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Film critic Irena Kovarova describes three levels in the film: REALITY, MEMORY/FLASHBACKS, and VISIONS and the ambiguity of these levels. How are these three psychological states conveyed in the film through the unique approach to fractured, elliptical and non-linear editing? How is this a cinematic representation of the chaos and trauma of survival? Be specific with 2-3 scenes.
*Content warning, this film focuses on trauma of war and genocide
if you could please review the previous homework i assigned you please follow that style of writing i mentioned previously when answering this question i need you to write two paragraphs the first paragraph answering the questions and the second paragraph replying to my classmate’s response to the question: “Diamonds of the Night depicts 2 boys fleeing a train that was taking them to a concentration camp. The shots that are reality involve them running through the woods. These shots are done on a handheld camera and are shaky, which adds to the fact that these scenes are reality, as it feels like we are there with them.
The story is non linear, reality is interspersed with both memories and visions. The younger boy imagines himself going home and flashes of this vision are interspersed, although not in a linear order. This makes sense as the boy’s mind is probably filled with such chaos and fear that his thoughts are not linear and don’t always make sense. I believe all the scenes of towns and “civilization” where we see buildings and windows are visions, as they are representing a good life without trauma.
Near the beginning of the film you see a memory of the boys being trucked to the concentration camp, where one is eating and the other is putting on shoes. It is not always clear what us a memory and what is a vision or hallucination. This adds to the chaotic feeling of the film, and makes sense that as the boys undergo such intense trauma, they themselves are unable to distinguish reality, memory, and visions. Early in the film we also see vision of one of the boys on the tram going home. These same visions are repeated later in the film, with the same shots used, just longer takes of them. We are slowly allowed to see more and more into the boy’s mind as the film progresses.
When one of the boys starts laughing and we see him running through a graveyard alone, this is an example of a vision. It is clear that it is not real because of the character’s state at the time when the scene occurs. We then see shots of the tree falling while the boy curls in on himself, waiting for impact. This scene cuts between reality and visions, and the chaos and rhythm of it helps us understand the character’s trauma, fear, and pain.
During the scene of the boy at the farm getting slices of bread from the woman, it is tricky to distinguish reality from vision as he keeps having visions of himself murdering her but then we switch back to shots of reality where she stands unharmed.”
