Huck Finn Fishing Scene

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="006dba33.gif"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id108.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mumblijah"><U>Mumblijah</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id107.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Save the Life of My Child"><U>"Save the Life of My Child"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id102.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Observing Jonathan"><U>Observing Jonathan</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id96.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Just Think of Someone You Hate"><U>"Just Think of Someone You Hate"</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Scream from Try Seventeen"><U>Scream from Try Seventeen</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ash Wednesday Flashback"><U>Ash Wednesday Flashback</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ash Wednesday : Son"><U>Ash Wednesday : Son</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Casey Connor: Action Hero"><U>Casey Connor: Action Hero</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Foot Chase from Chain of Fools"><U>Foot Chase from Chain of Fools</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Going Back for Sarah"><U>Going Back for Sarah</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="OutofTouch Football"><U>Out-of-Touch Football</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mikeys Delight"><U>Mikey's Delight</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Complex Dodger?"><U>A Complex Dodger?</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Little Stu"><U>A Little Stu</U></A></div> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Huck Finn Fishing Scene</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Onetake Scene from Huck Finn"><U>"One-take Scene" from Huck Finn</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Three Angles of Grief"><U>Three Angles of Grief</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Face Even a Dead Guy Could Love"><U>A Face Even a Dead Guy Could Love</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Elwoodian Acting Age 8"><U>Elwoodian Acting - Age 8</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DayO on Duty"><U>Day-O on Duty</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pure Joy from Avalon"><U>Pure Joy from Avalon</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ageless Advice on Winning the Attention "><U>Ageless Advice on Winning the Attention of Women</U></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>For those who wanted to do a comparison of class-related posture differences, here's the father and son (and a fuller view of Huck in the top pic).</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="378c3a40.jpg" border=0 width="195" height="164" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="37902a40.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="164" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG SRC="37a02a40.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="164" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=110 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="006dba33.gif"> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U><IMG SRC="021ef530.jpg" border=0 width="239" height="83" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A>  |    <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U> </U></A><A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us"><U>home</U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="NonLotR Movies"><U><B>Non-LotR Movies</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=370 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000" background="3391c123.gif"> <div>   </div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Huck Finn: Fishing Scene</B></div> <div> <B>(I've been thinking about this scene for a number of years, so have a </B><I><B>lot </B></I><B>to say--if you want to skip over the verbiage to get to the screencaps, I won't be </B><I><B>too </B></I><B>offended.)</B></div> <bR> <div> I was sure I wanted my first non-<I>LotR </I>page of screencaps to be from this scene, since it's where Elijah first "blew me away" with his acting.  It was a lot harder to decide just <I>what </I>to post from that scene, as every frame is worth looking at.  I finally settled on an overview that shows the stages of Huck's thoughts.  But there are really no breaks between stages (except for the point where we briefly see the plantation owner and his son); each moment leads into the next so that the entire process is gradual, subtle, and incredibly real.  To give some context, I <I>have </I>started with the first frame that gives us a close-up of Huck and ended with the last frame of the scene.  </div> <bR> <div> A common misconception of Huckleberry Finn - probably based on film and other adaptations of the original book - is that he's a "rascal" or a "mischief maker" who doesn't think too much about what he does until he's in danger of being caught. In reality, Twain's original character is very internally directed, and his efforts to sort out right from wrong form the backbone for the more "episodic" external events in the book. Ten-year-old Elijah makes a cute little rascal when this adaptation calls for that, but it's internally-directed scenes such as this one that give him the chance to prove he's an <I>actor</I>. </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> _____________________</div> <bR> <div> In this scene, Huck is fishing with the owner of the plantation where he "washed up" after the raft sank, and the plantation owner's son, with whom Huck has become friends.  It's a situation where Huck can truthfully say, "I ain't never had it so good in all my life," a statement that becomes more poignant the more of the backstory of Huck's struggle for survival you add from the book.  </div> <bR> <div> But Jim "washed up" onto that same plantation and has been added to the corps of slaves working its fields, a role with physical and psychological brutality far beyond what he experienced with Mizz Watson.  Jim has never had it so <I>bad </I>in all his life, and if he's going to escape it's up to Huck to give him a chance - by leaving with him.  Quite a decision for a boy who considers himself "low-down and ornery."      </div> <bR> <div> Huck's <I>overt </I>action in this scene consists of two head turns - first toward the plantation owner and son followed by a return to the center, then toward Jim with a return to the center.  (Jim's not in the scene, and we're never actually <I>told </I>that the second turn has Huck looking in his direction, but there's no need.)  IMHO, though, the <I>real </I>action of the scene is taking place <I>within </I>Huck, and we see it in each subtle change that comes across his face. </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#1_" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#1</U></A>-#8:  Huck's already thinking, long before he starts turning.  We see a half blink in <A HREF="#5" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#5</U></A>-#8.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#9__" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#9</U></A>-#26:  Between frames 8 and 9, the camera turns briefly to the plantation owner and his son, showing their happiness in being together and their affection for each other.  When the camera returns to Huck, he's already turned to watch them. This may be reading too much into it, but I've always felt Huck's smile in #9 ff is melancholy, not just because of Jim, but because he knows that even if he stays in this new-found life, he'll never have that kind of a father-son relationship. I was initially impressed that Huck would have such complicated thoughts and feelings. It took awhile for my brain to register that this was an <I>actor </I>creating my <I>awareness </I>of those complicated thoughts and feelings completely through what I saw on his face and in the way he held his head.  </div> <div>  <A NAME="huck_fishing_turn"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> By the time Huck has turned forward again, even the melancholy smile is gone as thoughts of Jim return, evidenced by the fact that Huck then begins to turn toward Jim.  Notice that his head begins turning in #17, but his eyes have already started the process in <A HREF="#16" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#16</U></A>: just one of those little things that all add up to make the character's emotions totally credible.  I'm not even going to try to put labels on the emotions shown during that second turn.  It's one of those times when Elijah is somehow able to show a complex <I>mix </I>of emotions within the character in such a way that we can completely understand it without being able to name it.  </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#27" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#27</U></A>-#28:  I wanted to mention the "moment" shown in #27, because it was one of the two very specific things (the other being the melancholy smile in #9 ff) that convinced me this kid was no ordinary actor.  It's actually quite a long moment, although I've only posted one frame of it.  Huck, with closed eyes, is facing a "moment of truth" in a literal sense--facing the truth of the situation he and Jim are both in.  </div> <bR> <div> It would be easy to call what Elijah does during this moment a "sigh," but IMHO it's actually a shudder.  Whatever his decision, he won't find relief in it, so a sigh would be out of place--but a shudder is completely fitting.  A bit of an "emotional Froshadowing" of another scene along a river; although the two scenes don't <I>look </I>much alike, they both involve facing a decision that <I>has </I>no easy way out.  </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="#28" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U>#28</U></A> is the final frame of another fairly long moment, when Huck has to begin to look at the truth with <I>open </I>eyes. </div> <bR> <div> [And I think Stephen Sommers, the writer and director, deserves some credit for realizing that with Elijah's face telling so much of the story, he didn't have to add an overpowering amount of exposition to this scene.]</div> <bR> <div> 1 <A NAME="1_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A> </div> <div> <IMG SRC="35ca7e70.jpg" border=0 width="423" height="231" ALT="Huck (Elijah Wood) thinks about Jim as he fishes with his new friends" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 2</div> <div> <IMG SRC="35da8e60.jpg" border=0 width="424" height="230" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 3</div> <div> <IMG SRC="35ea9e60.jpg" border=0 width="425" height="230" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" 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width="418" height="228" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 18</div> <div> <IMG SRC="36da0e30.jpg" border=0 width="416" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 19</div> <div> <IMG SRC="36e9fe30.jpg" border=0 width="415" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 20</div> <div> <IMG SRC="36f9fe30.jpg" border=0 width="415" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 21</div> <div> <IMG SRC="3709fe10.jpg" border=0 width="415" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 22</div> <div> <IMG SRC="371a1e50.jpg" border=0 width="417" height="229" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 23</div> <div> <IMG SRC="372a1e40.jpg" border=0 width="417" height="228" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 24</div> <div> <IMG SRC="373a2e50.jpg" border=0 width="418" height="229" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 25</div> <div> <IMG SRC="374a2e50.jpg" border=0 width="418" height="229" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 26 <A NAME="26"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="375a2e40.jpg" border=0 width="418" height="228" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 27 <A NAME="27"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="376a1e40.jpg" border=0 width="417" height="228" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 28 <A NAME="28"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> <IMG SRC="377a1e30.jpg" border=0 width="417" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id47_m.htm" TITLE="Huck Finn Fishing Scene"><U><IMG SRC="1647d3c0.jpg" border=0 width="125" height="60" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>Continue to the </B><A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Onetake Scene from Huck Finn"><U><B>"one-take scene"</B></U></A><B> from this same movie. </B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.frodolivesin.us/ejw/id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.frodolivesin.us/ejw/id17.htm"><U><B>General comments on this movie</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>