When looking deep into ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’, another
film from the 1940s naturally came to mind – ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’,
directed by William Wyler. Indeed, Welles spoke very high of Wyler, for his
judicious choices of the most appropriate shots to address a theme, and his meticulous
selections for the best camera angles to deliver the sentiment. The story
concerned the experiences of a few WWII veterans, and how they came to terms
with the various challenges upon their home-comings. The cinematographer was Gregg Toland, the
creative force who was so important for Citizen Kane’s unique visual style.
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| William Wyler |
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| Deep focus at its apex. |
Wyler was famed for his concentration on realism and also
its signature use of deep focus and composition in depth. For Wyler, his
rationale for his style was liberal - he aimed to present a holistic portrayal
of emotions in every frame of his work, and he welcomed his audience to
abstract the sentiment they identified with from the images. So, it was not a
torrent of reverse angle shots that forced the viewers to concentrate on certain
characters, but a series of deep focus shots that led the audience through the
mise-en-scene. The most iconic scene took place in a cafe, when the father
fatefully told a young war veteran not to meet with his daughter again. The
young man had to make a phone call to the girl at the phone booth, and at the
same time, three other patrons were playing an in-house piano, while the
customers sitting at the bar were fascinated , utterly unaware of the bitter
situation which was taking place nearby. By employing a deep focus style, Wyler’s
camera captured three sets of emotions in the same frame, and enriched the
whole spectrum of human sentiments in such a closed space. The effect was
further enhanced by a composition in depth technique, so the different groups
of people appeared layered to the viewers, and thus Wyler’s desire to let his
audience choose could be fulfilled.
by Ed Law
1/7/2015
Film Analysis - 48b
