Dancer in the Dark - Analysis

Hi guys, 

today we watched the extracts from Dancer in the Dark again and we talked about the intentions of the character and of the director by analysing the words and camera angles.
Here is what we said:

Analysis of the scene : The intention

1) Bill: he shouts "Selma stop" in order to make his wife come / so as to scare Selma and not to give her the money back.

He acts this way so that he passes for a victim and so that Selma is considered as a thief, a criminal, and a potential killer / murderer.

2) The director: camera angles and script

In the movie the roles of victim and criminal are inverted. Even if Bill is killed, he passes for a criminal; however we share Selma's emotions / feelings and we understand her point of view / desperation. It's a hostage situation where Bill orders her to kill him while she tries to resist. She asks him not to do this to her. The camera angles (zoom-in,close-up) intend to make us feel compassion for Selma. The low-angle shot proves that the roles are inverted. While Selma should look powerful, she is just powerless, and crying. We are a witness of this drama.

Exprimer l'intention

- so as to + BV

- in order to + BV

- (not) to + BV

- so that + phrase (= S + V + cpmt)

- (to) intend to + BV

HW:

- apprendre le commentaire et l'analyse du document