As I’ve mentioned before, eyes and the act of seeing play a huge part in Spielberg films. He uses this theme in four key shots from War of the Worlds, which utilise holes in glass (a representation of the eye) to highlight Ray Ferrier’s transformation from selfish man to good father.
The first scene comes early in the film, when Ray is playing catch with his son Robbie. The game becomes heated and Ray eventually throws the ball so hard that Robbie intentionally avoids it, meaning it flies through the window, breaking the glass. Spielberg then cuts to a shot of Ray, framed within the hole in the glass. The shot highlights Ray’s isolation from his kids.
The next scene comes later in the film, when Ray, Robbie and daughter Rachel encounter a crowd of people. The trio are in a car, and eventually the crowd attempts to wrestle it off them. One member of the mob throws a rock through the window screen, creating a hole that another tries to tear open. We see this happening through the hole from inside the car. This shot highlights the mounting threat and Ray’s acknowledgement of his need to protect his kids.
The final scene comes towards the end of the film, when Ray has done away with the insane Ogilvy but lost Rachel. He searches desperately for his daughter, but only attracts the attentions of a tripod. He hides in a car, which the tripod attacks, creating another hole in glass.
Spielberg uses two ‘hole’ shots in this scene. In the first, the camera is positioned outside the car, looking in at Ray, whose concerned face is framed within the hole. In the second, we move inside the car to Ray’s point of view as he sees the imperiled Rachel framed inside the hole.
These two shots highlight Ray’s new-found focus on Rachel. The man who once framed himself in a hole, is now framing his daughter in one instead. By paying attention to her, by seeing her through the substitute eyes Spielberg gives him, he finally realises and accepts his responsibility to her.
This Independent interview with Spielberg has many interesting nuggets of info, but two jump out for me. The first finds him defending himself from critics who say he “infantalised” cinema, the second sees him discussing the films he made after 9/11.
On “infantalising” cinema:
“You can’t intellectually purge yourself of who you are. Whatever that is, it’s going to come out in the wash, the film wash. What you are is going to be relevant, if not to yourself, to the movies you make. If I’m still making movies that have that sense of childhood, it’s because I haven’t ever drifted too far away from that source.”
On his post 9/11 films:
“9/11 changed a lot for me. It changed a lot for everybody in the world. And my films did grow darker after 9/11. Minority Report was a very dark look at the future, and certainly War of the Worlds, which was a very direct reference to 9/11. It was a real post-9/11 story. Not intended that way, but that’s the way it turned out. So I think the world has a great impact on how it colours my movies. I think that’s a good sign. It just means I’m changing by being aware of what’s happening.”
Behind the Scenes - ‘War of the Worlds’, 2005
Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise
Just another tumblelog celebrating one of the best filmmakers in the world.
