by Abby
In any film, color sets the tone for the entire film instantly. A bright color palette can make you feel happy or energetic. If the color palette of a film is deep or dark colors, it can make you feel sad or angry depending on exactly what colors are used. Throughout the film Life Lessons, color is used vividly to show emotion or evoke feelings within the viewer.
In the opening few scenes we see Lionel staring at his practically blank canvas. He has a rough outline in black paint but that is about it. His studio apartment is very bland but also very open with lots of windows which shows us that everything around Lionel is brighter except him. He wears dark colors all of the time. The paint that he has sitting out is dark colors like deep blues, reds and browns. This shows how everything attached to Lionel is dark and deep with meaning. He heads out to pick up Paulette after speaking with his manager. We see him sitting and hear the airplanes which signifies he is in the airport. The minute Paulette steps out of the terminal, we focus in on Lionel’s eyes which are a brighter blue. This symbolizes that Paulette is what pushes him to do art and keep up with his career. She is pretty much the “light of his life.”
Once Paulette is settled in Lionel’s studio, he keeps having sexual feelings for her when she told him they can’t sleep together anymore. He fantasizes about her and when his fantasy is shown, there is a blue ambient light cast over her body. This is all done within the editing, it is not an actual light in the room but it symbolizes that because she said no more sleeping together, Lionel is upset. Though he is upset, Paulette cannot take away his ability to fantasize over her. Lionel finds his inspiration to paint from Paulette being upset and yelling at him. Once he goes downstairs and starts painting, we see that he uses dark reds and greens to paint on the canvas. This shows his anger and frustration being let out onto the canvas.
The only time we see an array of colors is at the birthday party. Lionel comes dressed in a black suit and Paulette is in a black outfit. The house that the party is held in has multiple bright colors in it. When Lionel pulls Paulette into the bathroom, there are bright colored toothbrushes and toothpaste around the mirror. The fact that everybody else has color in their house, even Paulette’s room is decorated with more color. They seem to lead a happier life than Lionel and his lust for her that cannot be contained.
Lastly at the Japan House, everyone is dressed in dark colors so they aren’t set apart. Even the comedian, Gregory Stark is wearing a deep green shirt. The light hanging above Gregory’s head ends up shattering at the end of his performance. What sets this apart is the fact that the light is a blue light bulb. What I gathered from this is that this symbolizes the relationship between Lionel and Paulette bursting apart. Later on we see the whole dinner scene between Gregory and Lionel break out then after that is when Paulette decides to call her brother and have him come get her.
Color is connected through this film very vividly and it implies lots of deeper meanings not only between Lionel and Paulette but between them and the outside world. It is set as if it is the two of them are against the world in a way. They are the darkness in a bright world that they have yet to discover.
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