Cinematography homework

Film Studies homework - Analysis of 'He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not' scene

For my film, I have chosen to analyse the final scene from the French film "He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not" (A La Folie, Pas Du Tout). This scene, without giving the film away, reveals to the audience and the characters what is actually happening.
The film itself followers a nonlinear form of storytelling, and is what I can only describe as a love story gone wrong. Your perceptions on the characters and their stories are constantly changing, and you are constantly trying to pick up on subtle hints as to what may come next. It is the perfect film to keep you guessing.
This particular scene brings together the nature of the characters and their actions. The filmmakers have clearly worked hard to create a scene that challenges expectations, even 5 minutes from the end of the film. Through the clever use of various shot types, little dialogue and a 'suitable' soundtrack, and visual techniques that give more away than dialogue would, we can see how the film comes to a perfect end.

The scene starts with Loic, the main male character, confronting Angelique, the main character overall. The use of a high-angle shot makes Angelique appear more menacing, like she is looking down on Loic. As well as this, there are several close-ups and extreme close-ups on both characters; Angelique showing her anger and emotion, partially down to Audrey Tautou's brilliant acting, making the scene intense and slightly on edge. When Angelique hits Loic with the statue, we see a close up shot, showing her emotions; She doesn't look like someone about to commit attempted murder, further signifying her mental state.
The low-angle shot following this, Angelique watching Loic fall down the stairs, is another shot that, when used normally, suggests dominance, threat and intimidation. However, Angelique looks nothing like a cold blooded killer, as above her mental state is in question. Her actions are juxtaposed with the way she looks and how the shots bring this to light.

A clever shot following this is showing the huge painting on the wall which is of a heart monitor's lines. Angelique is framed next to this, a connotation here could be that her heart beat is accelerating or the heartbeat is that of Loic's, which is slowing down. As this shot pans, we see Angelique, she is to the right of the shot, showing her isolated state, possibly implying she is isolated mentally; unaware throughout the film and in this scene what her actions mean.

This then pans to Loic at the bottom of the stairs, a high-angle shot used to look down on Loic and completely frame him as the vulnerable victim that he is. The fact that we also see Angelique looking down on him (as stated above) shows her, for once, in a threatening light, she stares at him as he lays dying. From this we get a sense of "If I can't have you, no one can", her motives clear.

The stills on the right are consecutive scenes. One second we are shown Angelique on her own, reflecting on her actions, when suddenly the sound of police sirens makes the police appear to take her away. This suggests that, in the time taken for the police to arrive, Angelique hasn't moved, frozen in time.
Outside a tracking shot shows us the audience that has gathered, leading into the police van which Angelique, clearly emotionless, is placed. We get a typical 'through the window' shot here, an interesting point to note is that the reflections of trees and lampposts appear to surround Angelique with bars, like prison cell bars, isolating her even though she is surrounded by people.

As well as these main scenes, there are also a few cutaway scenes that add effect, close-ups such as that of Angelique picking up the statue carefully, and a shot that follows the action from behind as she lifts the statue and strikes Loic on the back of the head.
This leads into a slow motion sequence which sees Loic falling down the stairs, his belongings dropping to the ground with a thud, his knees buckling slowly, Angelique just watching on as, using a point of view shot, we see Loic's vision of Angelique go blurry, and the use of shaky-cam allows us to further emerse ourselves in the scene.

Although the film continues for another 3 minutes, I have chosen to end my extract as she is driven away in the police van, because this is where the unusually cheerful soundtrack kicks in, and ties up the short scene I focused on in an unusual way, very fitting for the film itself.