SHO TIME

T NO CODE

IMAGE

SOUND

ANALYSIS

Zoom in on
picture of
the house.

1 VO: I spent 13 years

without seeing these
images. In August 2005, I
decided to try again. It was
a way to go back to the
house where I lived my
childhood and also a way
to go back to Santiago.

The director explains

his background in this
new filmmaking
process.

09:29

2 Music
2

09:50

Film Title
Santiago (a
reflection
about the
rushes)

Music

9:59

Artistic
shots of the
house
interior
montage
editing.

1 - Music
2 - VO: I remember a
certain day, when my
parents told Santiago that
they were going out for
dinner. He could then close
the house and rest.
I was a little boy, and went
to bed early. Around
midnight, I woke up to the
sound of a song. I noticed
that someone was playing
the piano that used to stay
in the end of this gallery
that now I realize, I should
have shot during the night.
I got up and went there,
the house was dark. When I
got there, I saw Santiago
playing, dressed in his
tuxedo tailcoat, which he
used when we had great
balls in the house. I was
not impressed by the music
Santiago used to play the
piano all the time but by
the tailcoat. I asked him
Why the tailcoat? and he
replied Because its
Beethoven, son
I dont know if this story

- Static shots
of the
corridor and
the
bathroom.
- Long dolly
shot of the
long gallery.

10:48

Cut to black.

10:53

Shot made
inside the

Voice-over the
narrator is one of the
filmmakers brothers,
which makes the film
even more intimate
and personal.
The music reminds us
of Argentinian movies,
it could be a tango,
also in a sad comedy
style. This can indicate
the directors selfconsciousness of
dealing with the
subject, his tactless
and clumsy way.
Director makes a
comment about the
choices he made when
he shot the film 13
years earlier. Since he
was talking about a
situation that
happened during
night, he now realizes
he should have shot it
during the nighttime.
The shots made inside
the house were quite
artistic, as though
the filmmaker wanted
to make a higher
quality documentary.
He shows a lot of
concern with the
aesthetics of the film.
The cinematographer
is one of the best
feature film
cinematographers in
Brazil.

The filmmaker
acknowledges that a

elevator in
the building
where
Santiago
lived.

11:16

The only
image in the
whole film
where the
filmmaker
appears
Wide shot Image goes
still.

11:47

Cut to
Santiago
sitting in his
kitchen
attention to
the framing.

would be in the film I made

in 1992, maybe yes, but
only because back then I
thought that related to
Santiago exclusively.
Today, I know it is also
about me, about a notion
of respect that was his,
which maybe he wanted to
teach me.
1- Music
2- VO: here I am with
Santiago. In the whole
footage, this is one of the
two images in which I
appear with him. It was
made by chance. Right
there, a new relationship
between us started. For the
following five days, I would
be a filmmaker, and he, my
character. Or, at least, at
that moment, I thought so.
On this first day I asked
Santiago to talk about his
childhood.
Santiago: Here, this is the
small laboratory where, in
the mornings, I eat
breakfast and start
remembering my long
gone childhood. I was
raised by my grandmother
in the countryside, she was
a piedmontese lady. She
taught me to pray in Latin
and used to tell me stories
of our family. I was very
small.
He then starts to say the
prayers in Latin
Director: cut.

film about such a

personal subject the
person that worked in
his house for 30 years
could not be
approached without
him telling his
personal story as well.

Santiago is never in
foreground, always in
the background. There
are no close-ups, no
closer shots. We dont
see his face clearly.
Maybe this implies the
distance between both
subject and filmmaker.
Salles was influenced
by the Japanese
filmmaker Ozu in the
beginning of his
career, and this shot is
quite similar to those
used in Ozus films.
But in my opinion,
more than an
inspiration, this
represents the
underlying condition
between the two
(Santiago and Salles),
in which ione is still
the employee, the
butler, and the other
the employer, the
master.

12:55

13:10

10

13:40

Fade to
white.

Back to
Santiago in
the kitchen.
Cut to black
and again
and jump
cut to
Santiago in
the same
position and
starts paying
again.

1 Music
2 VO: Here, I interrupt
Santiago. One of my
childhood memories is
Santiago praying in Latin.
That image always seemed
beautiful and solemn to
me. I ask him to
concentrate and to put his
hands together to repeat
the prayer. Its the first
take two of the shooting.

Cut to white. The

director wants us to
pay attention to what
he has to say in the
voice-over.

Santiago repeats the

scene.

Santiago repeats many

scenes and stories
throughout the film
over and over again
when requested by the
filmmaker. He is a
great performer.

Salles directs Santiago

so he can look more
interesting to the
audience.

The use of black

frames between shots
with the same framing
only makes it clearer
to us that were
watching a film, a
construction, an
assembly of images.

