What does the white rabbit mean in this film?
Why does Bob Hoskin's character buy a white rabbit for Mortwell?
shareI wanted to start a discussion concerning the same question :)
shareIt doesnt mean anything. Its just a gift. Simple as.
shareI can't believe that. It must be a kind of symbol..
I don't give a white rabbit to people I haven't seen in a long time..
thats what gives the film it unique moments!
If I was directing, I would do similar touches. That's why it works, because it doesnt mean anything!!! I can understand where your coming from though.
In my opinion not everything in life has to have meaning, a reason for everything yes, but not meaning.
"In my opinion not everything in life has to have meaning, a reason for everything yes, but not meaning."
I definetly agree with what you say here
..but directors do it more often in movies, add small details that give the story or character an extra dimension. Right now, I can't think of any example of another movie who has such a detail with an extra meaning, but if i come up with something, i'll let you know :)
But film is such a limited medium (approx. 90-120 min as opposed to something like a 400 page book), and good director like Neil Jordan realizes that you really need to use every moment and every seemingly bizzare detail for something (esspecially a genre film like this film noir). So every prominate detail has a meaning, or at the very least a narrative purpose. The rabbit might not be a metaphor, but it was probaly something that meant something to British gangsters of the time. Neil didn't just pull this out of his arse.
It could be seen as a foreshadowing metaphor of Bob Hoskins' character giving himself and his dwindling innocence to Michael Caine's character. Not that rabbits automatically remind us of innocence or devotion, so I might be stretching this a little. If I'm wrong it does play as an amusing reversal; why is this tough guy buying a f&*kin bunny, then we realize that it is to be in favor with the old mob boss. Sweet movie either way; one of Jordan's best.
"I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." - Butch Cassidy
I agree with you-It is just one of several moments of quirkiness in this most excellent film along with the neon Madonnas,"ornamental spaghetti",tethered white horse & fighting dwarfs etc.........
I get the impression that the inclusion of the white rabbit et al was simply to get the audience to comment & discuss the reasons why-Just like we are doing now in fact! :o)
hey!
finally somebody who can see brilliance for what it truly is!
You know when you have a master filmaker on you hands when these inclusions mean nothing but are the everything of what the film embodies....To me...one of the great underated classics!
& did you hear how the other idiot starting saying cathy tysons performance was over the top!
Youve put a smile on my face!
merry xmas
J Rico
I always thought the white rabbit was an allusion to Alice in Wonderland. It symbolizes that the Bob Hoskins character is about to enter another world, a world where things don't make sense, but he put himself there.
shareword.
That makes sense to me.
Yes, I had the same thought while watching. "I'm late, I'm late... for a very important date." Or perhaps it was an flash-forward allusion to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"
shareon the Criterion commentary, Hoskins actually does mention portions of the film having been intended as Alice in Wonderland allusions... don't know specifically about the rabbit, but that's a pretty good guess. It certainly wasn't intended as a meaningless thing.
shareAlice allusions aside, I think it works as an interesting character detail for George as well.
Fresh out of the clink, he wants to get back in with his old boss and brings him a present in the form of a live, pet rabbit. It might just be weird George logic since it seems to hold no real personal symbolism between the two. The fact that Mortwell kept the rabbit during the course of the film is also an interesting detail. Of course - the first appearance of the rabbit signals George's entrance into the seedy underworld, and second appearance signals George's exit back to real life. Definite Alice storytelling language, but a completely bizarre detail in the context of the story.
Touches like that are what make me love this film. I also liked the novelty sunglasses at the end -- Simone with hearts, George with stars. Love and shock.
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The white rabbit does mean something. EVERYTHING that is put into a scene by the director has some meaning. It is called mise-en-scene. Now, if that meaning is clear or up for discussion is also a specific choice of the director. I say it is George's innocence...why not??
sharethe ornamental speghetti set up pays off later in the film, when Bob Hoskins asks "is this real" (talking about the dinner he's about to eat). it is a set up to show how, now that he's out of prison, he's having a hard time adjusting and determining whether things are reality or illusion
Hoskins specifically asks for a white rabbit in the pet store,
Alice follows a mysterious white rabbit into "wonderland".
Hoskins wants back in the game, so he brings the white rabbit to mortwell,
to signify he want's back in the rabbit hole that mortwell controls,
and that he feels he owes him, but shows he is not really mad at mortwell,
but wants things back the way that they were before his incarceration.
Specifically bringing the rabbit shows his loyalty while in prison and present.
By saying this is the path that feels right to him, and the white rabbit
brought him back there. Which he obviously had plenty of time to think on,
what his future will be, while in prison.
I know this discussion has been going on for a year ! but I think that he gives it him so that later in the film he can look like the big crime boss, like bloefeild from the bond films with his white cat, or baron greenback (dangermouse) with his white catapiller !
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Rabbit & Pork = Talk (cockney rhyming slang). I think it's a reference to the fact that George didn't talk when he was arrested & so went to jail instead of Mortwell. The Alice in Wonderland reference is deliberate as well though, I'm sure.
I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.
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