An Analysis on Characters That Wear Sunglasses
from Chunking Express (1994)
“There are only three reasons a woman would wear shades this late. First, she’s blind. Second, she’s a poseur. Or third, she got jilted and doesn't want people to see she’s been crying.”
- Chungking Express
Wearing shades is a big deal in costuming, it can be seen as too dramatic or a struggle as they can reflect the set (a big issue when using cameras, etc.). Most of my favorite movies include characters wearing sunglasses . . . maybe because it reminds me of how I would wear them all the time when I was younger.
I went through a phase from about seventh to ninth grade where I would wear a pair of sunglasses every single day. It wouldn't matter if it was raining or freezing, you would undoubtedly see me with a pair on top of my head. I was dedicated. People, including my friends, would ask, why? “Why not?” I always replied. My sunglasses collection ranged from 3-D glasses from the theater to red Maltesers (the candy) sunglasses from who knows where! This phase stopped once people started asking to wear mine and ended up breaking them. I still always keep an extra pair by me at all times, you never know when you may need them.
In this article, I will analyze certain movie characters that are most known for wearing shades.
Guido Anselmi (8 ½ )
As your (fake) attorney, I advise you to immediately watch this classic masterpiece if you haven’t already. Actually, just watch it again if you have already seen it. Guido Anselmi (played by Marcello Mastroianni) is an Italian filmmaker working on his next big project when he is suddenly overwhelmed by his dreams and retrospection of his childhood. As a result, his film turns into his life story. This man is reminiscent of those old beer commercials about “the most interesting man in the world”. His style, his mind, and the way he presents himself is extraordinarily fascinating. Guido wears rectangular, black sunglasses, similar to a pair which I just so happened to find at a country airplane show. My first take on the reason he wears sunglasses is that they reflect his past into his present. I do not think that the shades are only meant to be seen as symbolic of a different perspective, I believe what matters more is what we see from his shades. The character usually tips his glasses down which gives us a better image through the darkness of the shades because of the sun hitting them from an angle. It’s not clear what exactly is being shown through the shades but it is noticeable that there is a reflection, which takes us back to the synopsis of the whole movie: the reflection of the past is being shown in the present.
Léon (Léon The Professional )
Leon (Jean Reno) is a professional hitman and plant mommy that lives in the same apartment as 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a girl whose family was recently murdered by dirty cops. Leon takes her in (like the mommy he truly is) and teaches her how to get revenge for her family. Leon wears these cool, 70s looking circular sunglasses which you can probably find today at your local thrift shop. Circles can allude to the cycle of life which perfectly fits into Leon’s profession, killing bad guys, getting paid to do so, and passing his skills on to a kid who has had a rough life. Circles can also mean unity, which also explains him uniting with Mathilda. Another reason why he would wear shades is because his character is a very private person who keeps to himself. The sunglasses only block his eyes, the windows to his soul, and may symbolize his introverted personality.
Woman in Blonde Wig & Faye Wong (Chungking Express)
Last but not least, Chungking Express. The woman in blonde wig is a drug dealer in the streets of Hong Kong who a cop suddenly finds himself attracted to. Faye Wong is an employee at a late-night restaurant who gets a hold of house keys that belong to another cop that she’s infatuated with. They both wear vintage style, oval, vibrant sunglasses that are dark enough to shade their entire eyes, which in this case indicates their mysterious or mischievous personalities. I believe that the sunglasses align the two women together since they are both the main interests of the movie. On the other hand, the glasses connect the two women because they are both secretive characters. The woman in blonde wig has to be secretive because she is a drug dealer, Faye Wong has to be because she sneaks into the home of her love interest.
Some honorable mentions of iconic characters in sunglasses are Winston (The Wolf) Wolfe in Pulp Fiction, Elio Perlman in Call Me By Your Name, and Raoul Duke in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Another addition is Michael from The Lost Boys, but that’s pretty self explanatory (vampire things). Next time you watch a good movie where an important character wears some nice shades, think about why the writers, costume designers, and directors wanted it that way because, I promise, there’s always a reason.