11

40:18

Various wide
shots of the
swimming
pool.

1 Music.
2 - VO: This is the
swimming pool of my
house. I did several shots
like this one. On the third,
a tree leaf falls in the
background. When I see it
now, 13 years later, the
leaf looked as a nice
coincidence. But what are
the odds of right
afterwards, in the following
take, another leaf falling in
the pool again? And
another one, exactly on the
same spot?

12

40:53

Closer shot
of the pool.

1 Music
2 - VO: Was it windy on
this day or someones hand

Here, the filmmaker

questions the truth
in what he filmed, his
methods, what was
real or not (everything
must be seen in a
suspicious way).

13

41:01

Shot of
hangers
swinging.
Wide shot of
a room with
curtain and
old furniture.

14

41:07

15

41:18

16

41:30

17

41:41

18

41:46

19

01:10:20

Cu to black.

20

01:10:26

Various
shots of
Santiago
preparing to
shoot.

Shot of a
room with a
table, a
lamp and a
chair. The
elements of
the scene
change
according to
the voice
over.
Shot of
pictures in
the wall.

CU in
reverse shot
of a boxer
filmed in
studio.
CU of toy
train filmed
in studio.

out of framing was making

the water look like this?
VO: Was it the wind that
made the hangers move?
1 Music
2 VO: In this room, did
we really find these chairs
covered with a white
sheet? In my notes I wrote:
no chair, just covered
furniture and curtain
really good.
1 Music
2 VO: And here, what
was really in the scene? A
chair and a lamp? A lamp
and a small bottle? Or only
the lamp?

1 Music
2 VO: Thirteen years
later is difficult to know till
what extend we would
change things in order to
get the perfect shot, the
perfect line.
1 - Music
2 - VO: Did we interfere to
put make up on the boxer,
to make the sweat look
more intense?
1 - Music
2 VO: Watching the
rushes, its obvious that
everything must be seen
with suspicious eyes.
VO: In one of his films,
Werner Herzog says that
the beauty of a shot is in
what is left, a so-called
rest. In what happens by
chance right before or after
the action. The time of
waiting, moments in which
almost nothing happens.
Silence

Use of stop motion

technique to intensify
the viewers
impression of a
constructed scene.

Reflection about the

process of
documentary
filmmaking.

Here the silence

intensifies our
experience as
observers. The
filmmaker appears to
want us to focus on
these trivial and yet

21

1:11:37

Wide shot of
Santiago
staring at
the floor. A
clapper
appears on
frame.

VO: Among this so-called

rest, maybe the most
revealing is whats said
between director and
character, before the
action. What would be
forever the secret of the
film.
Director: Santiago,
whenever you want. No,
no, not yet, go back down,
pretend youve just
started.
Santiago: You just tell me
when.
Director: Whenever you
want.
Santiago says a prayer
Director: Go back down
and do it again.
VO: This is the last day of
shooting with Santiago. It
allows me to make a final
observation. There are no
close ups in this film, no
image of his face, his
always distant. I believe
the distance didnt
happened by chance.
During the editing I
realized what its quite
evident now. The way I did
the interviews grew us
apart. Since the beginning
there was an insuperable
ambiguity between us,
which explains Santiago
discomfort: He was not
only my character, and I
wasnt only the filmmaker.
During the five days of
shooting, I never stopped
being the masters son and
him, the family butler.
Director: Santiago, think a
little bit about your
grandmother, my mum,
and only repeat Requiem

beautiful images that

Herzog talks about.

Another example of
Salles directing
Santiago.
Using a very assertive
ton of voice, we can
note even certain
impatience, like a
director talking to his
actor, or a master
talking to his butler, a
boss to his employee.
He gets to the point of
asking him to
remember sad
memories of
Santiagos
grandmother and
Salles mother (two
very important women
in the characters life)
to get the moment to
be more dramatic.
The final reflection of
the filmmaker, that
explains why the first
attempt to make the
movie failed.

in pace amen
Santiago: Yes, I think
about them, their spirits
follow me. - He prays
22

1:13:50

Cut to black.

VO: And in the end, when

Santiago tried to tell me
something that was very
intimate to him, I didnt
turn the camera on.
Santiago: Listen,
Joozinho (sweet way to
say Joo, the directors first
name) - he hesitates
Should I say that I belong
to a group of damned
human beings
Director: (interrupting
him) No, we dont want to
talk about that.

Here, Santiago wants

to talk about his
homosexuality, but the
director is simply not
interested. Maybe
because he was a bit
uncomfortable with
that as well, or maybe
he thought this could
be not interesting
enough to the
audience. When he
decides not to let
Santiago talk about
that, he makes clear
that he was not
opened to listen what
his character wanted
to tell him. He had
already a previous
idea of the movie he
wanted to make, and
would not let the
chance change it.