Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Killers #7


Anthony Mann's "T-Men", 1947.


The hitman emerges slowly from the blackness.  It's the best shot of the film and it happens about two minutes in.

3 comments:

austin said...

a perfect shot!

austin said...

I wish I wouldn't have put an exclamation point there. Is that worth saying, now? Is it worth commenting on at all? What can one say? (five things)

It's clear by the way the shadows are formed that he is emerging.

The tip of his nose floats inches away from his face... Actually it's more like the tip of the shadow-nose is cut off (revealing real-nose) and stuck on backwards.

The tie looks like the label on the neck of a bottle.

Is the eye open or closed? He is a zombie. He fucking stares at wood.

Among my favorite shots there is a type which has the middle-third painted entirely black. The vagueness separating the two (basically)halves simultaneously imply endless space and no space, cinematic evidence of the indistinguishability between zero and infinity. This may be the best example of that ever.

I hope I saved myself, fuck.

Corey Taché said...

Thanks, Austin. Have you seen the full shot? It's probably worth the two dollars it would cost to rent the DVD. The whole film is enjoyable but doesn't look very good, maybe a poor transfer. I deliberately chose the frame just before his pupil becomes visible—it's much creepier this way.
The label on the neck of a bottle…I like that.