A Turning Point in the Film The Usual Suspects
In the film “The Usual Suspects”written and directed by Bryan Singer, it appears at first that five criminals are being manipulated to pull of a very dangerous drug heist from a ship by a feared underground criminal known as Keyser Soze who is actually one of the five criminals known as Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey.) Another one of the five criminals is Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) an –ex-cop and convicted felon who is trying to turn his life around and has been reluctant to do anything with the other four criminals. In the first half or so of the movie he is persuaded to do somethings with the others by smooth talking Verbal but he is not committed. In the following scene a turning point happens when Keaton is manipulated by Verbal, and becomes the leader of the small group of criminals.
It is a prerequisite to understand the audience does not suspect that Keyser Soze is actually one of the five felons posing as a cripple named Verbal Kint whose power and cold-blooded ruthlessness is compared to that of the devil. He is an actor within an actor playing the part of a powerful criminal who as Verbal Kint is acting as if he is a pawn to powers greater than himself. So, Actually, Kaiser Sose alias Verbal Kint is covertly manipulating every move to make sure these men do the job he wants done on the ship to satisfy his desire for revenge. This scene expresses the power dynamics of Verbal’s secretive manipulation of Keaton into the role of the leader of the group and focuses the criminals into a tighter bond.
The dark night scene begins with a medium shot of a wave crashing on the beach. The group is on the beach after being notified by Kiser Sosey's right hand man Kobyashy that one of the missing five, Fenster could be found there. The lighting is very low key. The large wave is a symbol of power and emotion. As the wave plays out in the establishing shot we see a large boulder to the right of the frame, part of the boulder extends out of the frame. The ocean waves and a light house light sweeping the scene from down the beech also add to this effect of outside of the frame action happening. Objects extending out of the frame prompt the minds eye and imagination to create and see things going on outside of the frame of the scene. The camera cuts to a close up of Fenster's bloody face. The shot of his face brightens to almost white from the moving light of the light house. The paleness of his skin is magnified by this light intensifying the harsh starkness of the death. The darkness, the paleness of Fenster’s corpse and the silence, except for the men sets a mood of morbid despair.
Throughout the scene we hear the waves relentless crashing into the beach. The relentless waves are like this relentless gangster who wants these men to do the job on the ship. The beacon light is sweeping the men from right to left. Something uncomfortable about the light coming in from the right from the audience perspective. The beacon is telling us that the ship is coming and warning us. Camera cuts to a close shot of McManus kneeling over his close friend and partner Fenster's body. He is so dark we can just barley make out his silhouette feature. Hockney says” Alright let’s get the fuck out of here.” McManus looks up and says, “We gotta bury him. “ “With what?” the camera pulls back into a cave like tunnel.
It is a long shot from inside a tunnel of the men on the beech. Keeton is alone sitting on his haunches looking out at the ocean in the background to the right of the frame. Keeton is in the same place as the rock in the establishing shot. This positioning in the frame associates Keaton's character with the rock. He is the Rock for these men.
Because of his relationship as Fenster’s friend and his placement next to Fenster’s body in the center foreground, McManus is the emotional and visual focal point for a moment. Hockney is in the back ground, Verbal is in the mid foreground to the left. “With our hands” says McManus and begins digging with his hands. Hockey shouts out, “Ahgg this is nuts its dry fucking sand when he rots the surfers are goin to smell him a mile away! “
The camera cuts out of the cave to a medium shot of all four men. Verbal says “Keaton what are we going to do this guy is going to kill us. “ This is the most significant statement in this scene. Verbal Kint alias Keyser Soze has set the trap and given Keaton the opportunity not just to participate, but to call the shots. The others are implicated, and have a vested interest in Keaton’s reply as the statement goes “…he’s going to kill US. “
The Scene on the beach ends in a close shot of Keaton in the fore ground standing close to Fenster’s dead body and Verbal in the background both men’s heads are near the center of the screen.
Here we see an outline of the underlying relationship between the two characters Verbal and Keaton. On the screen we see Keaton’s head is a little to the right and Verbal's to the left with their head touching at the center where Verbal's body language is a straight posture of authority and emotional detachment where Keaton is clumped with his head down and even though Verbal is in the background the men are two dimensional standing beside each other with Keaton bowing to Verbal in gesture of submission. This is registered in the audiences mind on a subconscious level to build tensions under the surface that will be released in another scene. The cameras focus in this part of the shot starts on Verbal in the back ground Keaton’s figure is a dark silhouette. Verbal is watching Keaton and as Keaton begins to speak the camera focuses on Keaton and Verbal becomes a blur in the background.
Keaton says, “I’m not doing this for Fenster, I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for me. I’ am going to finish this thing. This Kobayashi bastard isn’t going to stand on me.” Keaton steps back from the body. The camera cuts back to a medium shot and Keaton falls to his knees. The camera cuts back to a medium long shot. This shot is from inside a dark cave like tunnel and the camera continues to pull back deeper and deeper from the audience’s perspective. The camera is in a tunnel so that the shot is framed in a rough iris like matte. The beach shot fades out at the same time the office shot fades in. The fade in is a close up birds eye shot of agent Kujan's coffee cup and for a few seconds the two shots are super imposed on each other with the white coffee cup rim in the center of the last shot while taking the place of the caves dark frame. The men are momentarily framed by the white cup and as they fade we see all four joining in to dig Fenster’s grave.
The meaning is clear that these men are now very united in their efforts and committed to working together. Verbal has subtely manipulated the small group so that the one very reluctant Keaton has experienced a turning point and is now in charge.
