Blog #4

One of my favorite scenes in film is the “payback” scene in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. Rushmore was Anderson’s second film, which featured Jason Schwartzman, and Bill Murray as opposites. Schwartzman played the role of Max Fischer, a high school student in a prestigious all boys school, and Murray played the role of Herman Blume, a wealthy divorcee, whose sons attend the same school as Fischer. Once friends, both are competing for the feelings of the same woman, Rosemary Cross, a school teacher. Fischer originally tried to woo her, with the assistance of Blume, but Blume began to have feelings for Cross. Anderson being my favorite director, frames everything so well, in this scene (as with his other films). He utilizes a single camera rather than multiple cameras, resulting in this intimate view with the characters. He uses a wide range of angles, from extreme close-ups (when Blume’s hotel room is infested with bees), to extreme wide angle to establish a scene (Fischer riding his bike to Blume’s factory, and when Blume is frantically trying to slow down his car.)