Expressive movement unit 4

Metadata

The faster edits form a rhythmic equivalent to overcoming exhaustion. With them, the possibility of social interaction also returns, a shift in shot composition which again brings the characters into relation with one another.

In Todd’s slow halting movements overcoming individual isolation is shown as a battle between exertion and the physical resistance to exhaustion. The first shape overcoming takes is the shift in shot composition from parallel, opposite axes—Todd’s gaze and the machine gun to the right at the top of the frame, Sailor’s gaze and his wounded arm towards the left at the bottom half—to a connected line, the establishment of one line of sight and one axis of action shared by both figures.

This is underscored by a musical development: to the dirge is added a gentle violin solo as Todd moves towards Sailor.  The medium close-ups of the medical care underline the connection between Todd’s even, sure and fluid movements and Sailor’s increasing relaxation as his gaze wanders back and forth from his arm to Todd. The return to action and human interaction shaped as medical attention far from the loneliness of exhaustion and pain is underscored by a clarinet solo that holds a long clear note as Sailor’s thankful smile and Todd’s grave look highlight the social meaning of this act.

At the end this act of human bonding is however transformed with the gesture of suddenly pulling tight, a musical chord and Sailor's jump of pain and the film returns to the basis of this social interaction, the knowledge of individual corporeality and vulnerability, and closes on this note.