Just an arbitrary number? Or did he write more and just feel like they were the most important? Or what?
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Modern Plumbing Studios, est. 2004
My guess is that it's an arbitrary number. (Sorry you've had to wait over a year for that!)
shareThere's exactly 71 scenes in the movie, according to the DVD Commentary with Haneke
If he's so weird, why is he wearing Nikes?
I took notes and counted 64, not 71, scenes.
Unless you divide up the news channel segments into their individual topics (in other words, the segment discussing the IRA, Air France, and Kurdistan would be three fragments and not one, which I suppose is a reasonable approach). Then you get a number that's very close to but not quite 71, which likely just means that Haneke's opinion of how to tally the fragments is different than mine and that I am in the wrong.
You 're totally right, I also counted 64 (without the news scenes) by fast-forwarding the film once more, after I watched it.
(Actually, the latest scenes where much shorter btw, I remember counting as 29th, the supremely extended phone scene, which was almost at the half of the whole film).
I'll try noting down stuff next time I decide to watch this again (I ABSOLUTELY will watch this again, I loved it) and maybe I'll find out how he separated the news segments into 7 more pieces, that will add up to 71.
I have to say I'm somewhat amused by a "serious" discussion about the exact number of fragments of chance (right down to tarot cards and their meaning...), when the film's theme is exactly to focus on chance and its consequences. I dare to put out that the number is arbitrary, and that this exact circumstance is part of the point being made here... ;)
Artimidor
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Well, I was only 16 when I posted that.
Now I don't really care about the number, but I still recognize this film as a masterpiece in exploring the internal development of violence in human psyche through simple societal interaction.
I Sympathize with Lars Von Trier.
Agreed with the others, it's the number of scenes (debate on that aside), that is certainly the intention of the title. As for why that number?
Idle amusement in speculation: I say Tarot. That has 72 cards, meaning one card could be left as a remainder statement. The missing 72nd piece could be, for instance, The Fool. The audience (us), plays that part, by having the whole story packaged in the form of televised "news". The way we usually hear about these things, and forget about by the time the day is over.
Aloft - "Tarot's 72 cards...the fool" - That's a very interesting connection. I like it!
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