The Place Beyond the Pines
Baptism scene analysis (00:13:43 – 00:15:43)
Camera work and framing:
The
scene begins with a long establishing shot of Jason (Luke’s son) at the church
altar for baptism with his mother Romina, and stepfather figure Kofi. The shot
clearly portrays the three as a family unit, also establishing the priest and
members of the parish as part of a larger, extended family or community.
Suddenly, Luke steps into the frame, located dramatically in the foreground, he
is visible only from thigh to knee. As Luke steps into the frame, the camera
auto focuses to his presence blurring out Jason, Kofi, Romina, and the rest of
the congregation. This immediately reveals to the viewer that Luke is not part
of this family and does not belong. Due to his placement in the foreground,
Luke appears enormous compared to everyone else in the scene, which makes him
seem threatening and imposing. Luke wishes to be a part of Jason and Romina’s
lives, but even though he means well, his presence there is a threat to their
well-being.
The
next shot is a close up of Kofi standing in as a father figure, and holding
Jason, while a priest pours holy water over his head. Then the film cuts back
to a long shot of Luke sitting down in some pews in the back of the church. The
length of the shot allows for his surroundings to be captured in the frame and
the viewer can see that there is no one else near him. He is distant and alone.
After
that, the camera moves back to a close up on Jason surrounded by Kofi, Romina,
and the Priest. This is his family. The next shot is from a similar distance
but focuses on Luke, who is situated in the frame, very similarly to Jason in
the previous shot. However, there is only emptiness surrounding Luke in this
shot, no family or support. This shot holds for a long time, while the
congregation prays an Our Father, and finally Luke begins to cry, the tears
that roll down his face matching the holy water that was pour over Jason’s head
only a moment before.
The
entire scene works very hard to portray the solidifying of Jason’s family, and
depicting Luke as an outsider looking in. All of the shots that focus on Luke
contain a great deal of empty surrounding space to accentuate that he is alone,
while the shots that focus on Jason are consistently filled with other people.
The scene is also playing with the idea of a father focusing on Luke’s distance
from his son Jason and Kofi’s close proximity to Jason, while the theme of the
God the father is consistently present in the dialogue and location of the
scene.
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