This scene from No Country For Old Men details power struggle at it's best and is the first real insight we have into the main antagonist (Anton Chigurh) and his personality. It's made almost immediately obvious at the very beginning of the scene that Chigurh is very literally not someone an audience member can relate to as a character, he appears as the camera is focused on the shop keeper, seemingly out of the shadows as if he was a shadow himself, his wardrobe is also used to accentuate the fact that he is seen as somewhat of a dark figure, dressed in all black it automatically creates a contrast to the shopkeepers almost friendly yellow checkered plaid shirt and as it was chosen to be done during the day is also creates a contrast towards the surroundings and makes Chigurh look even more like a shadow-like figure. Javier Bardem who plays Chigurh expresses menace through everything his character does, from his facial expressions to the tone of his voice which all make the scene all the more interesting. As Chigurh enters the shops audience members may naturally feel a sense of unease as all the other times Chigurh has appeared inside of the film he has killed a character so it's natural for the Coen brothers (makers of the film) to play on this and deliberately place the shopkeeper in a place where his fate is ambiguous to both the audience and the characters inside of the scene.
This is done through the form of a coin toss, which Chigurh suggests as he toys with the shopkeeper. He chooses to use reverse psychology to re-direct their casual conversations with questions that break the traditional flow of polite small talk which only adds to the uneasy tension already prevalent in the scene. Chigurh appears to seemingly be trying to get something out of the shopkeeper, a reaction of sorts but deliberately makes it unclear what his motivation for the conversation is, yet it is clear there must be one even if it's not clear to Chigurh himself. This creates sort of a supernatural vibe, suggesting to the audience that perhaps this scene is fated to happen the world of No Country For Old Men, as Chigurh doesn't appear without a purpose of some form.
As the characters talk the directors use two stationary camera shots pacing back and forth between the two figures at a regular rate to show the flow of their conversation but upon the reveal of the coin the shots begin to narrow on each character as Chigurh seems to straighten his own frame so it could perhaps be used to show the narrowing focus Chigurh has in this scene or even to convey to the audience that this scene has now had a darker turn and become much more serious. Chigurh flips the coin and suggests that the man's favour doesn't rely on him but the coin itself which once again opens the ideas of fate.
Despite the man surviving the film suggests that was due to nature and not Anton's control as he never explicitly details that he wishes to kill the man or do him any harm, but everything from his demeanour to his general vibe tells the audience that all he wishes to do is cause harm. The shopkeeper and the place of sympathy for this scene, his role as a side character with few lines prevents him from being considered memorable in most films. He is neither attractive, funny or monumental as a character but in this scene his life is held on a line and audiences not only can sympathise with that they remember it, despite the shopkeeper being fairly unimportant the Coen brothers are able to make him seem like the most important character in this scene by doing very little, which is what makes this the perfect scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment