MovieChat Forums > The Seventh Veil (1946) Discussion > Camera work

Camera work

posted 8 years ago by Midgegirl
6 replies | jump to latest

Some of the camera work and staging in the film is wonderful: low angles emphasising the gloom and size of the Victorian mansion, characters in deep focus simultaneously in the foreground and background of the drawing room adding to the feeling of size of the set, views through imposing doorways and pillars, shots of Nicholas backstage during the Rachmaninov looking like Vermeer's "Allegory of Painting", Peter & Francesca back-to-back in the cafe, tight close-ups on Mason's face melodramatically emphasising his menacing aura whilst enabling him to show the hints of conflicting emotions as well, the use of the mirror to give an extra angle on F & N disagreeing about how much freedom he gives her, F's pale arms dramatically emerging from her black velvet dress as she plays piano: the list of great shots is a long one.

And then, then... at the emotional high point of F & N's relationship, when they have their only tender moment as he convinces her there's nothing really wrong.... the director (and/or editor) does his damnedest to wreck all of the sexual chemistry they've had building to this point by barely having the two of them in the same shot together! There's a nice arty shot of them through the lattice gates, but apart from that the intimate feeling of the moment is frequently broken by either the camera being on just one face at a time, or showing Max's arrival. Now I know that both of these faces are wonderfully photogenic, but that's already been established; why not use this moment to see both characters act and react to what each is saying? After all- this is Nicholas' big emotional breakthrough: let's see its effect on Francesca! This scene is effectively a surrogate love scene and given that their final coming together at the end is so brief this is all that the audience gets of them romantically, so there's a lot riding on it- so to speak.

It's clumsily done in my opinion, especially when compared to the camerawork in the showdown between Larsen & Nicholas- there they're almost always simultaneously in shot and you see every shared nuance.

The missed opportunity bugs me every time.

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

Amen to that. And the hurry-up character of the final scene is beyond annoying to me. We've been waiting for this and I always feel a bit cheated by the brevity of the scene. I have seen a slightly longer version, in which the camera lingers on Francesca's face, but it's still rushed. Wonder why they did that?

[–] mcannady1 8 years ago

Movie girl - Count me in too!
That was great to see Francesca's love for Nicholas illuminating her face. How about our Nick? They should have taken a moment in the library to show this. We do see him on the piano bench - turn to her in surprise, rise and embrace her passionately! Or is that a pipe dream> In a very short scene we glimpse that feeling - mutual love! They turn to hug each other. Sublimely beautiful, but understated. Oh, well, I read somewhere that some of the most beautiful love scenes are understated! Mr. M. was a genius at expressing emotions in every film.

[–] mcannady1 8 years ago

Movie girl - Yes, the only romantic scene we do get is through those latticed doors before Max arrives home. The beauty of that scene could have been enhanced so much more enhanced! In my last post, I was referring to their final embrace at the end. How truncated and under-stated it was.

Here, we see Nicholas looking intently at Francesca as he reassures her that there is no reason she cannot play again. She disagrees, He feels contrite with the memory of his angry blow-up as she was leaving. He blamed himself for being out of control. But surely he nearly hit her hands with his cane? So yes, that could have been a moment of great illumination of both of their feelings. Nicholas felt contrite and uncertain of her, and Francesca was conflicted.

[–] Midgegirl 8 years ago

Yep- the ending has Jane Austen levels of "nothing to see here- use your imagination- move along. Next!" rather than 20thC movie-making. tchuh...

I have seen a slightly longer version, in which the camera lingers on Francesca's face, but it's still rushed.

Very intriguing Manderstoke- how/where/when have you seen this version?

[–] manderstoke 8 years ago

I believe it was an old VHS tape. Also, the scene in which Francesca tells Nicholas that she is leaving with Max is slightly longer, the camera lingering on Nicholas' face after she leaves the room. And, I just remembered, the scene where he strikes the piano keys is longer. But, all of these increments are quite short, seconds, not minutes.

[–] Midgegirl 8 years ago

A new -to me- piece of info in the trivia section:

The soft focus ending was due to a flaw spotted on the rushes and being unable to re shoot due to James Mason already on his way to America.

I can't help thinking that, after the first enthusiastic responses from the audiences at the time, they'd have gone back and zhoozhed up the ending bit if they could have; so if the above is true- it explains a lot.