The scene opens with Irene and the driving standing on either side of the elevator, the hall they are standing in is stained and dirty, the wallpaper is pealing of the walls and the light fixtures are dim and flickering, this can be seen as foreshadowing for the events that are about to take place, a dirty room for the setting of a brutal and dirty crime. If we look at the actors positions we can see that Irene is standing on the right side and the driver on the left, this can be literally interpretated as Irene being on the right side, the pure and in corrupted side, and the driver being on the left, symbolising that he's not pure enough to be on the right side.the drivers jacket is also very important to the scene, his jacket is plain white with a scorpion embroided on the back, the scorpion, apart from looking intimidating and blunt has a story about it which was one of the inspirations for the story. The insparation for the jacket comes from a old Japanese folk tail about the frog and a scorpion, the tale is about a scorpion who wants passage across a river stream, he asks a frog if he may ride in his back to the opposite bank. At first he is turned down as the frog says "no because you'll sting me" the scorpion replies "if I sting you then we'd both drown" half way across the stream the scorpion stings the frog and they drown. Right before the two sink to the bottom of the lake, the scorpion says "I stung you, as it is my nature to sting, and you can't stop nature" this can be seen as a representation of the driver trying to escape a life of crime, only be to dragged back in to it, as it is his nature to do so.
The elevator doors open and standing directly centre shot, we see the hitman. Take notice of the lighting in this shot, we have to dim, cracked lights on the outside of the elevator illuminating Irene and the driver in an almost supernatural glow, but inside the elevator the light is intense and bright, with the hitman appearing warped by the light, again Almost supernatural. We can say that the light is this bright to lure the driver to his fate, like an animal being lured into a trap. The two enter the elevator and again stand against the wall starring at the floor. The elevator doors close slowly, almost stopping at one point before closing fully to heighten the atmosphere of decay and damage which inevitably leads to the building of tension.
If we look at the hitmans clothing we can tell that his suit is lavish and expensive, it's colourful and clean made out of expensive materials, this contrasted against his scarred, broken and scratched face shows us that he hasn't bought this suit with clean, earnt money. This contrast creates tension as we are aware of the danger this man is radiating, and we feel tense as we are scared for the driver, but more so for Irene who isn't used to this life of crime the driver is so integrated in. The lighting in this scene is bright and sharp, scrolling down the sides of the elevator vertically, which means that everything in the elevator is illuminated, showing us every detail in all of the actors, this lighting could be a metaphor that in this moment, nothing is hidden, all of the characters actions and emotions and fears will be shown to us, the viewer.
The hitman and the driver look at eachother, the light from either side of the elevator illuminates only half of there face, possibly resembling the two's mysteriouness. The driver reaches behind him and pushes Irene to the side, as he does this the lights dim to an eerie glow, the hitman is now barley visible. The light reflects of Irene's blonde hair and glares in the drivers eyes, which shows us that the driver is literally blinded by his love for Irene, and now realises the danger he has put her in. A light directly above them shines brightly, as the light is directly above them it hides there faces in shadows, creating a silhouette of the two, Irene and the driver embrace eachother, the scenes fram rate drops resulting in the kiss looking as though it is in slow motion, which only adds to the tension of the scene, as we all know that the hitman set to kill the driver is literally centermetres away. As the two break the kiss the scene returns to its original frame rate, the light in returns to normal, if not a little darker then before. Which could be showing us that right now in this second, the driver has lost all chance of ever having a normal life, with the intense light not seconds earlier representing the closest he has or ever will get to a normal life.
What follows is the films most violent and brutal act committed by the driver, that man pulls out a gun and aims at the driver, the driver heads butts him, pushes him to the floor, and begins to stamp on his head until he stops moving, the driver throughout the film is always seen as being presentable, his clothes and hair are always clean and tidy, he is well mannered and polite, if a little silent. However during this shot, his hair falls limp across his face, his face becomes sweaty and red, and the collar on his jacket goes crooked. All of this gives us the impression that he has finally lost control, the lighting during this beat down becomes lighter and lighter, eventually reflecting of the blood on the drivers jacket and face. The driver looks up and at Irene, she is horrified and is visibly shaking, her shirt, similar to the drivers jacket has now become crooked, this could be to show that this event has left her traumatised and broken, a binary opposition to the drivers almost cool, calm atmosphere. The elevator doors slide open, again stopping around halfway before fully opening to reveal the car park. The car park is empty, with only two huge neon white lights on the walls of the car park. The result makes the area look eerie and unsettling, almost dangerous. Irene backs away into the car park, terrified and scared, she looks at the driver with terror, and the driver looks at Irene with almost acceptance and content. The doors slide shut, and we get a cut to the drivers face, sweaty and covered with blood, he sinks to the floor as a defeated and broken man.
If we look at the colour scheme for this scene, we can notice a common trend in the way colour is used. Irene and the driver (the two "heroes") are dressed in whites and lighter colours, very monotone and basic, which could be a representing of how they are both trying to blend into the crowd, with neither one of them wanting any part in the colour full, violent world of crime. And if we were to look at the hitman, his suit is consisted of neon and violent colours such as pinks and tinted whites. Again showing the stark contrast against Irene and the driver. The city of LA (which drive is set in) is also drenched in colour, especially neon blues and reds, which is very similar to the neon drenched city of Shanghai in Nicholas winding refn's film only God forgives.
In conclusion the scene uses a combination of bright, out of place lighting and a dark, basic colour palette contrasted against a brighter more violent colour palette to create tension.
M
No comments:
Post a Comment