opening scene no country
In the opening scene of No country for Old Men, the spectator is introduced to the unusual position of feeling confused throughout the film - immediately turning them into active viewers rather than passive.
The establishing desert shots with deep depth of field are used to create a typical western opening sequence suggesting to the spectator that this film would be set in the wild west. This contrasts with the subtle pieces of mine en scene such as the barbed wire fence, telephone poles and finally the police car; the spectator is forced to watch as an active viewer rather than passive in order to understand the context of the movie.
In the introduction of Chigurh, he is shot in the back of the police car. The spectator fears him immediately due to the use of enigma code surrounding his character such as how we cannot see his appearance through the lack of focus and use of blocking. This ensures the spectator questions the character in the back and in congress to the typical use of focus, has their attention drawn to the blurred figure in the back of the shot. Bardem's performance of walking slowly as he is shadowed by the smaller deputy creates a menacing sense that he is comfortable about the arrest he is going through - we instantly view him as the antagonist of the movie who has his "cunning plan" already worked out. There is a cage effect created as we see Chigurh's silhouette building upon the distance between the viewer and him. There is close to nothing which can be deduced about him and this leaves the spectator uncomfortable and anxious. The dark outfit Chigurh wears opposes the sheriffs typical western outfit - he defies the societal normalities in the west and will act against the small country atmosphere created by the opening speech.
The establishing desert shots with deep depth of field are used to create a typical western opening sequence suggesting to the spectator that this film would be set in the wild west. This contrasts with the subtle pieces of mine en scene such as the barbed wire fence, telephone poles and finally the police car; the spectator is forced to watch as an active viewer rather than passive in order to understand the context of the movie.
In the introduction of Chigurh, he is shot in the back of the police car. The spectator fears him immediately due to the use of enigma code surrounding his character such as how we cannot see his appearance through the lack of focus and use of blocking. This ensures the spectator questions the character in the back and in congress to the typical use of focus, has their attention drawn to the blurred figure in the back of the shot. Bardem's performance of walking slowly as he is shadowed by the smaller deputy creates a menacing sense that he is comfortable about the arrest he is going through - we instantly view him as the antagonist of the movie who has his "cunning plan" already worked out. There is a cage effect created as we see Chigurh's silhouette building upon the distance between the viewer and him. There is close to nothing which can be deduced about him and this leaves the spectator uncomfortable and anxious. The dark outfit Chigurh wears opposes the sheriffs typical western outfit - he defies the societal normalities in the west and will act against the small country atmosphere created by the opening speech.
'There is a cage effect created as we see Chigurh's silhouette building upon the distance between the viewer and him.' - How is this created? (use of key terms) needs more analysis.
ReplyDeleteGood reference to the spectator response. Consider mentioning more about the western genre and needs to be further detail about the key scene.