The scene I am going to write about in my film is where the
protagonist, CHA Tae-shik, experiences a flashback into his cruel but gentle
past, where he is seen as young and clean going to visit his girlfriend who is
pregnant with his child. He is shopping
for some baby clothe ware in a shop while his girlfriend waits in a car alone.
Tae-shik then receives a text message just quoting a few numbers “6413” His
girlfriend, while alone in the car, constantly reassures him that she’s okay
and happy to wait for him. However judging from Tae-shik’s facial expression, he’s clearly noticed that the text message he
received is some sort of directive or order that’s only understood through
code, or perhaps a warning that something omniscient is imminent. Once he
attempts to call back to the receiver whom we presume is the government or an
unknown assassin, he glances over to his wife in the car and in an instant a
truck slams right into the left side of the car, demolishing everything in the area
of collision. An assassin then comes out from behind the truck with a pistol
and shoots tae-shik in the chest, but then the Korean police pull up in just
enough time to secure his safety and shoot the assassin in the head, killing
him instantly. Tae-Shik is then seen on the floor in agony with police officers
over him while he looks over at the car his pregnant wife was in and in tears,
watches blood seep out the crushed car door
belonging to his wife and yet to be born child who has now been cruelly murdered.
Straight away from entering this flashback, it’s extremely
noticeable how the colour scheme changes in the scene of the flashback compared
to the rest of the film exteriorly. There is a clear use of bright colours,
especially on the furniture in the hospital and the shopping store. The use of
the bright colours while in the hospital gives off the meaning that at that
present time, the protagonist was experiencing the most positive moment of his
life with the one person he loves the most. Additionally, there is frequent use
of white colours in this setting which symbolizes peace and proximity which
adds to the mood while also representing the new life that had been due to be
born. The colour of the car that his girlfriend is waiting in is also white,
along with the babies clothes he purchases in the store which also relates to
the colour scheme of the environment used here. The frequent use of white
colours definitely has a calming effect on us and reaches out to us on an
emotional level: such as the ironic feeling of love in this scene, protection,
humility, innocent, youth and kindness. These themes are also explored
throughout this film and within this scene. The lighting here also symbolizes life
and is used coherently along with the bright colours which works well along with
the setting and environment inside the hospital building and shopping store.
However this can be taken very differently due to the widely
different cultures and therefore separate audiences to cater to. Unlike in
Western culture where the colour white symbolizes peace and purity, the use of
white colours in Eastern culture, white is considered to be a colour that
represents death. The colour white led to its traditional use as the
traditional colour of mourning. Considering this is a Korean film, this
audience may have taken these hints as an incident related to death that was
about to occur. In my opinion, this is a
very smart technique that the director, Lee Jung-Beom has employed that gives a
deeper meaning than just using an ordinary colour for no deeper reasoning.
His hair is also appeared to look long and unhygienic, which
shows how he doesn’t care much for his life right now until he has a purpose to
live. Compared to the flashback scene, Tae-shik looks very clean and positive
compared to his negative vibe on his other appearance. He has a calm sense of
ease to himself and looks like he could cause no harm to anyone at all. On the
other hand, throughout the first half of the film up until this flashback, the
way the protagonist is portrayed creates the mood* that death is always lurking
over him, how he attracts danger everywhere he goes which was also the cause of
his pregnant wife’s death and also symbolizes how he is regretful about how he
lived his life so far up towards the end of this flashback.
I believe that during the scene where Tae-shik walks over to
his girlfriend and sits down with her, he asks to hug “both of you” (yet-to-be
born child), once he hugs them we see a trimester scan photo of his child. He
has the photo scan in his hands and we see a close up shot of him grasping the
photo with force to the point where it creases up, foreshadowing that an unpleasant
incident involving the unborn child is going to occur. This action is also
relevant to the murder of his wife, who gets crushed by a truck driven at full
speed. Considering the shot is a close up of the hand with the photo is
significant to the story as nothing is filler and everything is shot for a
reason. The cinematography used in these
scenes works excellent accordingly to the transition into the protagonists
past. As he is undergoing surgery to take out the bullet from his stomach at
the beginning of the scene, a close up camera shot is used on his face to show
the pain and how traumatizing the experience is to him because of the same
experience he faced long ago which ties into this scene here. The close up is
also shot on his face in order to show his facial expression and portray his emotions to make us, the
audience, feel involved and share his current sense of sorrow and
A solid introduction, you described the plot in order to give the reader a sense of what happens in the scene. Although, a apparent loss of a description of the genre makes the intro fall apart slightly. A great analysis on the genres and sub-genre would add a lot to the start of your analysis.
ReplyDeleteResearch into the culture that you are analysing is evident, you pointed out the difference between Western and Eastern cultures to give the reader a better sense of understanding. You discussed themes in great length which shows that you understand the meaning that they create, you demonstrated the fact that you know that each shot is placed in a film with a purpose and explore that thoroughly.
However, the cinematography could use a better link to the themes and culture of the genre you are analysing. Perhaps talk about what the different shots symbolise and how they relate to the imminent tragedy. Also, a clear definition of your first micro feature wasn't there, I had a hard time deciphering what the first micro feature you were discussing was. Perhaps talk more about what the prop of the truck means and how it links into the narrative of the scene.
Overall a well constructed analysis, however it need a little more content in order to satisfy your understand of this scene. A great use of examples and good contextual understanding, although try to discuss when the film was set and made to create a even clearer understanding.
Vinay.
It's a good start, don't forget to mention what the two micro features are during the introduction. In your introduction, you could give us an idea of the scene, why you've chosen it & then the next paragraph is where you start talking about your micro feature. Talk about how your micro features effect your audience & keep backing up this point with the examples. Instead of the overflow of details, use pictures to give the details for you but still describe them, just not too much. Also tell us why your two micro features are important in this scene & how it impacts the audience being the way they are.
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