#ruckenfigur

“In reference to Angelopolous’ staging techniques, [David] Bordwell suggests that by framing characters’ backs and shoulders Angelopolous “marks out human presence but also coaxes our eye to the surroundings”. Denying the spectator access to the character’s face (which Bordwell fairly claims to be “the most informative part of the body”) such staging strategies “oblige [the spectator] to study the body’s relation to the larger field in which it is inserted”... The “doubling” of characters in Mirror and the “decentring” of dialogue in Stalker are two strategies that de-prioritise human characters’ significance within the overall mise-en-scene.”