Analyse how one or more moments highlighted an important idea.
An important idea that is highlighted is that some people are willing to go further than others to achieve what they want. This idea was conveyed when Nancy Birch discovered that Keller Dover was torturing Alex Jones, but she decided to not do anything about it. This is shown in an over-the-shoulder, mid-shot of Nancy and her husband entering their home, which was expertly used by Villeneuve to immerse the audience in the scene. The effect of using this technique is that the audience is emotionally invested in this scene because we feel as though we are right next to Nancy, amplifying the meaning of the idea being explored. Nancy says “We’re not going to help him … but we’re not going to stop him either … Let him do what he needs to do.” The delivery of this quote portrays Nancy’s internal conflict – she delivers this piece of dialogue, stuttering, pausing and thinking about the impact that Keller’s actions will have on Alex. Here, the audience sees that, while Nancy is wanting the information that Alex has, she is not willing to go as far as Keller. Nancy’s internal conflict reminds me about Tim O’Brien in his book, “The Things They Carried”. Like Nancy, Tim also struggles with his own internal conflict of whether to fight in the Vietnam War after being drafted to fight. These two characters show that once tragedy strikes, emotions can be blurred which causes internal conflict on what further decisions need to be made. This can lead to your moral code being shifted or to be temporarily removed to deal with said situation.
