Less Is More: Ain't Them Bodies Saints And The Beauty In Restraint
"You're gonna leave me? Cause I will leave you first."
"When I said 'on my own,' I meant you and me. I always mean you and me."
"I can put an end to all this right now all by myself. All I'd have to do is tell the truth."
David Lowry, like Richard Linklater, has an understated style. And just like Linklater, Lowry isn't well known to the general audience despite his craftsmanship and artistry. So today's post will be dedicated to Lowry's debut feature, Ain't Them Bodies Saints.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints is light on plot but heavy on story, giving Lowry and the actors -- Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck -- ample room to breathe in their artistry. The film boasts many beautiful moments, but to me it's the first scene where David Lowry's camera work really shines through; his restraint, among many other choices in the scene, works to immerse the viewers in the perspectives of the two characters.
Scene link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL-2RWEUfR4
At the start of the scene, the action is on Bob -- he's catching up to Ruth while calling out her name. But it is Ruth who's in focus and much closer to the camera. The action, in other words, it kept at a distance. That's restraint: deliberately resisting an action's call for a bigger, louder attention. This directorial restraint never happens in films and TV shows shepherded by run-of-the-mill directors. They immediately flock to the character in action at the expense of the character receiving the action. But Lowry is no run-of-the-mill director.
In fact, Lowry doesn't fold on his restraint except for two key moments. First when Ruth asks Bob if he'll leave her as she is walking away. And second when Bob reassures Ruth that he's not leaving her.
There are good reasons why Lowry indulges the action's call for attention. These moments are moments of vulnerability and reconciliation, moments where a director usually wants the audience to take in as much pain and catharsis as possible. And when the camera work leading up to those moments had been marked by restraint, letting go of the restraint will do the trick. Without contrast, nothing lands.
Lowry's restraint comes mostly from keeping Bob at a distance as the majority of the action in the clip is Bob trying to console Ruth and convince her that he's here to stay. (The two moments where Ruth is driving the action are when Ruth says, "Why did you tell Fred you're gonna strike out on your own?" and when she says, "Are you gonna leave me? Cause I will leave you first. It's not funny.")
Keeping Bob at a distance is the optimal choice for at least two reasons. First, it forces the audience to pay attention to who Bob is paying attention to. Although Bob's action demands our attention, Ruth's bigger presence in the shot counteracts that very demand. Our attention is split.
As a result, what we see isn't some guy chasing after a random girl who's walking away. What we see is a girl who's walking away and a guy who's chasing after her. In other words, Ruth is established as someone who's hurt as opposed to a mere object of Bob's pursuit.
Without establishing Ruth as an equal character with her own perspective, the audience cannot fully adopt Bob's perspective. Because to Bob, Ruth isn't just someone he's chasing after. She's someone who he's hurt and wants to console. The audience cannot be in Bob's shoes unless they see Ruth the way Bob sees Ruth. By taking some of the attention away from Bob, Lowry isn't just presenting Bob's perspective to the audience. He's having the audience adopt Bob's perspective.
There is another reason why Lowry's restraint on Bob is so effective; Bob's reduced presence in the shot is the medium through which the audience can feel his rebuffed attempts to talk to Ruth. By giving Ruth a bigger presence in the frame, Lowry is placing the emphasis not on Bob reaching out, but on Ruth rebuffing Bob. Ruth's rejection as a result feels more personal. And because it stings, the audience have an easier time entering Bob's frame of mind.
(Aristotle once observed that the most effective way to make the audience open up to a character is to put the character through pain. And that as the audience sees the character go through hardship, they become the character. But this is all that boring screenwriting structure stuff.
Funny aside, I had a screenwriting professor in college who was so into structure that I'm convinced all his wife has to do to satisfy his needs is to softly whisper "structure" in his ear. I'm also convinced if he could be granted any wish, it would be that his child's first word be "structure.")
There is one moment in the clip where Lowry's restraint stands out in particular. It comes at about 37 seconds into the clip right after Ruth asks Bob, "Are you gonna leave me?" When Bob answers, "No, I'm not gonna leave you. Nobody's leaving you," the shot stays with Ruth as the moment's protagonist although the action is now on Bob; Ruth just asked him in a show of great vulnerability if he's going to leave her, and now he has to convince her he's here to stay.
