When one goes to see a movie, often times they go to be entertained. As movies became more and more common though, people started to make movies into a form of art. As with any form of art, things are not ever set in stone. There are no rules, only things that people tend to agree on. Therefore, in the case of Electroma and The Death of Mr. Lazarescu, one should be able to accept some oddities in the filming, right? However, to those who lack an artistic eye, these movies can be agonizing, and trying on the patience of the viewer. Both of these movies tend to have long scenes with no dialogue, or a slow progression of the story. What is the purpose of this silence? Why do these movies take so long to do something new or interesting?
It turns out that these movies, when compared, are very similar. The plot for both is simple. In Electroma, two robots go on a quest to become human in a very emotional story. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is about an old, diseased alcoholic who starts feeling sick, until he is sent to several different hospitals. In the case of Mr. Lazarescu, the story is paired with several substories that detract from the main event. Lots of people tend to be bothered by this, since it detracts from the main story and is distracting. However, these insights into other people's lives help give the movie a deeper appeal and helps bring us closer to the characters. In the case of Electroma, the two robots have long, extended shots of them walking, and that's it. The camera will not pan or dolly, and the shot will stay as a long shot. Some of these motionless “boring” shots are more than a minute in length! To those not able to sit and wait, or those who are unable to see the underlying significance, these shots will kill the movie. Well, that seems to make no sense. Why would the artists continue to do something that seems to push their audience away? I believe the answer to that question is simple: they're artists. An artist normally expresses themselves through some kind of medium. In these cases, that medium is film.
So what is the artist trying to do by torturing us into watching incredibly long shots of nothing going on? Some of the effects of making us watch these seeming pointless scenes are actually subconscious. If one makes the attempt to watch the movie without complaining and with an open and accepting mind, one will notice a growing connection with the characters in the movie. Suddenly, a scene of the person walking to their fridge to get a drink becomes a portrait of depression, habit, and futility. A scene of two robots staring at each other becomes an interpretation of hope and inspiration. When the director makes a shot of nothing happening with the main characters, that's because he or she doesn't want you to focus on the main characters. In that shot, there's something greater happening that one has to find. By observing symbolism and transliteration, one can literally morph the shot into a new one. Other times, however, the director extends the shots to help show a passage of time. All too often, we are used to the manipulation of the passing of time through modern cinematography. When this luxury is taken away, however, it quickly becomes apparent how long it takes some things to actually happen. This is done throughout both movies. In Electroma, the final walking scenes are extended to help the viewer understand exactly how long and how far these robots have been traveling. In Mr. Lazarescu, the lack of time manipulation helps communicate how inefficient the health care system is, and how long it takes things to actually happen. With all these small subtleties, it may be hard to catch them all. That's why most people tend to look at the overall picture (the two robots walking, or the man on the stretcher still sitting there).
There are quite a few reasons that a director would extend a scene like this. It has already been mentioned what the scene says when this happens, or how to look at the scene, but the director has a very clear cut reason for his actions (no pun intended). Some of the critical ways to analyze this characteristic of film are obvious, but the director sometimes wants to show implicit meaning into the film. Using this, the director portrays some kind of ideological meaning. This can come in either the shots or symbolism. In the case of Electroma, there is a scene when the camera leaves the focus of the robots walking through a desert and starts focusing on the structure of the sand dunes. At one point, the sand forms an implied image of a nude woman's body. This is a form of symbolism applied to the scene where the robots are walking. The “body” makes the simile that the sand is the skin of Mother Earth. In Mr. Lazarescu, there is implicit meaning behind the trivial dialogue of the doctors and nurses of the hospitals. The conversations constantly surround the ideas of things outside the hospital, showing that these workers have other important things in their lives that they are focusing on. These things often seem that they are more important than the lives of the patients they are working on. In most well-made movies, there is implicit meaning in a lot of dialogue, scenery, plot, and actors. In those few extremely well-made movies, every little event, item, and place has a special meaning to the story, and helps communicate foreshadowing, true emotions/thoughts, or even the director's opinion on controversial subjects. Another example in Electroma of this implicit meaning comes from the choice of robots and a specific scene in the movie (when the robot-heroes' fake human disguise wears off). The robot-heroes find themselves seemingly naked in front of a large crowd of normal-robots (including law enforcement). This scene takes place in front of a judicial courthouse. Through the characters used in the scene and the location of the scene itself, there is a STRONGLY implied sense of justice, truth, and conviction. At the closing of this scene, the robot-heroes flee from the other robots and try to find a place to hide. However, if one was impatient to sit through the entire scene (because of the lack of events happening), they wouldn't notice the melting ice cream the young robot-boy was holding (relates to the robot-heroes' melting “skin”) and they wouldn't catch the pure shock, drama, and awkwardness only implied through the long silence and literal staring contest between the two teams of robots.
It is possible to discuss the incredible importance behind awkward silences, long shots, little events, and other such seemingly trivial movie characteristics. A movie may seem boring to most due to these traits. However, if seen through the correct mindset, these movies can blow people away with the level of profound meaning and symbolism. In Mr. Lazarescu, there are plenty of times in the movie where one can just stare at Mr. Lazarescu and focus on his pain. By focusing and using sympathy, one feels so much MORE connected to our poor old man, even if he is an alcoholic. Subtleties in film are just that: subtle. However, they are all done on purpose, and must be taken into account. If they are not taken seriously, or ignored (through ignorance or from not being noticed), then the movie loses its meaning, and, consequently, its value.
These shots help show the different kinds of shots that comprise Electroma. They are either long shots with no background activity, or close-ups with no facial expression. Keep in mind that this French movie has no dialogue.
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Works Cited
"Daft Punk's Electroma Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes." ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - New Movie Reviews and Previews!. 11 Mar. 2009
" Daft Punk's Electroma review." brighton culture - films, art and gigs in Brighton. 11 Mar. 2009
http://www.brightonculture.co.uk/daft-punks-electroma-review
"Death of Mr. Lazarescu, The (2006): Reviews." Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, TV Show Reviews, Game Reviews, Book Reviews - Metacritic.com. 11 Mar. 2009
"The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes." ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - New Movie Reviews and Previews!. 11 Mar. 2009
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