This is a kind of blog I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. As mentioned previously, film is one of my passions and I’ve already written the occasional post about some of my favourites. The problem with doing that more regularly is that films are so vast, to be able to get out every thought I had on them would take a lot of words and pages and neither I, nor any potential reader, have that much time.
So, meet “Anatomy of a Scene.” To satisfy my urge to gush about some of the best films out there by honing in on one specific moment in the film, rather than the whole thing. Now, I am not an expert in the technical side of filmmaking so the analysis won’t be geared around the correct terms of camera angles and so on, but I am going to try and be quite microscopic in my approach. Hopefully showing how even the subtlest things can have such a powerful impact within a film scene.
To start with then: the closing scene of the 2011 film, “Moneyball.” I re-watched it again recently and enjoyed it even more than the first occasion. To give a very short synopsis, it’s based on the real-life story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team and their general manager Billy Beane (played masterfully by Brad Pitt) who attempted to change the face of the game by picking a team of undervalued players based on unusual statistical data.
I have never watched a game of Baseball in my life so it is no way just a film for lovers of the sport. I admit that my love for sports statistics probably means I was still the target audience, but behind all that, the film has a real, universal heart to it. The last scene shows Beane driving away from the stadium, having just been offered a lucrative deal to become manager of the Boston Red Sox. He picks up a CD his daughter has made him and puts it in the car CD player. The full scene can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4or2Hlbjs
The Song:
The song his daughter has recorded for him is a cover of Lenka’s “The Show.” It becomes clear very quickly if you really listen carefully to the lyrics that this is intended as far more than just a sweet moment or a backing track; it’s a metaphor for the central, internal struggle of the entire film.
“I’m just a little bit caught in the middle.”- This could be a number of things, most obviously Beane’s decision whether to stay with Oakland or take the money and glamour of the Red Sox offer. It can also be viewed as his position within Baseball as a whole, having become a figurehead for this bold, new approach to player selection and subsequently a target for the traditionalists who view it as an affront to the game.
“I don’t know where to go. Can’t do it alone, I’ve tried.”- Even more on-the-nose here in regards to the previous points, with Beane having struggled throughout the film to convince even members of his own team that their new direction is the right one.
“I’ve got to let it go. And just enjoy the show.”- Beane’s relationship with Baseball is not a happy one. He was a promising young player who never lived up to the stratospheric expectations of him and his management is inspired by an obsession with winning rather than a love of the game. He doesn’t even watch the matches, often hiding away in the gym whilst they’re played. This fitting reminder by his daughter to “just enjoy the show” is all the more poignant as “The Show” is literally a term coined to refer to Major League Baseball itself.
The Acting:
Pitt portrays Beane as a no-nonsense hardman for most of the film, unafraid of confrontation and someone who treats players as nothing but commodities in his ruthless negotiations with other teams, often spitting chewing tobacco as he does so. This context is important as it makes the rare show of emotion from him in the final scene all the more significant.
Watching Pitt after he puts the CD in and it begins to play is to watch an expert in subtle emotional cues. He smiles when his daughter begins to sing, displaying only fatherly delight and pride. Then as she goes on and he starts to process what the lyrics are saying, his expression changes to a much more thoughtful one. His mouth begins to close as he clenches his jaw slightly, showing that he has recognised the message of the song and how it relates to his situation.
And then, we begin to see tears start to appear in his eyes and his lip twitches and wobbles as the emotion begins to take hold of him. This then prompts the first actual gesture or action, as he brings his hand to his face in an attempt to repress his crying.
When his face comes back into focus, we only see his eyes now. They are tinted with tears still and he blinks frequently, as if trying to get rid of them. Beane is not the kind of man to weep openly so the audience get the feeling this is about as vulnerable as the character gets. He looks up, checking the rear-view mirror a few times, before we begin to see the wrinkles around his eyes start to crease, suggesting he has broken back into a smile. It’s the subtlest sign, but it suggests in that one moment, Beane has made his decision.
The Camera
The movement of the camera only serves to elevate Pitt’s acting and hence, the overall emotional impact of the scene as a whole. At first the camera moves around a fair amount, following Pitt’s actions. We zoom into him putting the CD in and then move to his hand on the steering wheel. We then get a close-up of the CD player itself, as if hearing his daughter’s words directly. And then we pan out and get a side angle of Pitt, which remains unchanged for the next thirty seconds. This is so we can get the best view of Pitt as he goes through the previously explored series of emotions. Once he begins to tear up, the camera zooms in again, as if making sure he really is choked up.
An even subtler change is that the camera begins to bump and shake along with the movement of the car, ever so slightly shuddering the picture. This coincides with Pitt changing to his reflective expression and could be a metaphor for the cogs beginning to turn in his head.
Finally, the focus of the lens changes so that Pitt is now blurry and the outside of the car is highlighted. It’s nothing special, mainly showing queues of cars in traffic or shipping containers in the distance, but it is visually reminding the audience of Beane’s decision: does he leave his home? And then his face comes back into focus again, the camera zooming tight on his misty eyes. It means we are not granted the full view of his face and therefore can’t be totally sure what expression he ends on. We think he smiles, but the position of the camera means we are still left wondering as the credits start to roll.
George F Brown 