FILM STUDIES

Saltburn and Greek Mythology 🏛️

Please note: The movie ‘Saltburn’ discussed in this article is rated 15. It contains mature content that may not be suitable for all readers. Discretion is advised. Oh, and spoilers ahead!

Between the 2000s renaissance, Jacob Elordi, and *that* infamous scene, Saltburn has certainly become one of the most talked about films of the year. With all its bravado, it is easy to miss references hidden in the depths of Saltburn’s maze: a statue of the Minotaur. At its core, Saltburn is a fable warning of hubris (excessive pride). The part-man, part-bull creature that looms over Felix’s dead body serves as the perfect metaphor for the wealthy Catton family’s downfall.

💡 Things to consider

• Greek mythology: The minotaur was the offspring of the Cretan Queen Pasiphae and a bull, ordered to live in a labyrinth by Pasiphae’s husband, King Minos. He received offerings of Athenian youths to eat until Theseus, prince of Athens, slayed the minotaur and wooed Minos’ daughter Ariadne. Sailing back from the Labyrinth, Theseus left Ariadne on an island. King Aegeus, his father, had instructed to put up a white sail if Theseus was alive. But if his son was dead, to fly a black sail. Theseus left the wrong sail up and, distraught at the belief his son was dead, King Aegeus jumped from a cliff into the sea, leaving Theseus as the new king. The minotaur symbolises our deepest fears and desires, lurking in our unconscious, our own personal labyrinth. The mixture of God and beast reflects humans’ constant inner conflict between animalistic urges and God-like ambitions.

• Oliver: Oliver is Saltburn’s Minotaur - a strange creature made to devour the wealthy. His perverse sexual acts hark back to the minotaur’s unnatural conception, and his hunger for money is the driving force of the film. Unlike the minotaur, he is never defeated and succeeds in his quest of consuming the Cattons and winning Saltburn. Alternatively, Oliver’s character can be likened to Theseus, a seemingly likable man who commits murder in a maze and then gains ownership of a whole estate once he has killed the individuals who supported him. Theseus is a seemingly heroic figure who murders someone in a maze, than abandons the person who had helped him, and inherits an entire kingdom as he accidentally causes his father to commit suicide.

• Felix: After Theseus escaped, Minos blamed the builder of the Labyrinth, Daedelus, and his son, Icarus, imprisoning them both. Daedalus created two sets of wings out of wax that the men could use to escape. The father warned his son not to fly too high. Yet Icarus, amazed by the power, flew too close to the sun, melting the wings and falling to his death. Felix’s costume at the party was a pair of wings. This links to his death in the maze under the statue of the minotaur, hinting at an Icarus-like hubris that the viewer is warned against. In Felix’s case, his hubris is excessive wealth. As members of the ‘upper-class’, the Cattons have the furthest to fall and it is Felix’s death that sparks the deterioration of the family.

🔎 Find out more

• Saltburn, 2023 (film)

• The Myth of Theseus and the Minotaur: A Tale of Heroism and Sacrifice

LANGUAGES

Where do our voices come from? Marguerite Duras’ India Song 🗣️

Marguerite Duras was an Indochinese-French author, dramaturg, scriptwriter, and director, whose work in the 20th century pushed the boundaries of what was possible in French film and theatre. Her play India Song (1973), based on her earlier novel Le Vice-Consul (1965), perfectly illustrates this through its use of disembodied voices…

The play tells the story of Anne-Marie Stretter, wife of the French ambassador to India. While their world slowly collapses, Anne-Marie Stretter relieves her boredom by having numerous affairs. She drives the Vice-Consul of Lahore crazy with his love for her, and eventually kills herself in the Indian ocean. This story, as is the case in the film of the same name, is told by four disembodied voices, simply labelled ‘Voix 1’, ‘Voix 2’, ‘Voix 3’, and ‘Voix 4’. Duras tells us that Voix 1 and Voix 2 are young women, whereas Voix 3 and Voix 4 are men. These voices remain anonymous throughout the entire story, and we never see where they are coming from. This allows us to question the relationship between voice and body.

💡 Things to consider

• Separating sound from image: In the film of India Song, we never hear the actors themselves speak. Instead, the story is told through these voices, which means what we see and what we hear never quite lines up. As film, and indeed theatre, is such a visual art form, how does this disconnection impact the way we experience Duras’ work? Do we see through the sound of the film?

• Narrative autonomy: In her own résumé (summary) at the end of India Song, Duras tells us that the voices witnessed the story they are recounting many years ago, and that certain voices know more about the story than others. Does this make the voices unreliable narrators? Are the voices characters in the story, even though we can’t see them? How do these comments from Duras impact the notions of past and present in the play and the film?

• Merging voices: Without the text in front of you, it is often difficult to tell the different voices apart from one another, as they continually echo each other’s thoughts. For example, when they are describing a beggar woman who’s not quite dead towards the beginning of the play, Voix 1 and Voix 2 both comment on the death in a very similar way. Voix 1 says ‘n’est pas morte’ (is not dead), whereas Voix 2 says ‘Ne peut pas mourir’ (cannot die), with only an ellipsis separating the two remarks. Are these voices really distinct entities, then? Does that matter, especially as Duras herself tells us that the voices don’t know they’re being listened to?

🔎 Find out more

• Marguerite Duras, India Song (Paris : Éditions Gallimard, 1983)

• India Song (1975) - Marguerite Duras - film review and synopsis (frenchfilms.org)

• Marie-Claire Ropars-Wuilleumier, ‘The Disembodied Voice: India Song’ trans. by Kimberly Smith, Yale French Studies 60 (1980), 241-268

🍒 The cherry on top

• 🙈 The Anonymous Jane Austen: Jane Austen, born in 1775, is a famous author known for classics like Pride and Prejudice. Despite her popularity now, during her lifetime, all her books were published anonymously, with her first novel being credited simply to 'By a Lady.’ This short article is great for those interested in English Literature.

• ♾️ Logic and the patterns of reality: John is either at a Beyoncé concert or in class. He’s not in class. Where is he? In solving this short puzzle, you already used logic. Check out this article on logic if you’re interested in Philosophy or Mathematics.

• 😀 Seeing Faces in Things: Do you ever look at a plug socket, car, or cloud and see a human face? This YouTube video explores this phenomenon, called pareidolia. Great if you’re interested in Science!

👀 Keep your eyes peeled for…

• 29th January - University of Oxford Exploring Law Online Course

• 29th January - UEA Media and Politics Webinar

• 29th January - University of Cambridge Think Cambridge Webinar Series

• 29th January - Magdalene College Cambridge Subject Taster Session: Physics

• 29th January - Balliol College Oxford Insight Into: Flow Cytometry Seminar

• 30th January - Magdalene College Cambridge Subject Taster Session: Genetics

• 30th January - Balliol College Oxford Insight Into: Workshop on Scientific Literacy Seminar

• 30th January - University of Oxford History Super-Curricular Lecture: British Society and Culture in the 1960s

• 31st January - University of Cambridge Women In Maths Application deadline

• 31st January - Balliol College Oxford Insight Into: Infectious Diseases Seminar

• 31st January - Magdalene College Cambridge Subject Taster Session: Biological Sciences

• 1st February - Magdalene College Cambridge Subject Taster Session: Engineering

• 1st February - Balliol College Oxford Insight Into: Nanobots and Curing Parkinson’s Seminar

• 1st February - University of Oxford Online Maths Club

• 3rd February - University of Exeter Year 12 Virtual Conference

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