A Close Shave commentary

Title/Opening Credits

• The movie is about shaving the wool/fur of animals, and the main characters literally almost got killed (a euphemism for a close call is “close shave”), so the title is called “A close shave”.
• A reference to this is when Gromit turns Preston’s Knit-O-Matic to “close shave”, and winking at the camera.
• The opening sequence (Of Wallace sleeping, and a knife falling to the floor between his shoes) foreshadows what the movie is about… In this, the “knife” is Preston’s evil plans and the “shoes” are the main characters.

Story/Plot/Narrative

• The story, albeit unrealistic, was linear. It had suspense and action in the correct places, and most times, the fourth wall breaks were amusing.
• But, it didn’t have a satisfying ending. Gwendoline and Wallace seemed to have good chemistry but after she mentions that SHE LITERALLY CAN’T HAVE CHEESE he is turned off by her. That was an unexpected and disgusting plot twist. I get that it was to reset Wallace and Gromit as characters so they can go on their next adventure without worrying about these throwaway characters but really?
• The story: Wallace and Gromit live together, and clean windows together. They come over to a lady’s house weekly to clean her windows. The lady is revealed to go herd (kill) sheep with her dog. Wallace falls in love with the lady, which is a side plot. The lady has a dog, Preston, who forces her to kill sheep for dog food. Preston frames Gromit to get him out of the picture. The sheep overran Wallace’s life, and they all helped Gromit get out. They spy the lady collecting sheep, and Preston kidnapping her. They are all taken to Preston’s dog food factory and are almost made into dog food until Shaun and Gromit save them all multiple times. It is revealed that Preston was a cyber (robot) dog. Wallace, an inventor, fixes him for the lady, but falls out of love with her after learning that she can’t eat cheese.

Motif

• A motif would be “close shaves” happening throughout the movie. One prominent one is the knife falling between Wallace’s shoes in the opening sequence.
• Another motif would be the newspapers the characters were reading throughout the film (I.E. “Gromit on the run” as a main article, then “Shepard claims Gromit bit him”, then “Gromit in jail for life”)..
• A final motif would be fourth wall breaks. Multiple times the fourth wall is broken. Examples of this include Gromit’s winking at the viewer after he turns the Knit-O-Matic to “A close shave”, and Wallace and the sheep staring at the viewer after they react to his jail sentencing in the newspaper.

Characterization

• Wallace is the main character. He is an inventor (with a cover of window cleaning). He is shown to love cheese (to the point where he dislikes Gwendolyn due to her dislike of cheese), and to have a very “thick skull” (He doesn’t really get angry at Shaun for eating up his house until he notices that his cheese is gone, and when he finds Shaun, the first thought that comes to his mind is to wash him, not be angry at him for ruining his house.) We are supposed to laugh at him because he’s just so thick headed in any situation, even if it’s filled with emotion. (When Gwendoline tells him to duck, he literally thinks there’s a duck around.)
• Gwendoline is another main character. She is a woman who owns a knitting shop, who called Wallace out to her slop to “clean her windows” every week (This isn’t actually stated, but implied.) She is revealed to be the hooded figure we see in the beginning of the movie, and she is also revealed to be controlled by Preston when she collects the sheep. We are supposed to feel bad for her because she was forced into this business after her father died.
• Gromit is another main character. He is Wallace’s sidekick, and he completes the pair. What I mean by that is while Wallace is thickheaded, not intelligent, and carefree, Gromit is the exact opposite. He is shown to be very smart (for a dog, which is a running gag) and without Gromit, Wallace would not be able to function. (Gromit literally prepares Wallace for his day. Wallace presses a “service” button and Gromit operates the machines to get him ready for the day, and he asks for Gromit’s help whenever something goes wrong.) We are supposed to feel bad for Gromit, as he gets the butt of Wallace’s problems, and has to take care of him.
• Preston is another main character. He is ominous and his character design is meant to make the viewer think he is bad news. When he is revealed to be a rogue robot with possession of a dog food company (which is foreshadowed when Gromit kicks over a can of his dog food), we are supposed to dislike him and hope that he dies/turns good again. The latter occurs, in a way.
• Shaun and the sheep are side characters. They are used to help continue the story when the main characters were unable to. (I.E. Shaun saving them all from the Knit-O-Matic after they all got stuck in it, and Shaun rescuing Gromit from jail) They are meant for comedic effect (“How are those sheep THAT smart?!”).

Scene and Sets

• The film is shot on a movie set (that was created with clay and other materials).
• Parts of the film are set in Wallace’s house. It looks like an ordinary cottage until Wallace and Gromit’s inventions start breaking out, bringing an unexpected mechanical aspect into the homely cottage. It is integrated into the action of multiple scenes because when Shaun starts biting everything, it is shown on the walls and items in the house before it shows on Wallace and Gromit’s faces.
• Parts of the film are set in Preston’s dog food factory. The mechanics are suited for this setting, and they are heavily used (Preston’s Knit-O-Matic, Preston’s grinding machine, etc.). The set is integrated into the scene because the characters get stuck in the machines multiple times, and those machines are part of the set.