Just randomly reviewing scenes from the movies no one remembers now. This week: Avatar (2009).
Itâs not like everyone forgot James Cameronâs Avatar. Since weâre still getting some footage from behind the scenes of the sequel and news about the cast, at least someone takes pains to remind themselves of this cinematic experience from the year of 2009. Itâs already been 84 (just kidding, 11) years and Iâm still looking forward to at least watching the teaser (fun fact: I was 11 when Avatar came out, Iâm 22 now). I even bought the Darkhorse comic book on TsuâTeyâs backstory to, you know, investigate one of my favorite characters a little bit better (spoiler: the backstory wasnât very much eventful but I noticed a nice detail there which I may talk about briefly a bit later).
Throughout the years Avatar has received a lot of backlash and more or less justified criticism, mainly for the plot and its problematic packaging. I believe, it depends on the perspective one watches a movie from. Of course, I wouldnât call it an absolute gem of exciting storytelling, even though I truly enjoy it, as in majority its twists are undeniably predictable. However, I always disagreed with people saying relations in Avatar arenât deep at all. Well, romance between Jake and Neytiri, which, letâs be honest, except for the scene of telling the truth, went too smoothly, and this is why I strongly believe clash of interests is inevitable in sequels. Their interaction remained the key one for the whole movie, and nothing is bad about that, people enjoy a nice lovestory, so do I. But 11 years after Iâd like to focus on the disturbing conflict everyone prefers to ignore for some reason when recalling Avatar. For me itâs always been Jake versus Colonel Quaritch.
You guys may have already guessed which scenes I wanna talk about. Those really important ones that I consider climactic to the pace of narration. And what is more about them, they give us crucial details in character development and actorsâ play to think through. The main message: Quaritch knew it was coming.
Let me firstly touch upon the scene of short conversation between Jake and Quaritch prior to Sully presumably leaving Pandora. While Jake is awating Quaritch in a large empty hall, he hardly seems to be calm about the talk, every nerve in his body is trembling, but why?
The way Jakeâs drumming his fingers on the table makes me wonder if heâs okay.
Then Colonel enters the hall, grabs a chair and reminds that it had been more than two weeks since he got the latest report on how the misson was going. He knows, Sully is questioning reality, and no, heâs not âdoubting his resolveâ. He knows, the right moment to âterminate the missionâ is missed. He knows, he lost Jake. He knows, heâs talking to the deserter. Yet Quaritch speaks indifferent. He praises Jakeâs effort and rewards him for that. With real legs he promised to him when they first talked. Quaritch hoped theyâd trigger the realization in Jake. Which doesnât happen. How sad he looks when Jake openly refuses to accept the reward.
In just one sequence Stephenâs face demonstrates the shift of all four feelings Quaritch goes through: dissatisfaction, melancholy, shame, disgust.
Quaritch sensed the moment when Jake expressed superiority to the mankind. Jake grasped that Quaritch knew everything, he played with fire, and thatâs why he felt anxiety. And it lasted all the way until Quaritch stepped back for leaving the hall. But did Colonel really surrender? I doubt that.
The tension between them both feels electric, so itâs explainable why Jakeâs transient smile is so awkward. Sam then heavily staring straight at Colonel's back suggests that up until now Jake regarded Quaritch as his enemy. The enemy he knew he would not be able to defeat.
I remember when watching this scene, I couldnât get myself the answer to one question. The question was: which report did Quaritch refer to? âThat report from two weeks agoâ, but such information wasnât satisfactory for me. To be honest, this small discovery became the actual reason why I decided to type this study. Letâs assume that this particular report which Quaritch mentioned was the videolog where Jake confessed that Omaticaya wouldnât leave the Hometree. Hereâs why.
The general audience is used to perceiving Quaritch as a cruel short-tempered military man who just waits for the starting pistolâs shot to destroy everything in sight. Again, nothing is wrong about this, the fact that his character was simply meant to be a generic personification of such type doesnât leave us with any alternative impression of him. Letâs say, if he was given the order to ignite the operation of the Hometreeâs destruction to screw the tribe out of the site, he would absolutely go for it (and so he does). Heâs a man of his word after all. Letâs also say, if he was pissed off by Jakeâs betrayal, he would transport himself to the mountain site in a blink of an eye, turn off the link and put Jake in jail right after the talk in the hall. Instead, Quaritch decided to wait and give Jake the last chance. Jake preffered unearthly wings to those more tangible, so Quaritch chose not to cut them so abruptly.
