Staging the violence in TOTAL RECALL 1990 vs 2012
How can staging a scene differently completely change how we feel about a character?
How can staging a scene differently completely change how we feel about a character?
TOTAL RECALL in both 1990 & 2012's adaptations had to stage the same beat: the scene where Douglas Quaid discovers he's a killing machine by, y’know, killing.
But each film took different approaches to the staging of the scene; and that staging changes how we feel about Quaid (Arnie in 1990 and Colin Farrel in 2012)
Total Recall (1990)
Verehoven shoots this up-close-and-personal with his trademark gore. The choreography itself is deliberately crude. And its shot against plain concrete walls. The violence is as brutalist as the architecture.
That we know one of Quaid's victims from the construction site (they're friends!) makes it more personal. It adds to the horror.
Then the claustrophobia breaks. We finally cut to a wide, revealing the walls splattered in blood. Quaid inspects the blood on his hands, then we cut overhead, revealing the bloodied bodies surrounding him. We are as horrified by what Quaid has done as he is. We feel *with* him.
Total Recall (2012)
When showing us Quaid's "special skills", 1990's Total Recall wants us (and Quaid) to be scared of Quaid. But 2012's Total Recall wants us (and Quaid) to be in awe of him. Len Wiseman’s 2012 adaptation makes small narrative changes and some big staging ones to assist this change of intention. Here’s the full thing.
It starts with the Police storming the offices of Rekall, killing the Rekall workers. Importantly, the action takes place *at* Rekall, (while in the 1990 version, Quaid escapes Rekall and is stopped by his 'friend'). This positions Quaid as a victim.
When the Police go to arrest Quaid, we move into a single, stitched together take that circles around Quaid as he takes down the faceless police officers. The elaborate camera move stays wide so we can see the choreography and the impressiveness of Quaid's skills. The shot is designed to make us *awed* by Quaid's killing efficiency while also rendering the violence impersonal and bloodless.
When the shot finally resolves on Quaid's reaction, it reads as shock or surprise, but not horror. He is a victim-turned-hero. Which is unsurprising given that this scene seems to quote Trinity's ICONIC introduction in #TheMatrix.
It wants us to feel ABOUT (not FOR) Quaid like we feel about Trinity. That he's cool. Compare it over at YouTube: https://buff.ly/3i93zWV 5/5
The Bourne Identity (2002)
The Bourne Identity has a similar beat to Total Recall, where the audience and Bourne discover that he can kick ass. The fast cutting (6 shots in ~6secs) and clean wides & mid-shots make us feel Bourne's violent efficiency… but also make us "know" that he's acting instinctively. We don’t see him making any conscious decisions here.
ThEN we sit with Bourne in the aftermath for ~10 seconds with 2 simple shots: a wide followed by a mid. He is as shocked as we are.
Because The Bourne Identity is a film about the effect of who Bourne was on who is he now. And that storytelling is built into the staging and editing.
IMDB
TOTAL RECALL (1990): Full Cast & Crew
TOTAL RECALL (2012): Full Cast & Crew
THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002): Full Cast & Crew