During ‘The Chimes of Big Ben’ when
Number 6 and Number 8 are taking the pieces of the abstract sculpture from the
Recreation Hall, and assemble them on the beach to make a boat. Manhandling the
pieces through the woods and down to the beach, that would have taken a while,
seven trips in all I should imagine.
Was that act
really a show of kindness, when Number 6 used those 2,000 free Work Units to buy
Number 38’s tapestry? Certainly he thought he would never use them, so perhaps
he thought he might do someone a bit of good. After all he need not have
bothered to buy 38’s tapestry, he could have just taken it when he removed the
pieces of his sculpture from the Recreation Hall. Like that tarpaulin
sheet, Number 6 had to have stolen that from somewhere!
And so eventually
Number 6 and Number 8 set sail, and as they do, and as I look at that rickety
mast I cannot help but think that the boat wouldn’t make it thirty yards, let
alone thirty miles! Yet at the same time, when watched for the first time, one
is willing their escape to be successful.
Be seeing you
..."one is willing their escape to be successful." - Yes! That's fundamental to almost any thrilling film scene to work or, as the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, would have it, the viewer needs to be involved with the characters, he needs to be an accomplice of the perpetrator if necessary and in some cases he needs to have more information than the hero. Given all this a scene like this one works despite potential technical or logical flaws in it. - WELL-COME back, David on the blog! - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThank you for your very kind greeting, it is very much appreciated, and it's good to be back, and good to hear hear you as always.
Your comment is very nicely put, and quite right. As viewers we do get involved with the characters. And as for Nadia/Number 8, as a perpetrator, she does know more than Number 6. And like Number 6 at the end, we as the viewer, learn that we cannot believe one single word Nadia utters! She may have seemed to be cosying up to Number 6, and that is why she was there. But deep down, Nadia Rakovsky, if that be her real name, is cold, unfeeling, and calculating!
Very best regards
David
BCNU