Reflection Paper #4

Reflection Paper #4 use “Work in the Spirit” book attached as your source/reference. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SOURCES. This reflection paper should critically address your reaction to the current readings provided. Summarize Volf's argument in “Work in the Spirit”. In what ways does it resonate with you and in what ways are you critical? Moral Ambiguity Fritz Lang’s movie M (1931), The Murder among Us, is his first sound film delineating an avant-garde figure: a serial child hunter. The scene lies in Berlin, where is enshrouded in fear and tension caused by a serial killer targeting young girls. Although the searching is in full swing, the police get zip in the investigation. Under the growing chaos and insecurity, underworld mobs gone on the warpath for the manhunt. As the watershed event, the kangaroo court in the penultimate scene split the movie into two chunks, shifting the focus from the vicious brutality of the murder to the potential hysteria and distorted justice of the mass. Through the use of light and shadow, various framing, and setting, Fritz Lang constitutes the penultimate scene by an array of conflicts between individual and collective, murder and victim, consciousness and impulse. The contrast of the mass and Beckert the individual is first conveyed in framing and decor of the underground trail. The trail is held in a deserted basement disconnected with the outside world as a metaphor for the social insecurity and the cultural paranoia. The POV shot of Beckert(see image 1), after he was hustled off to a basement, pans from the left to the right while scrutinize the mob court: the sloping ceiling of the basement, the shadow of the crisscross pipes, and the vague faces of the civilians. In the shot of the mass, the arched ceiling and interlinking pipes occupied nearly half of the frame, and therefore result in a low-key lighting that casting most of the mobs in the gloom. It is noteworthy; however, that the backlights placed behind the crowd reinforce the unease and repression by deepen the depth of field while avoiding muddiness in the background. In the following long shot (see image 2), Beckert who stands alone at the bottom of the stairs, which is a symbol of his social inferiority at this time. This shot, in contrast, is quite bright with shallow depth of field. The pipe extended from the shot of the collective to the guards blocking the only exit on the stairs, not only bounding them with the off-screen crowd, but also implying the isolation of Beckert. The overhead shot in which Beckert stands in-between the foreground balloon and the background mass after he is recognized by the blind peddler, also conveys similar segregation; the surrounding ropes and table not only besiege yet also seclude Beckert from the spouses. The self revelation leads to the contrast of murderer and victim: the schizophrenic struggle between evil impulse and true self. The use of high-key lighting and frontal medium camera angle illustrates in details of Berkect’s infliction of mental distress. For most of the movie, Berkect is portrayed through shadow and mirror reflection. However, in this frontal shot (see image 3), Berkect falls to his knee, confessing the evilness that enslaved him; his entire face is observable with the bright light shining down from his back and he is now fully removed from his shadow. This high-key lighting derives Berkect’s power, revealing the self that has been belied. While Berkect gradually reveals his evil instinct through the dramatic monologues, his face is cast half in light and half in shadow. The expanded darkness on his face hints the symbolic duality of a murderer and a psychiatrist, suggesting Berkect’s dark side is an inalienable part that long exists within him. After behaviorally represented and verbally explained his inner struggle, Berkect is humanized from a disturbed murderer to a psychiatrist. On the contrary, the mass, first the vulnerable and the inferior, become violent and intolerant when their agitation stirred by the ruling of” the judge.” As Berkect is thrust into the limelight, the mass become the successor of the shadow. With his head bent down, Berkect crouch towards the foot of the fence. The juxtaposition of the lawyer stands up and Berkect lies down suggests the end of Berkect’s narrative and turns the attorney, who tries fiercely to win over the irritated and agitated audience to the center of the confrontation. The composition and decors that are utilized in the confrontation shot between Berkect’s defender the lawyer and the frantic civilians effectively capture the violent impulsion while correlates with the previous scene. In a two shot of the lawyer stands and speaks for Berkect (see image 4), the wood fence chops the pipes on the wall from extending and separate the lawyer from the mass. This might well explain the accusation from the mother of the victim complains the lawyer as an outsider who “does not know what it’s like to lose a child.” However, the similar use of wood fence blocks Berkect on the other side as well; foreshadowing lawyer’s failure of saving Berkect from the court decision. Moreover, the placement of the tables also hints the opposition between the attorney and the crowd while correlate with the confrontation between Berkect and the mass in the earlier scene. In the long confession shot, Berkect requests the crowd to hand him over to the police, yet his requests are held up to mockery. The table amongst Berkect and the jury indicates the inequality between them, depicts Berkect’s inferior status. The lawyer, on the other hand, is as powerful as, if not more powerful than the mass. As the mass reveals the presence of Berkect as an alien of the society, the attorney, using his testimony, exposes the second kind of murder behind this hysteria. In sum, the visual contrasts in the mise-en-scène, including the difference of lighting, framing, and slightly distorted setting, all contribute to the overall effect of the scene. The use of light and shadow helps sets the conflicts between the individual and the mass, the monster and the self, the consciousness and fear. The setting and props add tension and suspension while reflects the potential paranoia filling with insecure. The compositions of actors enable the audience to examine the duality of human nature hidden behind the mass hysteria. All of those components collaborate with each other; portraying a disconnected underworld that is cramped with unrest, fear, and ambivalence.