New Comm Ave

Little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth. For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love." - Francis Bacon

The solitude Bacon speaks of is an emotion collectively shared by all who''ve yearned for a relationship; a common bond of affection or respect, or an audience perhaps, and have yet been denied their desires by chance, or outside obstruction, or even by personal choice. Humans are social beings, requiring social interaction to develop inwardly. What is absorbed from those relationships shape us regardless of age, sex, or socioeconomic level. Therefore, it could be understood that social interaction is an intricate necessity of humankind, sometimes neglected, often undervalued.

It is odd then, to consider the urban environment as fostering grounds for feelings of loneliness. Jan K. Brueckner, a social science teacher at UCI, has made the argument in 2007 that "by putting people in close proximity, high average density could plausibly spur interaction among them." (2). However, the conglomeration of people in an urban environment, to the extent that it becomes a metropolis, leads to less typical results than expected, and produces wildly unpredictable consequences. When Brueckner herself more closely examines this statement, she acknowledges that "it is easy to identify potential factors that might cause interaction to fall, rather than rise, as density increases...For example, higher crime levels in dense areas may lead to a fear of interpersonal contact."(2). The urban environment is a complex and ever growing creature, one that cannot be easily understood or neatly categorized by city dwellers and scholars alike. The denizens of the conurbation must cope with the consequences of the coagulation, and each inhabitant must manage the modified conditions by living individually, independently, with consistent inconsistency in their approach to living in the city. Such is the world that Paul Thomas Anderson creates in his film, Punch Drunk Love (2002).

P.T. Anderson utilizes many techniques to synchronize the experience of the protagonist, Barry, and the viewing audience, in order to effectively immerse the viewer in the universe Punch Drunk Love inhabits. I intend to illustrate this universe further by analyzing Barry himself, as Anderson''s primary medium for his message in the film.

The first scene follows Barry exclusively, suggesting the city the viewer sees, is in fact the city Barry alone inhabits. By this, I mean to say that the Los Angeles Anderson molds, is one molded by its inhabitants, changing from person to person. The protagonist''s character represents aspects of Anderson''s view on living in built-up areas, social interaction among city dwellers, and the coping techniques of occupants.

Constitution of First Scene, "Harmonium Drops"

In the scene, Barry Egan, the protagonist, is introduced. He is entered via fade in, appearing a largely bare room seated in a small desk in the corner. A wide angle lens is used, allowing the scale of the room to be largely realized and emphasizing Barry''s smallness in it. The film noticeably emphasizes the color blue; the visual backdrop is slightly tinted, and Barry''s trademark suit is also dark blue. Limited light illuminates Barry, exaggerating the contrast of light and dark in the room, a theme I will explore further on.

Barry is engaged at this time in conversation over the phone, regarding a vague business related technicality, the importance of which is later shown to the audience. A distinct characteristic of the characters and their ambitions in Anderson''s film is ambiguity, something I will discuss further later. The tone of the dialogue is noticeably impersonal, with Barry struggling to have some personal connection with essentially a total stranger. When finished talking, Barry opens the garage door to his workplace, and light floods the room, limiting the vision of the viewer and presumably Barry. The diegesis to this point consists only of ambient noise.The outside world revealed to Barry is bright and contrasts the blue hues of his office. It appears to be early morning. He looks down a long alley, which leads to a main road. Barry is then shown at the mouth of the driveway, looking out at the road. The color of his surroundings have become dull and darker than they first appeared. The street is deserted, and the camera''s perspective is now assumed to be Barry''s. As the ambient noise dies down, the audience now views the street from the protagonist''s point of view, fixed on two cars approaching from the distant left corner of the screen. Suddenly, one flips without warning, loudly tumbling closer to the viewer as the camera follows it down the street. Here, as with the opening of the garage earlier, Anderson intends to share the protagonist''s experience with the viewer. After the accident, a taxi immediately pulls up to the driveway, leaving a harmonium. Stunned and confused, Barry walks up to it and examines it for some time. Once more, the ambient noise fades away, and he is shown in an extreme longshot from the other side of the street. Suddenly, a truck noisily passes by, prompting Barry to quickly pick up the Harmonium and run to his office.

Analysis of the Protagonist

Specifically regarding relationship between his surroundings and himself

Barry''s placement in the room at the onset of the film suggests he is and/or feels isolated. The barren room, I feel, is the manifestation of Barry''s mind; a place of remoteness, a haven in which he can seek refuge from the uncertainty of the city.

His tentative emergence from his office suggests his lack of comfort outside that relative seclusion he subjects himself to. Barry seems to react negatively whenever he is confronted with light. This suggests that his experience with light is representative of his attitude towards social interaction imposed on him by the unpredictability of Los Angeles.

Anderson purposefully portrayed his protagonist wearing blue, just as he purposefully underemphasized vibrant colors and put emphasis on hues of blue in the environment. These attributes are meant to evoke certain feelings in the viewing audience.

To give an example, I will use Zhang Yimou''s Hero. In many scenes, Yimou''s characters are clothed in red, and interact with each other against a red backdrop. For Yimou, it appears red signifies intensity, particularly emotional intensity. In comparison, scenes in which his characters appear in green signify clarity and truth.

The blue shades and underemphasized light in Punch Drunk Love are characteristics typical of Anderson''s Los Angeles. His city is dreary and bleak; a half realized dream on the verge of being dissipated by the morning sun.

