First and foremost I’d like to point out that the sound heard in the darkness was not, at least I do not believe, the ice going inside the glass. It was someone picking ice out of a container. I replayed it a couple times and that is what I’ve concluded. Whether or not it’s relevant is something that deserves pondering. An interesting interpretation of there being a sound in darkness would be relating it to Tom’s ability to tell people things without them seeing it. He tells Jasper a phony story to get what he wants, as well as Bernie. That’s just an undeveloped idea but I just wanted to throw it out there.<\/p>\n
Now I’m going to point out some shots that I thought were very interesting.\u00c2\u00a0 The first I’ll point out is the title sequence shots of the trees.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure there’s that whole looking at the heavens, almost like praying, (as we find out later it is Tom’s point of view), but I’d like to point out the similarity it has to the shot in Kurosawa’s Rashomon<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 Rashomon was the first film to shoot directly into the sun.\u00c2\u00a0 The shot in Rashomon<\/em> has the sun seen through numerous tree branches.\u00c2\u00a0 As the film is about different events seen through different witnesses, the sun can be seen as the truth and the trees as different paths to the sun.\u00c2\u00a0 In respect to Miller’s Crossing<\/em> this shot doesn’t make quite as much sense because there is no sun and the trees aren’t tangled as much.\u00c2\u00a0 But the idea is still there.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom is telling Casper, Leo, Bernie, and Verna different stories.\u00c2\u00a0 The only difference between this narrative and Rashomon<\/em>‘s is we know a little more about what’s going on in Miller<\/em> than we do Kurosawa’s film.<\/p>\n Another interesting shot I found doesn’t really have anything to do with analysis but rather how the Coen brothers put together a movie.\u00c2\u00a0 In the shot where Tom is reading a newspaper, there is a fade into it.\u00c2\u00a0 Our attention is immediately drawn to\u00c2\u00a0 the headline “Gangland Slaying” before the entire frame is done fading.\u00c2\u00a0 They accomplish this by putting more light onto that part of the newspaper.\u00c2\u00a0 I thought it was really cool as a filmmaker myself.<\/p>\n In the final shot I’ll bring up is early in the film: when Tom breaks into the ladies room drunk to see Verna.\u00c2\u00a0 The shot is a point of view forward tracking shot (Tom’s POV) as he is approaching Verna.\u00c2\u00a0 If you look at all the other women in the room, they look EXACTLY the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Same haircut, dress, makeup, etc.\u00c2\u00a0 Verna looks entirely different from all of them.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom has clearly singled her out from all the other women and him being in an intoxicated state manifests this even further, as the camera is in POV.\u00c2\u00a0 When one is intoxicated, you are usually single-track minded and can focus on one thing at a time.\u00c2\u00a0 In this case, it’s Verna.\u00c2\u00a0 All other women are just moving around him and all he wants is for them to get out of his way.<\/p>\n Random point:\u00c2\u00a0 There is a reference to the western genre when Leo says “they took his hair” and Tom replies “maybe it was injuns.”\u00c2\u00a0 Thought that was cool.<\/p>\n The most interesting observation I had in this film was at the end of Miller’s Crossing<\/em> we find out the film wasn’t a love story about Verna and Tom, but rather Leo and Tom.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom did everything for Leo.\u00c2\u00a0 He gave and took beatings.\u00c2\u00a0 He even killed the brother of the woman he loved.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s amazing how strong his love for Leo is.\u00c2\u00a0 Early in the film they have a lover’s quarrel when Leo doesn’t follow Tom’s advice.\u00c2\u00a0 Tom says before leaving, “my opinion used to matter here.”\u00c2\u00a0 If that doesn’t sound like an old married couple I don’t know what does.\u00c2\u00a0 At the end of the film, there is an extended shot of Tom looking out at Leo as he walks away.\u00c2\u00a0 If this isn’t a clear indicator of his love for Leo I don’t know what is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First and foremost I’d like to point out that the sound heard in the darkness was not, at least I do not believe, the ice going inside the glass. It was someone picking ice out of a container. I replayed … Continue reading