Cinema Retro is proud to present a major article by author and film historian Collin Stutz
“Contrast, Counterpoint, and Patience: The Vanishing Penultimate Moment in Film†by
Collin Stutz
In Daniel Raim’s Academy-Award nominated 2001
documentary The Man On Lincoln’s Nose,
the film’s subject, legendary film production designer Robert F. Boyle (North By Northwest, The Birds, The Thomas
Crown Affair - 1968, Fiddler On The Roof), profoundly states, “One of the
problems with a lot of films now is that we’re dealing with climaxes rather
than the penultimate moments which are more interesting.†Boyle defines the penultimate moment as the
moment before something actually happens. It is the scene before the climax (Scene 12). In the DVD audio commentary to their 2004
Pixar film The Incredibles, director
Brad Bird and producer John Walker discuss how “movies don’t have people
sneaking around anymore. I want some
sneaking around in my movie! People are
in such a rush to get the action sequences going fast that they forget there’s
pleasure to be had in the sneaking around part, taking a look at where you
are. So I have a few sneaking around
sequences in here, and I don’t think they’re a waste of time†(Scene 9). Whether one artist refers to it as “the
penultimate moment†or another calls it “sneaking around†is irrelevant; they
are both discussing the same thing. The
penultimate moment can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a cinema
audience, and there are three elements – contrast, counterpoint, and time
investment – that go into its creation. Unfortunately, the penultimate moment and its components are becoming a
lost art in today’s world of instant gratification.
Boyle uses Michelangelo’s Renaissance sculpture
masterpiece David as an example to
further illustrate his belief in the penultimate moment. He states that the sculpture of the Biblical
hero is “a young man standing, thinking. He’s got the sling over his shoulder and he has a frown on his face and
he’s obviously concerned. He’s concerned
about the coming conflict. The stone
that hits Goliath is momentarily interesting but only for that second. What went on before David meets
Goliath…that’s what’s interesting†(The Man On Lincoln’s Nose, Scene 12).
As the five minute, thirty second sequence where Mr.
Incredible sneaks around the island trying to discover Syndrome’s evil plan
plays, director Bird, in his Incredibles
audio commentary, goes on to say, “The filmmakers I most admire recognize the
value of “teasing†moments and “milking†moments. You think about a good storyteller or someone
who tells good stories in a bar. They
don’t blast through a story. They stop
and they savor certain moments. And they
know which moments they can milk. And
all of my favorite filmmakers have the confidence to slow down. Versus, I won’t name names, but a lot of
successful hacks, who, by having rapid-fire editing all the way through, never
have to deal with the issue of “Is anybody paying attention?†because they keep
throwing stuff at you. To me, there’s an
edge of desperation about that. The kind
of filmmaking I most admire takes a moment to savor things, because there are
so many things a movie can offer, particularly when you have a really talented
crew that works on getting sets to look great and is putting things up
there. You want a moment to take them
in. Like a good comic pauses, I think a
good filmmaker slows down†(Scene 15). Incidentally, five minutes of that Incredibles sequence is nothing but
sneaking around. The final thirty
seconds is the action climax where Mr. Incredible is attacked by goo balls and
captured. John Fawell, author of Rear Window: The Well-Made Film, elaborates on Bird’s thoughts in his DVD
commentary of the film, “People sometimes ask, ‘Why do we make such a deal of
these old films?’ Part of it is the professionalism on the smallest level. Even your most unimportant moment should have
a nice composition to it†(Scene 12).