In director Walter Salles’ film, "Central Station," he tells the story of a boy, Josue, who is orphaned after the death of his mother, and then befriends a woman, Dora, who will eventually become his protector and help him find his long lost father. Salles drew influences from the Italian neo-realists and Brazil’s Cinema Novo (New Cinema) movement, such as on-location shooting and using nonprofessional actors and actresses, which are evident in the film. According to the book, "A History of Narrative Cinema," David A. Cook says, “Drawing on new links with the working class and a new focus on native folklore and tradition, cinema novo filmmakers modeled their practice on the improvisatory techniques of the Italian neorealists…and the production strategies of the French New Wave…,” (802). By using these elements, the narrative takes a more authentic approach, letting the viewer become closer to the story through its realism. With elements of mise-en-scene and shot composition, Salles displays the development of the relationship between the two characters that has them go from reluctantly being together to changing each other’s life.
The scene with the “adoption” home first shows Dora’s reluctance to take care of Josue. When they go with Pedrao, a station worker, to the adoption home, the color of the door, which is red, is a clue that this home isn’t what it appears to be because the couple who runs it actually collects orphan children to murder them and harvest their organs. The rectangular sliding panel in the door makes the dealing seem shifty as Yolanda looks through to see who’s at the door. The redness of her clothing also hints at the violent plans she has in mind. During this scene, there are some shots that present an out-of-focus background. There is shallow focus when Josue enters the apartment and on his reaction shot after he scans the setting, and this represents his obliviousness as to what’s going on. In the monetary exchange between Pedrao and Dora, there are shallow focus shots of the background. This works for Dora because she doesn’t know what’s truly going on, and it works for Pedrao because he’s trying to conceal the real purpose for the purchase of Josue. In these shots, there are pieces of the set design that put on an image that this is a good place for children, but the out-of-focus aspect helps to define that the clear intentions of this trafficking couple isn’t understood by Dora.
The viewer sees a gradual change in Dora when her friend, Irene, tries to get the truth out of her. The two are framed in medium-shot long takes, which allows the viewer to see the expressions on both of them as Dora reveals the truth and Irene takes it in. What’s the turning point for Dora’s character is when Irene tells her, “There’s a limit to everything, Dora,” and then leaves. Before the scene fades out, there is a long shot of Dora sitting on her couch and watching her new television that she bought with the money from selling Josue. This long shot helps the viewer to recognize her disconnection from the truth of what she has done and the denial that she has done something wrong. After this, there are shots of her still on the couch, then in bed, and then her getting ready the next morning to go rescue Josue. These shots are in a deeper focus to help express Dora’s realization that she did was wrong and that she must do what’s right for Josue.
The scene that pairs with this whole sequence to help show Dora’s relationship with Josue is her departure scene at the film’s end. Dora feels as though she has left him in a safe environment with his brothers, and can now leave him, as compared to when she sold him without knowing anything about the business between Yolanda and Pedrao. Before Dora leaves, she looks in a mirror and puts lipstick on while wearing the dress that Josue bought her. The new look she has shows that she is a different person than she was in the beginning of the film. As she’s looking in the mirror, the camera zooms in on her face as Dora puts on a look of readiness. When she goes into Josue’s room to see him one last time, he is sleeping between his brothers, which looks like an image of protection that assures Dora that he will be safe. There are deep focus shots throughout this scene when the characters are outside, such as when Dora is walking to the bus and Josue is chasing after her, which is in contrast to him not wanting to go with Dora at first when she comes to save him from Yolanda and Pedrao. Because of this, the viewer can see much of the landscape through these deep focus shots and realize the extensive distances that the two have traveled in order to get to this point in their journey. The deep focus shots also help to show that now, Dora is not oblivious to the living situation for Josue. She knows he will be safe. In the last couple of minutes, Dora and Josue look at pictures of the two of them. The film edits between them as they both look at the photos of them together, which brings a feeling that the two will always remember each other.
There are scenes in the film that show the progression and dynamics of how Dora and Josue take care of one another. One involves them interacting at the train station, and the other one involves them at the religious pilgrimage. After Josue’s mom is killed by the bus, the scene transitions to him sitting in a darker part of the train station and looking distressed. The lack of lighting here expresses this tragic part of his life, and the shallow focus of the background symbolizes his disconnection from the world as he is left alone and grieves. He then goes to see Dora, where there is a switch to an abundance of light that emphasizes the opportunity he has in connecting with Dora, even if he doesn’t know it yet. The shallow focus seen in the background during the shot-counter-shot editing defines how both of them are fairly alone in their own worlds, with Josue not having any place to go, and Dora working by herself while waiting for customers. This is in contrast to the deep focus shots in the outdoors at the pilgrimage and in the shrine. According to Anthony Kaufman’s Cineaste article, “Sentimental Journey as National Allegory: An Interview with Walter Salles,” the director says, “As she (Dora) begins to perceive the world in a different manner – and the transforming factor is the boy – then the film gains a certain depth of field and a palette of colors that you didn’t have in the monochromatic view of the station in the beginning,” (4). Because the two are now outside of the station and in a bigger world, the deep focus of the shots lets the viewer understand the scope of their journey. Later in the station scene, Josue watches Dora as she gets on the train, and then chases the train down the platform. The film then cuts to the inside of the train as the viewer sees Josue still chasing the train. While the viewer is, essentially, inside the train and watching Josue chase it, he is seen positioned inside the window frames of the train, further establishing his confinement to the station. In the pilgrimage scene, it’s Dora who is chasing after Josue. In the station, the two are in a place where people are constantly moving, and Dora and Josue tend to blend into the shuffle of people, which also explains the sense of disconnection they experience, as well as justifying the way the viewer experiences that disconnection through the shallow focus shots. At the pilgrimage, the two characters stand out and are more defined because they are the only two that are moving among the crowd. Their relationship itself has become more defined. The religious setting also calls back to the station scene where Josue is looking at and admiring the religious display. Josue was alone when he was admiring the display, but is now in a huge group of people at the pilgrimage, the large group contributing to the bigness of the landscape where the two main characters find themselves, outside of the confinement of the station. When Josue finds Dora having fainted in the shrine, it recalls the image of Josue seeing the body of his mother in the road earlier in the film. In the station scene, it was Dora who found Josue on the ground, sleeping, and who then offers him a sandwich, to which Josue rejects. The scene at the pilgrimage then fades out and fades into a deep focus shot of the town, and then cuts to a deep focus shot of Josue with Dora’s head in his lap. The smooth zoom-in of the camera conveys the calm and tenderness of what the viewer is seeing, and the light of dawn creates a feeling of serenity. This is a vast difference from the tension between them earlier in the film.
In "Central Station," Walter Salles doesn’t just give the viewer the relationship between Dora and Josue. He also uses various filmmaking techniques to help describe the evolution of their bond. Instead of relying on just the superb acting, Salles employs strong differences in mise-en-scene and shot composition that become more evident throughout the film that subtly follow and compliment what is going on between the two main characters.
Works Cited
Cook, David A. A History of Narrative Film. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2004.
Kaufman, Anthony. “Sentimental Journey as National Allegory: An Interview with Walter Salles.” Cineaste December 1998: Vol. 24, Issue 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment