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Film Analysis: Will Hunting

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Will Hunting is a janitor at M.I.T. who solves problems other students cannot at work. Will is a genius no doubt about that, but his childhood is filled with darkness making him defensive towards feelings. After being sentenced to jail he has no choice but to work with Professor Lambeau, and attend therapy. Will Hunting will now embark on a journey to find himself and realize what he truly wants in life. This first act begins with Will living in South Boston (a southie) as referred to in the movie. Will is the protagonist in this movie; he works as a janitor at MIT. Lambeau is a math professor whom writes almost impossible problems on a chalkboard in the hallway. Will is able to easily solve the problems and writes the solutions on the board. …show more content…

His use of mise en scene is beautiful. Each scene is carefully crafted, even when it appears to be very spontaneous. There are some great examples of good camera work in this movie. One example is the scene when Sean is in his apartment after his first meeting with Will. He is sitting in a dirty apartment with dishes every where, and Sean is sitting at the table, drinking. Van Sant cuts to this gorgeous shot in which he uses a higher angle and places Sean in the right portion of the screen, the weakest, and the glass of whiskey in the left, he then uses the glass of whiskey as the dominant. This shot creates the sense that Sean is an alcoholic, or at least he drinks often enough where it is beginning to control him. It is very obvious in this shot that the whiskey has the power. Another example is the scene with Will and Sean at the pond. Sean has a gorgeous monologue in this scene and through almost the entire thing, the only shot is an eye-level close up on Sean. It stays on him until he begins talking about love, then the camera very slowly, staying at eye-level, pans to include Will in the shot. This effective technique creates the idea that Will is slowly being exposed by Sean's words. Another example with Will and Sean is the scenes in Sean's office. During most of the movie, Van Sant uses eye-level medium two-shots during these scenes. Will and Sean are never in the frame together, until the end, after Will's breakdown, then the mise en scene includes both of then, using a full shot. This clearly identifies the progress of the relationship. It takes Will a long time to trust Sean. Van Sant's manipulation of the shots in these scenes truly creates that sense of coming together. Yet another example of strong camera work is Will's scenes with Skylar in her room. Van Sant's use of close-ups and extreme close-ups gives the viewer a sense of voyeurism, as if we were in the room with them.

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