Snowpiercer - Left or Right

--Okay Max now this is it.
Left or right?

--Come on Max!

--Left!

Hi, my name is Tony and this is a
quick Every Frame a Painting.

Be warned, this video
spoils all of Snowpiercer.

So I am giving you a choice.
Beyond this point in the video...

--There's no turning back.
--There is no turning back.

--There's no turning back.
--There is no turning back.

--There is no turning back.
--And there's no turning back

you understand?
--Yes I do.

In nearly every blockbuster you watch or
Telltale game that you’ve played,

you've seen moments like this.
The protagonist has to make a choice,

and there’s no way to reverse it.

--Okay it's you.

Just to be clear, I think moments like
these are great and a foundation

of good storytelling.

But I do wish in movies they weren’t
presented through dialogue.

So today I look at
one possible alternative.

In fact, this is one of the
oldest traditions in cinema.

How do you show character choice?

Left or Right. That’s it.

We often forget that screen direction is
a tool, and that character choices

can be presented simply
by having them look.

Snowpiercer depends on one simple rule:

camera left is the back of the train,
while camera right is the front.

And we gradually move
from left to right.

In fact, you could see this film as
the story of a man who thinks

he has to keep pushing forward.

And yet everything that anchors him
and gives him his humanity

is behind him.
--You have to lead us.

Each decision he faces seems to be a
simple variation on these two directions

But the film doesnt make it easy for him
and sometimes he goes backwards.

--Curtis, my friend, we understand each
other, listen to my words, it wasn't me!

When he finally reaches the end of his
journey, Curtis is pushed

by yet another person
to go forward.

--I have devoted my entire life to this,
the eternal engine.

And to see the humanity behind
him as something lesser.

--You can save them from themselves

And given one final choice
between right and above

or left and below.

He chooses this.

The best part of this is
that Bong Joon-ho

has shown the moral progression of his
choices without ever needing dialogue.

Snowpiercer is probably the most lateral
film you’ll see this year.

And it’s proof that the simplest visual
ideas have a lot of grace and subtlety.

So the next time your character
runs into a complex choice...

Who knows?

Maybe it’s actually just a simple matter
of left or right.