Rose Hobart By Joseph Cornell

Life can have significance even if it appears to be a series of failures - Joseph Cornell

Joseph Cornell is an artist who is known for his shadow box designs, which display a dream like aura. These creations by Cornell allow us a brief view into his private and magical world. The film, Rose Hobart, is named after and starting an actress of the 1930's, Rose Hobart. After researching this actress I realized that the description of the film she stared in "East of Borneo" has similar aspects to the film, including the showing of lions, monkeys, and alligators. From these facts I have drawn the conclusion that Joseph Cornell created this film partly with clips from "East of Borneo". This clipping together of scenes is very powerful and important because it shows that the pieces Cornell chose are specifically important to the message he is conveying about Rose Hobart.

Each time I watched the film I picked up on different aspects of the film which lead to further analysis. My first observation was the replacement of sound, there are numerous conversations within the film but the words are unknown and not projected. Instead there is constant music playing throughout, the tempo changes between fast upbeat, to slow and soft. At times voices are accompanying the music. Another aspect I found important was the focus on the woman during these conversations. The man's expression is not shown however, the audience is always looking at the woman's reaction and constantly guessing the contents of the conversation through her emotions and reactions. This reinforces the importance of this specific woman in the film.

Another factor that stuck out to me was the lapse of time. There is not a specific and obvious lapse of time within this film because of the lighting. Many aspects and pieces of the film are dark and it appears to be night time. However, every so often Cornell adds in a quick showing of palm trees in the day time, displaying the environment in a daytime view. This may indicate that a new day is starting or that time is passing. However, a confusing factor is that the woman is wearing different clothing in the shots that he has clipped together. At first I thought there may be two woman in the film, but after researching and looking at photos of the woman taken in different light with different hair styles I realized there was only one woman in this film.

Cut/sequencing and montage editing were used a lot throughout this film. Cornell pieced together different clips and collaged them together without having a specific connection of space within the shots. As mentioned in montage editing, he takes two different areas and moments and pieces them together. Nature seems to be focused on a lot throughout the film and may be important in connection to symbolism. At the beginning foreshadowing is used when there is a splash into the water. The film ends with a lunar eclipse and a repetition of the splash into the water. This may be a connection to death or renewal. In the film there is a brief moment that Rose Hobart is holding a gun, which she quickly places into the purse. Since this is a short film every moment shown to you is important, otherwise it would not be shown. The man Rose Hobart is seen with for a majority of the film is shown falling to the grown for a split second. The viewers can draw a conclusion that she shot him from this brief moment. At the end of the film you see him on a bed and after the lunar eclipse she is shown being held in arms, as if being restrained, and closing her eyes. This may be a sign of relief or regret but it is clear that the man has died.