"Passengers" Review
For me the artist communicates a sense of sadness and loneliness within the main male character despite the fact that he is in a city and on a subway full of people. The feather for me made me wonder if the woman whom he sees on the train is actually dead because towards the end of the film he thinks he sees her but than he sees an older woman. Feathers can sometimes symbolize messages from loved ones, in some cultures. This happens around 5 minutes and 40 seconds. This part caught my eye instantly and I went back to view this scene again multiple times. While this idea might seem far fetched it makes a lot of sense to me. All of these people around him try to avoid the feather and give him strange looks when he smiles across the isle. Perhaps they cannot see the female that he is having fun with. I am not going to lie this short film was very hard for me to process and comprehend because there is no dialogue and that is difficult for me to interpret sometimes.
Another way of looking at it could be the idea that they both are just outcasts in a world full of people and the feather is also travelling alone. They are also all travelling as they are passengers on the subway. It could be that the feather represents taking away all of the disconnect because by playing the "game" with the feather the people on the subway creates a sense of team work among all of the passengers.
Questions I have:
Do the two main characters know each other previously to this ride on the subway?
While there seems to be a distance between all of the passengers, their proximity to one another is rather personal due to the crowded subway train. Is this done on purpose? Perhaps this expresses the idea that despite how close you are to others you may still be entirely alone.
Is there some significance to do with the feather travelling as well as all of the people on the subway? Perhaps this could play into the title as well as my idea about the woman being a loved one who has passed.
Why is the woman, when she moves from her seat on the subway to standing, not holding the bar for support while the subway moves? Could this be another clue that she is dead?
Denotations & Connotations:
A city is normally an urban area where large amounts people live & work. In this story it seems to represent all of the motion going on despite his loneliness or own self loathing (maybe?)
The feather is just a part of the bird that has been shed or lost, like molting, that floats in the air. I think it represents being singled out or a message from a dead loved one. It can also be seen as loneliness that both the bird and the man are feeling.
The subway is a way to travel underground without having to drive your own vehicle. Connoted I believe it is similar to the denoted version. It also could be a place where most try to avoid any type of personal contact with just the goal of getting to their destination. The opposite thing occurs on the subway between our two main characters.
Above I talked about the connection of the feather to the dead loved one as a possibility. That seems likely to me since nobody else seems to react to her like they do him and she gets up and changes positions so quick that he cannot even notice her doing it. His facial expressions tell me he is happy to see her but I am unsure if they knew each other before. If she is dead than that is likely to be the case. This film left me questioning how I interpreted it versus how the classmates will.
Black/White
No dialogue
Pigeons/flock
Subway
The subway is a way to travel underground without having to drive your own vehicle. Connoted I believe it is similar to the denoted version. It also could be a place where most try to avoid any type of personal contact with just the goal of getting to their destination. The opposite thing occurs on the subway between our two main characters.
Passengers
While there seems to be a distance between all of the passengers, their proximity to one another is rather personal due to the crowded subway train. Is this done on purpose? Perhaps this expresses the idea that despite how close you are to others you may still be entirely alone.
Notice/look.
That seems likely to me since nobody else seems to react to her like they do him and she gets up and changes positions so quick that he cannot even notice her doing it. His facial expressions tell me he is happy to see her but I am unsure if they knew each other before. If she is dead than that is likely to be the case
feather/game/puff
The feather is just a part of the bird that has been shed or lost, like molting, that floats in the air. I think it represents being singled out or a message from a dead loved one. It can also be seen as loneliness that both the bird and the man are feeling.
Another way of looking at it could be the idea that they both are just outcasts in a world full of people and the feather is also travelling alone. They are also all travelling as they are passengers on the subway. It could be that the feather represents taking away all of the disconnect because by playing the "game" with the feather the people on the subway creates a sense of team work among all of the passengers.
Questions I have:
Do the two main characters know each other previously to this ride on the subway?
While there seems to be a distance between all of the passengers, their proximity to one another is rather personal due to the crowded subway train. Is this done on purpose? Perhaps this expresses the idea that despite how close you are to others you may still be entirely alone.
Is there some significance to do with the feather travelling as well as all of the people on the subway? Perhaps this could play into the title as well as my idea about the woman being a loved one who has passed.
Why is the woman, when she moves from her seat on the subway to standing, not holding the bar for support while the subway moves? Could this be another clue that she is dead?
Denotations & Connotations:
A city is normally an urban area where large amounts people live & work. In this story it seems to represent all of the motion going on despite his loneliness or own self loathing (maybe?)
The feather is just a part of the bird that has been shed or lost, like molting, that floats in the air. I think it represents being singled out or a message from a dead loved one. It can also be seen as loneliness that both the bird and the man are feeling.
The subway is a way to travel underground without having to drive your own vehicle. Connoted I believe it is similar to the denoted version. It also could be a place where most try to avoid any type of personal contact with just the goal of getting to their destination. The opposite thing occurs on the subway between our two main characters.
Above I talked about the connection of the feather to the dead loved one as a possibility. That seems likely to me since nobody else seems to react to her like they do him and she gets up and changes positions so quick that he cannot even notice her doing it. His facial expressions tell me he is happy to see her but I am unsure if they knew each other before. If she is dead than that is likely to be the case. This film left me questioning how I interpreted it versus how the classmates will.
Black/White
No dialogue
Pigeons/flock
Subway
The subway is a way to travel underground without having to drive your own vehicle. Connoted I believe it is similar to the denoted version. It also could be a place where most try to avoid any type of personal contact with just the goal of getting to their destination. The opposite thing occurs on the subway between our two main characters.
While there seems to be a distance between all of the passengers, their proximity to one another is rather personal due to the crowded subway train. Is this done on purpose? Perhaps this expresses the idea that despite how close you are to others you may still be entirely alone.
Notice/look.
That seems likely to me since nobody else seems to react to her like they do him and she gets up and changes positions so quick that he cannot even notice her doing it. His facial expressions tell me he is happy to see her but I am unsure if they knew each other before. If she is dead than that is likely to be the case
feather/game/puff
The feather is just a part of the bird that has been shed or lost, like molting, that floats in the air. I think it represents being singled out or a message from a dead loved one. It can also be seen as loneliness that both the bird and the man are feeling.
Nice writing, clear. Hmmm, curious reading---passengers to the other world.
ReplyDeleteI think it may first help to spell out some more obvious ways the film is working---isolation and connection. In this sense, it's perhaps more plausible that she's missing at the end because, well, it's the city and this connection is temporary.
If you want to put the less realistic reading into play (realism as in we see she's alive on screen), you'll have to unpack it more..why a feather? etc.