Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository
Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository Download (12MB) - University of Salford Institutional Repository
introduces an image of Kit and Tunner in medium shot, as they emerge from nowhere and pause to contemplate the deserted place. When Port appears, Bertolucci reframes the scene from a distance to capture his movement. This longer shot is taken on an empty quayside which features a gigantic, rusting crane, evoking a past of industrial enterprise. There is no other human presence and no sound but their voices. Deleuze discusses film sequences in which characters 'literally emerge from time rather than coming from another place', (Deleuze, 1989: 39) and this observation is relevant here. Two long journeys made across the country's arid terrain, by train and car, are also fragmented by montage and by restricted camera views, thereby increasing the abstractness of the spatial reference and also the sense of temporal indefiniteness. Similarly, the long duration of the Tuareg journey is constructed through the simple alternation of night and day images. With this kind of editing and nuanced narrative structure, Bertolucci constructs a suppressive narration which inhibits viewer engagement with the characters, and this viewer passivity is accentuated by not disclosing information about the motivations behind the protagonists' conduct (the reasons for the couple's unsatisfactory marriage, the thoughts driving Kit to abandon her husband's body). Representations of the sublime and its emotional impact The desert is the most significant reference point for the film*s representation of time, and it also serves to divide the narrative into two parts on account of the different aesthetic meanings conferred upon it by Bertolucci. In the first part of the film, the desert is used to evoke a sense of the sublime. Viewers are guided to this experience through the framings of Port's intense facial expressions and bodily postures that relay the impact of experiencing a different temporal effect. This novel sense of time triggers thoughts of mortality - substantially suppressed by Western culture - which make Port realize that he has lost direction in his life and it also facilitates the re-emergence of sentiment towards Kit. The narrative culmination of this discovery is reached when Port takes Kit out into the desert, 246
where the contemplation of this infinite, timeless landscape provokes nostalgia for what might be termed the lost purity of purpose, a sensation so intense that it overwhelms Port and brings the couple's lovemaking to a halt. In this key sequence Bertolucci's camera set-up maximizes the visual impact of contemplating the desert. It frames both characters from the back and pauses with Kit while Port reaches the edge of a promontory and turns to call her to join him. In positioning the camera behind Kit, slightly to her right, Bertolucci creates only a partial identification with her POV. This slightly more objective perspective enables viewers to feel like they are glimpsing the desert for themselves at first hand, rather than experiencing a scene through the eyes of another. Hence, the amazement elicited by the extreme long shot of the stunning, monochromatic, motionless vastness that forms a horizon together with the luminous sky, gains in intensity as Kit and the camera draw closer to the rock. Silently contemplating the landscape with feelings of bewilderment and grief, they couple begin to make love, Port indicating the sky as a solid shelter protecting them from what lies beyond - death - which he suggests they are perhaps both afraid of. This provokes a liberating outburst from Kit, whose resentment reveals that her physical detachment was ultimately meant to punish him. Port's reply that perhaps they are both afraid of loving too much, betrays a Western cultural attitude of choosing the safety of intellectual relationships to avoid the risk of emotional pain (a theme further explored in Stealing Beauty). The sequence ends with Port and Kit weeping desolately, both lying on the ground as if lifeless. Storaro confirmed that this sequence signified the core moment in the representation of Port and Kit's relationship. The director of photography explained that in dealing with the film's two-part structure - corresponding to the alternate predominance of the protagonists - he conceived of Port as the sun and Kit as the moon, which motivated his use of reds and oranges in the first part and then indigos and blues in the second. He affirmed: 'Perhaps it is 247
- Page 199 and 200: illuminated as if to imply the brig
- Page 201 and 202: hues of bluish-grey colouring are d
- Page 203 and 204: a narrative focus means that the de
- Page 205 and 206: Notes 1. They Live by Night (1948)
- Page 207 and 208: 1985: 73) should be contextualized
- Page 209 and 210: The film's cognitive structure and
- Page 211 and 212: daily life elicits nostalgia for a
- Page 213 and 214: that periodically distances viewers
