listen up fellas cause horrible quality aside i find myself already going through the shots and this one particularly drives me CRAZY.
Who is gonna talk about their choice to put Barth right at the bottom of the stairs to heaven, and Tanrak amongst demons, threatening to corrupt everyone on the right path with their sinful ways? Even though it is Tanrak who is, from a catholic standpoint, fifty steps closer to god than Barth and Barth the one with the seemingly corrupting influences that’ll push Tanrak to sin and lose his faith?
Not to speak of the school crest and statue of mary on Tanraks side of the shot and the open door and the clock on Barths. There is also the reflection of light and the windows visible right there, while Tanraks side is gloomy and dark except for that one speck of light on mary.
It’s a very, very deliciously arranged shot and it makes clear where they want us to position ourselves, as if that’s not a given. Cause they make it pretty clear that Barth is on the right side. That Barth is closer to true revelation, to a way out, to light, to happiness, that it’s only a matter of time until he’ll leave all of this behind and it will be the right choice, that his decision to reject catholic dogma is the way to salvation, while Tanrak is still caught in literal hell between the influences of the school and his desire to see his parents again.
And to drive the message home we have the priest there as well, between Tanrak and the stairs, positioning himself as an obstacle for Tanrak to escape, turning the arguably well-meaning priest into a demon that condemns Tanrak to lifelong misery.
