The contrast between the tearful and yet innocent younger boys and the two-faced older boys in the opening scenes of Peter Weir’s film, Dead Poets Society, suggests that age and influence will impact the children on their quest to adulthood at their school, Welton Academy. As the blurry, pixel visible mural zooms out to develop into a clear, sharp image of a holy scene, the younger siblings giggle and laugh as their father snaps a few pictures that can be saved and revisited later on in life. The older boys in the background teasing each other with poles look just like and parallel the younger boys in front of the mural. Even though the attitude of the groups of the young and the more experienced boys seem to be identical, the screeching bagpipes that signal the start of the opening ceremony also signal for what is like a new mask. Serious masks cover the young adults as words begin to slip out of the headmaster's lips while the younger children talk quietly amongst themselves. When the ceremony ends and the boys are saying their last farewells to their families, the younger boys cry and wish for the return of their parents while the older boys stay and wait for their final instructions of the year. As the boys age and try to find "the light of knowledge" at Welton Academy, they also find the light for the long journey of adulthood waiting for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment