The Prisoner is allocated a set of village attire upon the morning he leaves the hospital, his old ones having apparently been burnt, only just how many sets of the exact same clothes does the Prisoner-Number 6 have in his wardrobe, I observe this because Number 6 is always wearing the exact same clothes every day and I don’t think any such,’ next day,’ laundry/dry cleaning service would be that good. So it is reasonable to say that Number 6 has two perhaps three of the same piped blazer, navy blue turtle neck sweaters, fawn or beige trousers, vests, pants and socks, not to mention deck shoes.
The Prisoner from the street sees standing upon the small balcony of his cottage, a maid shaking a yellow duster out through the French window. It is inexplicable that by the time the Prisoner has reached the door of his cottage {6 private} and entered sees the maid hurrying along the cobbled path below by the Rhododendrons.
It is also inexplicable that the maid should not only in fact act in this way, but also to be able to nip out of the cottage so quickly and in such a way that the Prisoner should not meet with her as he made his way round to the cottage door himself. Of course she could have ducked down behind a low hedge nearby, or the wall of the small patio outside '6 private,' or long another path by which the Prisoner may not have seen her from the window as he did, but again the question, why should she feel the need to do so, or want to? But then this is fairly representative of the enigma that is ‘the Prisoner.’
As Number 6 makes his way along the quay and swimming pool, he is passed by the Butler Butler Butler
Be seeing you
Shouldn't No 6 have encountered the person he saw on the bell tower when he set out climing the stairs? Did that person jump out of the window? Why did the taxi with screeching brakes show up immediately after No 6 had pushed the button? No, it's for the same reason as with the electrician/gardener. Little surreal incursions inserted by the script in order to puzzle viewers about the "true" nature of the Village thus creating a sensation of unrest an of the unreal. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteAn excellent comment, I enjoyed reading it.
The man in the Bell Tower has always been something of a mystery, what happened to him? Where did he go? Equally the taxi arriving when it did. Not to mention the Prisoner's personal maid leaving the Prisoner's cottage without him seeing her, except from the window of his cottage.
The electrician and the gardener - are they twins, or one and the same person? Even after 45 years, we are still not sure in our minds.
"Little surreal incursions inserted by the script in order to puzzle viewers about the "true" nature of the Village thus creating a sensation of unrest an of the unreal."
I'm envious, wish I'd thought of that. But then as someone once said, you can't be expected to think of everything!
Kind regards
David
BCNU