Hilda
Eternity and a Day is the work of the Greek film master Angelopoulos, who won the Palme d 'Or at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. One of my favorite shot in the movie is after the elderly poet says goodbye to his mother and walks into the night, until the bus circles back to the beginning and three men in yellow raincoats on their bicycles brush past the camera.
In this shot, the waif comes to say goodbye to the old man. The elderly poet Alexander had rescued the waif from all sorts of people, such as police officers, border patrols, and even human traffickers. The boy experienced all kinds of human sorrow too early. After coming out of his mother's hospital room, Alexander is heavy on his feet. He asked a question he knew he would never get an answer to his mom in hospital: Why can't one learn to love? When a person asks a question when he knows he can’t hear an answer, it's not a question, it's an exclamation. One is a lonely poet who is about to die, the other is an orphan who is suffering, he is a stowaway refugee whose future is uncertain. Fate let their respective time and space in this day staggered, into eternity.
The old man begged the departing child to spend the last two hours with him. Old people and children always have wonderful reactions. There is sadness on the helpless faces of the elderly man and the child alike. No matter what age we are, we cannot avoid the feeling of loneliness. However, when the old man asked the boy to accompany him, his pent-up feelings finally found an outlet. They hugged each other tightly, sincere emotion let me moved. Because the performance of the actors is very layered. For example, the elderly poet Alexander said "stay with me" five times in this segment. The first is the release of a long-held emotion. After so many changes in his life, the elderly poet needs the company of the little boy. The second time is a formal request for the boy to stay with him for the last two hours. The old man said "stay with me" three times in a row as they hug each other tightly. I think it is one of the few warm moments he feels all day. Actor Bruno Ganz delivers five identical lines during the three-minute sequence, each of lines which is performed on a different level to make the audience empathize. Even if we are destined to be lonely, we still can't give up the desire for love and warmth. We human beings need each other's company. In this shot, the relationship between the old man and the boy is more advanced than ever before.
The film uses a lot of long shots, and this scene is no exception. If literature is classified by the density of words, then the lowest density in all kinds of literature is poetry. I think the low-density counterpart to poetry in film is the long shot. When one reads a novel, the person may not pay attention to every word, but when one reads a poem, every word seems so important, the person have to notice all the words. As the audience watches the film, they realize that there are no close-ups or reversals gradually, and that they have to look farther (David, 2005, p.175). In this way, the long shot allows the audience to focus on the actions of the main character, and the story moves forward like a poem. In this three-minute shot, the fixed shots and symmetrical composition make it easier for the audience to focus on the emotional outpouring of the characters.
As the bus pulled away from the platform slowly, music begin to play and three men in yellow raincoats ride their bicycles through the dark streets. The music here connects this scene with the two of them on the bus. The bright lights of the bus dissipate the misery in the hearts of the two people temporarily, and this is the only journey in the film that is filled with joy. Before that, the music plays and three bikes brush past the camera as if to kick off a fun journey on the bus. In the poet's memory, the people are all dress in pure white, the sun is good, the music and the beach are warm, but on the day in the movie, everything is so dark. The color of the environment set off the overall atmosphere. The sudden appearance of three people in bright yellow raincoats on the dark street is a kind of warm image, just like the warm yellow light inside the bus. Take the audience on a joyous bus journey.
It is difficult for us to know what is time definitely, we can only use metaphors or to feel it. We can liken the change in time to a bus coming full circle back to its starting point. From being used to wandering and not knowing love to being eager to love, this is the change that time brings to the poet. From passers-by to need each other's company, this is the change of time to the elderly poet and boy. Eternity is a concept of time and space, looking back, we have eternal beautiful memories, looking forward, we do not know what will be tomorrow, that is the eternal future. This three-minute scene, like a musical rest, is the beginning of a joyous bus journey, and the elderly poet has made a confession. Loneliness is the normal state of life, and life is bound to be filled with regrets. Hopefully one day, we can speak out what we think bravely, accept the warm invitation, and board a carefree bus to see the essence of life.
Reference list
David, B. (2005). In light on cinematic staging. University of California Press.
