Lisa Simona Morales

September 5, 2014

This shot is one of my favorites not only because of its interesting framing in the grid of the window and the irony of the sign (since Marek and Tomo are playfully running on the site), but also because of its relationship to the next shot.

This shot is aesthetically almost identical to the one that precedes it, but lacks any similarity past the surface. This depicts not the hopeful and joyful friendship of Marek and Tomo, and instead evokes a feeling of defeat that Marek's father feels when he comes to terms with the void he feels upon losing his wife and having to leave Marek once again to go to work.

 I like the composition of this shot, as it immediately calls to my mind Van Gogh's "Terrace at Night".

 I like the emotiveness of this shot; the combination of the metal gate closing over the diner where Maria works, in combination with Marek and Tomo walking away with their heads down, disappointed. The figures are arranged in a diagonal, evoking a feeling of fading gradually into the distance.

This is another highly emotive shot; this is the emotional climax of the film and the empty bottles foreshadow Marek's father's apology for his alcoholism and the subsequent deterioration of his relationship with Marek's mother and Marek himself.