Movie Scene Critique
I chose a scene from the 2017 movie Edge of Seventeen because I have watched this movie many times over, as I find that it is the most "relatable" teen movie that has come out during my adolescence. The dynamic this movie sets up is very interesting; it follows your typical "angsty teen drama", but in this case the main character is outwardly unlikable. The whole premise of the movie is that it follows a hard-to-love, woe-ridden anti-hero whose older brother is the favorite of her peers, teachers, mother, and eventually, her best friend. In this scene. we see the main character, Nadine, interacting with her brother, the golden boy, Darian. Preceding this moment, Nadine had been out on a date with the boy she had been obsessing over for the entirety of her high school career. The date emerged from an explicit proposition she sent accidentally to him via Facebook, and lead to expectations on his part that made her date go very poorly, ending with her stranded in a port-side storage yard. The scene picks up when Darian finds Nadine to bring her home, after she's been MIA for a number of hours in the nighttime, to return her to their worrying mother. The overall "feel" of the scene captures up the angst that is teenage-hood. The lighting is dim (given that the scene takes place at night), and tensions within the dialogue are high. The intense shadows, and "chilly summers night" feel of the color scheme work together to place the viewer in a unique frame of mind, returning them to those teenage nights wherein the worst thing you can imagine is your best friend dating your brother.
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Above is a sequence of shots I found particularly poignant. Right at the open of the scene, we see Nadine exiting her teacher Max's house, where she immediately is confronted by Darian, who orders her to get into the car. The camera cuts to Nadine realizing that her estranged best friend (Darian's now girlfriend) is sitting in the car as well, and Nadine states that "she [doesn't] feel like getting in the car with [them]". The camera then cuts to her best friend, Krista, sitting in the car, clearly having heard what Nadine said, judging by her reaction. This exemplifies the relationship between the two girls that has been playing through the whole movie—Nadine feels that Krista has betrayed her by dating Darian, Krista is saddened by losing her best friend, but is mostly frustrated by Nadine hardheadedness. This establishing shot of Krista shows that Nadine's actions have affected more than just herself, and have an even further reach than just her brother. The final shot in this series shows Darian turning around to look back at Nadine, his body facing Krista who is visible in the car now, where earlier she was not. This shows the two as a pair, a unit, versus Nadine who is solitary in all of her shots in this scene.
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This final editing bit that I chose to comment on is a classic. Darian is on his soapbox opposite Nadine at this moment. He stands framed in the doorway as she cowers back inside the house, hiding from Krista and the reality that hurts her so. His monologue is critiquing Nadine's assertion that he is only there to get her so he can be congratulated by Krista and his mother for being "such a good person"—to stroke his own ego, essentially. As he delivers a heartfelt monologue about the effect his mother's mania, his father's death, and Nadine's self-serving, nihilistic attitude have on his life, the camera cuts away from the wide shot of him in the doorway; we get a shot of Nadine reacting to his words, then when it cuts back, Darian is framed closer in, a way to signify the importance and emotion behind his words at that moment. The camera is steady through these shots, as both parties (Darian and Nadine) are steadfast in their position against one another. This scene shows us a side of Darian that was previously concealed. He is not just a meathead who is loved for his good looks; he struggles with his label as the perfect child, always having to parent his remaining family members, restricting his own opportunities to protect his family. This scene shows the viewer just how selfish Nadine's world view is, and we begin to sympathize with Darian and Krista for the first time, as they become no longer the enemy, but individuals just as Nadine has been portrayed all along.