The Thin Red Line

The primary purpose of cinema is to convey an emotion and a meaning, to send a message of information for the viewer to interpret and mold their own meaning into. While story and plot are (almost necessary) tools to communicate a director’s message, the purpose can still be delivered in many other mediums.

As the camera holds a close-up shot of a soldier’s face, caked in dried blood and mud, he stares blankly ahead, almost watching the audience—  a single tear falls from his eyes. Even though no sound is made, we can see the sorrow in his eyes and understand the emotions the character is experiencing. With the use of only the camera, in a single shot, we create a deep connection with the character and develop our own reciprocating emotions. Even a soundtrack can deliver a connection--- a single note on a violin, held for seconds and seconds but lasting forever after the scene has already cut, one steady tune fading off into silence. The gripping tension of that one note can hold an audience’s breath for half a minute.

There may not be a distinct and clear purpose of story, but we don’t have to know where this soldier grew up or what his favorite food is for us to connect and experience the emotional turmoil that he is experiencing in this war. No matter how scattered the details of the characters, Terrence Mallick’s vision was successfully delivered to the audience through his ability to show the damage and destruction of war on the men and women it inflicts.

Art of the Cinema - Pan's Labyrinth

While Pan's Labyrinth could easily have been written into a completely sci-fi genre, comparing the worlds between primary character's life at home and her fantasy world allows the viewer to get a much more intimate view into the reality of the little girl. Distraught by the chaos and destruction of the war she's surrounded by and tormented by the loss of her father, she has no choice but to escape to a self created reality. The viewer can connect with her because WE still do this on a day-to-day basis. There is a constant difference between how we perceive our surroundings, and the reality we create in our heads with our thoughts and internal conscious. While she is escaping to a world of fairies and mythical creatures, we often doze off during the day to dream about what we're doing later in the day, or of a special person who is dear to us. Without these constant looks into the personal self-generated realm of the little girl, our understanding and connection with her would be severely limited. And yet, if the movie didn't return to the external reality of the war and everyone else's lives, our natural sense of reality would begin to fade and the characters and creatures would seem less believable. By also connecting the character's lives to a horrible event in history [the war], our minds believe the story more. Because the war happened in real life and we're watching a recount of the events, we accept the events as a confirmed truth. It's impossible to prove that fairies exist, but through connecting the fantasy with the reality, a connection is created and secured that allows the viewer to naturally accept these two worlds without much question.