The Face of Time - POV - Aarhus Universitet

A Danish Journal of Film Studies 93
these women looking at? What do they see?" The difference between
the two kinds of questions is rather a difference of intensity, a
difference of significance. As it becomes clear that no immediate
answer will be given, the initial question comes to the foreground.
An almost unnoticed expectation or curiosity about the next image
now becomes a highly conscious, even burning, question: What are
these women looking at? It becomes evident that the gaze of the
women is no longer a mere cue that only links one image or one
space to another, but rather a key (or perhaps even the key) that will
give direction to the entire viewing of the film. The answer to the
question created by the gaze of the women now emerges as the
main issue of the film; it no longer merely "poses" a question, but, in
a manner of speaking, becomes itself a question.
The movement
After the initial image the camera moves to the right. The movement
is slow but steady.
Slow: it does not "answer" the question – show the unseen space
– immediately. The movement of the camera is delaying movement;
it works (or literally moves) against the impatience of the spectator.
While the movement may be slow as such, its slowness is also due
to the delay it creates.
Steady: while the movement delays the answer, it also promises
it. The camera keeps on panning to the right without interruptions,
without major changes of pace, and especially without change of
direction. The movement slows down a bit, then speeds up again,
but it never turns back. It becomes clear that eventually the camera
will reach the point where the women are looking. Eventually the
question will be answered.