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This Woman is Not a Car (1982)

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Picnic

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

The mother (Pauline Sedgewick) makes a picnic on a beach for her kids. She hands out pies which they devour. It’s as if they are devouring her. The camera takes off away from the scene as though she is escaping into another reality.

Curator’s notes

Although the film is a conventionally constructed drama, this scene shows an interesting and effective use of a very long tracking shot to give the sense of the woman’s need to escape the demands of her life. The use of sound is very atmospheric and sets up the drama for the fantasy sequence to come.