Interpretations of old man in hospital.

Recently I had to do a body commentary for a Sociology of the Body seminar, and I chose to use the image of the nude old man that the mob discovers in the hospital. I figured that considering this board is a medium for discussion the film I would post here a transcript of my interpretations of this image.
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The image presented is taken from the film Werckmeister Harmonies (2000), directed by Hungarian director Bela Tarr. To begin to analyze this illustration of the body it is necessary to examine the context in which it is presented. In brief, the film looks at the repercussions of a traveling carnival and its main attractions: a giant rotting whale carcass and a dwarf prophet known as the Prince, whose followers he incites to riot and destroy villages. The image comes from a scene in which the mob ransacks the local hospital, attacking its patients and destroying its supplies. They open a curtain to find this tiny, withered and frail old man in the nude. This stops the mob in its tracks; they turn and shuffle out of the hospital in silence and shame.
There are two particular representations of this body that the image, within its context, evokes. The first is that of the frailty and fallibility of the human body. Framed on either side by the large able bodies of middle aged men, whose ages are beginning to show themselves, this weakened and fragile man reminds them of their own inevitable bodily degradation that must come with time. In his weak state, perhaps this man has been left waiting for his bath or shower by a nurse, he stands in a tub. This suggests the need for reliance on the kindness of others for basic needs, something which contrasts with the hypnotized mob which has up until now been out to pillage. Human bodies “age and decay, and the inescapable reality of death appears particular disturbing” to these men.
The second representation that this bodily image suggests is one of divinity. The Prince, who incited the riot, does so in fascist and heretic dialogue – the image could represent the reintroduction of spirituality, order and shame back into the consciousness of the mob. This symbolism is based in the religious understandings of the starved body, barely subsisting, as a divine and spiritual quality. Early Christians endeavored to “attain true holiness and piety ate very sparingly in their efforts to transcend the flesh and purify the soul.” The state of the man’s body would suggest that he is undernourished, suggesting that he is perhaps in a state of holy anorexia. While this concept of the spiritual self starving is typically under the banner of a women’s activity, it would not be rare to suggest that men also partook in this. One could go even further to suggest that this is not just a self starved being, but the model upon which self starving is based. Indeed, my first interpretation of this image upon seeing the film was that this was a representation of some godly being. One of the most suggestive aspects to support this impression is found in the lighting of the image. The frail and saintly man is bathed in bright white light, one of the preeminent symbols of heaven, while he is surrounded by shadowy men, dressed in black – the color of evil. In terms of the cultural significance of this image, one could perhaps look into the situations surrounding the Hungarian political and social scheme. The context of the image takes place after the fall of state-communism, an era in which religion was suppressed, which may further give ground to the idea of the man as a divine being.
Whichever interpretation one subscribes to, the image is nonetheless an interesting approach to using the human body as a symbolic reference to something deeper. Schilling suggests, social constructionists have used the body “to tell much about how society has invaded, shaped, classified and made the body meaningful,” and this image is prime example of how humans have come to use the body as a canvas.
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Any and all opinions welcome.