Weâre moving to the next scene, taking place right before a toned down fight between TsuâTey and Jake (Iâm saying so, because itâs actually one of the deleted scenes that got edited out of the final cut, and believe me, the pressure between two rivals there is way too intense). Quaritch is watching the record of Jake destroying bulldozerâs lenses with a stone. After that Jakeâs face is zoomed and we watch Selfridge get frustrated, Quaritch looks pretty annoyed as well but doesnât seem to be much surprised. What heâs feeling, is bitter disappointment in himself and knowing that he totally failed to persuade Jake to change his mind.
Just observe Stephen Langâs performance here. He absolutely nails cold-eyed look, the fire burning slow inside of him is so palpable, and guess what, in a flash he flies off the handle.
Now, shall we check the ultimate scene, preceding the destruction of the Hometree. Though Grace versus Parker juxtaposition is central to this scene, the last time Quaritch confronting Jake face to face in his human body is essential to consider for making things clear.
When it comes to revealing to Selfridge the vainness of further negotiations with Omaticaya, isnât it just interesting how fast Quaritch manages to find the correct videolog? It literally takes him not more than a couple of swipes to produce the proof. Here is why: heâs already watched the record and is completely aware of the Jakeâs values having deteriorated.
You can tell, Jake knew he was under control, but he would rather like to ingnore this fact. His pathetic glance at Quaritch, whoâs almost impending above his head, causes to think Jake would guess that Colonel could have watched this videolog. Rather, it was a mutual secret between the two of them until a turning point. But the moment of truth came, and Jake didnât change his mind. Quaritch made sure of that and finally it was his time to triumph.
So how was it even possible to assume Quaritch may have watched the videolog Iâve been talking about for so long? Well, my explanation may be too easy to believe, but still: we can tell by Jakeâs appearance and the date of the record that it is the vlog we need.
This telltale videolog was recorded 16 minutes after the another one, when Jake says that heâs uncertain, who he is anymore (LST abbreviation stands for Local Standard Time). Jake might have suddenly felt depressed and hopeless and got back to the camera while being too emotionally instable, and so must have forgotten to delete the final record.
I have one more note for you. If you check the videolog library Quaritch is swiping through, youâll see that the latest important record, which he actually needs, is made in the interior of the mountain site block and dates back to August, 13. Other recent vlogsâ covers look nothing like Site 26 sequence. Jake may not have done any of these records at the mountain site. I still wonder though where those three or four ensuing videologs were recorded, the location seems to be red lighted, which means it isnât blue lighting at Site 26. I may even assume he recorded some pieces at Hellâs Gate. Why would I think so? Probably because in those two scenes (dialog with Quaritch and confession at Parkerâs office) Jake looks ten times better than before, he gained some weight at least and doesnât resemble a living sceleton.
Selfridge gave Jake an hour to relocate the tribe, while gunships led by Colonelâs Dragon were already on full alert. Quaritch had no doubt that Jakeâs peacekeeping mission would fail. He knew it from the beginning. Hence he sounds so sarcastic seeing Sullyâs avatar tied.
Now Quaritch sipping his villainâs morning coffee tasting like fresh genocide doesnât feel so cringy: heâs celebrating his victory over Jake (still I should agree with critisism on this point, it really is a stupid cliche and wasnât intended to carry a deep meaning).
Now I should admit, itâs been a long journey to run this investigation and bring it to light by finally posting it. It took me around a day to collect my thoughts and express them by means of more or less readable English. Just would like to make a little side note: English is not my native, so I promise I did my best! Thanks to James Cameron for making a movie, which woke me up in the middle of the night to start reflecting, and to all the fans out there who still exist and remember this movie and so can read this essay. @avatarmovies I found your blog not so long ago and you guys say you enjoy headcanons (and movie reviews probably?..), so it would be nice if you reblogged this but Iâm not insisting!!
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