Near the beginning, when Bill is hearing the reoccurring and chilling word, “Yes,” he begins to have a heart attack in his office. Her presence and character, as one who is unknowingly in love with Death, emphasizes the fact that though Bill is surrounded by beautiful objects, the simple things in life, like his daughter and love - for which Death and Susan mutually share - are just as essential. But when Susan steps into frame, often dressed in a simple shift or t-shirt and jeans, we get a stark difference to the richness we often see in the shot. Scenes in his office also include massive paintings and can be easily distinguished as the top of a skyscraper. Being a well-off man with a famous business, his penthouse home in the city is extravagant and ornate. Most of the film is also shot within Bill Parrish’s, Anthony Hopkin’s character, home. If anything, this gives a nostalgic feeling of the beginning and end of life. As we go through the movie, the scene seem to get later and later in the day, until eventually the last scene ends the movie with a party at night and the death of Anthony Hopkins character. These two scenes are flooded with natural light and sunshine. It then moves to following one of the main character’s daughter, Susan, into a café for morning coffee and breakfast. Meet Joe Black also opens in the early morning, a scene that pans from a tree in the country on the waters edge to a busy scene of people decorate a set for a party. This also gives a refreshing feeling reminiscent of life, a stark contrast to the colors in the film. The use of natural light is also common throughout the film, and flowers make a play in most of the shots. Black suits and yellow candlelit dinners are also a reoccurring theme in the movie. These three colors are very reminiscent of funeral colors, to invoke the idea of death.

Pitt’s startling blue eyes are leveling and childlike: full of wonder and curiosity. Throughout the entire film, the use of the colors blue, yellow, and black are very apparent. The entire premise of the movie is, “Death, who takes the form of a young man, asks a media mogul to act as a guide to teach him about life on Earth and in the process he falls in love with his guide’s daughter.” (1) But, underneath the surface is a beautifully complex film playing with the ideas of love and life, “sing with rapture and danc like a dervish.” (2) This is the idea of Meet Joe Black, a 1998 movie directed by Martin Brest. The world’s death rate at a complete standstill. But what if people across the globe didn’t die today? Or the next? Maybe even for a week. Children are born every day, and people die every day. Life and death are two of the universal constants that everyone is aware of.

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