Grand Central Station

Grand Central Station

        

    This is the name of a scene from the Terry Gilliam film, the Fisher King. It is also the name of one of my favorite scenes of all time. In this scene Gilliam uses the three shots discussed by Dr. Ramirez-Burg to set the scene first in reality and then in the fantasy world of one of the main characters, Parry played by Robin Williams. The result is one of the best examples of the use of shot progression in film.

     The scene begins on a long shot of a crowd filling up New York’s Grand central station.

This shot does two things: First it gives us the setting (the crowded station) and second it lends the scene momentum as the crowd is seen rushing in. This momentum, the hustle and bustle of the normal city life is juxtaposed against the slowness of life for the homeless people, Parry included, who are shown in the following medium shot, which tracks along from within the crowd (to get the best sense of this I recommend watching the scene) looking out at those less fortunates lined up against the wall.  The tracking shot ends on Jack (the film’s gruff protagonist who is trying to help Parry) and Parry, and then we cut to a close up of Jack’s face as he gives the line “Never gonna find her in this crowd.” (this refers to the woman Parry loves and follows from a distance every day). What follows is a series of close-ups of Parry as he scans the crowd, and another homeless character who tries to engage him in conversation. Parry then exits the scene leaving Jack (who is not homeless and not entirely comfortable with those who are) alone with that other character. 

     Then we have a whole bit of dialogue/social commentary between those two characters, which is important in terms of our discussion because it shows the viewpoints of these characters on the way the world is, and it is very much the one we all live in. Then we cut back to a close up on Parry’s face scanning the crowd. Next we see the spot he is looking at, the woman appears, and we go back to his face and a smile appearing on it. This last close up and its smile are the most important elements in the scene as they signal the transition from the real world, Jack’s world, into Parry’s. We know we are in Parry’s world in because in the background of the following mid-shot there is a couple dancing. The following shots get wider and wider as more people join the dance, and we are given long shots of Parry following, or as he would see it dancing with, his love. We then cut to an extreme wide shot showing the whole of Grand Central Station as if it had been transformed into a ballroom. This sequence continues for come time, cutting on one occasion to a close up of the clock in the center of the station to illustrate both the regularity and the fleeting nature of this scene for Parry, until we have a final close up on Parry’s face, where the smile starts to waver, then another mid-shot showing the woman finally disappear into the subway line. The instant she is swallowed by the crowd the dancing ceases, and we cut back to the smile fading from Parry’s face and are brought back into the real world. A point that is sold by the crowd once again jostling him as the go by. And so ends the scene. 

Now I couldn't figure out how to imbed the video down here but this is a link to the dance part of the scene on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lASPrnWf6cA