We had to choose a scene from a film that we thought would be a nice representation of something we'd like to achieve with our films this year. I chose this scene from Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.
Garrett shoots the man, but he takes no pleasure in his victory. Numbed to the world, Garrett simply looks down in pity and regret. He’s given everything to a job that has achieved nothing but loss.
The dying man slowly slumps to the ground, still covered in shaving foam. He talked big, but after everything, he died a ridiculous, pointless death with no dignity.
Throughout the gunfight, we continuously cut back to the farmer who, bleeding out, slowly makes his way to a river in order to die in peace. This paired with the music, which initially sounds almost like gospel music, turns what should have been an exciting, tense, action set-piece gun fight, into something melancholic and utterly meaningless.
It isn’t a quick death either. The farmer is given plenty of time to think about how he’s losing everything he loves, all because he allowed himself to get in Pat Garrett’s way. His wife helplessly watches on, as the man she loves slowly fades away.
The scene shows how futile everything the characters try to do really is. They fight over land and money in order to escape their current lives, but it doesn’t mean anything, because in the end nothing can help them escape the inevitability of their deaths.
I love how a scene this simple manages to show the character’s regret and weariness. I think it’s the futility of their lives and the inevitability of their deaths that I find really powerful and that’s something I’d like to bring to our grad film.
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