his world’s controllers. A clip within “The Matrix” that demonstrates the presentation of the characters and the story is “The Two Pills”. It occurs when leader of the ‘rebels’ Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is offering Neo a blue pill which will allow him to continue living in a fictional computer simulated world, or he can take a red pill and join the real world which will allow him to escape the matrix. This scene helps build relationships and build character development while allowing the film to progress through the use of cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and soundtrack. But through implementing these components into this film, it allows the audience to become more involved and drawn into the narrative of The Matrix. The Matrix is a film that makes us question reality, and its purpose has become more relevant as time passes with the evolution of social media, video games and virtual reality games. As society becomes more engaged in these platforms, and relies on them more heavily, it becomes more real.
In “The Two Pills” scene, it is important as viewers is what the representation of Neo and Morpheus means. Morpheus in ancient Greek mythology, is a messenger of the gods that enters the dreams of mortals to share esoteric knowledge and hidden meanings with human beings. He can take any form, but the mission and message will always remain the same. Neo in ancient Greek means young one. It starts with Morpheus and Neo facing each other, deep thunder can be heard in the background. Neo is offered the option of taking a red pill and a blue bill by Morpheus. He says to Neo that he must find out what the matrix is for himself. “You take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and you believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” This is when Neo chooses to take the red pill and Morpheus says “Remember, all I am offering is the truth. Nothing more.” While this scene plays out the audience can notice that he has perfect posture, which can indicate that he a figure of command because he presents himself so well. In comparison to Morpheus, Neo is very much out of place, as he is wearing the average everyday clothes. A component that is key to “The Matrix”, is Mise-en-scène in reference to Dix (2008) is the visual elements that make up a scene. Piatti-Farnell (2013) stresses the symbolic value of costume in cinema, and its effect on characterisation and the relationship between a character and its audience. Morpheus was once a human living within the matrix, he was mainly wearing black, his costuming throughout the film consists of a full length dark trench coat, mirrored dark sunglasses and boots. Costuming has the power to make a character stand out amongst others and demonstrate power, and place affiliation between a character, and a group of people. Though this is the first encounter as an audience with Morpheus, a sense of authority and power is establish around this character.
The Wachowski brothers have manipulated cinematography in a way that without any words spoken. The two characters are sitting of the leather chair, the audience understands that by Morpheus sitting at the same level as Neo, his superiority decreases. A repeated cross cutting shot is used to indicate that dialogue is being said between Morpheus and Neo, as well as their reactions to each other's speech. This scene leads the audience to question Morpheus’ motives as well as what is going to be discovered by Neo about this world he resides in. Throughout this scene, Morpheus seems superior, but opposite him Neo is perched on the edge of his seat and is intently listening to what Morpheus has to say. This is one of the most important points within the film, this scene is a moment that makes the audience question reality. The audience has the question “How is Neo going to be shown the matrix?”, a symmetrical shot of the two characters, with a glass of water in the middle, Neo is leant in as if to show that he is beginning to understand why he was brought here. Morpheus shows Neo what is inside the box, the audience can feel growing tension between the characters. An extreme close up of Morpheus’ mirrored glasses are used when he says “All I am offering is the truth”. Jennifer van Sijll from Cinematic Storytelling said ” An extreme close-up shows us objects and people differently than we see them. It calls attention to the subjects, making them more memorable visually." This extreme close up we can see Neo reaching for the red pill, and in the right hand lense of the glasses the audience sees Neo staring at Morpheus with a serious expression and leaving the blue pill where it is. This lense is reflecting how Neo is in the hub of Morpheus’ plan. Whereas the left lense of the glasses, show Morpheus’ hand with a red pill resting in it, he makes a reference to “Alice in Wonderland” when he says “you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole really goes”, this symbolises that Morpheus is showing the parallel between Neo and Alice, with both of the main protagonists journey into unknown. By Neo swallowing the red pill, it indicates that after swallowing the pill there is no going back and his life will not be the same. This part of scene has successfully set the tone for the rest of the scene and film. It establishes an emotional connection and friendship between Morpheus and Neo. When Neo was faced with the choice of choosing either the red or blue pill, it would have been one of the first times that he didn’t know what the future held for him. He hadn’t faced unpredictability like this before, his past life had limited options but he always knew what was ahead. “ Cinematic theory suggest that audience members experiencing a film lit in the noir style will interpret the highly shadowed, dark and contrasting images with feelings of danger, suspense , depression, mystery and evil. Characters in this mode should be interpreted as having evil intentions, being manipulative and untrustworthy.” (Jennifer Lee Poland, 2015, pg 13)
The Wachowski Brothers used a range of different film components and principles to further expand on the common theme of choice and fate. Obvious techniques used within this scene are lighting and sound. Neo is deciding what pill to choose, the lighting is dim and a storm can be heard getting louder. This technical elements give off the seriousness of the scene that is about to unfold. When The Wachowski Brothers and cinematographer, Bill Pope worked together on this film, they will use specific lighting approaches “to enhance the plot, characters, theme, style and overall mood” (Jennifer Lee Poland, 2015, pg 13). The directors decided to use extreme close up, “the extreme close-ups puts the camera right in the actor’s face, making even their smallest emotional cues huge- and raises the intensity of the problems behind them” (T Heiderich, 2012). This scene has a moody and mysterious atmosphere, the audience can see that the filmmakers achieved this by employing lighting theory. “From early days of cinema, lighting has been a fundamental element in creating the final picture. Different lighting techniques grew to become associated with different types of stories to provoke audience emotional response and assist in narrative interpretation. These lighting styles used to enhance film’s power to impact audience's’ emotional response and narrative interpretation”(Jennifer Lee Poland, 2015, page 2). Through using a shadowy and low key lighting component in this scene, it makes the audience think about the motive of Morpheus in a suspicious frame of mind which will evoke feelings of mystery and danger. “Film lighting is a formal element that can be used to create a mood and perception. It affections interpretation and emotional response. (Jennifer Lee Poland, 2015, pg 28).
In conclusion, this scene has successfully projected the difficulty of leaving your comfort zone and beginning a journey into the unknown. The elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography and lighting have collaborated well together to create the presentation of the characters and the story.