Melodrama (melody in drama) is a very over-dramatic type of film genre, it is very dream-like and extreme where every little hurdle becomes a mountain. A melodramatic film makes it so easy to get the viewers hooked onto the film into becoming emotionally invested into one of the main characters. The film, All That Heaven Allows is a good example as a melodramatic film, this is because it is a romance and uses most the dramatic aspects of the genre. First off is the mise-en-scene, for example, Cary is wearing a bright red dress at the party, straight away standing out from the other people who are in dark and dull clothing. At the party, she is surrounded by couples and as Cary is a widowed woman it visually shows the audience that she is an outsider and doesn’t fit in with the group of people. Also, as mentioned in the lecture, the mirrors at the party take a huge part in this film, the mirrors portray the two different personalities Carry is hiding, one being the independent, strong, widowed woman, and then when she is falling in love with Ron who is a lower-class gardener who is a lot younger than her. She knows if she was to show her true self she would be judged by all of her ‘friends’.
Later on, in the film Cary falls in love with Ron, when they are in the house we see a shot of the left-hand screen of the dull, cold, winter snow and the right side of the screen being the warm, pleasant and cosy stairway, with the couple in the centre of the screen. This could possibly show two different pathways for Cary, if she leaves then she is going to be miserable and if she stays then she will be in the warm, happy atmosphere.