Perhaps the color scheme is meant to reinforce the distinct surreal quality in Anderson''s film. The protagonist''s perspective of his surroundings is unique. He seems unattached, inattentive and removed from everything that surrounds him. His walk down the empty alley and observation of the lonely road establish a willingness of the viewer to follow the protagonist and share with him. When he witnesses the car accident, both the viewer and Barry face the unexpected improbability, establishing surrealism in the film. When Barry encounters the harmonium in the dark early morning, both the audience and Barry are faced with the absurd, cementing the theme. These events, under the cover of the azure haze, contributed to the decidedly dreamlike quality this scene had.

Anderson''s protagonist and the place he exists in are fundamentally fused. We, the viewing audience, are allowed to observe what Barry views through the events in the film. Barry Egan''s experience and the viewer''s are effectively linked. The audience views the protagonist''s ordeal, and is both apart from the occurrences in the film, and intrinsically part of them. During this scene, Anderson heavily employs ambient noise exclusively in order to ease the audience into the perspective of the protagonist, and suddenly shake them into awareness using abrupt clamor and unexpected visual cues. For a time, the viewer is allowed into Anderson''s city, until they are forcibly removed from their stupor. The longshots establish a distinct separation between the protagonist and the viewer, and at times, point of view shots to allow the protagonist and viewer to share perspectives.

Specifically regarding the protagonist''s nature

Characters in Anderson''s Los Angeles, including Barry, reveal only certain aspects of themselves, often their motives remain ambiguous and their personal details vague. When Barry is first shown at his office in Harmonium Drops, there is little to show the viewer what line of work Barry is in. The first phone conversation gives little insight into the nature of the dialogue. Further in the scene, when Barry encounters the Harmonium, his reasons for taking it from the street also remain unclear. Ambiguity is typical of the individuals in Anderson''s city.

His conversation on the phone implies that he is only comfortable with social situations in which he has control; the person he is talking to is distant and unfamiliar. In a scene entitled, "Phone Sex", Barry desperately seeks social interaction, finding it in the form of a sexual conversation, again, over the phone. His motive for calling her was not initially for the purpose of sexual satisfaction; rather, he felt the safest avenue for social contact was an exchange over the phone, in which he would be distant from the person he talked with. As with the first telephone conversation, here he was also unfamiliar with the other person, and Barry attempted to establish some kind of a personal connection with the recipient of the call. I believe these dialogues represent the way Barry peers out of the window of his mind; with caution and appropriate distance from the subject. This outlook allows him to safely engage in harmless social contact, with an escape route handy in case the conversation goes awry.

Barry, as demonstrated by his interactions mentioned above, seems to lack close, meaningful relationships. He is unusual, in that he seeks closeness and intimacy with relative strangers. Kathleen A. Warner, a social scientist, defines the typical characteristics associated with relationships in her essay, Personal Relationships, "Relationships exist along a continuum, moving from the most impersonal (secondary relationships) to the most intimate (primary relationships) Secondary relationships are formal..." (1). Anderson''s protagonist does not fit this definition, as he seeks out intimacy in what would be defined as "secondary impersonal relationships", bypassing stages of the "continuum". Additionally, Barry tries to strip away formality from both his telephone conversations by asking the names of the people he talks with. Warner later states, "People at this end of the continuum respond to each other on the basis of their statuses or roles rather than considering the unique and personal characteristics of the individual. Secondary relationships may be of short duration with little or no intimacy." (1). It could be argued that Barry''s lack of primary relationships, by nature "informal, enduring, and expressive" (Warner 1), have led to his desperate efforts at interaction.

Perhaps what Anderson was referring to, when he so aptly titled his film, Punch Drunk Love, was Barry''s dazed and distracted approach to finding love. He navigates his lonely world in search of significant relationships, but is too lost amongst himself to find any.

The Remote Protagonist

Anderson views Los Angeles as a city shaped by its inhabitants. By this definition, Barry''s existence is a facet of the reality that occupants of the city share.

Facing the massive and impersonal metropolis, Barry opted to fade into a dreamscape. Bleak and empty is the city he sees, whether or not it is actually so. Like a reverie, the details of people, places, and personal motives are unclear and perhaps, unimportant. A city saturated in blue vapors, revealed in the muted light of dawn. Barren and desolate, devoid of life and lacking love. It is an apparition that he sees, interfering with reason and judgment, rendering Barry incapable of social interaction. It is the warped reality that only he traverses. The viewing audience is allowed a brief glimpse into the dream.

Works Cited

Bacon, Francis. Poet Seers. Ed. Tejvan. 20 Feb. 2008.

Brueckner, Jan K., Largey, G. Ann. Social Interaction and Urban Sprawl. Aug. 2007. < http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkbrueck/socinteract.pdf>

Personal Relationships. Kathleen A. Warner. Macmillan Compendium: Social Issues. Ed. Robert D. Benford. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1998.

Bibliography

Bacon, Francis. Poet Seers. Ed. Tejvan. 20 Feb. 2008.

Brueckner, Jan K., Largey, G. Ann. Social Interaction and Urban Sprawl. Aug. 2007. < http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~jkbrueck/socinteract.pdf>

Film Analysis Guide. Film Studies Program. Aug. 2002. < http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/nojava_index.htm>

Fullmer, Mark. Reevaluating the Female Spectator: Thirteen''s Manipulation of Visual Pleasure. 2004.

Hero. Zhang Yimou. Perfs. Jet Li, Donnie Yen. Miramax, 2002.

Punch Drunk Love. Paul Thomas Anderson. Perfs. Adam Sandler, Emily Watson. Miramax, 2002.

Salinger, Jerome David. Catcher in the Rye. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1951.

Warner, Kathleen A. Personal Relationships. Macmillan Compendium: Social Issues. Ed. Robert D. Benford. New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1998.

• 2008 Fall
• Film Analysis