Kim
In the film “The Usual Suspects”written and directed by Bryan Singer, it appears at first that five criminals are being manipulated to pull of a very dangerous drug heist from a ship by a feared underground criminal known as Keyser Soze who is actually one of the five criminals known as Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey.) Another one of the five criminals is Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) an –ex-cop and convicted felon who is trying to turn his life around and has been reluctant to do anything with the other four criminals. In the first half or so of the movie he is persuaded to do somethings with the others by smooth talking Verbal but he is not committed. In the following scene a turning point happens when Keaton is manipulated by Verbal, and becomes the leader of the small group of criminals.
It is a prerequisite to understand the audience does not suspect that Keyser Soze is actually one of the five felons posing as a cripple named Verbal Kint whose power and cold-blooded ruthlessness is compared to that of the devil. He is an actor within an actor playing the part of a powerful criminal who as Verbal Kint is acting as if he is a pawn to powers greater than himself. So, Actually, Kaiser Sose alias Verbal Kint is covertly manipulating every move to make sure these men do the job he wants done on the ship to satisfy his desire for revenge. This scene expresses the power dynamics of Verbal’s secretive manipulation of Keaton into the role of the leader of the group and focuses the criminals into a tighter bond.
The dark night scene begins with a medium shot of a wave crashing on the beach. The group is on the beach after being notified by Kiser Sosey's right hand man Kobyashy that one of the missing five, Fenster could be found there. The lighting is very low key. The large wave is a symbol of power and emotion. As the wave plays out in the establishing shot we see a large boulder to the right of the frame, part of the boulder extends out of the frame. The ocean waves and a light house light sweeping the scene from down the beech also add to this effect of outside of the frame action happening. Objects extending out of the frame prompt the minds eye and imagination to create and see things going on outside of the frame of the scene. The camera cuts to a close up of Fenster's bloody face. The shot of his face brightens to almost white from the moving light of the light house. The paleness of his skin is magnified by this light intensifying the harsh starkness of the death. The darkness, the paleness of Fenster’s corpse and the silence, except for the men sets a mood of morbid despair.
Throughout the scene we hear the waves relentless crashing into the beach. The relentless waves are like this relentless gangster who wants these men to do the job on the ship. The beacon light is sweeping the men from right to left. Something uncomfortable about the light coming in from the right from the audience perspective. The beacon is telling us that the ship is coming and warning us. Camera cuts to a close shot of McManus kneeling over his close friend and partner Fenster's body. He is so dark we can just barley make out his silhouette feature. Hockney says” Alright let’s get the fuck out of here.” McManus looks up and says, “We gotta bury him. “ “With what?” the camera pulls back into a cave like tunnel.
It is a long shot from inside a tunnel of the men on the beech. Keeton is alone sitting on his haunches looking out at the ocean in the background to the right of the frame. Keeton is in the same place as the rock in the establishing shot. This positioning in the frame associates Keaton's character with the rock. He is the Rock for these men.
Because of his relationship as Fenster’s friend and his placement next to Fenster’s body in the center foreground, McManus is the emotional and visual focal point for a moment. Hockney is in the back ground, Verbal is in the mid foreground to the left. “With our hands” says McManus and begins digging with his hands. Hockey shouts out, “Ahgg this is nuts its dry fucking sand when he rots the surfers are goin to smell him a mile away! “
The camera cuts out of the cave to a medium shot of all four men. Verbal says “Keaton what are we going to do this guy is going to kill us. “ This is the most significant statement in this scene. Verbal Kint alias Keyser Soze has set the trap and given Keaton the opportunity not just to participate, but to call the shots. The others are implicated, and have a vested interest in Keaton’s reply as the statement goes “…he’s going to kill US. “
The Scene on the beach ends in a close shot of Keaton in the fore ground standing close to Fenster’s dead body and Verbal in the background both men’s heads are near the center of the screen.
Here we see an outline of the underlying relationship between the two characters Verbal and Keaton. On the screen we see Keaton’s head is a little to the right and Verbal's to the left with their head touching at the center where Verbal's body language is a straight posture of authority and emotional detachment where Keaton is clumped with his head down and even though Verbal is in the background the men are two dimensional standing beside each other with Keaton bowing to Verbal in gesture of submission. This is registered in the audiences mind on a subconscious level to build tensions under the surface that will be released in another scene. The cameras focus in this part of the shot starts on Verbal in the back ground Keaton’s figure is a dark silhouette. Verbal is watching Keaton and as Keaton begins to speak the camera focuses on Keaton and Verbal becomes a blur in the background.
Keaton says, “I’m not doing this for Fenster, I’m not doing this for you, I’m doing this for me. I’ am going to finish this thing. This Kobayashi bastard isn’t going to stand on me.” Keaton steps back from the body. The camera cuts back to a medium shot and Keaton falls to his knees. The camera cuts back to a medium long shot. This shot is from inside a dark cave like tunnel and the camera continues to pull back deeper and deeper from the audience’s perspective. The camera is in a tunnel so that the shot is framed in a rough iris like matte. The beach shot fades out at the same time the office shot fades in. The fade in is a close up birds eye shot of agent Kujan's coffee cup and for a few seconds the two shots are super imposed on each other with the white coffee cup rim in the center of the last shot while taking the place of the caves dark frame. The men are momentarily framed by the white cup and as they fade we see all four joining in to dig Fenster’s grave.
The meaning is clear that these men are now very united in their efforts and committed to working together. Verbal has subtely manipulated the small group so that the one very reluctant Keaton has experienced a turning point and is now in charge.
Kim