- Page 215 and 216: followers), sensitive (she relates
- Page 217 and 218: part of the film depicting the peas
- Page 219 and 220: engagement will again change from e
- Page 221 and 222: leadership, which is arguably assum
- Page 223 and 224: References Bachmann, G. (1973) 'Eve
- Page 225 and 226: The success of The Last Emperor ena
- Page 227 and 228: L 'ultimo imperatore/The Last Emper
- Page 229 and 230: out; the red of a notice on the wal
- Page 231 and 232: The intellectual implications of th
- Page 233 and 234: the Forbidden City. This, combined
- Page 235 and 236: Japanese. His personality fits the
- Page 237 and 238: the belief that whereas language ma
- Page 239 and 240: In addition, the presence of a hist
- Page 241 and 242: (2009) is one recent, successful ex
- Page 243 and 244: Gaut, B. (1999) 'Identification and
- Page 245 and 246: working class people depicted in th
- Page 247 and 248: strengthening viewers' alignment wi
- Page 249: experience of being out of clock ti
- Page 253 and 254: infinite. In his discussion of sour
- Page 255 and 256: camera's 'symbiotic fusion' with th
- Page 257 and 258: criticism of contemporary Western i
- Page 259 and 260: is conveyed by Port's bleak awarene
- Page 261 and 262: Piccolo Buddha /Little Buddha: A Jo
- Page 263 and 264: concludes that all three children a
- Page 265 and 266: intensity created by stylized light
- Page 267 and 268: of a children's book, takes on a pr
- Page 269 and 270: Jesus throughout Siddhartha's progr
- Page 271 and 272: human feelings and desires. This in
- Page 273 and 274: diminishing because of Western soci
- Page 275 and 276: In all three films it is possible t
- Page 277 and 278: the film's dramatic pivot - appears
- Page 279 and 280: different stylistic registers as th
- Page 281 and 282: esolve it; and a predominantly unre
- Page 283 and 284: the two characters. The failure to
- Page 285 and 286: even understanding from viewers and
- Page 287 and 288: illusion. In search of new scandals
- Page 289 and 290: That this sequence was written, pro
- Page 291 and 292: of Caterina discovering Joe's drug
- Page 293 and 294: on different types of meat. The bar
- Page 295 and 296: was considered to be Bertolucci's r
- Page 297 and 298: Hope, W. (2006) Giuseppe Tornatore,
- Page 299 and 300: of their 'elder sisters'. In a broa
where the contemplation <strong>of</strong> this infinite, timeless landscape provokes nostalgia for what<br />
might be termed the lost purity <strong>of</strong> purpose, a sensation so intense that it overwhelms Port and<br />
brings the couple's lovemaking to a halt.<br />
In this key sequence Bertolucci's camera set-up maximizes the visual impact <strong>of</strong><br />
contemplating the desert. It frames both characters from the back and pauses with Kit while<br />
Port reaches the edge <strong>of</strong> a promontory and turns to call her to join him. In positioning the<br />
camera behind Kit, slightly to her right, Bertolucci creates only a partial identification with<br />
her POV. This slightly more objective perspective enables viewers to feel like they are<br />
glimpsing the desert for themselves at first hand, rather than experiencing a scene through the<br />
eyes <strong>of</strong> another. Hence, the amazement elicited by the extreme long shot <strong>of</strong> the stunning,<br />
monochromatic, motionless vastness that forms a horizon together with the luminous sky,<br />
gains in intensity as Kit and the camera draw closer to the rock. Silently contemplating the<br />
landscape with feelings <strong>of</strong> bewilderment and grief, they couple begin to make love, Port<br />
indicating the sky as a solid shelter protecting them from what lies beyond - death - which he<br />
suggests they are perhaps both afraid <strong>of</strong>. This provokes a liberating outburst from Kit, whose<br />
resentment reveals that her physical detachment was ultimately meant to punish him. Port's<br />
reply that perhaps they are both afraid <strong>of</strong> loving too much, betrays a Western cultural attitude<br />
<strong>of</strong> choosing the safety <strong>of</strong> intellectual relationships to avoid the risk <strong>of</strong> emotional pain (a<br />
theme further explored in Stealing Beauty). The sequence ends with Port and Kit weeping<br />
desolately, both lying on the ground as if lifeless.<br />
Storaro confirmed that this sequence signified the core moment in the representation<br />
<strong>of</strong> Port and Kit's relationship. The director <strong>of</strong> photography explained that in dealing with the<br />
film's two-part structure - corresponding to the alternate predominance <strong>of</strong> the protagonists -<br />
he conceived <strong>of</strong> Port as the sun and Kit as the moon, which motivated his use <strong>of</strong> reds and<br />
oranges in the first part and then indigos and blues in the second. He affirmed: 'Perhaps it is<br />
247
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