Rescue in the desert*

Classification in categories

• Battle and nature
• Suffering / victim / sacrifice

Metadata

An image of despair and salvation is staged in the interplay of sound design and shot composition in a series of varying temporalities.

In the dramaturgical structure of the film, this scene is between an image of sacrifice (> "Waco in the desert / Sacrifice in the ruins") and an image of salvation  (> "Miracle water for weapons"). An image of cathartic salvation is developed in a movement divided into two phases, each staging its own mode of temporality. (> ABE 1).

The flat planes of the first phase remove any implication of the temporality of a space of action; the repeated, transposed fragments of a melody create the paradox of a dynamic outside of time. This paradox culminates in the aimless movement of trickling sand, forming a motif of despair.

The second phase temporarily lifts this atemporality. The introduction of loud brass instruments creates a musical theme in the fullest sense of the word. Its melodic temporality links to spatial opening in a new shot. As regards the collision of two different modes of temporality, this second phase becomes an image of salvation from the previously staged lack of direction or hope.    JHB

Expressive movement units

Materials about the scene

Position of the scene in the film