Thelma and Louise - Thriller research

Thelma and Louise

Director
Ridley Scott
Release date
12th July 1991 (UK)
Production companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Pathé Entertainment
Percy Main
Star Partners III Ltd. (in association with)
Filming locations
Bakersfield, California, USA

Bedrock, Colorado, USA
Canyonlands National Park, Moab, Utah, USA
Cisco, Utah, USA
Colorado, USA
Courthouse Towers, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, USA
(scene where Thelma & Louise lock police officer in his patrol car trunk)
Dead Horse Point State Park - State Highway 313, Moab, Utah, USA
Gorman, California, USA
La Sal Mountains, La Sal, Utah, USA
(opening vista)
Moab, Utah, USA
Shafter, California, USA
Silver Bullet Saloon, Long Beach, California, USA
Taft, California, USA
Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA
Thompson Springs, Utah, USA
Vagabond Inn - 3101 S. Figueroa Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA
(Oklahoma City motel scenes)
Valley of the Gods, Mexican Hat, Utah, USA
West Valley City, Utah, USA

User comments/reviews and ratings

From looking at the user rating report on IMDB the information reflects that this film was most highly enjoyed by female aged 30-44, fameale aged 18-29, and males under 18 who all had the same average (7.8)

IMDB user comment/review
"loved this movie from the first time I saw it, but it wasn't until I sat through it the third time that I figured out why. It is clever, exciting, and funny and is shot in the middle of the breathtaking scenery of the American Southwest. However, the thing that makes it special is its illustration of pure friendship. It may be difficult for some men to cross the gender boundary and connect with Thelma and Louise, yet doing so is critical to appreciating the film. If you can make the connection then you can get its message -- we all need a friendship like the one Thelma and Louise had. This movie will strike a deep emotional chord.....if you aren't afraid to let it. And if you happen to be too emotionally closed off to appreciate what I think the movie says about friendship I think that you will still enjoy the characters, acting, action, and humor. It is a ten out of ten."
Steve from San Antonio, Texas

External comment/review
'The film switches moods violently, and sometimes it just jerks your chain. But this is movie dynamite, detonated by award-caliber performances from Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in the title roles.'
Peter Travers for Rolling Stone

Thelma and Louise and the main characters in the thriller 'Thelma and Louise'. They are an example of the 'modern' femme fatale, the strong women. Dressed in denim and wearing aviators they are almost the opposite of the classic femme fatale. They are dressed to look strong and confident, masculine andnot for the visual pleasure of men. Ridley Scott challenges the pre-conceptions and conventions of the thriller genre with Thelma and Louise, the main characters, two women in control, powerful and dangerous. This is taken from the scene where they look a policeman in the boot of his own car, Ridley Scott mocks the conception that men have power over women and noticably policeman. The girls take his gun and sun glasses and ride off, very much a 'girl power' moment. They are two women who took the law in there own hands and because of it are now on the run and proving to be clever strong and deviant.

After discovering Louise being assaulted by Hal, a man Louise had got friendly with in a bar, she warns him to back off, and pulls a gun to his neck. Thelma is in control of the situation, she is the one with the power- the gun. Thelma takes up around two thirds of the mise-en-scene, also indicating strength as she takes up more space in the mise-en-scene, pushing Hal out. Thelma is dressed in unflattering, gender neutral clothes, she is covered and not exposed - this makes her look strong and not vulnerable to the exploitation of a drunker man with only one thing on his mind. The lighting is dark and it is raining outside, a generic signifier of the thriller genre. The gun is a generic signifier also, connoting crime and murder.

The damp, dark urban location is a generic signifier of the thriller genre. As Thelma and Louis speed away from the scene of the murder Louise takes control and drives the car. Louise having taken the control of the situation into her own hands and murdering Hal she now has to avoid deal with the consequences, she and Thelma's fate lie in her hands. The dark, damp mise en scene represents the dark and dangerous situation Thelma and Louise are now in, they are on the run, not knowing what will happen next. The darkness could represent the characters uncertainties, anxiety and desperation.

Thelma & Louise tiny car against the huge transport trucks is a metaphor, the trucks representing male dominance. Misogyny means hated or fear of women, this is implied by the directors as he cleverly uses the trucks to symbolise male dominance as they close in on the females, represented by their small car. This could represent the director’s perception of the conforming representation of women in the thriller genre. It could also represent the attitudes towards woman during America at that time and how they are represented, how they do not have the same rights and responsibilities as men.