13. Big Thief - “Shark Smile”
This is another one of those simultaneously cinematic and literary jams. The sort where you can feel the plot moving past you, almost as if you’re watching a short vignette set in radio show or musical format. It reminds me of Mad Max mixed with Sin City, because I definitely get a distinct driving sensation, almost as if the entire plot takes place within a car, possibly even as part of an elaborate and drawn-out chase scene. However, it’s not apocalyptic grunge, but rather classy, and definitely shot in the style of Film Noir – meaning the entire scene is black and white and set towards the early or mid-twentieth century. In fact, I envision it something like this:
Our protagonist is either escaping or chasing. It’s unclear given all the fast-paced scene and angle changes. It’s also unclear who she is running from. We get glimpses – a hat, glove-covered hands, a trench coat, leather car upholstery, a gun, a rope, and a shovel in the passenger seat. Are they her’s or someone else’s? Then we start seeing lipstick covered lips, mascara layered eyes, long and silken hair – are they hers or someone else’s? The mystery and sense of urgency and anxious secrecy continues to build. The scene and angle changes switch back and forth faster and faster until suddenly the angle holds and widens, giving the viewer their first real glimpse of what’s going on. It’s a bit whimsical, defying physics, almost as if the characters are both chasing each other, going in circles and driving at every angle within this scene of deserted forest and haunted country roads. We soon realize that all of the close-up we’ve seen belong to both the protagonist and the antagonist. The mystery and urgency is allegorical of the love itself – of a woman loving a woman in this given era. It’s scandalous and passionate, and yet we still don’t know what exactly is happening, or what transpired to bring us to this point. Is this motivated by love, guilt, shame, or hate? Who is chasing who? Is this physical or metaphysical? Is it real life or a dream? Is it actualized or only relegated to the shadowy corners of lust-filled thoughts? Like much in life, we may never know, but it’s the mystery that makes it so compelling.
