Viddler

I chose this scene because it plays an important narrative part in the film, providing the transitory stages between Jeanne’s rigid routine and the ultimate escape from this which occurs at the end of the film. The sequence is constructed around ‘mistakes’ which Jeanne begins to make within her routine and these are revealed to the viewer cinematically. The sequence does not just break down this routine, it attempts gain some insight into Jeanne’s psychology as she realises and then tries to correct her lapses in routine. This discussion will focus on aspects of character movement as well as visual elements including lighting and mise en scene which highlight the processes of acknowledgement and correction of the routine that occur within the sequence.

This first shot is exactly the same as the one which opens the film. It is not only the same in terms of camera placement and framing but every one of Jeanne’s gestures is exactly the same. This shot can be played alongside the one from day one and everything is eerily identical. This enforces the rigidity and unchanging nature of her daily routine such that every individual movement is identical.

In this part each of Jeanne’s movements has had a purpose. Her behaviours are almost automated and robotic and there is never a moment where she does nothing. This is an important aspect of characterisation and sets up a point of contrast for later in the film.

As frequently occurred on the first day, the shot lingers after Jeanne has left the room, leaving the audience alone and in the dark. This continues the pattern of her usual routine and continues to frustrate the audience by neglecting conventional editing methods.

Here is where Jeanne begins to depart from her usual routine. At this point she would usually turn on the hallway light.

When Jeanne realises her lapse in routine she quickly switches on the light, her hands are in the exact same place before and after this action and the movement happens so quickly as if Jeanne is trying to pretend that she forgot something, correcting it immediately so she can seamlessly continue with the rest of her routine.

Here Jeanne forgets to replace the lid on the soup tourine. This moment is a when it becomes clear to a viewer that there is something not right here. Previously the tourine has always been shown with the lid intact of it is immediately replaced. Through this the viewer gains some empathy towards the obsessive routine that Jeanne possessed. They see the tourine without the lid and have a desire for the lid to be replaced simply because that is the way that things should be. The shot lingers, once again leaving the viewer in an empty darkened room, allowing this awkward empathetic feeling to sink in.

At this point in the routine Jeanne would usually return to the kitchen to check on dinner. However here she does not, she returns so the bedroom to complete her post-coitus cleaning ritual. This suggests that Jeanne has a preoccupation with events that happened within the bedroom in that this is taking precedence over her usual order.

Now we return to the kitchen. The camera remains in a static position, framing the room, yet here the angle is taken from the opposite wall, providing a new view of the room and signalling to the viewer that something is not right here.

The new angle allows the viewer to see Jeanne as she enters the space. Here Jeanne does not look her usual, perfectly arranged, autonomous self. Her hair is mussed and she does not possess the same purposefulness and control in her movements. This is a visual indicator of her routine gradually failing.

The camera angle on the kitchen now returns to the usual one, framing the room from the doorway. Jeanne has corrected her mistakes by fixing the light switches and her more controlled movements as she re-enters the kitchen reflect this. This brings about some stability to the situation, returning the viewer to the familiar. However Jeanne’s first action upon returning here reveals the consequences of her lapses in routine, the spoilt dinner.

Here the sequence cuts and the viewer is taken to a new location before Jeanne has left the kitchen. This is a disruption from the pre-established structure. This cut leans toward obeying traditional editing conventions, cutting on action. Here it creates a seamless flow where the viewer is placed alongside Jeanne as she attempts to regain control over this situation, as would be the way in a conventional film. However here where the established pattern has been the opposite of this, strong attention is drawn to this cut, the viewer is taken from being a witness of the events to being an accomplice.

The camera returns to the other angle of the kitchen, once again signifying the disruption as Jeanne disposes of the evidence of her mistake.

Here Jeanne’s pose is very awkward and innocent as if she is encountering a situation like this for the first time. She rubs her hands together as if she cannot just be still when considering this situation, she must always be doing something.

Once more the camera returns to the familiar frontal placement in the kitchen, signifying a reestablishment of the kind of order that has been so important to Jeanne and has also become important for the viewer. However the normalcy of her routine can never be entirely restored and her departure from the routine continues to impact her. The viewer is left with the perfectly framed image of Jeanne sitting at the table with a single potato, a signifier that not all these disturbances to her routine can be corrected as easily as by fixing a light switch.

This sequence is illustrative of Margulies’ reading of the film where Ackerman aligns a breakdown in Jeanne’s routine with a breakdown of the previously rigid style of the film. Dramatic changes in the established patterns of the camera become a signifier that something is awry and Jeanne’s reactions to the breakdown, in her attempts to correct what she has missed and regain control, allow the audience some agency into the psychology of her character.