The restraint on Bob works wonders in part because of the set up to it. When Ruth asks Bob if he's going to leave her, the camera stays with Ruth. And because Ruth is walking away from Bob, the camera too drifts away from him, who is standing still. This drives Ruth's perspective to the forefront and amplifies her hurt and pain. This emphasis on Ruth in turn pushes the audience to soak up Ruth's, not Bob's, desire; the audience doesn't want to console Ruth with Bob, they want to be consoled with Ruth by Bob.
Lowry then follows up the set up by keeping Ruth as the shot's protagonist when Bob gives her an answer. And so when Bob gives Ruth his answer, the audience hears Bob's answer with Ruth.
It's effective to exercise restraint and have the audience hear Bob's words from Ruth's perspective because Ruth is the one that's hurt and because as human beings, our desire to be consoled is the stronger emotion than our desire to console. And as a result, feeling consoled or at least being on the receiving end of an apology or reassurance evokes a stronger emotion in the audience.
Though to be fair, Ruth isn't consoled in the least. She doesn't buy Bob's answer and tells Bob that she'll leave him before he can leave her. But Ruth does eventually start to warm up to Bob when Bob says, "I'm not gonna leave you. And you're not gonna leave me. Even if you do, I'd just follow you." It is during this moment -- a moment that marks the beginning of a reconciliation -- that Lowry breaks his restraint by moving in with the camera.
The tension between the two is melting away, and Lowry mirrors and echoes it by lifting off the restraint and closing the distance. From the moment Ruth asks Bob if he's going to leave her, Ruth remains the protagonist in every shot. And by moving closer to Ruth and Bob who are now physically entwined, Lowry lets the audience feel that Ruth is no longer trying to detach herself and now taking Bob at his word.
Although Ain't Them Bodies Saints was a commercial flop, it is one of those films that stay with you. I first saw it about three years ago and even to this day, the soundtrack alone can pull me right back into the world of emotions Lowry created with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in the film. I highly recommend it.
Note: There's so much of Lowry's craftsmanship in the scene that has been glossed over or even left unacknowledged. His use of restraint and transition of perspectives play off of each other significantly, and as a result what's been unpacked here doesn't even show half of the full story.
"When I said 'on my own,' I meant you and me. I always mean you and me."
"I can put an end to all this right now all by myself. All I'd have to do is tell the truth."
David Lowry, like Richard Linklater, has an understated style. And just like Linklater, Lowry isn't well known to the general audience despite his craftsmanship and artistry. So today's post will be dedicated to Lowry's debut feature, Ain't Them Bodies Saints.
Ain't Them Bodies Saints is light on plot but heavy on story, giving Lowry and the actors -- Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck -- ample room to breathe in their artistry. The film boasts many beautiful moments, but to me it's the first scene where David Lowry's camera work really shines through; his restraint, among many other choices in the scene, works to immerse the viewers in the perspectives of the two characters.
Scene link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL-2RWEUfR4
At the start of the scene, the action is on Bob -- he's catching up to Ruth while calling out her name. But it is Ruth who's in focus and much closer to the camera. The action, in other words, it kept at a distance. That's restraint: deliberately resisting an action's call for a bigger, louder attention. This directorial restraint never happens in films and TV shows shepherded by run-of-the-mill directors. They immediately flock to the character in action at the expense of the character receiving the action. But Lowry is no run-of-the-mill director.
In fact, Lowry doesn't fold on his restraint except for two key moments. First when Ruth asks Bob if he'll leave her as she is walking away. And second when Bob reassures Ruth that he's not leaving her.
There are good reasons why Lowry indulges the action's call for attention. These moments are moments of vulnerability and reconciliation, moments where a director usually wants the audience to take in as much pain and catharsis as possible. And when the camera work leading up to those moments had been marked by restraint, letting go of the restraint will do the trick. Without contrast, nothing lands.
