I chose to analyze a scene about two-thirds the way through the movie where Stan and his wife dance together to This Bitter Earth by Dinah Washington. The scene opens to a dark room with the only source of light coming from a window. Stan and his wife stand in front of the window the lighting making them little more than silhouettes. The darkness surrounding the couple makes the space seem tighter and more confined, much like many of the other scenes in the film. The camera stays in one position throughout the scene as the couple sways in front of the window.
When the scene opens Stan and his wife stand with a far amount of space in between each other. As the scene progresses Stan’s wife starts moving closer and closer to Stan and begins to kiss him, increasing their physical contact. Though their contact increases, their emotional distance never dissipates. Although Stan lets his wife hold and kiss him he does not reciprocate and in fact his wife adjusts his hold on her herself in her attempt to become more intimate with her husband. His expression during the whole scene is emotionless and distant, and he doesn’t look at his wife. Finally as Stan’s wife starts to desperately clutch at Stan in her attempt to elicit a connection with him, Stan recognizes her presence and actually looks at her only to throw her off of him and walk out of the scene. This leaves Stan’s wife crying by the window.
The scene helps to illustrate the disconnect Stan feels with not just his wife but also his whole family unit. Despite his wife’s attempts at intimacy, Stan is just incapable of having this kind of connection with her. This goes back to the overarching idea of the dehumanization of Stan at his job and how this spills over to his private life.
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