Inherent Vice (film) Imagery

Inherent Vice (film) Imagery

Channel View Estates

Sortiledge is seen with Doc in his car on the way into Channel View Estates, but she disappears one frame later. The imagery used by Anderson shows us that Doc is a man that is halfway between reality and hallucination, and potentially that he doesn't know which he is living in.

Chocolate Banana

After Doc and Bigfoot meet, we see the pair riding in Bigfoot's car as Bigfoot eats a chocolate covered banana. Doc stares at Bigfoot for a very long moment as he is confused at Bigfoot's phallic obsession. The imagery puts the Lt. Det.'s reputation as a hard as man's man into question and creates a contrast that confuses Doc and creates an imaginative depth of character for Bigfoot.

Intertwined

Anderson super-imposes Doc and Shasta Fay's images over top one another for a long beat. The imagery tells us that the fates of these two lovers is intertwined even if she she has disappeared, and the pair haven't been together for some time.

Paradise

We see Doc come home to a postcard on his front door. Anderson shows it to us behind the bars of the staircase that lead up to the door. The imagery shows that paradise is behind bars for Doc. Shasta Fey is the paradise he seeks and he feels no closer to finding her (as represented by the bars).

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