Lowry's restraint comes mostly from keeping Bob at a distance as the majority of the action in the clip is Bob trying to console Ruth and convince her that he's here to stay. (The two moments where Ruth is driving the action are when Ruth says, "Why did you tell Fred you're gonna strike out on your own?" and when she says, "Are you gonna leave me? Cause I will leave you first. It's not funny.")
Keeping Bob at a distance is the optimal choice for at least two reasons. First, it forces the audience to pay attention to who Bob is paying attention to. Although Bob's action demands our attention, Ruth's bigger presence in the shot counteracts that very demand. Our attention is split.
As a result, what we see isn't some guy chasing after a random girl who's walking away. What we see is a girl who's walking away and a guy who's chasing after her. In other words, Ruth is established as someone who's hurt as opposed to a mere object of Bob's pursuit.
There is another reason why Lowry's restraint on Bob is so effective; Bob's reduced presence in the shot is the medium through which the audience can feel his rebuffed attempts to talk to Ruth. By giving Ruth a bigger presence in the frame, Lowry is placing the emphasis not on Bob reaching out, but on Ruth rebuffing Bob. Ruth's rejection as a result feels more personal. And because it stings, the audience have an easier time entering Bob's frame of mind.
(Aristotle once observed that the most effective way to make the audience open up to a character is to put the character through pain. And that as the audience sees the character go through hardship, they become the character. But this is all that boring screenwriting structure stuff.
Funny aside, I had a screenwriting professor in college who was so into structure that I'm convinced all his wife has to do to satisfy his needs is to softly whisper "structure" in his ear. I'm also convinced if he could be granted any wish, it would be that his child's first word be "structure.")
There is one moment in the clip where Lowry's restraint stands out in particular. It comes at about 37 seconds into the clip right after Ruth asks Bob, "Are you gonna leave me?" When Bob answers, "No, I'm not gonna leave you. Nobody's leaving you," the shot stays with Ruth as the moment's protagonist although the action is now on Bob; Ruth just asked him in a show of great vulnerability if he's going to leave her, and now he has to convince her he's here to stay.
The restraint on Bob works wonders in part because of the set up to it. When Ruth asks Bob if he's going to leave her, the camera stays with Ruth. And because Ruth is walking away from Bob, the camera too drifts away from him, who is standing still. This drives Ruth's perspective to the forefront and amplifies her hurt and pain. This emphasis on Ruth in turn pushes the audience to soak up Ruth's, not Bob's, desire; the audience doesn't want to console Ruth with Bob, they want to be consoled with Ruth by Bob.
Lowry then follows up the set up by keeping Ruth as the shot's protagonist when Bob gives her an answer. And so when Bob gives Ruth his answer, the audience hears Bob's answer with Ruth.
It's effective to exercise restraint and have the audience hear Bob's words from Ruth's perspective because Ruth is the one that's hurt and because as human beings, our desire to be consoled is the stronger emotion than our desire to console. And as a result, feeling consoled or at least being on the receiving end of an apology or reassurance evokes a stronger emotion in the audience.
Though to be fair, Ruth isn't consoled in the least. She doesn't buy Bob's answer and tells Bob that she'll leave him before he can leave her. But Ruth does eventually start to warm up to Bob when Bob says, "I'm not gonna leave you. And you're not gonna leave me. Even if you do, I'd just follow you." It is during this moment -- a moment that marks the beginning of a reconciliation -- that Lowry breaks his restraint by moving in with the camera.
The tension between the two is melting away, and Lowry mirrors and echoes it by lifting off the restraint and closing the distance. From the moment Ruth asks Bob if he's going to leave her, Ruth remains the protagonist in every shot. And by moving closer to Ruth and Bob who are now physically entwined, Lowry lets the audience feel that Ruth is no longer trying to detach herself and now taking Bob at his word.
Although Ain't Them Bodies Saints was a commercial flop, it is one of those films that stay with you. I first saw it about three years ago and even to this day, the soundtrack alone can pull me right back into the world of emotions Lowry created with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck in the film. I highly recommend it.
Note: There's so much of Lowry's craftsmanship in the scene that has been glossed over or even left unacknowledged. His use of restraint and transition of perspectives play off of each other significantly, and as a result what's been unpacked here doesn't even show half of the full story.
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