angelas red coat?

WHile the film is based on a true story and Angela did have a red coat in real life, this in no way argues away the symbolism of the coat. Alan Parker still had to make the choice of whether or not to carry this detail over from the book and then once he made the choice to keep the red coat in the film, he had to choose what kind of red the coat would, what condition the coat would be in and a plethora of other small details about that coat. Nothing in a film simply, is. Everything you see on screen was a choice that the director or someone else made, regardless of the story being true or not. so having said that, even in the book the coat obviously held some sort of symbolism in that it was an important enough element that he put into the book. it wasnt just memory, it was an element that held a special place in the story, as a beacon of hope, as a glimpse in his child-mind to the splendor of america (as he perceived it). Returning to the film the coat was emphasized on the screen. If Alan Parker thought the bright red coat nothing more than a simple nugget of truth than he would not have specifically highlighted it, he would have let that red de-saturate into the background along with all other vibrant colours, but he didnt. I would agree with the above comment that the coat is a symbol of the hope and vibrance that young Frank associates with america. Actually this association is the only thing that makes the sappy and foreshortened ending even bearable.

not to be a completely nit-picky prick but I thought that I would mention that it is not symbology it is symbolism. Symbology is the anthropological study of symbols as used by cultures in their rituals, religion, and ever day life. Symbolism is the use of a symbol in art to elicit a deeper meaning and understanding.

cheers,