μεταμορφώσεις

[Jeff Bernstein]

Person of the Future

Angled. The strangeness of the person apart.

Accenting the tips of the cupid's bow of the lips, and the visible sweat, contribute to the presentation of character.

The gleam of sweat allows for broad contrast on the face : light and shade : conveying interiority and Situation.

Wearing black : the well-ordered creases of the jacket suggest a futuristic-looking garment? Wardrobe contributes to the character as Superlative Difference.

Is Oppenheimer standing in the Discovery 1?

The bit of visible white collar suggests clericality?

Note the door in the background, letting in illumination. . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeff Bernstein

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

"Call it . . ."

A point of no return?

[Jeff Bernstein]

The watch : Time is never far from our thoughts. // The neat watch, cuffs and suit jacket contrast with the hard industrial instrument. // The mottled covering, which looks scarred and scabbed (so to speak), suggests something forbidden, even ugly. This is the face of the instrument.

[Jeff Bernstein]

The Unstated

If the character is observing the instrument (as if looking at a mirror, since the creation is his own), and the face of the instrument is "ugly", then perhaps we can say that the character sees itself as "ugly" in some way? These two contiguous shots express something about the interiority of the character, Oppenheimer's self-image?

 

[Jeff Bernstein]

This is the final shot in this section. Because I'm me, I must raise the theme of secrets.

[Jeff Bernstein]

A flash-cut of oscillation. Red and blue : these two colors are set up in the trailer as thematic poles. How exciting to watch a film knowing that the color is invested with thematic meaning! This trailer advertises first-rate storytelling.

[Jeff Bernstein]

The Creator has to deal with the social implications of his creation. // A quick flash of a camera bulb continues the pace of the contiguous oscillation. Thereby a thematic link is made. This character lives in his mind, yet is still at the same time out in the world. Like it or not, one must reckon with the self-in-the-world. How one does so makes all the difference—for everybody.

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeff Bernstein

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

Note the cone of light rising from the mind of the Thinker.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeff Bernstein

[Jeff Bernstein]

Black and white : the starkness of the times.

[Jeff Bernstein]

Oppenheimer faces us, and fade out : ominous. . . .

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeff Bernstein

[Jeff Bernstein]

The walls are closing in?

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

The wedding ring. Wedded to thought. The eyes. Agatha's eyes. Light and shadow on the face : inner turmoil. Contradictions abound in life that cannot be got around. The knotted tie connotes his devotion to Thinking. Through the window comes bright white light. The light approaches us and is transmuted through the figure of Oppenheimer and continues on its way as the eyelights from his eyes. The wedding ring seems to send out a vestige of that light. The energy of the ages streams through the Artist and onward. The Artist, meanwhile, has to keep Thinking. . . .

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Jeff Bernstein

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

[Jeff Bernstein]

No stretch of the imagination is required to pinpoint Oppenheimer's age here as youth. Not yet has he accelerated as a person apart far from the rest, yet all the potential is there and in operation : his thinking : his associative thinking. We see an authentic artist in thought. Note the quaint fixtures of the world he grew up in; note the unremarkable wardrobe (in comparison to his futuristic black jacket) representing that old time. This character was destined to go beyond—for good or ill. Like anything else, a measurement of the consequences of his creativity is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Jeff Bernstein]

Here is one consequence.

[Jeff Bernstein]

Another motif revealed?

The light and energy streaming from the head of Oppenheimer.

The eyelights : the Creative mind knows how to steer the light and energy.

[Jeff Bernstein]

Two doors.

The Creator in silhouette.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), 45:58 and 1:07:29

[Jeff Bernstein]

Le Samouraï (1967), 14:50

Winter Light (1963), 37:59 and 1:18:27

Stagecoach (1939), 51:07

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), 2:16:22

 

[Jeff Bernstein]

Journal d'un curé de campagne (1951), 1:53:24